Hosting in Sweden

Disk Error – How to Easily Fix It

We know how frustrating and stressful it can be when your server suddenly refuses to start. This is often due to minor disk errors, such as a corrupt journal file or issues with the bootloader (GRUB).

Modern file systems have safeguards like journaling, but errors can still occur sometimes.

The good news is that you often don’t need to restore the entire system from a backup. Many common disk errors can be fixed relatively easily and quickly.

Examples of common error messages:

  • Error messages related to GRUB (Grand Unified Bootloader) during boot.
  • The system starts to load but stops with messages about “corrupt journal” or “filesystem errors”.
  • Messages like “UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY”.

This guide shows how you can get your VPS back on its feet in about 10-15 minutes!

Important before you begin:

  • Backup: While the methods below are usually safe, we always recommend that you have regular backups of your data.
  • Rescue Mode/ISO: You need to be able to boot your VPS from an external ISO image or via a “rescue mode” that many (including us!) offer. This is to be able to work with the hard drive while it is unmounted, which is required to run the repair tools.

Example: GRUB error or corrupt journal

In this example, a VM refuses to start. The console gives errors regarding grub:

Exempel på GRUB-felmeddelande vid uppstart av vps

You’re trying to start your VPS or VM, but it refuses to boot. Maybe you see an error message from GRUB, or the system starts but stops with a message about a corrupt journal.

Fix the error in 10 minutes.

First, boot your VPS from an ISO. We recommend Netboot.xyz – simply enter the following in the URL field when configuring your ISO

https://boot.netboot.xyz/ipxe/netboot.xyz.iso

Once started, select Utilities > Repair Boot CD

Give it a few minutes to boot up. It can be any operating system, really. The important thing is that we have access to a terminal where we can run repair tools on the hard drive.

Open the terminal and run lsblk to find out which partition your operating system is located on. In the example in the image below, it is sda1

Run this command to repair the disk:

Are you using xfs? Run:

sudo xfs_repair /dev/sda1

Are you using EXT4? Run:

sudo e2fsck -f -y /dev/sda1

All set! Now you can unmount your ISO and start the VPS just as usual. The difference this time is that it will start without any issues.

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