uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

dhave · 2012-05-15 04:29:59

I've been happily booting kernel 3.3.4 and then 3.3.5 using the efi boot stub capability of the latest kernels, bypassing grub2 or other external bootloader.

Now that I've updated the kernel to 3.3.6, I'm no longer able to boot this way. Of course, I've created new efi boot menu entries corresponding with the new kernel and initramfs.

When I select the desired 3.3.6 boot entry, I get a blank screen, no error messages.

I can't find any pertinent log info, either.

A few days ago, when I updated from 3.3.4 to 3.3.5, I simply copied over the new kernel and initramfs .img file, renaming the kernel with the extension .efi. I then used efibootmgr to create a new boot menu entry. This worked just fine.

But this same approach won't boot with 3.3.6.

Any ideas? Thanks.

dhave · 2012-05-15 19:03:46

Somebody had better reply to this post (preferably with a solution), or else I'm gonna sacrifice this splendid cockroach who just crawled out of my unused fireplace.

this splendid cockroach

Last edited by dhave (2012-05-15 19:05:50)

65kid · 2012-05-15 19:23:26

well, I can tell you that 3.3.6 still works fine on my system and I don't see any EFI related changes in the 3.3.6 changelog.
My guess is that you forgot to copy either the kernel image or initramfs, so you got a 3.3.5/3.3.6 mix which may be what is screwing up boot.

And why would you have to create new boot entries? This should only be neccessary if the path to your kernel or initramfs has changed...

oh, and btw I don't care about the cockroach, but I guess you already killed it...

dhave · 2012-05-15 20:40:31

65kid wrote:

well, I can tell you that 3.3.6 still works fine on my system and I don't see any EFI related changes in the 3.3.6 changelog.
My guess is that you forgot to copy either the kernel image or initramfs, so you got a 3.3.5/3.3.6 mix which may be what is screwing up boot.

I definitely copied over both the kernel image and the initramfs to the EFI boot partition. I had to save the previous copies to avoid writing over them.

65kid wrote:

And why would you have to create new boot entries? This should only be neccessary if the path to your kernel or initramfs has changed...

That's what I thought, too, since the file names and their locations remained precisely the same. But when it didn't work after several tries, I created a new boot entry to see if that would fix things. It didn't

64kid wrote:

oh, and btw I don't care about the cockroach, but I guess you already killed it...

No, I've used decided to extend his life a while longer. And I may even release him if I get this problem fixed.

65kid · 2012-05-15 20:51:12

dhave wrote:

65kid wrote:
And why would you have to create new boot entries? This should only be neccessary if the path to your kernel or initramfs has changed...
That's what I thought, too, since the file names and their locations remained precisely the same. But when it didn't work after several tries, I created a new boot entry to see if that would fix things. It didn't

That reminds me. When I was playing around with UEFI boot for the first time on my Intel board I screwed up the boot loader at some point. I'm not sure how, but efibootmgr simply didn't create any new boot entries without even given me some kind of error message. I made a CMOS reset and created new boot entries. I haven't touched the boot entries since then and everything has been working fine.
-Maybe- something similiar happened in your case!?

dhave · 2012-05-15 21:06:19

65kid wrote:

dhave wrote:
65kid wrote:
And why would you have to create new boot entries? This should only be neccessary if the path to your kernel or initramfs has changed...
That's what I thought, too, since the file names and their locations remained precisely the same. But when it didn't work after several tries, I created a new boot entry to see if that would fix things. It didn't
That reminds me. When I was playing around with UEFI boot for the first time on my Intel board I screwed up the boot loader at some point. I'm not sure how, but efibootmgr simply didn't create any new boot entries without even given me some kind of error message. I made a CMOS reset and created new boot entries. I haven't touched the boot entries since then and everything has been working fine.
-Maybe- something similiar happened in your case!?

Yeah, I remember when you posted about that. I guess, as a last resort, I'll try that. I was hoping someone else would have had my same problem, but maybe there aren't that many people who are updating kernels and using direct, loader-less booting (I'm trying to avoid using rEFInd, grub2, grub, or any other the others; just direct booting of the kernel).

litemotiv · 2012-05-15 21:11:08

Did you double (triple) check for any typos (kernel / initramfs / bootmenu)..?

dhave · 2012-05-15 21:30:15

litemotiv wrote:

Did you double (triple) check for any typos (kernel / initramfs / bootmenu)..?

