Arch Linux

luscinius

Member

Registered: 2008-12-25

Posts: 18

[SOLVED] boot process stuck at loading initramfs

Hi

Any help is appreciated. I use encrypted root, and after the kernel upgrade from 5.3.4.arch1-1 to 5.3.5.arch1-1 on October 9 I cannot start the system, the boot process is stuck at loading initramfs:

Loading Linux linux ...
Loading initial ramdisk ...

The problem persists with the current (5.3.7) kernel. Using the fallback initramfs does not help either.

My mkinitcpio.conf:

MODULES=(nvme)
BINARIES=()
FILES=()
HOOKS=(base udev autodetect modconf block keyboard encrypt filesystems fsck shutdown)

Motherboard: WS C422 PRO/SE.

No logs available, I cannot decrypt and mount the root filesystem.

For now I am using linux-lts, which boots successfully.

Last edited by luscinius (2019-10-28 23:20:04)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,406

Re: [SOLVED] boot process stuck at loading initramfs

Does adding

random.trust_cpu=on

to your kernel parameters help?

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 19,098

Re: [SOLVED] boot process stuck at loading initramfs

If not if you remove the kernel parameter quiet if set and add ignore_loglevel is any more output produced?

WorMzy

Administrator

From: Scotland

Registered: 2010-06-16

Posts: 13,678

Website

Re: [SOLVED] boot process stuck at loading initramfs

From what you describe, the boot process isn't getting past the bootloader/manager, but I doubt this is likely. For clarity's sake, which bootloader/manager are you using?

I'd recommend reading https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ge … t_problems as a basic starting point.

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luscinius

Member

Registered: 2008-12-25

Posts: 18

Re: [SOLVED] boot process stuck at loading initramfs

V1del and loqs, thanks, I tried adding these parameters, no output, no boot.

WorMzy, thanks, I use GRUB2. I read the article, and it suggests booting with acpi=off; this allows me to boot. Marking as solved for now, will do more research to see if some milder settings work (e.g., acpi=noirq).

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 19,098

Re: [SOLVED] boot process stuck at loading initramfs

https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel … eLog-5.3.5 lists the changes for that kernel release.
What modules are included in the initrd?

lsinitcpio /boot/initramfs-linux.img

luscinius

Member

Registered: 2008-12-25

Posts: 18

Re: [SOLVED] boot process stuck at loading initramfs

What modules are included in the initrd?

Approximately 200 modules, https://pastebin.com/raw/G8gjZ7tb

Sorry, I realized that my original post was incorrect. The problem was not related to the kernel upgrade only. The first time I was not able to boot was after a BIOS update from 1102 to 1202. After the update EFI boot entry was erased, and I booted from a flash drive to reinstall grub. Since I was in arch-chroot anyway, I did update with pacman as well. The actual reason for not being able to boot was BIOS update.

I reinstalled the 5.3.4 kernel from pacman cache, and I was not able to boot either. The latest bootable kernel was 5.2.14.arch2, the problem first appeared in the 5.3 branch.

I checked ASUS' support page, and the new 3003 BIOS had just been published. Installed it, and the problem is magically gone. Running 5.3.7 now.

Thanks for the help!