Arch Linux

amca01

Member

Registered: 2008-12-28

Posts: 59

Upgrade failed to create ramdisk

I have just done an upgrade (with "sudo pacman -Syu") but I had inadvertently let my /tmp directory get completely full.  Thus the upgrade was unable to write to it, and I ended up with masses of error messages in the console like

install: error copying '/usr/sbin/fsck.ext4' to '/tmp/mkinitcpio.G6BXvP/root/usr/sbin/fsck.ext4': No space left on device

cp: error copying '/lib/modules/5.16.0-arch1-1/kernel/drivers/cdrom/cdrom.ko.zst' to '/tmp/mkinitcpio.G6BXvP/root/lib/modules/5.16.0-arch1-1/kernel/cdrom.ko.zst': No space left on device

zstd: /tmp/mkinitcpio.G6BXvP/root/lib/modules/5.16.0-arch1-1/kernel/cdrom.ko.zst: unexpected end of file

depmod: ERROR: failed to load symbols from /tmp/mkinitcpio.G6BXvP/root/lib/modules/5.16.0-arch1-1/kernel/xhci-pci-renesas.ko.zst: Invalid argument

I understand from https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/66967 that this may not be a pacman error, but a hooks error.  The trouble for me is that the system (or at least pacman) believes the upgrade to have been completed; a second run of "sudo pacman -Syu" had no effect.  I'm not exactly sure the best way to proceed.  I asked on reddit, and I was told to try

mkinitcpio -p linux

but which kernel?  My current working kernel (from previous upgrade on Nov 2, 2021) is 5.14.16-arch1-1, and the version downloaded by the upgrade is 5.16.arch1-1.  I could also (as was recommended) re-download the appropriate kernel using pacman ... I'm still confused.

What is the best way of "re-upgrading" in a way which will create a ramdisk with the appropriate hooks?  (I've cleaned out /tmp so that there's plenty of space there now!)

many thanks,
Al

mpan

Member

Registered: 2012-08-01

Posts: 1,348

Website

Re: Upgrade failed to create ramdisk

Reinstalling the kernel should invoke all the hooks:

sudo pacman -S linux

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Sometimes I seem a bit harsh — don’t get offended too easily!

amca01

Member

Registered: 2008-12-28

Posts: 59

Re: Upgrade failed to create ramdisk

Many thanks - in fact I tried that, and was pleased to see that it did indeed invoke all the hooks.  Then I re-booted ... to find I have a system which is unbootable.  It can't seem to find a bootloader, so just dumps me into the BIOS with the options of Windows Boot Manager,  ATA HDD0. and PCI LAN.  Windows Boot manager doesn't do anything as I completely wiped windows from the machine not long after purchasing it (it's a Lenovo X1 Carbon 3rd Gen - a bit old, but it's been a fantastic and dependable workhorse).

I guess I can boot from the BIOS using the appropriate hooks, and then try to properly re-build the init files (including mkinitcpio) once I get started.  I haven't had to do this for a very long time indeed, and I'm completely out of practice with low-level system commands. 

Drat!  What a pain.

[Some time after]  I tried a few reboots, and a few times to enter the BIOS setup, but after a while the machine seemed to work itself out and started OK - I have no idea what happened, or why.  Anyway, I immediately did another upgrade, and I hope I'm now back on track. 

Thank you again!

Last edited by amca01 (2022-01-14 01:44:58)

mpan

Member

Registered: 2012-08-01

Posts: 1,348

Website

Re: Upgrade failed to create ramdisk

That is indeed weird, as mkinitcpio is not touching the bootloader. It only generates images to be booted by it, but the bootloader itself is not affected. Not even touching the configs.

Glad to hear that the issue no longer appears, though it would be nice to know, what was the actual cause.

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Sometimes I seem a bit harsh — don’t get offended too easily!

amca01

Member

Registered: 2008-12-28

Posts: 59

Re: Upgrade failed to create ramdisk

Yes, it's a mystery.  It might be a hardware issue: it is a very old machine (2015); maybe the CMOS battery is beginning to wear out, I'll just keep hoping for the best!  I don't really want to have to buy a new one at the moment (I've just taken out a 20 year mortgage ... )