Here's my command:

[root@T420 ~]# echo "initrd=\EFI\arch_grub\initramfs-linux.img root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/e3b82500-cfcb-4c85-bd2a-93f282eaf0c0 ro quiet" | iconv -f ascii -t ucs2 | efibootmgr -c -L "Arch-336a-SSD512" -l '\EFI\arch_grub\vmlinuz-linux.efi' --append-binary-args -

See anything amiss?

dhave · 2012-05-15 21:36:08

The efi boot entry *is* created by efibootmgr, it just doesn't respond.

dhave · 2012-05-15 23:51:51

I think the problem is actually related to my video card. It'll take me a while to work it out, but I'm pretty sure the problem has nothing directly to do with uefi booting.

I'll post the outcome.

dhave · 2012-05-16 00:13:58

dhave wrote:

I think the problem is actually related to my video card. It'll take me a while to work it out, but I'm pretty sure the problem has nothing directly to do with uefi booting.
I'll post the outcome.

Nope, it wasn't the video card. All I can figure is there's something in kernel 3.3.6 or my configuration of kernel 3.3.6 that is causing problems for direct uefi booting.

When I swap kernel 3.3.5 back in, along with its corresponding initramfs image, the system boots directly from uefi.

With kernel 3.3.6 and its corresponding initramfs image, it will not boot directly from uefi.

Kernel 3.3.6 and its corresponding initramfs image boot fine when I boot via grub2 rather than directly from uefi.

I'll just chill out and see what transpires as the kernel is updated. Or maybe some other problem that I'm not seeing will finally declare itself.

the.ridikulus.rat · 2012-05-16 08:54:29

dhave wrote:

litemotiv wrote:
Did you double (triple) check for any typos (kernel / initramfs / bootmenu)..?
Here's my command:
[root@T420 ~]# echo "initrd=\EFI\arch_grub\initramfs-linux.img root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/e3b82500-cfcb-4c85-bd2a-93f282eaf0c0 ro quiet" | iconv -f ascii -t ucs2 | efibootmgr -c -L "Arch-336a-SSD512" -l '\EFI\arch_grub\vmlinuz-linux.efi' --append-binary-args - 
See anything amiss?

Remove all the old entries and then try

# echo "initrd=\\EFI\\arch_grub\\initramfs-linux.img root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/e3b82500-cfcb-4c85-bd2a-93f282eaf0c0 ro quiet" | iconv -f ascii -t ucs2 | efibootmgr -c -L "Arch-336a-SSD512" -l "\\EFI\\arch_grub\\vmlinuz-linux.efi" --append-binary-args -

In places of "\" use "\\", since bash uses the first backward slash as escape character. In the previous case "initrd=\EFI\arch_grub\initramfs-linux.img" bash would have finally passed the value as "initrd=EFIarch_grubinitramfs-linux.img". Although using single quites might work (ie. 'initrd=\EFI\arch_grub\initramfs-linux.img') even in that case sometimes bash still passes 'initrd=EFIarch_grubinitramfs-linux.img'. So in case of backslashes always use double ones.

EDIT: Added info to https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/UE … tmgr_entry .

Last edited by the.ridikulus.rat (2012-05-16 12:00:18)

dhave · 2012-05-16 16:58:39

@ridikulus.rat: Thanks for your reply. I tried the command string you provided, and I got the same results. A new boot entry is created, but when I select it for booting, it yields a blank screen.

I *didn't* remove all my old entries first, however. I have some older working entries that I don't want to get rid of. They point to different hard drives that I don't always have installed but that I occasionally use. Also, I have my grub2 entry, which boots not the kernel on the EFI partition but the one in /boot.

Do I really need to scrap all my old entries?

the.ridikulus.rat · 2012-05-16 17:19:42

dhave wrote:

@ridikulus.rat: Thanks for your reply. I tried the command string you provided, and I got the same results. A new boot entry is created, but when I select it for booting, it yields a blank screen.
I *didn't* remove all my old entries first, however. I have some older working entries that I don't want to get rid of. They point to different hard drives that I don't always have installed but that I occasionally use. Also, I have my grub2 entry, which boots not the kernel on the EFI partition but the one in /boot.
Do I really need to scrap all my old entries?

Post your "gdisk -l" and "efibootmgr -v" outputs.

dhave · 2012-05-16 17:44:39

the.ridikulus.rat wrote:

dhave wrote:
@ridikulus.rat: Thanks for your reply. I tried the command string you provided, and I got the same results. A new boot entry is created, but when I select it for booting, it yields a blank screen.
I *didn't* remove all my old entries first, however. I have some older working entries that I don't want to get rid of. They point to different hard drives that I don't always have installed but that I occasionally use. Also, I have my grub2 entry, which boots not the kernel on the EFI partition but the one in /boot.
Do I really need to scrap all my old entries?
Post your "gdisk -l" and "efibootmgr -v" outputs.

gdisk -l /dev/sda:

[root@T420 ~]# gdisk -l /dev/sda 
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.4

