[SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

robo731 · 2019-04-17 23:45:20

A little while back my EFI partition got deleted. I have since recreated my EFI partition and restored Grub and my Windows and Manjaro boot loaders.

I now want to get Arch up and running again.

I tried to boot up from a grub shell with the following procedure:

set root=(hd1,gpt7)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda7
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
boot

However I get the error that vmlinuz-linux could not be found. I mounted the file system and the /boot directory is completely empty.

Once I get the system booted up I need to change the UUID in fstab to the new UUID for my new EFI parition, but I'm not sure where to go from here.

Last edited by robo731 (2019-04-19 15:01:03)

mmdamin · 2019-04-18 04:46:00

boot archiso, mount your root to /mnt and other stuffs to their path.
arch-chroot to /mnt then run 'pacman -S linux'
this will restore your kernel.
if your cache isn't present you need to download ~70MB.

archiso# mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
archiso# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot/efi
archiso# arch-chroot /mnt
chroot# pacman -S linux
chroot# exit
archiso# reboot

Last edited by mmdamin (2019-04-18 10:04:51)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2019-04-18 10:41:42

robo731 wrote:

I get the error that vmlinuz-linux could not be found. I mounted the file system and the /boot directory is completely empty

Did you have /boot mounted on another partition (ie, not /dev/sda7)?

mmdadmin wrote:

archiso# mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
archiso# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot/efi

The OP seems to have the root partition on /dev/sda7 and we don't know if they have /boot/efi at all (or where it is mounted if they do) — the installation guide suggests either /boot or /efi as the mount point for the EFI system partition.

mmdamin · 2019-04-18 11:21:10

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

The OP seems to have the root partition on /dev/sda7 and we don't know if they have /boot/efi at all (or where it is mounted if they do) — the installation guide suggests either /boot or /efi as the mount point for the EFI system partition.

I said as example; (S)he should replace it with his/her actual disk.

robo731 · 2019-04-18 15:09:51

To be completely honest, I don't exactly remember, but here is my fstab:

# <file system>                                 <dir>           <type>          <options>                                                                                                       <dump> <pass>
# /dev/sda7 LABEL=Arch
UUID=c0e5ee18-7fd4-499d-aae2-f7c30031352f       /               ext4            rw,relatime                                                                                                     0       1

# /dev/sda2
UUID=54A9-30C8                                  /boot           vfat            rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro       0       2

# /dev/sda5
UUID=D65A8AA15A8A7DCD                           /mnt/ntfs       ntfs            defaults                                                                                                        0       0

It seems to indicate to me that I put boot on my EFI partition, which, as I mentioned was wiped out.

V1del · 2019-04-18 15:13:08

In that case mount that instead of /boot/efi, and reinstall the linux package.

robo731 · 2019-04-18 15:39:16

So, just to make sure I'm clear on this, I should do the following:

First I will update fstab to point to the new EFI partition as opposed to the one that was wiped.

Then I'll run:

archiso# mount /dev/sda7 /mnt
archiso# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot
archiso# arch-chroot /mnt
chroot# pacman -S linux
chroot# exit
archiso# reboot

Head_on_a_Stick · 2019-04-18 15:41:54

robo731 wrote:

chroot# pacman -S linux

I would use

# pacman -Syu linux

The kernel version has been changing pretty quickly recently and your package database might be old.

robo731 · 2019-04-18 15:52:01

I thought of another consideration actually. I mentioned before that I also have Manjaro installed on this system.

The fstab for Manjaro looks like this:

# <file system>                           <mount point>           <type>  <options>  <dump>  <pass>
PARTUUID=75057376-1e72-4444-86fa-9247c15ca353                            /boot/efi               vfat    defaults,noatime 0 2
UUID=8ebb21e6-9440-4cbe-b8d3-13aca67ec511 /                       ext4    defaults,noatime,discard 0 1
tmpfs                                     /tmp                    tmpfs   defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0
UUID=D65A8AA15A8A7DCD                     /run/media/rob/Storage  ntfs    defaults,users 0 0

