[SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

p2ranger · 2015-02-11 15:45:54

Hello

I recently made my another attempt at installing arch on a new desktop build. Previous successful attempts were old laptops.

I followed the Beginner's Guide on the Arch wiki.

Currently it stops at one of two places in the boot process:

1. [ OK ] Found device Samsung_SSD_850_EVO_500GB BOOTARCH
Starting File System Check on /dev/sdb6…
2. [ OK ] Started Journal Service
[ OK ] Started udev Kernel Device Manager

I can not consistently recreate either scenario, but it seems to be random which of the two places it stops. Cold boot and CTRL ALT Delete. I doubt that has anything to do with it, but thought I'd add it anyway.

Current setup:

Hardware:
Motherboard - ASUS Z97 Pro (using ethernet adapter and sound on here)
Processor - Intel 4790K
Memory - 16 GB
Graphics - Gigabyte G1 Nvidia GTX 970 SLI x2
Storage - Samsung 850 SSD 500 GB and WD Black HDD 3 TB

I've also configured it to use a static IP

I started this journey by using the live Gparted CD to create partitions. I created two partitions on the SSD. One for windows 8.1 and one for linux. I then created two partitions on the HDD. One for windows, one for linux.

I installed windows 8.1 first. It divided up the partition I gave it. I am able to run Windows. Once that was done I began installing Arch.

I used the Feb 2015 ISO from the torrent.

Current partition scheme for linux:
sda1 /home
sda3 /swap
sda4 /var

sdb1 /
sdb6 /boot

sda is the HDD and sdb is the SSD

The other partitions not listed are for windows. To boot into windows, I use F8 to choose the windows boot manager partition. It currently defaults to the linux partition.

During the install, I mounted the root partition first. I then created directories for each of the other partitions and then mounted them. Home, var, and root are all ext4. Boot is FAT32, and Swap is swap.

I read where I made a couple of mistakes the first attempt on this computer and did a wipe and reinstall again. First mistake was not knowing that /boot needed to be FAT. I then learned that /swap does not need to be in the fstab. I also learned that a FAT partition can not use UUID in the fstab so I took that out and just used /dev/sdb6 instead.

I have run out of things to search for at this point and need help to continue moving forward.

Bellow is the current /etc/fstab. It was generated using

genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

and then edited as noted above

#/dev/sdb1 LABEL=archroot
UUID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	/	ext4	rw,relatime,data=ordered	0 1

#/dev/sdb6 LABEL=BOOTARCH
#UUID=xxxxxxxxx
/dev/sdb6	/boot	vfat	rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro	0	2

# /dev/sda1 LABEL=linux\134x20home
UUID=xxxxxxxx	/home	ext4	rw,relatime,data=ordered	0	2

#/dev/sda4 LABEL=archvar
UUID=xxxxxxxxxx	/var	ext4	rw,relatime,data=ordered	0	2

#/dev/sda3
#UUID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxx	none	swap	defaults	0	0

Thanks for any help that can be provided

Jason

Last edited by p2ranger (2015-02-14 22:20:14)

nullified · 2015-02-13 05:08:20

Hi,

Can you please post your

/etc/default/grub

here in code tags.

edit: by the way, that setup sounds incredible!

Last edited by nullified (2015-02-13 05:23:02)

p2ranger · 2015-02-13 14:51:46

I don't have that file. I followed the Beginner's Guide which showed how to do gummiboot for UEFI motherboards. Should I remove gummiboot and install GRUB2 instead?

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/be … therboards

Thanks

Jason

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-02-13 21:12:06

p2ranger wrote:

Should I remove gummiboot and install GRUB2 instead?

No.

You should share the Windows-generated EFI system partition with your Arch system -- this would obviate the need to enter your firmware (BIOS) settings to choose between the two.

I would advise copying /boot over to the Windows-generated EFI system partition and putting that in your fstab instead of /dev/sda6

For now please mount all your partitions, (arch-)chroot into your system and post the output of:

# gdisk -l /dev/sda
# gdisk -l /dev/sdb
lsblk -f

and the content of your gummiboot loader.conf and arch.conf (or whatever you have called it).

I presume all the UUIDs match.

BTW, nice system!

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2015-02-13 21:12:48)

p2ranger · 2015-02-13 23:43:50

I tried removing gummiboot and installed GRUB2. That didn't work.

As to the UUID's, I just typed in xxxxx's for the post because I didn't feel like transcribing random letters and numbers.