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 1000215216 sectors, 476.9 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 045FA7BA-FD67-4A3B-9294-DCCB35DE3D81
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1000215182
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2014 sectors (1007.0 KiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            2048          514047   250.0 MiB   EF00  efi
   2          514048         2562047   1000.0 MiB  8200  swap
   3         2562048      1000215182   475.7 GiB   8300  root

NOTE: That 1Gb swap drive is only to keep vmware from nagging me about having insufficient swap space.

gdisk -l /dev/sda1 (my EFI partition):

Disk /dev/sda1: 512000 sectors, 250.0 MiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 63D23817-ABDF-4FE0-BDB4-2F7FA7D84613
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 511966
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 511933 sectors (250.0 MiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name

efibootmgr -v:

[root@T420 ~]# efibootmgr -v        
BootCurrent: 0021
Timeout: 0 seconds
BootOrder: 0024,0020,001E,0026,001C,001D,0022,001F,001B,0021,0006,001A,0003,0009,000A,000C,000B,000F,0011,0012,0016,0000,0001,0004
Boot0000* Setup
Boot0001* Boot Menu
Boot0002  Diagnostic Splash Screen
Boot0003  Startup Interrupt Menu
Boot0004* ME Configuration Menu
Boot0005  Rescue and Recovery
Boot0006* Windows Boot Manager  HD(2,96800,32000,14493c0a-a42d-4379-a141-bec1c434d213)File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...,................
Boot0007* USB FDD       030a2400d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b6ff015a28830b543a8b8641009461e49
Boot0008* ATAPI CD0     030a2500d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25baea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a35401
Boot0009* ATA HDD2      030a2500d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f602
Boot000A* ATA HDD0      030a2500d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f600
Boot000B* ATA HDD1      030a2500d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f601
Boot000C* USB HDD       030a2400d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b33e821aaaf33bc4789bd419f88c50803
Boot000D* PCI LAN       030a2400d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b78a84aaf2b2afc4ea79cf5cc8f3d3803
Boot000E* ATAPI CD1     030a2500d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25baea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a35403
Boot000F* ATAPI CD2     030a2500d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25baea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a35404
Boot0010  Other CD      030a2500d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25baea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a35406
Boot0011  ATA HDD3      030a2500d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f603
Boot0012  ATA HDD4      030a2500d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f604
Boot0013  Other HDD     030a2500d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f606
Boot0014* IDER BOOT CDROM       ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(16,2)ATAPI(0,1,0)
Boot0015* IDER BOOT Floppy      ACPI(a0341d0,0)PCI(16,2)ATAPI(0,0,0)
Boot0016* ATA HDD       030a2400d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b91af625956449f41a7b91f4f892ab0f6
Boot0017* ATAPI CD:     030a2400d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25baea2090adfde214e8b3a5e471856a354
Boot0018* PCI LAN       030a2400d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b78a84aaf2b2afc4ea79cf5cc8f3d3803
Boot0019* grub  HD(1,800,63822,2e3a8756-f636-4590-9502-0bbcda10a3e0)File(\EFI\grub\grubx64.efi)
Boot001A* USB CD        030a2400d23878bc820f604d8316c068ee79d25b86701296aa5a7848b66cd49dd3ba6a55
Boot001B* Arch Linux (rEFInd)   HD(1,800,200000,56203ae7-9129-430f-85c3-143ec253860e)File(\EFI\arch\refind\refindx64.efi)
