Arch Linux

Candycane

Member

Registered: 2019-10-31

Posts: 5

Upgrading to new kernel doesn't work

Hello.

nvme0n1     259:0    0 238.5G  0 disk 
├─nvme0n1p1 259:1    0   512M  0 part /boot
└─nvme0n1p2 259:2    0   238G  0 part /

linux 5.3.7.arch1-1
5.3.7-arch1-1-ARCH

# /dev/nvme0n1p1
UUID=7A70-E596      	/boot     	vfat      	rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro	0 2
# /dev/nvme0n1p2
UUID=76885b57-5a18-48fb-bd7e-c8eb23761ebf	/         	ext4      	rw,relatime	0 1

There is no error with installation and upgrading to the new kernel (arch1-2).

But when I reboot the system, it fails on mounting the /boot partition (unknown filesystem type 'vfat').

It looks there is the old kernel (arch1-1) on /boot partition and the new kernel (arch1-2) on / partition.

How can I fix it?

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 19,099

Re: Upgrading to new kernel doesn't work

Was /boot mounted when the linux package was updated?

Candycane

Member

Registered: 2019-10-31

Posts: 5

Re: Upgrading to new kernel doesn't work

The output of commands above is before updating and rebooting.

It means yes, it was.

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 19,099

Re: Upgrading to new kernel doesn't work

If the kernel on the boot partition was updated then the kernel loaded on the next boot of the system must a different one such as the one from the boot directory of the root filesystem.
You can confirm this by using installation media,  mounting the installed system's filesystems under /mnt then:

file /mnt/boot/vmlinuz-linux

If the kernel on the boot partition is not being used then the bootloader needs to be reconfigured.
If the kernel on the boot partition is being used then chroot in and install the linux package again with the boot partition mounted.

Last edited by loqs (2019-11-01 00:15:33)

Candycane

Member

Registered: 2019-10-31

Posts: 5

Re: Upgrading to new kernel doesn't work

I have mounted /boot as /dev/nvme0n1p1.

file /boot/vmlinuz-linux
-- /boot/vmlinuz-linux: Linux kernel x86 boot executable bzImage, version 5.3.7-arch1-2-ARCH (linux@archlinux) #1 SMP PREEMPT @1572002934, RO-rootFS, swap_dev 0x5, Normal VGA

It means the kernel on the boot partition is the newest (arch1-2).

When I upgraded the distro (pacman -Syu) and printed the actual kernel, I got:

uname -r
-- 5.3.7-arch1-1-ARCH
pacman -Q linux
-- linux 5.3.7.arch1-2

Then I rebooted the system and got the same error as before (so I had to downgrade kernel).

During upgrading distro there wasn't any error, like not mounted /boot etc.

Last edited by Candycane (2019-11-01 00:31:56)

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 19,099

Re: Upgrading to new kernel doesn't work

What bootloader is the system using?
If you unmount /boot is there a vmlinuz-linux in the boot directory for the old kernel version?

Candycane

Member

Registered: 2019-10-31

Posts: 5

Re: Upgrading to new kernel doesn't work

I use GRUB.

It is.

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 19,099

Re: Upgrading to new kernel doesn't work

It may be enough with both filesystems mounted to chroot in and update /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Then test updating the kernel again.
If that fails I would suggest reinstalling the bootloader.

Candycane

Member

Registered: 2019-10-31

Posts: 5

Re: Upgrading to new kernel doesn't work

Why don't I have grub/ folder in /boot partition when it is mounted as /dev/nvme0n1p1?

When I unmount it, grub/ folder appears.

Last edited by Candycane (2019-11-01 00:51:57)

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 78,278

Re: Upgrading to new kernel doesn't work

You probably initially installed the system/kernel/grub w/o /boot being mounted and are actually booting directly from the root device. Now you mounted /boot, updated and that got the relevant /boot environment on the root device (w/o the boot partition) out of sync.
Do what loqs said in post #8 - nb. that if you delete the files in the unmounted /boot path (before fixing this by installing bootloader and config to the boot partition), you'll likely no longer be able to boot the installed system at all.

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