Node unexpectedly boots into single-user mode

Summary: Any Isilon node that contains internal SSD boot drives (Gen5 hardware and earlier) might unexpectedly boot into single-user mode.

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Symptoms

A node unexpectedly reboots, then boots into single-user mode. Output similar to the following is displayed:

THE FOLLOWING DISK SECTORS COULD NOT BE READ: 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143,
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/libexec/isilon/isi_gmirror_start", line 35, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/libexec/isilon/isi_gmirror_start", line 24, in main
startup()
File "/usr/libexec/isilon/isi_gmirror_start", line 15, in startup
bootdisk.startup()
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/site-packages/isi/sys/bootdisk.py", line 952, in startup
mount_filesystems(fsckd)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/site-packages/isi/sys/bootdisk.py", line 692, in mount_filesystems
fatal=False)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/site-packages/isi/sys/bootdisk.py", line 677, in mount_filesystem
fsck_ufs(dev)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/site-packages/isi/sys/bootdisk.py", line 666, in fsck_ufs
subprocess.check_call(['fsck'] + args + ['-t', 'ufs', dev])
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.6/subprocess.py", line 462, in check_call
raise CalledProcessError(retcode, cmd)
subprocess.CalledProcessError: Command '['fsck', '-C', '-y', '-t', 'ufs', '/dev/mirror/var-crash']' returned non-zero exit status 3
Boot interrupted
Enter full pathname of shell or RETURN for /bin/sh:

Cause

Either one or both SSD boot drives have failed.

Resolution

Contact Isilon Technical Support for help with identifying the failed boot drive.

Affected Products

Isilon
Article Properties
Article Number: 000083441
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 22 Dec 2025
Version:  5
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