(SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-06 22:06:58

Hello to all!
For some odd reason, my recently installed arch won't recognize it's root filesystem. I installed arch on /dev/sda10, and I have a separate /boot partition on /dev/sda1
GRUB 0.97 Config (arch line):

title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda10 rw vga=795
initrd /initramfs-linux.img

fstab:

tmpfs		/tmp	tmpfs	nodev,nosuid	0	0
/dev/sda10 / ext4 defaults 0 1
/dev/sda1 /boot ext4 defaults 0 1
/dev/sda12 swap swap defaults 0 0

Thanks for the help!

Last edited by Spartacus1 (2012-03-07 16:03:25)

alphaniner · 2012-03-06 22:10:32

Disregard.

Last edited by alphaniner (2012-03-06 22:11:04)

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-06 22:15:49

alphaniner · 2012-03-06 22:23:57

Sorry, I gave some stupid advice and wanted to quickly hide my shame.

It might be helpful if you could be more specific about the error, though.

ewaller · 2012-03-06 22:39:35

Spartacus1 wrote:

...

root   (hd0,0)

...

Well there's your problem

You are pointing to the boot partition, not the root partition. Try (hd0,9)

Last edited by ewaller (2012-03-06 22:40:00)

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-06 22:40:19

Ok, I forgive.
My arch root is on /dev/sda10, my boot partition is on /dev/sda1.
Whenever I boot up arch, I get a message saying "Special device /dev/sda10 doesn't exist" and I'm dropped to a recovery shell (the same happens with fallback). I also tried using UUID, and the same happened.
In the recovery shell I've tried "mount -t ext4 /dev/sda10 /" and it says the same + "Bad filesystem" although with other distros I can mount it fine.
Thanks for the quick responses!

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-06 22:41:18

@ewaller
I have the kernel on /dev/sda1, which would probably mean hd0,0

Last edited by Spartacus1 (2012-03-06 22:43:23)

cfr · 2012-03-06 22:48:24

I don't think this is the cause of the problem but you shouldn't have two partitions listed with fsck priority 1 in fstab. Root should be 1 and anything else you want checked should be 2.

You might try:
- identifying partitions using UUID [Edit: I just saw your later post saying you'd tried this]
- using ext2 or ext3 for /boot rather than ext4 which legacy grub does not officially support (although it should work according to the wiki even so)

Last edited by cfr (2012-03-06 22:50:30)

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-06 22:49:40

@cfr
I'll give that a try

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-06 22:57:18

@cfr
No success, but thanks anyway

ewaller · 2012-03-06 23:12:01

Spartacus1 wrote:

@ewaller
I have the kernel on /dev/sda1, which would probably mean hd0,0

you are right, my bad

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-07 03:23:53

Should I send this in as a bug report as it seems multiple people are having the same issue? (I used netinst image)

falconindy · 2012-03-07 03:30:13

If you want it closed immediately, sure. This is a configuration issue, not a bug in mkinitcpio or your bootloader.

ewaller · 2012-03-07 03:30:33

From the Grub command line, try typing root (hd0, and then press Tab. Does it display the partition map you would expect?

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-07 03:36:27

@ewaller
Yes

ewaller · 2012-03-07 04:15:14

Okay

In the recovery shell, does ls /dev/sd* include /dev/sda10? If not, is it possible partition 10 is on another drive?

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-07 04:27:46

I get a message when I run "ls /dev/sd*" and "ls /dev/sda" saying "No such file or directory", and I'm sure I'm on the right drive for it is the only one I got.

ewaller · 2012-03-07 05:10:07

Well, that is unfortunate.

From the recovery shell, can you check to see which kernel modules are loaded using the lsmod command?
I have a feeling that your initrd is hosed, we may need recover using chroot.

Have you tried the fallback initrd ?

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-07 05:25:26

Yes, I have tried the fallback, and I get the same result
I'll report back with "lsmod"

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-07 05:38:36

ismod reports:

sr_mod
cdrom
pata_acpi
ata_piix
libata
scsi_mod
uhci_hcd
ehci_hcd
usbcore
usb_common

ewaller · 2012-03-07 06:29:25

You don't seem to have sd_mod in that list. That means you wont have /dev/sd* nodes. Quod erat demonstrandum.

Could you please check to see if the recovery shell has any /dev/hd* nodes?
It might be time to boot from the iso cd and look at the output of lsusb -nn to get an idea of your hardware.
You don't have anything exotic set up do you? Like a RAID set?
Can you confirm that you are using a stock kernel?

falconindy · 2012-03-07 12:35:44

Even if he was using raid or lvm, the underlying block devices should have shown up. You will never see hd* nodes unless you're using the ancient IDE subsys which is only left in the lts kernel.

Posting your /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and the output of 'lsinitcpio -a' against your initramfs image would seem prudent...

Last edited by falconindy (2012-03-07 14:40:44)

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-07 15:23:05

@ewaller
I am using the latest Official Arch kernel as of March 5th 2012.
I have Arch installed on a USB drive.

@falconindy
I'll post that.

Last edited by Spartacus1 (2012-03-07 15:38:00)

Spartacus1 · 2012-03-07 15:44:49

mkinitcpio.conf (with hashtags removed):

MODULES=""
BINARIES=""
FILES=""
HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata scsi sata filesystems usbinput"

alphaniner · 2012-03-07 15:49:08

Spartacus1 wrote:

I have Arch installed on a USB drive.

$ mkinitcpio -H usb
==> Help for hook 'usb':
This hook loads the necessary modules for an usb root device.  Detection will
take place at runtime. To minimize the modules in the image, add the autodetect
hook too.

Last edited by alphaniner (2012-03-07 15:49:31)

Arch Linux

#1 2012-03-06 22:06:58

(SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#2 2012-03-06 22:10:32

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#3 2012-03-06 22:15:49

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#4 2012-03-06 22:23:57

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#5 2012-03-06 22:39:35

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#6 2012-03-06 22:40:19

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#7 2012-03-06 22:41:18

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#8 2012-03-06 22:48:24

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#9 2012-03-06 22:49:40

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#10 2012-03-06 22:57:18

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#11 2012-03-06 23:12:01

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#12 2012-03-07 03:23:53

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#13 2012-03-07 03:30:13

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#14 2012-03-07 03:30:33

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#15 2012-03-07 03:36:27

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#16 2012-03-07 04:15:14

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#17 2012-03-07 04:27:46

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#18 2012-03-07 05:10:07

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#19 2012-03-07 05:25:26

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#20 2012-03-07 05:38:36

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#21 2012-03-07 06:29:25

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#22 2012-03-07 12:35:44

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#23 2012-03-07 15:23:05

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#24 2012-03-07 15:44:49

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

#25 2012-03-07 15:49:08

Re: (SOLVED) Kernel can't find root fs

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