df does not show free space

[Joris Dobbelsteen]

Colin Brace wrote, On 23-Aug-2008 10:58:
> 
> Rashkae-2 wrote:
>> Can you give us the contents of your fstab as well as /proc/mounts
>> /etc/mtab? (err, you'll have to revert the fstab so we can see it
>> broken)  This problem doesn't appear to be universal by any means.
>>
>> And bare with me for this train of thought.  have you ever experimented
>> with xfs filesystem on your root partition?
> 
> Rashkae, I reverted my fstab but I am having difficulty reproducing the
> problem now. :(
> 
> What I did discover though was the the fstab entry for the root partion had
> an *incorrect* UUID. When I used tune2fs to determine the correct value and
> entered that in fstab, then du worked as it should.
> 
> What I don't understand at this point is how my root partition was getting
> mounted at all. At some point earlier in the boot process, does root get
> mounted in another way?
> 
> I haven't used XFS on this or another other system of mine.

Check out your bootloader script (/boot/grub/grub.lst (?)). It seems to 
be passed as a kernel parameter in general, since you need root (/etc & 
some friends) to get your system up and running. Perhaps this mounts it, 
which is later overridden by fstab, but in case of failure keeps the 
original mount.

There MIGHT be a small chance that this is actually indicated in the 
logs somewhere?

If removing the root partition from your fstab retains a working system, 
this seems to be a possible cause.

- Joris