Installation boots but logs error "The ZFS modules are not loaded"

tmaxmax · 2021-10-30 14:42:19

With the help of the wiki and various online resources, I have managed to somewhat successfully install Arch Linux + ZFS + GRUB (not on ZFS) + KDE on my Asus Zephyrus G14 2020 laptop. While the system boots, it shows the following errors in the console before starting up and when shutting down:

Starting version 249.5-3-arch
The ZFS modules are not loaded.
Try runing '/sbin/modprobe zfs' as root to load them.
ERROR: device 'ZFS=zroot/ROOT/default' not found. Skipping fsck.

On shutdown it also shows the following two lines:

[   25.189599] watchdog: watchdog0: watchdog did not stop!
[   25.255134] kauditd_printk_skb: 47 callbacks supressed

As I have mentioned, GRUB is not installed on ZFS. Here is my disk information:

# fdisk -l /dev/sda
Disk model: Extreme SSD     
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 33553920 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: BD1D7F92-ED1D-AB42-BD43-AD06DADEF3D8

Device        Start       End   Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sda1      2048   1128447   1126400   550M EFI System
/dev/sda2   1128448   2152447   1024000   500M Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3   2152448  10541055   8388608     4G Linux swap
/dev/sda4  10541056 976773134 966232079 460,7G Solaris root

# lsblk -f /dev/sda
NAME   FSTYPE     FSVER LABEL UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
sda                                                                               
├─sda1 vfat       FAT32       0634-5E6E                                           
├─sda2 ext4       1.0         7810bff3-d7b7-42e0-9761-6f4d5fd76bee                
├─sda3 swap       1           f785753d-6030-4641-b30f-8de81e3ba2de                [SWAP]
└─sda4 zfs_member 5000  zroot 4221719182615129811

SDA1 is the ESP and it mounts to /boot/efi, SDA2 has GRUB data and it mounts to /boot.

The zpool status:

  pool: zroot
 state: ONLINE
config:

        NAME                                    STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
        zroot                                   ONLINE       0     0     0
          608622fe-86e4-8c4c-b7d6-2eef5de7c556  ONLINE       0     0     0

errors: No known data errors

My ZFS datasets:

NAME                    USED  AVAIL     REFER  MOUNTPOINT
zroot                  12.7G   433G       96K  none
zroot/ROOT             12.7G   433G       96K  none
zroot/ROOT/default     12.7G   433G     12.7G  /
zroot/data              192K   433G       96K  none
zroot/data/home          96K   433G       96K  /home
zroot/var               480K   433G       96K  /var
zroot/var/lib           288K   433G       96K  /var/lib
zroot/var/lib/docker     96K   433G       96K  /var/lib/docker
zroot/var/lib/libvirt    96K   433G       96K  /var/lib/libvirt
zroot/var/log            96K   433G       96K  /var/log

I have created the GRUB config using

# ZPOOL_VDEV_NAME_PATH=1 grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

My fstab file is:

# Static information about the filesystems.
# See fstab(5) for details.

# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
# /dev/sda3
UUID=f785753d-6030-4641-b30f-8de81e3ba2de       none            swap            defaults        0 0

My mkinitcpio hooks are:

HOOKS=(base udev autodetect modconf block keyboard zfs filesystems fsck)

My /etc/default/grub file is:

# GRUB boot loader configuration

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="Arch"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="loglevel=3 quiet"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau modprobe.blacklist=nouveau"
GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="part_gpt part_msdos"
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu
GRUB_TERMINAL_INPUT=console
GRUB_GFXMODE=auto
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY=true
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false

The main GRUB menu entry:

menuentry 'Arch Linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-3a968f3a9d3a2ed3' {
        load_video
        set gfxpayload=keep
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_gpt
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd0,gpt2'
        if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt2 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt2  7810bff3-d7b7-42e0-9761-6f4d5fd76bee
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7810bff3-d7b7-42e0-9761-6f4d5fd76bee
        fi
        echo    'Loading Linux linux-zen ...'
        linux   /vmlinuz-linux-zen root=ZFS=zroot/ROOT/default rw rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau modprobe.blacklist=nouveau loglevel=3 quiet
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd  /amd-ucode.img /initramfs-linux-zen.img
}

I'll be happy to provide any other information in order to fix the issue. As I've mentioned before, the system boots - I am writing this post from my Arch installation - but it shows those logs when starting and shutting down the computer and I'm worried that something may have gone wrong with the installation process. Hoping you can help me out, thank you very, very much for your time!

