live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

vasavest · 2017-06-09 06:00:50

Hi there,
I am trying to install arch on a macbook 12" (late 2016 model).

When booting I add

nomodeset

and

acpi=off

as kernel parameters to avoid a blank screen issue.
Once in the shell

fdisk -l

returns

[b]Disk /dev/sda: 28.9 GiB, 31029460992 bytes, 60604416 sectors[/b]
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x7887f83f

[b]Device          Boot Start           End Sectors        Size   Id Type[/b]
/dev/sda1          *             0    985087 985088        481M  0  Empty
/dev/sda2                     164    131235 131072          64M ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)

[b]Disk /dev/loop0: 369.5 Mib, 387477504 bytes, 756792 sectors[/b]
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512bytes / 512 bytes

This leads me to believe that the internal ssd is not mounted, and I do not know why.
While I am sure this has been addressed somewhere, I am having difficulty finding anything.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Last edited by vasavest (2017-06-21 19:23:04)

R00KIE · 2017-06-10 01:00:58

Did you check the wiki[1] for tips/hints? This here[2] seems to be something worth investigating.

[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mac
[2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ma … sion_9.2C1

vasavest · 2017-06-12 04:27:54

Hey ROOKIE, thanks for responding- not sure how I missed that one!

So it looks like I need to create a custom mkinitcpio hook.
I have read over the wiki page on mkinitcpio to get an idea of what is going on, then I came across this page detailing how someone wrote a custom hook.

From what I gathered I created a short bash script:

#!/bin/bash
modprobe nvme; echo 106b 2003 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/nvme/new_id

I saved this as 'modprobe' in /etc/initcpio/hooks, then I added 'modprobe' after 'udev' at 'HOOKS="base udev ... etc"' in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf.
I'm not sure if this is how one is supposed to add a custom hook, as I was just winging it.

When I went to regenerate the image by running

# sudo mkinitcpio -p linux

I got the error:

 
==>Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux.preset: 'default'
       -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-linux -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-linux.img
==> ERROR: specified kernel image does not exist '/boot/vmlinuz-linux'
==>Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux.preset: 'fallback'
       -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-linux -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img -S autodetect
==> ERROR: specified kernel image does not exist '/boot/vmlinuz-linux'

I couldnt find much relevant information from searching for the error , and most of the forum posts are relating to upgrading a kernel. Not really sure what is going on here.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!

Last edited by vasavest (2017-06-19 22:07:14)

vasavest · 2017-06-12 04:32:12

I also found this page insightful and thought it might interest anyone else working with a 2016 macbook.

R00KIE · 2017-06-13 00:02:30

The initramfs does not use bash, it uses something similar but the syntax for some things is slightly different. For what you want to do it doesn't matter but your shebang is not correct it should be "#!/usr/bin/ash". Check other hooks and take them as examples. Your hook does not seem to "comply" with how a hook should be written, which if you read the page your second link points to it would be obvious. You may also have to add the nvme module to the modules line in mkinitcpio.conf if it isn't added automatically to the initramfs images.

The error message about not finding vmlinuz-linux might be because you haven't mounted your boot partition or it isn't mounted in the right place.

As a last aside, you can and should edit your posts if no one has posted after you and you want to add more information, otherwise you are not complying with our code of conduct https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Code_of_conduct.

vasavest · 2017-06-19 22:24:28

R00KIE, thank you very much for your help.. sorry about not following the code of conduct.
I also apologize for taking so long between posts..

I have fixed the shebang the for hook, but am still stumped on the part about my boot partition not being mounted, or being mounted in the wrong place.

Here is the output of lsblk -f

TARGET                           SOURCE     FSTYPE     OPTIONS
/                                airootfs   overlay    rw,relatime,lowerdir=/run/archiso/sfs/airootfs,upperdir=/run/archiso/cowspace/persistent_ARCH_201705/x86_64/upperdir,workdir=/run/archiso/cowspace/persistent_ARCH_201705/x86_64/workdir
├─/proc                          proc       proc       rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime
│ └─/proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc     systemd-1  autofs     rw,relatime,fd=33,pgrp=1,timeout=0,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct
├─/sys                           sys        sysfs      rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime
│ ├─/sys/firmware/efi/efivars    efivarfs   efivarfs   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime
│ ├─/sys/kernel/security         securityfs securityfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime
│ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup               tmpfs      tmpfs      ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,mode=755
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/systemd     cgroup     cgroup     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,xattr,release_agent=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-cgroups-agent,name=systemd
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/freezer     cgroup     cgroup     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,freezer
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/blkio       cgroup     cgroup     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,blkio
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/devices     cgroup     cgroup     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,devices
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset      cgroup     cgroup     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpuset
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/cpu,cpuacct cgroup     cgroup     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpu,cpuacct
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/net_cls     cgroup     cgroup     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,net_cls
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/perf_event  cgroup     cgroup     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,perf_event
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/pids        cgroup     cgroup     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,pids
│ │ └─/sys/fs/cgroup/memory      cgroup     cgroup     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,memory
│ ├─/sys/fs/pstore               pstore     pstore     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime
│ ├─/sys/kernel/config           configfs   configfs   rw,relatime
│ └─/sys/kernel/debug            debugfs    debugfs    rw,relatime
├─/dev                           dev        devtmpfs   rw,nosuid,relatime,size=4018208k,nr_inodes=1004552,mode=755
│ ├─/dev/shm                     tmpfs      tmpfs      rw,nosuid,nodev
│ ├─/dev/pts                     devpts     devpts     rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000
│ ├─/dev/hugepages               hugetlbfs  hugetlbfs  rw,relatime
│ └─/dev/mqueue                  mqueue     mqueue     rw,relatime
├─/run                           run        tmpfs      rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,mode=755
│ ├─/run/archiso/bootmnt         /dev/sda1  iso9660    ro,relatime
│ ├─/run/archiso/cowspace        cowspace   tmpfs      rw,relatime,size=262144k,mode=755
│ ├─/run/archiso/sfs/airootfs    /dev/loop0 squashfs   ro,relatime
│ └─/run/user/0                  tmpfs      tmpfs      rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,size=807824k,mode=700
├─/tmp                           tmpfs      tmpfs      rw,nosuid,nodev
├─/etc/pacman.d/gnupg            tmpfs      tmpfs      rw,relatime,mode=755
└─/mnt/usbstick                  /dev/sdb1  fuseblk    rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0,allow_other,blksize=4096
  └─/mnt/usbstick                /dev/sdc1  fuseblk    rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0,allow_other,blksize=4096

