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I recently had to reformat my sd card for my pi as I was getting an error (below), no idea what had caused this error but reformatting fixed it. 

kernel panic not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block 179,6

Now I am having a new issue when booting, probably around 50% of the time. When booting it sometimes hangs on:

waiting for /dev to fully populate

Or words to that effect. Following this it seems to cycle, very quickly, through some code that keeps throwing up errors and never boots. The only way I can fix it is by pulling the plug (I know, bad practice, but I can't get it to stop any other way).

Any ideas what could be causing this and how I can stop it?

FYI. I am using a mobile phone charger to power the pi and always have, never had this issue prior to formatting the sd card.

Ghanima
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Robin
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1 Answers1

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waiting for /dev to fully populate is a symptom usually caused by a faulty/bad accessory (usually a USB device) or a bad/corrupt driver of said device. This error is usually associated with wireless adapters and their community-compiled, possibly buggy drivers but it could be any device, not just WiFi adapters. Pull out all your USB devices and check to see if it's still there.

As for kernel panic not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block 179,6, it means something is wrong with the block device it's trying to mount on. This shouldn't really happen except when the system is somewhat corrupted.

Given faulty hardware and corrupt system files, I conclude that your SD card is at fault. Go try out another one, preferably name-branded as Milliways has suggested. Also, using a known good power supply shouldn't hurt, again as stated by Milliways in his comment.

If the error doesn't show up anymore, start plugging in your USB devices one by one, if any. Reboot after each added device and check for errors.

If there's no error after doing that, my assumptions are correct and the SD card is at fault. If a USB device caused it, I'm still right (read paragraph 1).

If all else fails, read this answer to get some tips on how to get a replacement Pi for free.

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Aloha
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