Kernel panic on boot

M0rtiferrimus · 2013-04-11 02:19:12

I'm unable to boot into Arch as of today. Yesterday night I upgraded quite a few packages, the kernel included, and shut down after the upgrade finished. Now, I get a message telling me that the kernel cannot find the init file, and that I should try passing init= to the kernel.
Well, I have no idea what it means by the second statement, from what I can find that means redefining where the kernel searches for the init file. Both the regular and backup initramfs's give me this error from the bootloader menu.
I found a wiki article that said to reinstall the kernel through an installation cd, so I did, but nothing has changed. I checked, and both the initranfs.img and fallback-initramfs.img are in the /boot directory. Is the kernel looking for another file? Also, how do I "pass init= to the kernel"?

Inxsible · 2013-04-11 02:34:10

how long has it been since you last upgraded? If it has been more than a month, you either need to have your own local repo management or you are using the wrong distro.

M0rtiferrimus · 2013-04-11 02:35:59

It was about a week and a half.

Inxsible · 2013-04-11 02:38:17

Check your pacman log via a live cd. See what packages were upgraded and which one you think might be a problem. While you are at it, check your logs too.

M0rtiferrimus · 2013-04-11 02:52:27

The packages I upgraded that might cause problems are linux and the linux headers. Maybe systemd-sysvcompat too. Besides that, its just libreoffice and several libraries.
However, on both the initial upgrade and tonight's reinstallation, pacman reports that the initramfs image was generated successfully.

Last edited by M0rtiferrimus (2013-04-11 02:53:40)

M0rtiferrimus · 2013-04-11 11:32:45

After setting the debug option in grub's config file, it seems like the initramfs is actually working, but that some later init file cannot be found. What init file does linux look for after loading the ramdisk?

WorMzy · 2013-04-11 12:43:22

/sbin/init

Which, on Arch, should be a symbolic link to /usr/lib/systemd/systemd. If you're missing either of these files, then you should reinstall systemd-sysvcompat or systemd respectively.

M0rtiferrimus · 2013-04-11 21:17:34

I have both files. I tried reinstalling anyway, but no luck. I'm curious about the instruction to pass the init= option to the kernel. Is that a variable I need to add into the grub.cfg? How am I supposed to make the kernel look in /sbin for the init file?

nagaseiori · 2013-04-11 21:37:21

You could just press 'e' in the GRUB menu when it boots to edit menu entries.

M0rtiferrimus · 2013-04-12 02:12:47

Ok, when I do that it gives me the section of grub.cfg that I had been editing earlier. Do I need to set init as a variable? Every solution I can find online seems to use an older menu entry scheme; where everyone else's lines include "set root=/dev/sda2", mine says "set root='hd0,gpt2'. There are several differences as well, but is init a variable or a kernel option?
Edit: I've found a discrepancy. Pacman reports the installed kernel as linux 3.8.6-1, but cat /proc/version reports the kernel as version 3.7.5-1-ARCH. This isn't normal, is it? Do I need to roll back (if that's possible) to kernel 3.7.5-1?

Last edited by M0rtiferrimus (2013-04-12 02:46:21)

M0rtiferrimus · 2013-04-12 03:10:32

I'm beginning to think those libraries might have been a bigger problem than I thought. The kernel fails to execute /init (default option), /sbin/init, and /usr/lib/systemd/systemd. I had tried updating earlier that day and lost my internet connection halfway through the package downloads, so no partial packages should have been installed. I don't know why the kernel refuses to recognize these files that are clearly where they're supposed to be, even after reinstalling just about every package necessary for booting. At this point it may just be more productive to reinstall Arch, but I would rather fix this issue than reinstall everything. So, to go e everyone a clear picture of how my system stands right now: the kernel is in debug mode on boot, meaning it gives more detailed output than in quiet mode. /sbin/init and /usr/lib/systemd/systemd exist in the directories they are supposed to exist in. The computer loads the kernel, then the ramdisk, then gives a kernel panic with a suggestion to pass init= to the kernel. Adding init=$file, $file being either one of the files listed previously, the kernel panic message includes a line about how it failed to execute the file, directly under "failed to execute /init".

Edit: I ended up just using the install CD to move my home directory to a flash drive, then reinstalling Arch. For people who intend to use a lot of space in their home directory, an external hard drive would be a good investment.

Last edited by M0rtiferrimus (2013-04-13 15:44:13)

M0rtiferrimus · 2013-04-16 03:17:51

Update: after using my system for two days and woefully updating the kernel again (I am now sure that the kernel update causes this) I am getting this same error. I'm not going to be able to continue using Arch if its going to be this much trouble. Does anyone have some advice?

mar04 · 2013-04-16 08:26:46

Here is one advice: http://www.ubuntu.com/download

or post pacman.log, grub.cfg, fstab so people could actually help you.

mrunion · 2013-04-17 21:58:00

Are you booting with EFI?

axiiom · 2013-04-18 08:29:51

I have had this happen twice lately and have ended up re-installing. I mucked around for days but just could not fix the problem with init. I really hope someone has managed to find a fix. As as much as I like Arch, I simply can not go through re-installation every few weeks. Fingers crossed...

mich41 · 2013-04-18 08:45:04

Your initramfs is borked, unpack it and find out whether it's missing /sbin/init itself or some shared libs.

Or if you prefer brute force solutions, update everything, force reinstallation of glibc, systemd, systemd-sysvcompat and linux to be sure that they are ok, regenerate initramfs, regenerate grub config.

Here is one advice: http://www.ubuntu.com/download

Or this. They say it's all about you

Last edited by mich41 (2013-04-18 08:56:37)

Arch Linux

#1 2013-04-11 02:19:12

Kernel panic on boot

#2 2013-04-11 02:34:10

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#3 2013-04-11 02:35:59

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#4 2013-04-11 02:38:17

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#5 2013-04-11 02:52:27

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#6 2013-04-11 11:32:45

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#7 2013-04-11 12:43:22

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#8 2013-04-11 21:17:34

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#9 2013-04-11 21:37:21

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#10 2013-04-12 02:12:47

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#11 2013-04-12 03:10:32

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#12 2013-04-16 03:17:51

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#13 2013-04-16 08:26:46

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#14 2013-04-17 21:58:00

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#15 2013-04-18 08:29:51

Re: Kernel panic on boot

#16 2013-04-18 08:45:04

Re: Kernel panic on boot

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