Ended up just reloading archlinux on a different drive and then copying the needed files from the old drive.
Went with syslinux instead of grub and also a single partition with everything on it.
Got the below output.
:: running early hook [udev] :: running hook [udev] :: Triggering uevents... Waiting 10 seconds for device /dev/sda3 ... ERROR: device '/dev/sda3' not found. Skipping fsck. ERROR: Unable to find root device '/dev/sda3'. You are being dropped to a recovery shell Type 'exit' to try and continue booting sh: can't access tty; job control turned off [rootfs /]# exit Trying to continue (this will most likely fail) ... mount: you must specify the filesystem type You are being dropped to a recovery shell Type 'exit' to try and continue booting sh: can't access tty; job control turned off [rootfs /]#
At that final prompt, please type "ls /dev/sda*". It should show all your partitions, something like:
# ls /dev/sda*
/dev/sda /dev/sda1 /dev/sda2 /dev/sda3 /dev/sda4 /dev/sda5
If it shows just /dev/sda, then that means that either there's something wrong with your partition table or the kernel you're running is lacking support for the partition table type you're using. If you see nothing at all, then that means that there's something wrong with hardware detection -- perhaps your kernel lacks support for your disk controller, or there's a physical problem with the cabling. Note that I'm assuming you have just one disk device, too -- you should unplug your USB flash drive(s) before booting in this way. (If you need a USB flash drive or second disk to boot, check with /dev/sdb and perhaps higher values to be sure that all of your disks are being detected.)
You can also try searching for information on the disk with the "dmesg" command, as in "dmesg | less" (assuming "less" is available in the emergency environment you've reached). You may find error messages associated with your SATA devices in there. The string "sda" might or might not appear; you can try searching for it, but if it turns up no hits, you should scan the "dmesg" output manually.
]]>UEFI is not really as hard as some on these boards like to complain that it is.
Much of the problem is simply lack of familiarity. People who've been using PCs for years or decades have learned its quirks so well that they're second nature. ("Well, of course you've got to write a new boot loader to the first 440 bytes of the MBR, while avoiding the final 66 bytes at all cost! Isn't that obvious?!?") To somebody who knows the BIOS boot rules that well, EFI's entirely different rules come as a rude shock, even though they're no weirder. ("Well, of course you've got to register a new boot loader with the firmware by using "efibootmgr!" Isn't that obvious?!?") EFI bugs cause their own system-specific complications, but my impression is that they're being (slowly) fixed by manufacturers, so with any luck they'll be less of an issue before too long.
]]>UEFI is not really as hard as some on these boards like to complain that it is.
]]>Can't you just use the installation media for this job?
I advise you to let other users confirm this, but IMHO this should work:
## Boot Arch install media
## Start as if you would do a fresh install
mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
arch-chroot /mnt
grub-install /dev/sda
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
exit
umount /mnt
reboot
...assuming you don't have an UEFI-based install
HTH
Regards,
Laurent
Got the below output.
Tried again with
kernel /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda3,rootfstype=ext2
and
kernel /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda3 rootfstype=ext2
and got the same thing.
/etc/fstab has the following in it
UUID=??? /home ext2 defaults 0 1
UUID=??? /boot ext2 defaults 0 1
UUID=??? swap swap defaults 0 0
UUID=??? / ext2 defaults 0 1
The ?? are the different UUIDs for each partition.
Any additional help to get this to boot appreciated.
Thanks
--------------------------------------------------------------
...
:: running early hook [udev]
:: running hook [udev]
:: Triggering uevents...
Waiting 10 seconds for device /dev/sda3 ...
ERROR: device '/dev/sda3' not found. Skipping fsck.
ERROR: Unable to find root device '/dev/sda3'.
You are being dropped to a recovery shell
Type 'exit' to try and continue booting
sh: can't access tty; job control turned off
[rootfs /]# exit
Trying to continue (this will most likely fail) ...
mount: you must specify the filesystem type
You are being dropped to a recovery shell
Type 'exit' to try and continue booting
sh: can't access tty; job control turned off
[rootfs /]#
So the root command is zero based so then really I have 0 = ?, 1 = swap, 2 = ext2, 3 = ext2 and sda devices are 1 - 4.
I found /etc/fstab on 2 (sda3).
swap is 1 (sda2)
I did not find vmlinuz-linux on 3 (sda4).
So with that information:
/boot is 0 (sda1)
swap is 1 (sda2)
/ is 2 (sda3)
/home is 3 (sda4)
My commands to boot should then be (since there is a separate boot partition):
root (hd0, 0)
kernel /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda3
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
boot
Thanks. Will be trying this tomorrow.
No not using testing.
Thanks
]]>IOW, (hd0,2) --> /dev/sda3
]]>With being able to cat /etc/fstab from 2 I am assuming this is /.
So tried:
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda2
but get file not found. So possibly /boot is missing. I am attempting to have the computer boot from a live Linux CD so I can mount the hard drive and see what the file system looks like.
]]>However, I am attempting to get access to another system to find out what drive (which I think is probably 1 not 5) and the names of the Linux and initrd (which should be those above).
If I can get it booted then I can work on getting it to boot automatically next time.
Thanks
]]>