Arch Won't Boot

oib111 · 2009-06-24 01:19:51

So I installed Arch to my SD card. I turn on my computer and boot to my SD card and see GRUB. I choose to boot Arch Linux. I get an Error 21: Selected disk does not exist. So I change it from:

root (hd3,0)

to

root(hd0,0)

So I try booting again, and it appears to be booting for a while but then I see on my screen all these errors:

ERROR: root fs cannot be detected. Try using the rootfstype = kernel parameter.
Waiting for devices to settle....done.
Root device '/dev/disk/by-uuid/b6bdc19a-7a29-47cf-a41c-2f1b0d4f9812' doesn't exist, attempting to create it.
ERROR: Failed to parse block device name for 'b6bdc19a-7a29-47cf-a41c-2f1b0d4f9812'
ERROR: Unable to create/detect root device 'dev/disk/by-uuid/b6bdc19a-7a29-47cf-a41c-2f1b0d4f9812'
Dropping to a recovery shell... type 'exit' to reboot
NOTE: klibc contains no 'ls' binary, use 'echo *' instead
If the device 'dev/disk/by-uuid/b6bdc19a-7a29-47cf-a41c-2f1b0d4f9812' gets created while you are here try adding 'rootdelay=8' or higher to the kernel command-line
ramfs$

What's going on?

Last edited by oib111 (2009-06-24 01:20:46)

Statix · 2009-06-24 03:00:09

It appears that the installer thought your root was /dev/sdc1 (based on what it made the grub root line). You'll probably need to change the root line in your /boot/grub/menu.lst, though it looks like it's using UUID right now.

What is your root device for your arch install?

You'll need to change root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/blabla to the correct device if it didn't get the right one.

If you're confused, you can boot a livecd and run fdisk -l. That'll give you your partition layout.

oib111 · 2009-06-24 03:03:07

Well what happens is when my USB is plugged in (it has the installer on it) my SD card is recognized as sdd (GRUB numbers start from 0, so 3 is the fourth number, hence sdd). But without my USB plugged in it isn't. And, I'm pretty sure it's the right UUID, I'll check.

EDIT:

Oh, and remember I changed the line from (hd3,0) to (hd0,0).

Last edited by oib111 (2009-06-24 03:03:32)

Statix · 2009-06-24 03:11:08

Looks like it must be the uuid device then. If it still doesn't work and you think it's correct, trying running a livecd and mounting that device.

Like,

mount /dev/disk/by-uuid/blabla /mnt/bla

If that mounts the right device then the UUID is fine. Then I'm clueless as to why it won't work.

oib111 · 2009-06-24 03:14:01

Ok I'll try that now.

EDIT:

Tried:

mount /dev/disk/by-uuid/b6bdc19a-7a29-47cf-a41c-2f1b0d4f9812 /mnt

It said:

mount: you must specify the filesystem type

Last edited by oib111 (2009-06-24 03:24:03)

lilsirecho · 2009-06-24 03:19:41

Perhaps you need to revert back to previous mkinitcpio to solve this problem?

oib111 · 2009-06-24 03:27:15

How do I do that?

Gen2ly · 2009-06-24 14:55:50

oib, Statix's advice on uuid is good advice, (it's a unique id that will always identify that device) so you could put that as

root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/b6bdc19a-7a29-47cf-a41c-2f1b0d4f9812

in your menu.lst. Assuming that is the correct uuid. (you probably already know but) You can find uuid by:

ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid/

If you're not sure to what device to use, post your "fdisk -l" and the results of the above command.

Your next step (as I said before) is to create a custom initramfs with mkinitcpio that has usb driver support.

Vladman · 2009-06-24 15:08:42

I just installed arch on usb drive yesterday and when I rebooted I had the same problem like you.
Rebooted again and everything loaded fine.
Not sure what the problem is though.

oib111 · 2009-06-24 16:39:41

I'm positive that's the UUID. I'll check one more time just to make sure, then I'll try changing it to:

root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/b6bdc19a-7a29-47cf-a41c-2f1b0d4f9812

Didn't work, I'm still getting thrown into the recovery console. Also, it's kind of odd. I can only use (hd0,0). If I try (hd1,0) or (hd2,0) I get this:

Booting command list
root(hd1,0) //or hd2
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/b6bdc19a-7a29-47cf-a41c-2f1b0d4f9812 ro
Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition
Press any key to continue

Last edited by oib111 (2009-06-24 19:32:32)

Gen2ly · 2009-06-24 21:55:04

Hmm, that's strange. Not sure just why it's doing that.

As for your booting to $ramfs you'll need to create a custom initramfs with mkinitcpio as I said before. Have you done that yet?

oib111 · 2009-06-24 22:13:07

How exactly do I do that?

EDIT:

Was looking on the mkinitcpio wiki page and i found out how, but I installed to an SD card not my USB? So adding USB support wouldn't help, would it? Also I have a question, what exactly is initramfs and what does it do? And does it only differ from initrd by not being a block device?

Last edited by oib111 (2009-06-24 23:05:45)

self_bias_resistor · 2009-09-19 12:40:04

Don't know if it is solved already, but I had the exact same error msg (another UUID of course)
with my Arch on a HDD and with advice from this thread

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=71261

I rebuild my mkinitcpio

mkinitcpio -p kernel26

and now it works fine again.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-06-24 01:19:51

Arch Won't Boot

#2 2009-06-24 03:00:09

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#3 2009-06-24 03:03:07

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#4 2009-06-24 03:11:08

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#5 2009-06-24 03:14:01

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#6 2009-06-24 03:19:41

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#7 2009-06-24 03:27:15

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#8 2009-06-24 14:55:50

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#9 2009-06-24 15:08:42

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#10 2009-06-24 16:39:41

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#11 2009-06-24 21:55:04

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#12 2009-06-24 22:13:07

Re: Arch Won't Boot

#13 2009-09-19 12:40:04

Re: Arch Won't Boot

Board footer