I noticed that /dev/sda1 (which I believe is the boot partition based on the output of 'fdisk -l', which I posted earlier) is mounted at /run/archiso/bootmnt.
Should I unmount it and mount it somewhere else?
The contents of /run/archiso/bootmnt/ are 'arch EFI isolinux loader'.
I couldnt find 'initramfs-linux.img' or 'initramfs-linux-fallback.img' anywhere.

Thank you for everything, and let me know if there is any more information I can provide.

R00KIE · 2017-06-20 16:43:12

Sda2 is an EFI partition, what's the role of sda1 is anyone's guess as you didn't mark the purpose of the partition. Your custom hook should only make the nvme disk visible, the rest is as described in the wiki. For the install media you shouldn't need hooks.

You can and should mount your root and boot partitions somewhere then you install the system or you chroot into your install's root and then run mkinitcpio to include your custom hook in the initramfs.

vasavest · 2017-06-21 00:08:39

Now I am very confused.
I realize now that you mean mount the boot & root partitions of my internal hd, not something from the install media.
But I cant mount those partitions, because the install media is not registering them... which is what I thought the hook was for.
I was following the installation guide when I got to the part on partitioning and realized that the disk was not being recognized by the live system. Which is why I made the first post...

R00KIE · 2017-06-21 09:33:07

The hook is for your installed system as it will also not see the disk until you do the magic described in the wiki.

For the install media you do the magic manually and the drive should show up, then you mount it manually. I'm not even sure if the current install media even does any auto mounting but even if it does, which I doubt, you want to mount the partitions manually in the correct places and order.

Trilby · 2017-06-21 10:46:19

There seems to be a fair bit of confusion in this thread. Vasavest, I initially assumed that you just said the drive wasn't being mounted but I assumed you used that term incorrectly and your problem was that the device wasn't even recognized and didn't appear at all in the fisk output which would prevent you from even starting the installation (I also assumed you were still in the live usb and had not done any of the installation steps yet).

I *think* ROOKIE read this differently assuming that you had already installed your new system but when you tried to reboot the partitions weren't mounted (correct me if I'm wrong ROOKIE).

In either case, can you make this more clear so we don't end up running down the wrong path because of some assumptions. Have you been able to partition your drive and run pacstrap and related steps of the installation yet, or have you not been able to start the process? When you say your ssd is not mounted, do you actually just mean it's not mounted, or do you mean it doesn't show up in fdisk output?

Note that a disk would never be mounted: disks aren't mounted, partitions are. Further the live iso would never mount any partitions - when you boot the live iso you don't even need to have a partitioned drive yet. The first step of the installation process is to partition a drive, then you manually mount them where they need to be under /mnt/.

R00KIE · 2017-06-21 13:20:58

From my second post I was assuming that the system was installed given that the OP was talking about mkinitcpio hooks and having difficulty rebuilding the initramfs, which I assumed was being done from a chroot. Having spend sometime writing a hook myself I guess I got lost in the tiny details that can make writing and testing hooks difficult.

vasavest · 2017-06-21 19:03:08

Sorry about all this, and thanks for clearing things up- really appreciate the help from both of you.
When I wrongly said the device wasn't mounted I meant it was not being recognized at all from the installation media. It does not show up in fdisk and I have not been able to partition my drive / run pacstrap, etc.
I feel like I have learned a fair amount though.

Trilby · 2017-06-21 19:08:57

Thanks. So to get the device to show up in fdisk (so you can partition and continue with the install) you may just need to run the two commands directly:

modprobe nvme
echo 106b 2003 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/nvme/new_id

If this works, then you will likely need to make that into the mkinitcpio hook for the newly installed system.

vasavest · 2017-06-21 19:20:53

That did it. Thank you so much!

Edit: I just want to clarify the process of writing the custom hook, which I had to do once the system was installed and I could chroot into it.

Create file /etc/initcpio/hooks/modprobe with the contents

#!/usr/bin/ash</code>
run_hook() {
         modprobe nvme
         echo 106b 2003 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/nvme/new_id
}

Create another file /usr/lib/initcpio/install/modprobe with the contents

#!/bin/bash

build() {
    add_runscript
}

then

 #mkinitcpio -p linux

voila.

Last edited by vasavest (2017-06-29 20:49:34)

Arch Linux

#1 2017-06-09 06:00:50

live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#2 2017-06-10 01:00:58

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#3 2017-06-12 04:27:54

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#4 2017-06-12 04:32:12

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#5 2017-06-13 00:02:30

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#6 2017-06-19 22:24:28

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#7 2017-06-20 16:43:12

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#8 2017-06-21 00:08:39

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#9 2017-06-21 09:33:07

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#10 2017-06-21 10:46:19

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#11 2017-06-21 13:20:58

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#12 2017-06-21 19:03:08

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#13 2017-06-21 19:08:57

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

#14 2017-06-21 19:20:53

Re: live usb not mounting internal ssd [SOLVED]

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