Last edited by tmaxmax (2021-10-30 14:42:49)

dreamycrane · 2021-11-03 19:33:43

Plz try

echo "zfs" > /eth.modprobe.d/zfs.conf

Also in
/etc/default/grub

GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="part_gpt part_msdos zfs"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="root=ZFS=zroot/ROOT/default  rootfstype=zfs rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau modprobe.blacklist=nouveau"

Then rebuild initrd and update grub

Last edited by dreamycrane (2021-11-03 19:35:24)

markusressel · 2021-11-11 00:34:12

Hi there,

I have the same issue as OP. I have been using ZFS on root on two systems for quite a while now, but the third one (an Asus Zephyrus M16 2021) which I am trying to setup for the first time is unable to boot due to the "The ZFS modules are not loaded." error message, which pops up repeatedly until a kernel panic happens. What I really don't get is: I have been using an install script for the initial ZFS mirror and basic system setup. I have been using this script about three months ago and it worked fine. Now I get this kernel module loading error, so I guess something must have changed in the default configuration of some arch linux packages? Or it may very well be hardware related since OP also has an Asus Zephyrus (although a different model).

I have tried adding the configuration options mentioned by dreamycrane, but the don't seem to have made it into the generated grub configuration, since I don't see them when inspecting grub entries usind F2... I will have to investigate this further.

Its really late right now, I will post my configuration details (like OP) when I get to it.

sebastian-65 · 2021-11-21 14:17:33

I'm experiencing the same problem. mkinitcpio generates image successfully with zfs hook.

sebastian-65 · 2021-11-21 15:10:17

The problem seems to be that my kernel (archiso) is in 5.14.15-arch1-1 while /lib/modules contains only 5.15.2-arch1-1 folder. So, I suppose we need to wait for new zfs-linux upgrade to come out.

markusressel · 2021-11-24 13:28:12

I don't understand the full details of it, but adding the "vmd" and "zfs" kernel modules to my initramfs MODULES section fixed the problem, the UEFI on my specific laptop model seems to need this to be able to detect NVMe drives at boot.

@sebastian-65 you can also try the dkms versions if you don't want to wait, or create your own archiso from another machine that is running a compatible kernel version (thats what I did).

Last edited by markusressel (2021-11-24 13:28:56)

sebastian-65 · 2021-11-24 15:52:06

You were right! I added "vmd zfs" modules into mkinitcpio.conf and moved block hook before autodetect, and now I can boot. Finally! You saved my week, possibly a month. Thank you, Sir!

PS: For other GRUB users I also found out on manjaro forum, that nvme_load=YES has to be added to options.

Arch Linux

#1 2021-10-30 14:42:19

Installation boots but logs error "The ZFS modules are not loaded"

#2 2021-11-03 19:33:43

Re: Installation boots but logs error "The ZFS modules are not loaded"

#3 2021-11-11 00:34:12

Re: Installation boots but logs error "The ZFS modules are not loaded"

#4 2021-11-21 14:17:33

Re: Installation boots but logs error "The ZFS modules are not loaded"

#5 2021-11-21 15:10:17

Re: Installation boots but logs error "The ZFS modules are not loaded"

#6 2021-11-24 13:28:12

Re: Installation boots but logs error "The ZFS modules are not loaded"

#7 2021-11-24 15:52:06

Re: Installation boots but logs error "The ZFS modules are not loaded"

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