So after reading Head_on_a_Stick's suggestion, I redid my partitions and reinstalled arch again following the Beginner's wiki page and using gummiboot

New Partitions are as follows:

sda1 /home
sda3 /swap
sda4 /var

sdb1 /
sdb3 /boot (originally created from windows install)

Also, I took a screenshot from Gparted of the two disks if there is any info on there that may be of use
http://cotting.us/gparted-sda.jpg
http://cotting.us/gparted-sdb.jpg

Below is the contents and output requested

arch.conf

title          Arch Linux
linux          /vmlinuz-linux
initrd         /initramfs-linux.img
options        root=/dev/sdb1 rw

loader.conf

timeout5
#default 875966af283d44de9e754c1d68848eab-*
default arch

-----------------------------
gdisk -l /dev/sda

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.10

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

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 5860533168 sectors, 2.7 Tib
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): E11d436B-ED6D-47AD-BCD0-F04384ED50B8
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 5860533134
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2925 sectors (1.4 MiB)

Number	Start (sector)	End (sector)	Size	Code	Name
1		2048		45672447	21.8GiB	8300
2	2871662592	5860532223		1.4 TiB		0700
3	2854432768	2871662591		8.2 GiB	8200
4	45672448	285443277		1.3 TiB		8300

gdisk -l /dev/sdb

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.10

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

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 5860533168 sectors, 465.8 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): DA9A6AF9-066B-4C1A-8778-93CCE5A68D97
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 976773134
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2029 sectors (1014.5 KiB)

Number	Start (sector)	End (sector)	Size	Code	Name
1		2048	410247167		195.6 GiB	8300
2	410247168	410861567		300.0 MiB	2700	Basic data partition
3	410861568	411066367		100.0 MiB	EF00	EFI system partition
4	411066368	411328511		128.0 MiB	0C01	Microsoft reserved …
5	411328512	976773119		269.6 GiB	0700	Basic data partition

lsblk -f

sda
	-sda1	/home
	-sda2
	-sda3	[SWAP]
	-sda4	/var
sdb
	-sdb1	/
	-sdb2
	-sdb3	/boot
	-sdb4
	-sdb5
sdd
	-sdd1
	-sdd2
sr0
loop0
loop1
	-arch_airootfs		/etc/resolv.conf
loop2
	-arch_airootfs		/etc/resolv.conf

Since my fstab is changed, here is the new one

# /dev/sdb1 LABEL=archroot
UUID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	/	ext4	rw,relatime,data=ordered	0	1

# /dev/sdb3
#UUID=xxxxxxxx
/dev/sdb3	/boot	vfat	rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022, codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1, shortname=mixed, errors=remount-ro	0	2

# /dev/sda1 LABEL=archvar
UUID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	/home	ext4	rw,relatime,data=ordered	0	2

# /dev/sda4 LABEL=archome
UUID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	/var	ext4	rw,relatime,data=ordered	0	2

# /dev/sda3
#UUID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	none	swap	defaults	0	0

After another install, it still hangs on booting. Here are some of the last lines it displays:

( OK ) Started create system users
          Starting Create static device nodes in /dev...
( OK ) Started Journal service.
( OK ) Started create static device nodes in /dev.
( OK ) Reached target Local File systems (Pre).
( OK ) Started Rebuild hardware database
          Starting udev Kernel Device Manager....
( OK ) Started Rebuild Dynamic linker cache
( OK ) Started udev Kernel Device Manager

I’m glad people like my setup. I spent a lot of time reading and comparing before I came up with what I bought.

Thanks for your help

Jason

Last edited by p2ranger (2015-02-13 23:52:29)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-02-13 23:51:02

All of that looks absolutely fine -- your system should boot up into gummiboot with an option for Windows.

What happens when you boot the system up now?

p2ranger · 2015-02-13 23:55:11

Well I get the option to choose in gummiboot for windows and arch, which is a preferred solution to using F8 as before

I edited my previous post with some of the last lines in the Arch loading sequence are before it stalls out after choosing arch in gummiboot which is what it was doing before

Thanks

Jason

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-02-14 00:05:24

Does Windows boot from the gummiboot menu?

Did you modify /etc/mkinitcpio.conf when you were installing Arch?

p2ranger · 2015-02-14 00:39:16

Yes, Windows boot from the gummiboot menu

No, I didn't modify /etc/mkinitcpio.conf as the guide said that most users could skip modifying it.

Thanks

Jason

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-02-14 00:54:21

Well the problem isn't your boot loader/manager then...

