Arch Linux

kaslusimoes

Member

Registered: 2013-12-19

Posts: 51

[Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

As the title says, I'm getting the following error whenever I boot my system:

[   0.358582] Initramfs unpacking failed: junk in compressed archive

I've also checked my /etc/mkinicpio.conf file and it gets me:

# COMPRESSION
# Use this to compress the initramfs image. By default, gzip compression
# is used. Use 'cat' to create an uncompressed image.
#COMPRESSION="gzip"
#COMPRESSION="bzip2"
#COMPRESSION="lzma"
#COMPRESSION="xz"
#COMPRESSION="lzop"
#COMPRESSION="lz4"

So I guess the compression I'm using is the 'gzip' default, which shouldn't be a problem

Although this annoy me quite a bit, my system continues to boot normally, so it doesn't seem to be a problem.

Other (maybe useful) informations:

:: running early hook [udev]
starting version 217
hwdb.bin does not exist, please run udevadm hwdb --update
:: runnig hook [udev]

Dunno what does that mean neither. Would appreciate if someone explained.

Nov 18 10:02:10 gene kernel: Linux version 3.17.3-1-ARCH (builduser@thomas) (gcc version 4.9.2 (GCC) ) #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Nov 14 23:13:48 CET 2014
Nov 18 10:02:10 gene kernel: Command line: initrd=\Arch\arch-initramfs.img initrd=\Arch\intel-ucode.img root=/dev/sda3 rw

I'm using Gummiboot and, as you may see on the journalctl ouput above, my .img files are not located directly on /boot but on /boot/Arch (I've changed accordingly on my linux.preset, so I guess there is no chance I'm getting an out-of-date .img issue)

Thanks

Last edited by kaslusimoes (2014-11-19 12:16:07)

kaslusimoes

Member

Registered: 2013-12-19

Posts: 51

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

About hwdb.bin I've found this topic: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=189536 so I guess I will just ignore it

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,330

Website

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

Have you regenerated your initramfs?

mkinitcpio -p linux

---

"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

kaslusimoes

Member

Registered: 2013-12-19

Posts: 51

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

Yep

linux.preset:

# mkinitcpio preset file for the 'linux' package

ALL_config="/etc/mkinitcpio.conf"
ALL_kver="/boot/vmlinuz-linux"

PRESETS=('default' 'fallback')

#default_config="/etc/mkinitcpio.conf"
default_image="/boot/Arch/arch-initramfs.img"
#default_options=""

#fallback_config="/etc/mkinitcpio.conf"
fallback_image="/boot/Arch/arch-initramfs-fallback.img"
fallback_options="-S autodetect"

and mkinitcpio -p linux output:

==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux.preset: 'default'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-linux -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/Arch/arch-initramfs.img
==> Starting build: 3.17.3-1-ARCH
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [autodetect]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [block]
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
  -> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: /boot/Arch/arch-initramfs.img
==> Image generation successful
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux.preset: 'fallback'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-linux -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/Arch/arch-initramfs-fallback.img -S autodetect
==> Starting build: 3.17.3-1-ARCH
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [block]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: aic94xx
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: smsmdtv
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
  -> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: /boot/Arch/arch-initramfs-fallback.img
==> Image generation successful

I've been using this configuration for a couple of months ago and I never got this message until the last 2 kernel updates, I guess

WorMzy

Administrator

From: Scotland

Registered: 2010-06-16

Posts: 12,411

Website

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

The first thing I would do is try to rule out a hardware problem.

Check your disk(s), and check your RAM.

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Mobo: MSI MAG X570S TORPEDO MAX // Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X @4.9GHz // GFX: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT // RAM: 32GB (4x 8GB) Corsair DDR4 (@ 3000MHz) // Storage: 1x 3TB HDD, 6x 1TB SSD, 2x 120GB SSD, 1x 275GB M2 SSD

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TheSaint

Member

From: my computer

Registered: 2007-08-19

Posts: 1,523

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

I preferred xz compressor.
Have you re-try to remake the initramfs ?
Have you tried

$ gzip -tv /boot/Arch/arch-initramfs.img

---

do it good first, it will be faster than do it twice the saint

kaslusimoes

Member

Registered: 2013-12-19

Posts: 51

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

@WorMzy thanks, I had no idea about these. I'll check them out later

TheSaint

Member

From: my computer

Registered: 2007-08-19

Posts: 1,523

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

You changed name to you initramfs, does it match with the boot loader ?

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do it good first, it will be faster than do it twice the saint

kaslusimoes

Member

Registered: 2013-12-19

Posts: 51

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

@TheSaint checked gzip integrity now and I seems ok

kaslusimoes

Member

Registered: 2013-12-19

Posts: 51

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

@TheSaint yes it matches, otherwise I guess it wouldn't even be able to boot

TheSaint

Member

From: my computer

Registered: 2007-08-19

Posts: 1,523

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

So you denote an error,but won't it stop you to run the machine ?

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do it good first, it will be faster than do it twice the saint

kaslusimoes

Member

Registered: 2013-12-19

Posts: 51

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

@TheSaint Well, I didn't mean to cause the wrong impression but I originally thought of it as an error since it shouldn't happen. If you prefer it's more like a warning, I guess. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear by the title, but I thought it was clear that I could boot from my initial post

@WorMzy Checked my disk and got nothing wrong:

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%      2326         -
# 2  Conveyance offline  Completed without error       00%      2324         -
# 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      2324         -

Couldn't use memtest86+, though. Do you know how to use it on UEFI?

Anyway, tried some remaking of the initramfs varying my compression and it seems to work fine now. Thanks all you guys

jasonwryan

Anarchist

From: .nz

Registered: 2009-05-09

Posts: 30,424

Website

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

Please don't use [Closed], it denotes a locked thread, use [Solved] instead...

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WorMzy

Administrator

From: Scotland

Registered: 2010-06-16

Posts: 12,411

Website

Re: [Solved] Boot error: "Initramfs unpacking failed"

Couldn't use memtest86+, though. Do you know how to use it on UEFI?

The easiest way is probably to boot an Arch Linux liveCD/USB in legacy mode.

---

Sakura:-
Mobo: MSI MAG X570S TORPEDO MAX // Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X @4.9GHz // GFX: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT // RAM: 32GB (4x 8GB) Corsair DDR4 (@ 3000MHz) // Storage: 1x 3TB HDD, 6x 1TB SSD, 2x 120GB SSD, 1x 275GB M2 SSD

Making lemonade from lemons since 2015.