Arch Linux

pete_mav_mitchell

Guest

[SOLVED] Grub takes ages to boot picks wrong dev then pick correct dev

Attempt 1
I recently attempted to install Arch via USB Archiso on one of the disks on my desktop (CSM BIOS system).

The USB was on /dev/sde
The target disk to install Arch was on /dev/sdg

I installed Arch successfully on LVM encrypted with LUKS.
Unfortunately after the install, GRUB could not open the encrypted volume. I tired many things then eventually gave up.
After a lot of pain, I questioned whether I really needed encryption on my desktop, as I already have Arch working on LVM and LUKS on my UEFI based laptop.
So I scrapped this idea, and went with a simpler install... please read on.

Attempt 2
I started again, a fresh install of Arch this time without LVM and LUKS.
Installation was successful. And the system boots up to Arch successfully. But it takes a few minutes to boot up Arch.
Looking into it further, I noticed Grub attempting to boot Arch from an LVM that no longer exists, i.e. the previous Grub settings /dev/sdg. It fails, then successfully boots Arch (LTS I think) on /dev/sdf.

Note: During the install, Arch was installed on /dev/sdg, since the USB used /dev/sde. After the install without the USB, Arch resides on /dev/sdf.

Some screenshots of the error during the boot process...
https://imgur.com/JmTvEH3
https://imgur.com/mZmI9hx
https://imgur.com/8bIbF6O

So I decided to re-install and re-configured Grub. Booted via the USB, arch-chroot...
grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sdx
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

BUT the problem still persists! Grub attempts to boot the encrypted LVM volume on /dev/sdg1.

1. Why is Grub remembering the previous (attempt 1) settings?
2. More importantly how can I reset Grub to point to the correct device/volume on /dev/sdf1?
3. Fedora is on /dev/sdg, and I can no longer boot this. How can I reset Grub on /dev/sdg to get back my Fedora system also?

Thank you very much for any help.

Last edited by pete_mav_mitchell (2017-09-16 03:59:28)

jasonwryan

Anarchist

From: .nz

Registered: 2009-05-09

Posts: 30,426

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Grub takes ages to boot picks wrong dev then pick correct dev

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pe … ng#by-uuid

You need to post your partition table and grub config for more specific advice.

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Arch + dwm   •   Mercurial repos  •   Surfraw

Registered Linux User #482438

pete_mav_mitchell

Guest

Re: [SOLVED] Grub takes ages to boot picks wrong dev then pick correct dev

Here ya go...

PS: I had a look and the UUID for sdf1 (Arch root volume) in grub.cfg matches the correct UUID Unless I'm missing something else.

Last edited by pete_mav_mitchell (2017-09-16 03:50:39)

jasonwryan

Anarchist

From: .nz

Registered: 2009-05-09

Posts: 30,426

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Grub takes ages to boot picks wrong dev then pick correct dev

Please use code tags when pasting to the boards: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Co … s_and_code

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Arch + dwm   •   Mercurial repos  •   Surfraw

Registered Linux User #482438

pete_mav_mitchell

Guest

Re: [SOLVED] Grub takes ages to boot picks wrong dev then pick correct dev

Please use code tags when pasting to the boards: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Co … s_and_code

Done. Sorry about that, new to the forum.

pete_mav_mitchell

Guest

Re: [SOLVED] Grub takes ages to boot picks wrong dev then pick correct dev

When generating the grub config file again, I noticed the following errors, which I assume may be the root cause of this whole issue:

https://imgur.com/a/nUzDQ

pete_mav_mitchell

Guest

Re: [SOLVED] Grub takes ages to boot picks wrong dev then pick correct dev

I blew away Fedora on /dev/sdg  i.e. deleted all Fedora volumes, so it's an unallocated disk. Now Arch on /dev/sdf boots quickly with no problems.

Whatever was on /dev/sdg is gone, and Arch no longer tries to read or mount it.