Is there an `lsblk` equivalent available in the rescue mode?

Ask Fedora
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1

I’m dealing with a problem where system fails at boot, stuck on looking for a disk in /dev/disk/by-uuid forever. Rescue mode (dracut emergency shell) is the only thing that works. I’m trying to backup data from the main partition, but cannot find a way to scan the system. Usually recommended scripts, lsblk, fdisk, dd, mc are all absent, main system FS is mot mounted on a path it supposed to be mounted on.

2

Perhaps you could boot Fedora on a Live USB and troubleshoot the disks that way?

3

I would suggest that is the easiest and safest way of doing things in a situation like this.

4

I’ve tried. Any live system fails to see the in-machine drive.

5

Then the problem is most likely with your drive. Potentially:

  1. The hardware has failed
  2. There’s a loose connection (especially if it’s a SATA drive)
  3. The hardware is OK but the BIOS somehow isn’t interacting properly wih it

If there was no hardware or firmware problem, then the live system would be able to see the drive.

6

At this point is better to check the journal to see if there are any errors related to the disk units or file systems. Once you reboot, the log is no longer available if it can’t be written to the disk.

The blkid command could probably be used.

7

I doubt it’s a hardware problem because:

  • Live USB successfully connects to the processor
  • Processor connects to the NVMe SSD, some limited stuff like GRUB works
  • Live USB doesn’t see the SSD

I guess this broken triangle would mean the hardware failure can be only somewhere in the middle of the processor, I find that unlikely

8

So, for example, ls /dev/nvme* from a terminal in the live system shows no devices?

9

What does “connect to processor means”?

One easy-fix cause for this kind of problem is the IRS (intel rapid storage) flipping from off to on or the other way round in BIOS. This can happen following a BIOS update or a power failure.

10

In the past many bios settings for SATA devices put them in RAID mode and the live system could not see them. In those cases switching the SATA devices to AHCI mode usually allowed the installer to see the devices.

Maybe this is the case with your system?