Arch Linux

fishnet37222

Member

Registered: 2020-09-09

Posts: 19

[SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

I was going through the Installation Guide while setting up a new Arch VM.  Everything was working fine until I tried to mount my newly created EFI System Partition.

When I issued the command "mount -v /dev/sda1 /boot/efi", I got the error message "mount: /mnt/boot/efi: unknown filesystem type 'vfat'.".

When I issued the command "modprobe vfat", I got the error message "modprobe: FATAL: Module vfat not found in directory /lib/modules/7.0.10-arch1-1".

The output of "cat /proc/filesystems" does not include "vfat".

I downloaded the ISO file this morning using the magnet link.

Last edited by fishnet37222 (2026-06-15 18:14:36)

dimich

Member

From: Kharkiv, Ukraine

Registered: 2009-11-03

Posts: 706

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

When I issued the command "mount -v /dev/sda1 /boot/efi", I got the error message "mount: /mnt/boot/efi: unknown filesystem type 'vfat'."

Did you run the command before arch-chroot or after?
You have to mount ESP partition to /mnt/boot/efi/ before chrooting.

fishnet37222

Member

Registered: 2020-09-09

Posts: 19

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

That's what I'm trying to do.  In the live environment before any chrooting, there is currently no support for the vfat filesystem.

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 13,729

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

What does `ls /lib/modules/` show?

fishnet37222

Member

Registered: 2020-09-09

Posts: 19

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

root@archiso ~ # ls /lib/modules
7.0.10-arch1-1
root@archiso ~ # ls /lib/modules/7.0.10-arch1-1
extramodules   modules.alias.bin          modules.builtin.bin      modules.dep.bin  modules.softdep      modules.weakdep
kernel         modules.builtin            modules.builtin.modinfo  modules.devname  modules.symbols      pkgbase
modules.alias  modules.builtin.alias.bin  modules.dep              modules.order    modules.symbols.bin  vmlinuz

dimich

Member

From: Kharkiv, Ukraine

Registered: 2009-11-03

Posts: 706

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

That's what I'm trying to do.  In the live environment before any chrooting, there is currently no support for the vfat filesystem.

But you run "mount -v /dev/sda1 /boot/efi" and somehow got "mount: /mnt/boot/efi: unknown filesystem type 'vfat'."

I just booted 2026.06.01 ISO image in VM: no any problem with vfat mounting, the module is present.

fishnet37222

Member

Registered: 2020-09-09

Posts: 19

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

It seems the image available through the Magnet link on the Downloads page is incorrect.  I downloaded a new copy of the ISO from the fastly mirror, and vfat support seems fine now.

dimich

Member

From: Kharkiv, Ukraine

Registered: 2009-11-03

Posts: 706

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

It seems the image available through the Magnet link on the Downloads page is incorrect.

Out of curiosity, did you verify signature of the image before boot? Is it valid?

fishnet37222

Member

Registered: 2020-09-09

Posts: 19

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

I didn't.  I've never felt the need to in the past because they've always worked as expected.

mpan

Member

Registered: 2012-08-01

Posts: 1,616

Website

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

A corruption that kept SHA1 intact, didn’t catastrophically corrupt a compressed stream, sniped out the vfat module alone, and caused no filesystem errors? That would be surprising.

Assuming that is not PEBCAK, which may happen to anybody and you shouldn’t be ashamed of one if that’s the case, consider running memtest a few times.

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seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 76,849

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

When I issued the command "mount -v /dev/sda1 /boot/efi", I got the error message "mount: /mnt/boot/efi: unknown filesystem type 'vfat'.".

99.8% chroot related
What is the output of "modprobe -v vfat" right after booting the iso and before doing anything else?

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fishnet37222

Member

Registered: 2020-09-09

Posts: 19

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

I had deleted the ISO downloaded from the magnet link since I had a working one from the fastly mirror.  I just downloaded a new copy of the ISO from the magnet link, and the modprobe command you asked about results in no output.  "lsmod | grep vfat" shows that the module is loaded.  So it appears I had a bad download after all.

mpan

Member

Registered: 2012-08-01

Posts: 1,616

Website

Re: [SOLVED] vfat filesystem is not available in the live environment.

That explanation is among the least likely.

PEBCAK is the most likely, but there is no way to verify it anymore. However, if that’s system instability leading to memory corruption, you can still detect it. And my advice is to do so. Of course it’s up to you.

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Paperclips in avatars?