Stuck on "Loading initial ramdisk"

jakub · 2015-02-23 15:51:57

From time to time I was encountering problem with my laptop/installation - occasionally Arch stopped booting just after printing "Loading initial ramdisk". Recently after installing new disk drive (SSD one) the problem appears often. I have totally no idea how to handle it. My old disk was Westen Digital WD3200BEVT and new one is Samsung 850 PRO. And like I said I have impression that with new drive I can't boot my machine more often than before.

EscapedNull · 2015-02-28 05:11:16

Is your initrd file especially large? Can you cat the file from a live CD or your booted system? Is GRUB/Linux/mkinitcpio up to date? Have you run fsck or recreated the filesystem on /boot lately?

Sorry I can't be more help; I'm just thinking about what I would try if I ran into the same problem.

jakub · 2015-03-01 20:57:00

Is your initrd file especially large?

ls -lah /boot/

razem 25M
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root 4,0K 02-20 21:25 ./
drwxr-xr-x 18 root root 4,0K 02-24 21:28 ../
drwxr-xr-x  6 root root 4,0K 02-21 00:08 grub/
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  18M 02-21 00:45 initramfs-linux-fallback.img
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3,4M 02-21 00:45 initramfs-linux.img
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3,9M 02-07 08:45 vmlinuz-linux

Can you cat the file from a live CD or your booted system?

What do you mean exactly?

Is GRUB/Linux/mkinitcpio up to date?

Yes, I think so. Recently I played with fonts settings in virtual console and I did mkinitcpio so I think it's up to date

Have you run fsck or recreated the filesystem on /boot lately?

No

Last edited by jakub (2015-03-01 20:59:43)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-03-01 21:28:48

jakub wrote:

I did mkinitcpio

What was the exact command you used?

What is the content of /etc/mkinitcpio.conf?

Are you sure the connectors and cables for your drive are OK?

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2015-03-01 21:29:42)

jakub · 2015-03-01 21:41:58

cat /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

# vim:set ft=sh
# MODULES
# The following modules are loaded before any boot hooks are
# run.  Advanced users may wish to specify all system modules
# in this array.  For instance:
#     MODULES="piix ide_disk reiserfs"
MODULES=""

# BINARIES
# This setting includes any additional binaries a given user may
# wish into the CPIO image.  This is run last, so it may be used to
# override the actual binaries included by a given hook
# BINARIES are dependency parsed, so you may safely ignore libraries
BINARIES=""

# FILES
# This setting is similar to BINARIES above, however, files are added
# as-is and are not parsed in any way.  This is useful for config files.
FILES=""

# HOOKS
# This is the most important setting in this file.  The HOOKS control the
# modules and scripts added to the image, and what happens at boot time.
# Order is important, and it is recommended that you do not change the
# order in which HOOKS are added.  Run 'mkinitcpio -H <hook name>' for
# help on a given hook.
# 'base' is _required_ unless you know precisely what you are doing.
# 'udev' is _required_ in order to automatically load modules
# 'filesystems' is _required_ unless you specify your fs modules in MODULES
# Examples:
##   This setup specifies all modules in the MODULES setting above.
##   No raid, lvm2, or encrypted root is needed.
#    HOOKS="base"
#
##   This setup will autodetect all modules for your system and should
##   work as a sane default
#    HOOKS="base udev autodetect block filesystems"
#
##   This setup will generate a 'full' image which supports most systems.
##   No autodetection is done.
#    HOOKS="base udev block filesystems"
#
##   This setup assembles a pata mdadm array with an encrypted root FS.
##   Note: See 'mkinitcpio -H mdadm' for more information on raid devices.
#    HOOKS="base udev block mdadm encrypt filesystems"
#
##   This setup loads an lvm2 volume group on a usb device.
#    HOOKS="base udev block lvm2 filesystems"
#
##   NOTE: If you have /usr on a separate partition, you MUST include the
#    usr, fsck and shutdown hooks.
HOOKS="base udev autodetect modconf block filesystems keyboard fsck keymap consolefont"

# COMPRESSION
# Use this to compress the initramfs image. By default, gzip compression
# is used. Use 'cat' to create an uncompressed image.
#COMPRESSION="gzip"
#COMPRESSION="bzip2"
#COMPRESSION="lzma"
#COMPRESSION="xz"
#COMPRESSION="lzop"
#COMPRESSION="lz4"

# COMPRESSION_OPTIONS
# Additional options for the compressor
#COMPRESSION_OPTIONS=""

I used mkinitcpio -p linux as far as I remember....

