Ubuntu server 10.04 doesn’t boot into installed Gnome desktop automatically

gnomeUbuntu

I've installed Ubuntu server 10.04 and then installed Gnome desktop on top of it, because I am new to Linux and its command line, I need the GUI desktop to help me get around. However, the problem I got is that the server doesn't boot into the GUI desktop when powered on. It's booting into a shell like this:

Gave up waiting for root device.  Common problems:
 - Boot args (cat /proc/cmdline)
   - Check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enought?)
   - check root= (did the system wait for the right device?)
 - Missing modules (cat /proc/modules; ls /dev)
ALERT! /dev/mapper/cecdata-root does not exist. Dropping to a shell!

BusyBox v1.13.3 (Ubuntu 1:1.13.3-1ubuntu11) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

(initramfs)

result of (cat /proc/cmdline)
BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-2.6.32-28-server root=/dev/mapper/cecdata-root ro quiet

Then I have type "exit" to exit the shell and then it boots into Gnome. Any idea what's wrong?

Edit: add output for the following commands

wt@cecdata:~$ ls /dev/mapper/
cecdata-root  cecdata-swap_1  control

wt@cecdata:~$ fdisk -l
wt@cecdata:~$

wt@cecdata:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
/dev/mapper/cecdata-root /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /boot was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=1635be41-d025-405e-b4a3-6f0abedb7aab /boot           ext2    defaults        0       2
/dev/mapper/cecdata-swap_1 none            swap    sw              0       0
wt@cecdata:~$

Adding output for lsmod

wt@cecdata:~$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
fbcon                  39270  71
tileblit                2487  1 fbcon
font                    8053  1 fbcon
bitblit                 5811  1 fbcon
softcursor              1565  1 bitblit
dell_wmi                2177  0
dcdbas                  6918  0
vga16fb                12757  1
vgastate                9857  1 vga16fb
psmouse                64576  0
serio_raw               4950  0
power_meter             9473  0
bnx2                   72874  0
lp                      9336  0
parport                37160  1 lp
mptsas                 50592  2
usbhid                 41116  0
mptscsih               37167  1 mptsas
hid                    83568  1 usbhid
mptbase                91674  2 mptsas,mptscsih
scsi_transport_sas     33021  1 mptsas

Best Answer

It would seem the root device isn't present at that point of the boot process, which is of course wrong. It's odd that it ends up booting OK after exiting the emergency shell.

This is pretty much a shot in the dark, but do you have "fakeraid" or some other kind of RAID on the root device? Please post ls /dev/mapper and fdisk -l. Also your /etc/fstab.

Edit:

It seems this is a semi-common issue with Ubuntu 10 and fakeraids. Try this after booting succesfully.

First, look in lsmod for dm-* modules and anything with raid on it. For each of this matches, do this:

sudo echo module-name >> /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
sudo echo module-name >> /etc/modules

Note that modules listed with an underscore (_) should be added with a slash (-) in their name instead.

Then:

sudo update-initramfs -u

And try again.

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