Boot001C  Arch-SSD512-ck        HD(1,800,7d000,307396a3-279e-423c-860b-9fb579d00d21)File(\EFI\arch_grub\vmlinuz-linux-ck.efi)i.n.i.t.r.d.=.\.E.F.I.\.a.r.c.h._.g.r.u.b.\.i.n.i.t.r.a.m.f.s.-.l.i.n.u.x.-.c.k...i.m.g. .r.o.o.t.=./.d.e.v./.d.i.s.k./.b.y.-.u.u.i.d./.e.3.b.8.2.5.0.0.-.c.f.c.b.-.4.c.8.5.-.b.d.2.a.-.9.3.f.2.8.2.e.a.f.0.c.0. .r.o. .q.u.i.e.t...
Boot001D* Arch-SSD60    HD(1,800,200000,56203ae7-9129-430f-85c3-143ec253860e)File(\boot\efi\arch\vmlinuz-linux.efi)i.n.i.t.r.d.=.\.b.o.o.t.\.e.f.i.\.a.r.c.h.\.i.n.i.t.r.a.m.f.s.-.l.i.n.u.x...i.m.g. .r.o.o.t.=./.d.e.v./.d.i.s.k./.b.y.-.u.u.i.d./.c.4.e.7.c.a.d.8.-.1.8.a.6.-.4.2.d.2.-.a.a.d.d.-.0.d.e.f.5.f.0.7.7.1.1.f. .r.o. .q.u.i.e.t...
Boot001E  Arch-ck-SSD512        HD(1,800,7d000,307396a3-279e-423c-860b-9fb579d00d21)File(\EFI\arch_grub\vmlinuz-linux-ck.efi)
Boot001F* Windows Boot Manager  HD(4,1bdd9000,64000,2431da1d-d41c-4055-bc90-68bec4f8e897)File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...................
Boot0020  Arch-ck-SSD512        HD(1,800,7d000,307396a3-279e-423c-860b-9fb579d00d21)File(\EFI\arch_grub\vmlinuz-linux-ck.efi)i.n.i.t.r.d.=.\.E.F.I.\.a.r.c.h._.g.r.u.b.\.i.n.i.t.r.a.m.f.s.-.l.i.n.u.x.-.c.k...i.m.g. .r.o.o.t.=./.d.e.v./.d.i.s.k./.b.y.-.u.u.i.d./.e.3.b.8.2.5.0.0.-.c.f.c.b.-.4.c.8.5.-.b.d.2.a.-.9.3.f.2.8.2.e.a.f.0.c.0. .r.o. .q.u.i.e.t...
Boot0021* ArchLinuxUEFI-Grub2-WORKS     HD(1,800,7d000,307396a3-279e-423c-860b-9fb579d00d21)File(\EFI\arch_grub\grubx64.efi)
Boot0022* ArchDirect08  HD(1,800,200000,56203ae7-9129-430f-85c3-143ec253860e)File(\boot\efi\arch\vmlinuz-linux.efi)i.n.i.t.r.d.=.\.b.o.o.t.\.e.f.i.\.a.r.c.h.\.i.n.i.t.r.a.m.f.s.-.l.i.n.u.x...i.m.g. .r.o.o.t.=./.d.e.v./.d.i.s.k./.b.y.-.u.u.i.d./.c.4.e.7.c.a.d.8.-.1.8.a.6.-.4.2.d.2.-.a.a.d.d.-.0.d.e.f.5.f.0.7.7.1.1.f. .r.o. .q.u.i.e.t...
Boot0024* Arch-336c-SSD512      HD(1,800,7d000,307396a3-279e-423c-860b-9fb579d00d21)File(\EFI\arch_grub\vmlinuz-linux.efi)i.n.i.t.r.d.=.\.E.F.I.\.a.r.c.h._.g.r.u.b.\.i.n.i.t.r.a.m.f.s.-.l.i.n.u.x...i.m.g. .r.o.o.t.=./.d.e.v./.d.i.s.k./.b.y.-.u.u.i.d./.e.3.b.8.2.5.0.0.-.c.f.c.b.-.4.c.8.5.-.b.d.2.a.-.9.3.f.2.8.2.e.a.f.0.c.0. .r.o. .q.u.i.e.t...
Boot0026* Arch-SSD512   HD(1,800,7d000,307396a3-279e-423c-860b-9fb579d00d21)File(\EFI\arch_grub\vmlinuz-linux.efi)i.n.i.t.r.d.=.\.E.F.I.\.a.r.c.h._.g.r.u.b.\.i.n.i.t.r.a.m.f.s.-.l.i.n.u.x...i.m.g. .r.o.o.t.=./.d.e.v./.d.i.s.k./.b.y.-.u.u.i.d./.e.3.b.8.2.5.0.0.-.c.f.c.b.-.4.c.8.5.-.b.d.2.a.-.9.3.f.2.8.2.e.a.f.0.c.0. .r.o. .q.u.i.e.t...

Last edited by dhave (2012-05-16 17:48:41)

dhave · 2012-05-17 00:50:53

The cockroach is asking for a conjugal visit.

Stebalien · 2012-05-29 05:54:33

I had the same problem with 3.3.6 but 3.3.7 works appears to work.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-05-15 04:29:59

uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#2 2012-05-15 19:03:46

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#3 2012-05-15 19:23:26

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#4 2012-05-15 20:40:31

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#5 2012-05-15 20:51:12

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#6 2012-05-15 21:06:19

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#7 2012-05-15 21:11:08

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#8 2012-05-15 21:30:15

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#9 2012-05-15 21:36:08

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#10 2012-05-15 23:51:51

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#11 2012-05-16 00:13:58

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#12 2012-05-16 08:54:29

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#13 2012-05-16 16:58:39

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#14 2012-05-16 17:19:42

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#15 2012-05-16 17:44:39

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#16 2012-05-17 00:50:53

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

#17 2012-05-29 05:54:33

Re: uefi "loader-less" booting not working with kernel 3.3.6

Board footer