During the startup of the GNU/Linux operating system, you may encounter the following:
BusyBox v1.30.1 (ubuntu 1:1:30.1-7ubuntu6.1)
built-in shell (ash) Enter 'help' for a list of built in commands.
(initramfs)Typically, this is due to issues related to the operating system partition or others. In such situations, BusyBox comes into play by providing a minimal yet essential environment that includes tools for managing critical diagnostic and repair operations.
Initramfs, on the other hand, deploys a temporary environment at boot time necessary to load essential drivers and configurations before the main file system is fully available.
This combination of initramfs and BusyBox is crucial during the initial boot of the Linux operating system. Initramfs sets the stage for basic system functionality, while BusyBox ensures that even in situations where normal booting has failed, users can execute essential commands to diagnose and fix system issues.
Therefore, you can execute "exit" to attempt to boot the system normally. If the system cannot boot, a message will appear. For example, the following message:
(initramfs) exit
/dev/sda1 contains a file system with errors, check forced.
Inode 4326476 extent tree (at level 1) could be narrower, IGNORED.
/dev/sda1: Inode 4326843 extent tree (at level 1) could be narrower, IGNORED.
/dev/sda1: Inode 4327012 extent tree (at level 1) could be narrower, IGNORED.
/dev/sda1: Inode 4329004 extent tree (at level 1) could be narrower, IGNORED.
/dev/sda1: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list found.
/dev/sda1: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
(i.e., without -a or -p options)
fsck exited with status code 4.
The root filesystem on /dev/sda1 requires a manual fsck.
BusyBox v1.30.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.30.1-4ubuntu6.1) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
(initramfs)This indicates that the affected partition is corrupt and needs to be repaired for normal use. BusyBox includes the fsck tool to address this issue. Simply execute:
# fsck /dev/sdaX -y
Replace /dev/sdaX with the affected partition. Once verification and repair are complete, restart the system or exit BusyBox with "exit" again.
BusyBox, created in 1996 by Bruce Perens, combines a set of standard Unix utilities into a single compact and efficient executable. Initially designed for embedded systems with limited resources like OpenWrt and rescue disks, BusyBox is an open-source project that remains relevant and adapted to modern needs through contributions from developers worldwide.
We hope this tutorial has been helpful. If you have further questions, feel free to contact us at support@clouding.io. Our Technical Support team will assist you with anything you need! 😉