You could try the LTS kernel instead -- it could be a simple incompatibility between your hardware and kernel 3.18.6 (the live ISO uses a different version).

p2ranger · 2015-02-14 03:42:17

Thanks for helping me eliminate possible problems.

This isn't the kind of news I was hoping for. Is this something where I need to compile my own kernel? I've never done that before and I'll need to read up on it.

Is that something that I'll need to replace on the installation media or after arch has been installed on the computer from arch-chroot

Thanks

Jason

bstaletic · 2015-02-14 11:17:06

There's a linux-lts package in official repos, so no need to compile kernel manually. Chroot and install linux-lts, then edit /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf to boot linux-lts instead of linux. You can also create a new entry in /boot/loader/entries/ instead of overwriting existing. If it works with linux-lts you're free to uninstall linux.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-02-14 11:44:26

As bstaletic says, it is a simple matter to install the LTS version and configure gummiboot.
https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?q=linux-lts

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2015-02-14 11:45:03)

p2ranger · 2015-02-14 15:43:29

Thanks

That was not as complicated as I had feared it would have been

However, it still doesn't work

I installed the linux-lts package by doing:

pacman -S linux-lts

and I created /boot/loader/entries/arch-lts.conf

title          Arch Linux
linux          /vmlinuz-linux-lts
initrd         /initramfs-linux-lts.img
options        root=/dev/sdb1 rw

Gummiboot allows me to select arch and arch-lts

Arch-lts still hangs in the same place. It was a good idea though

Any other suggestions?

I've tried using the Evo/Lution CD, but it hit some kind of an error before I could even get a chance to tell it to do anything

Is there any chance that my SLI or triple monitor setup is causing a problem? Should I try removing my video cards running it off the HDMI output on the motherboard. Not really an solution I want to stick with though.

Jason

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-02-14 16:36:02

p2ranger wrote:

I've tried using the Evo/Lution CD, but it hit some kind of an error before I could even get a chance to tell it to do anything

If you use Evo/Lution, we cannot give support on these forums -- it is a different distribution with a different set up (that I know nothing about).
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/fo … pport_ONLY

p2ranger wrote:

Is there any chance that my SLI or triple monitor setup is causing a problem? Should I try removing my video cards running it off the HDMI output on the motherboard. Not really an solution I want to stick with though.

Perhaps, I've never used a discrete GPU under GNU/Linux (let alone two of them) so I'm really not sure about that.

I think that would not be relevant until you tried to start the X server, and at any rate the live ISO worked with that so you should be able to boot to the console with the same system.

I'm out of ideas here...

p2ranger · 2015-02-14 17:46:32

Well thanks for helping me out anyway. Hopefully someone else will come along with more ideas.

I don't plan to use Evo/Lution. I was just trying to see if it it worked and if so what was the difference, but it didn't.

I'll keep looking around for a solution. I have grown fond of the idea of Arch, and don't really want to try another distro.

Thanks

Jason

p2ranger · 2015-02-14 22:19:54

Found it!!!!!

acpi=off

I had to add that to the line to get the installation media to boot up in gummiboot so I could install Arch. I tried it on booting off the ssd and it worked. I added it to the .cfg files so I don't have to add it each time and it works on both the regular kernel and the LTS.

I'm not quite sure what that does (even after reading the wiki), but it allows me to move on in the process.

Thanks for helping work through this. Hopefully this may help someone else who comes across the same problem.

Jason

janpansa · 2015-02-23 07:34:47

@p2ranger

I have a similar issue, see here https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=194038

I had to add the following to boot when using the live cd so that it could boot nomodeset nouveau modeset=0

Please tell me which config file to edit to add acpi=off so that I can try this as well.

Last edited by janpansa (2015-02-23 07:37:10)

Arch Linux

#1 2015-02-11 15:45:54

[SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#2 2015-02-13 05:08:20

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#3 2015-02-13 14:51:46

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#4 2015-02-13 21:12:06

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#5 2015-02-13 23:43:50

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#6 2015-02-13 23:51:02

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#7 2015-02-13 23:55:11

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#8 2015-02-14 00:05:24

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#9 2015-02-14 00:39:16

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#10 2015-02-14 00:54:21

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#11 2015-02-14 03:42:17

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#12 2015-02-14 11:17:06

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#13 2015-02-14 11:44:26

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#14 2015-02-14 15:43:29

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#15 2015-02-14 16:36:02

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#16 2015-02-14 17:46:32

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#17 2015-02-14 22:19:54

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

#18 2015-02-23 07:34:47

Re: [SOLVED] New installation hangs on boot at two different places

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