And when I'm booted in Manjaro /boot looks like this:

total 45281
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root      512 Dec 31  1969 efi
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root     4096 Mar 29 13:52 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 29894829 Apr  3 21:38 initramfs-4.14-x86_64-fallback.img
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  9367630 Apr  3 21:38 initramfs-4.14-x86_64.img
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  2219520 Mar 26 07:11 intel-ucode.img
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       23 Mar 27 14:39 linux414-x86_64.kver
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root     4096 Dec  2 17:00 memtest86+
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  4859680 Mar 27 14:39 vmlinuz-4.14-x86_64

Will installing the linux package overwrite any of those files? Could that cause a problem?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2019-04-18 16:00:19

robo731 wrote:

Will installing the linux package overwrite any of those files?

No, Manjaro is mounting /boot/efi to the ESP so the Arch kernel image will go in there instead.

And it also looks like Manjaro number their kernel images, Arch Linux always supplies vmlinuz-linux (with no number) for the vanilla kernel package.

robo731 · 2019-04-18 16:23:07

Ok, got it, thanks.

I did the procedure I outlined above without error.

Now I want to get an Arch entry back in grub. I want to use the grub I already have from Manjaro if possible.

Should I boot up Arch like this:

set root=(hd1,gpt7)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda7
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
boot

Or chroot like I just did and then:

grub-install
update-grub

Or is that not the right way to go about it?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2019-04-18 16:28:46

If you want to use Manjaro's GRUB then boot into that and update the configuration file from there (presuming Manjaro is controlling the bootloader).

Note that Arch does not have an update-grub wrapper script and running grub-install from Arch will remove Manjaro's GRUB configuration.

To boot from the GRUB command line try

set root=(hd0,2)
linux /vmlinuz-linux rw root=/dev/sda7
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
boot

robo731 · 2019-04-18 16:32:16

Ah, I see. Thanks for clarifying and for the correction.

I ran update-grub on Manjaro and it picked up Arch on dev/sda7, but it did not create an entry for it.

mmdamin · 2019-04-18 16:34:39

Also you can install systemd-boot;
After that pressing F12 on your firmware startup will open a menu contains "grub" and "Linux Boot Manager".
grub will start grub then Manjaroo, And Linux Boot Manager will start systemd-boot then arch.
Also you can use EFISTUB to boot kernel directly without a bootloader, by that and efibootmgr you can create entries in your firmware, one for Manjaroo and one for Arch.

Last edited by mmdamin (2019-04-18 16:36:32)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2019-04-18 16:37:20

robo731 wrote:

I ran update-grub on Manjaro and it picked up Arch on dev/sda7, but it did not create an entry for it.

Probably because Arch's kernel image is located at /boot/efi in Manjaro.

You can use a file at /boot/grub/custom.cfg (in Manjaro) containing a menuentry stanza to boot Arch and it should be sourced automatically by Manjaro's grub.cfg

robo731 · 2019-04-19 14:59:06

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

You can use a file at /boot/grub/custom.cfg (in Manjaro) containing a menuentry stanza to boot Arch and it should be sourced automatically by Manjaro's grub.cfg

Thank you, that worked.

Here's the menuentry I used:

menuentry  'Arch' --class arch {
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod fat
        set root='hd0,gpt2'
        search --fs-uuid --set=root 7F1E-EE21
        linux   /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=c0e5ee18-7fd4-499d-aae2-f7c30031352f  rw
        initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
}

Last edited by robo731 (2019-04-19 15:02:05)

Arch Linux

#1 2019-04-17 23:45:20

[SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#2 2019-04-18 04:46:00

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#3 2019-04-18 10:41:42

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#4 2019-04-18 11:21:10

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#5 2019-04-18 15:09:51

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#6 2019-04-18 15:13:08

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#7 2019-04-18 15:39:16

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#8 2019-04-18 15:41:54

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#9 2019-04-18 15:52:01

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#10 2019-04-18 16:00:19

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#11 2019-04-18 16:23:07

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#12 2019-04-18 16:28:46

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#13 2019-04-18 16:32:16

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#14 2019-04-18 16:34:39

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#15 2019-04-18 16:37:20

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

#16 2019-04-19 14:59:06

Re: [SOLVED] Booting Arch from Grub shell with missing vmlinuz

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