Mid-update power loss causing boot errors/hangs

GHNeko · 2023-08-10 22:16:41

Novice to Arch, so I apologize in advance for potentially not including required information.

Was in the middle of a full -Syu update via yay, but had a loss of power during the update.

Now the OS doesn't boot and seems to completely hang even before I can get to emergency shell.

The only info I have right now is as such;

[ 26.820809] Failed to execute /init (error -8)
[ 31.940709] Starting init: /sbin/init exists but couldn't execute it (error -8)
[ 37.060781] Starting init: /bin/init exists but couldn't execute it (error -8)
_

With some google searches and some arch BBS searches, I think I found a solution for the problem?

What I found:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=284266

I tried to look into what rebuilding initramfs is, and I wanted to try it before doing some more search, but I can't because of a more debilitating issue.

I don't know why, but after that 3rd line on the screen, the cursor stops blinking and my PC hangs. Furthermore, I know it hangs (or is it a kernel crash/panic?) because I've left my PC along for over an hour with no change to what's on the screen. I've had some issues in the past before, but I could at least get to emergency shell and diagnose what the issue is on my one with research.

I know the Arch Linux community is very much pro-do it yourself, so I try to figure things on my own. It's how I managed to use it for a year, despite it being my first Linux distro ever. (Usually not recommended to newbies/novices, but I really appreciate rolling updates and the general idea of Arch.)

So yeah, I'm officially lost after trying to figure out how to even make it to shell. Help please?

seth · 2023-08-11 06:07:25

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman … an_upgrade

You'll have to fix it offline (ie. from the install iso, not without internet and re-install the kernel package(s) at least (don't forget to mount the /boot partition if there's one!)

pacman --sysroot /mnt -Syu linux
LC_ALL=C pacman --sysroot /mnt -Qkk | grep -v ', 0 altered files' # this will highlight packages that deviate from their installation base, some of those changes are perfectly normal and benign. Missing files are usually not

GHNeko · 2023-08-11 06:09:15

seth wrote:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman … an_upgrade
You'll have to fix it offline (ie. from the install iso, not without internet and re-install the kernel package(s) at least (don't forget to mount the /boot partition if there's one!)
pacman --sysroot /mnt -Syu linux
LC_ALL=C pacman --sysroot /mnt -Qkk | grep -v ', 0 altered files' # this will highlight packages that deviate from their installation base, some of those changes are perfectly normal and benign. Missing files are usually not

Would I be able to use an Arch Installation ISO dropped onto Ventoy or does it need to be formatted specifically for the Arch Install ISO with Rufus or something?

EDIT: Would it be too much to ask for a brief break down of the commands so that I'm not simply just copying and I'm learning instead?
EDIT2: Nvm I think I understand the jist of what the commands are. Ill prob just look the stuff up I don't know after I fix this.

Last edited by GHNeko (2023-08-11 06:11:17)

seth · 2023-08-11 06:11:37

No idea, sorry. You'll have to try.
(I've never ever in my entire live, ever, used anything but dd for this)

But you just need a system to boot, mount the installed system partitions, and provide pacman - it's not much different from the actual installation so I don't see why whatever ventoy does would get in the way if you used that to install arch itfp.

GHNeko · 2023-08-11 06:14:36

seth wrote:

No idea, sorry. You'll have to try.
(I've never ever in my entire live, ever, used anything but dd for this)
But you just need a system to boot, mount the installed system partitions, and provide pacman - it's not much different from the actual installation so I don't see why whatever ventoy does would get in the way if you used that to install arch itfp.

Yeah I used a dedicated usb drive for the arch install. So I guess Ill just throw it on ventoy and see if it works no issues.

The only partition I need to mount would be /boot and nothing else? Not even /home? All other partitions are just used for storage so afaik, primary is split between /boot and /home since I opted to seperate them for the sake of easier porting of installs.Sorry for the extra questions, I would just like to make sure I don't need to come asking for help again. Thank you in advance.

Last edited by GHNeko (2023-08-11 06:16:18)

seth · 2023-08-11 06:20:32

You don't need /home but of course the root partition before the boot partition

If you get stuck, don't wing it.
Look around the wiki first and then ask.
Winging it has a tendency to make it worse.

GHNeko · 2023-08-11 06:27:18

seth wrote:

You don't need /home but of course the root partition before the boot partition
If you get stuck, don't wing it.
Look around the wiki first and then ask.
Winging it has a tendency to make it worse.

Alright! Sick!

Load up Arch Install ISO onto a live boot.
Boot that up.
Mount root THEN mount boot.

And then resintall the kernal packages through pacman via -sysroot /mnt -Syu linux.
The -Qkk command will seem to show me what's good and what's not good (via missing files) if Im understanding correctly.

If things go wrong, reference the arch bible as best as I can and if things go as intended after the pacman update, I'll either be able to boot back into my install and if not at least reach emergency shell where I'm sure at that point logs will work and I can self diagnose.

Hopefully I'm understanding this correctly! Thank you very much for your help seth, I really appreciate it! Regardless of this works or not lol

EDIT: Got everything fixed.

Had to run

pacman -Qqn | pacman -S -

after mounting root to /mnt and boot to /mnt/boot and then arch-chroot into /mnt and then run the command while addressing any package related issues in the interim.
https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comm … t/jvpcd3b/

Last edited by GHNeko (2023-08-11 19:49:17)

Arch Linux

#1 2023-08-10 22:16:41

Mid-update power loss causing boot errors/hangs

#2 2023-08-11 06:07:25

Re: Mid-update power loss causing boot errors/hangs

#3 2023-08-11 06:09:15

Re: Mid-update power loss causing boot errors/hangs

#4 2023-08-11 06:11:37

Re: Mid-update power loss causing boot errors/hangs

#5 2023-08-11 06:14:36

Re: Mid-update power loss causing boot errors/hangs

#6 2023-08-11 06:20:32

Re: Mid-update power loss causing boot errors/hangs

#7 2023-08-11 06:27:18

Re: Mid-update power loss causing boot errors/hangs

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