I think that connectors should be just fine. Otherwise grub wouldn't load at all, right?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-03-01 21:47:31

jakub wrote:

I think that connectors should be just fine. Otherwise grub wouldn't load at all, right?

An intermittent failure would suggest some sort of hardware problem to me -- can you check the drive in another machine?

jakub · 2015-03-01 21:50:30

I don't think that the drive is faulty. It's a new drive (Samsung SSD) and problem shows up once for few boots. Previously, with WD HDD drive the problem was also present, but it occured not so often. It happens not on regular basis thus it's hard to track down the reason why it happens. OK, it could be the SATA connector in laptop you think? I could try buying ultrabay case for drive and trying using 2nd connector - one which is currently connected to optical drive.

Last edited by jakub (2015-03-01 21:52:32)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-03-01 21:57:22

jakub wrote:

OK, it could be the SATA connector in laptop you think?

That's what I'm thinking, yes.

jakub · 2015-03-01 22:03:34

Is it possible then that also booting Windows would be problematic? Or not necessarily? For a long long time I wasn't using Windows on regular basis, but I don't remember any strange problems booting it on previous drive (I mentioned WD HDD - I had dual boot on it, Arch and Windows 7).

So the only way to check connector now is to swap drive to ultrabay dock / external usb case / external firewire case ?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-03-01 22:07:54

jakub wrote:

So the only way to check connector now is to swap drive to ultrabay dock / external usb case / external firewire case ?

Well you could try it in another machine, but otherwise yes I think so.

I'm not exactly a hardware expert BTW, I'm just offering an opinion.

jakub · 2015-03-01 22:11:11

But you mean to try the disk drive in another machine? I think it's highly impossible that both disks I'm using were faulty.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-03-01 22:16:55

jakub wrote:

But you mean to try the disk drive in another machine? I think it's highly impossible that both disks I'm using were faulty.

I mean to say that the connector and/or cable is faulty and both the drives were fine.

megabrain · 2015-03-04 11:43:46

have same problem on my lenovo laptop.
funny thing is that it actually boots after 3-4 tries. and always boots from lts kernel without any hitch.
so something wrong in new kernel

jakub · 2015-03-04 12:16:49

megabrain wrote:

have same problem on my lenovo laptop.
funny thing is that it actually boots after 3-4 tries. and always boots from lts kernel without any hitch.
so something wrong in new kernel

So you have problem only using standard kernel in some recent version? It always works with LTS kernel? It worked with previous non-lts kernels?

megabrain · 2015-03-04 12:45:01

jakub wrote:

So you have problem only using standard kernel in some recent version? It always works with LTS kernel? It worked with previous non-lts kernels?

Yap. Problem appears somewhere after 3.18. i, like a lot ppl here, had problems with broadcom wifi right after 3.18 which caused me to install lts. before that i never used lts and never had problems as described

jakub · 2015-03-04 13:47:41

So maybe I'll try LTS kernel one day. I was planning to switch to some ck-kernel anyway.

browniesrgut · 2015-03-16 22:18:21

Hello there,

Same'O here on a lenovo laptop too ! After a hard disk change (I took myself a Seagate 1Tb SSHD) and complete reinstallation. But (cos' there's a "but"), in only happens when I reboot. What about your problem ? Is it the same ?

Otherwise it boots smoothly from a "COLD POWER ON". I heard something about setting a "reboot=cold" option but I can't figure out where to put this with GRUB2.

Cheers,
Browny

jakub · 2015-03-17 07:49:28

I don't have a clue I didn't pay attention. But I will next time problem appears...

For now I'm using linux-ck kernel and there were already few reboots and few "cold" starts and everything is fine so far.
I have one suspect. Of course maybe it's just a coincidence. But down to business - some time ago I complained about external HDD drive got disconnecting randomly. I got new cable for it and issue is gone. I also don't experience 'stuck on loading initial ramdisk' issue. I'm wondering if faulty USB cable could be the source of the problem (sometimes it was connected even when there was no device attached, no mp3 player or external drive). If anything happens worth mentioning I'll let you know.

Last edited by jakub (2015-03-17 07:52:25)

jakub · 2015-03-29 10:16:25

browniesrgut wrote:

...But (cos' there's a "but"), in only happens when I reboot. What about your problem ? Is it the same ?

It just happed again on my machine while rebooting.

cedricmc · 2015-04-01 08:28:17

Hi there!

This used to happen to me from time to time when I had a bunch of HDs (RAID5). But now that I have a single SSD, it happens more often. As I got used to to problem, I didn't debug it but, perhaps, I should. I'll will try deleting the "quiet" option from the kernel command in grub's configuration.

I let you know.

jakub · 2015-04-01 08:42:26

I could be wrong but I don't think 'quiet' matters at this point. I see just 'loading initial ramdisk' before computers freezes no matter 'quite' option is present or not.

ahioros · 2015-04-01 16:02:41

try with mkinitcpio -p linux ,

jakub · 2015-04-06 12:54:17

According to Boot debugging I added verbose option. If it won't show any extra output wile computer freezes on 'loading initial RAMDISK' then I'll try debug option. debug options gives a lot of extra info while booting but it also slow down booting process (probably it's matter of configuration but on my machine console is not fast enough to process all the output when debug was added to boot parameters and booting is really long - actually I wasn't patient, rebooted machine and replaced debug with verbose).

Last edited by jakub (2015-04-06 12:56:57)

vr4b4c · 2015-05-14 12:02:07

I am having same issue here with an POV 330-1 ION Board. Boot stops at Loading inital ramdisk ...

Booting 'Arch Linux'
Loading Linux linux ...
Loading initial ramdisk ...
_

Today I have this already two times. Need to hold power off button to power off, and then power on device. After that it bootet just fine.

I added this GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="debug irqpoll ipv6.disable=1" to /etc/default/grub following the "grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg" . Let see if there will be something more on screen then just that above.

jakub · 2015-05-14 12:35:42

vr4b4c wrote:

I am having same issue here with an POV 330-1 ION Board. Boot stops at Loading inital ramdisk ...
Booting 'Arch Linux'
Loading Linux linux ...
Loading initial ramdisk ...
_
Today I have this already two times. Need to hold power off button to power off, and then power on device. After that it bootet just fine.
I added this GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="debug irqpoll ipv6.disable=1" to /etc/default/grub following the "grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg" . Let see if there will be something more on screen then just that above.

If you encounter this issue frequently try following instructions on Wiki (I provided link in previous post).

Arch Linux

#1 2015-02-23 15:51:57

Stuck on "Loading initial ramdisk"

#2 2015-02-28 05:11:16

Re: Stuck on "Loading initial ramdisk"

#3 2015-03-01 20:57:00

Re: Stuck on "Loading initial ramdisk"

#4 2015-03-01 21:28:48

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#5 2015-03-01 21:41:58

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#6 2015-03-01 21:47:31

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#7 2015-03-01 21:50:30

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#8 2015-03-01 21:57:22

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#10 2015-03-01 22:07:54

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#12 2015-03-01 22:16:55

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#13 2015-03-04 11:43:46

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#17 2015-03-16 22:18:21

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#19 2015-03-29 10:16:25

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#22 2015-04-01 16:02:41

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#25 2015-05-14 12:35:42

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