Arch Linux

olaolaee

Member

Registered: 2024-05-10

Posts: 4

systemd-boot: make (kernel?) boot messages more verbose

Hi all, fresh Arch installation on UEFI with GNOME, (X11)GDM (enabled) and systemd-boot.

My boot is too silent; I'm trying to achieve the «opposite» of a silent boot; so I'm looking for the same behaviour you can achieve e.g. with GRUB when you change

[GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

into

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=""

What can I do to obtain this verbose boot with systemd-boot too?

Additional info:

When I perform a shutdown or a reboot, after GNOME is gone I can correctly see all the [OK] and [FAILED] messages I'd like to see at startup...

... but, unluckily, after a physical power on (and after choosing my Arch system to boot from systemd-boot entry list), this is all I can see:

No other text messages after «Triggering uevents...»... just two seconds of black blank, and then there's GDM login window.

Some other configuration files, hoping they might be useful:

/boot/loader/loader.conf

default arch.conf
timeout 2
console-mode auto
editor no

/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

title   Arch Linux
linux   /vmlinuz-linux
initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
options root=UUID=37dcaca3-deeb-4628-957f-a4d747679d17 rw

/proc/cmdline

initrd=\initramfs-linux.img root=UUID=37dcaca3-deeb-4628-957f-a4d747679d17 rw

Many thanks.

jl2

Member

From: 47° 18' N 8° 34' E

Registered: 2022-06-01

Posts: 569

Website

Re: systemd-boot: make (kernel?) boot messages more verbose

you can try adding these kernel parameters to the "options" of /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

* add "loglevel=7" => dmesg debug messages
* "udev.log_level=debug" => udev
* add "systemd.show_status=true" => systemd

And this isn't a problem of grub or systemd-boot: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel_parameters

Are you trying to impress some friends or is this a xy-problem? What are you trying to solve?

---

Why I run Arch? To "BTW I run Arch" the guy one grade younger.
And to let my siblings and cousins laugh at Arsch Linux...

olaolaee

Member

Registered: 2024-05-10

Posts: 4

Re: systemd-boot: make (kernel?) boot messages more verbose

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'll try in a few days, when I'll be able to manage my machine at work again.

And this isn't a problem of grub or systemd-boot: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel_parameters

I already read that page; when I did it with GRUB, years (and distros) ago, removing "quiet splash" worked immediately; since my systemd-boot conf already didn't have those options, I thought a verbose boot would be offered by default, but I was wrong.

Are you trying to impress some friends or is this a xy-problem? What are you trying to solve?

??? No impress, and I'm the only user of the aforementioned system.

More than solve, I'm trying to understand what's happening, and how it works.

I was (mainly) an Ubuntu user which is now trying to use Arch only (to learn and understand it), but I find the Arch Wiki hard in general, since it describes lots of aspects in a very detailed way, but (in my opinion) often omits explanations, suggestions and already shared and tested use cases and configs about common topics (like maybe the framebuffer, configuring the Secure Boot (at least until some months ago), expired keyring issues (useful suggestions more on YouTube) and RDP/VNC).

(I don't mean to be negative with regards to the Arch Wiki project; for instance, the rsync page has a lot of very useful examples and suggestions, just like the pacman's tips and tricks page, but that's not always the case.)

Same way with the boot loader; I used GRUB for years, now I'm trying to switch to systemd-boot (which seems to be a suggested modern alternative, in several tutorials) and I'm trying to understand if they behave in a similar way or not. systemd-boot's default "silent boot" behaviour was not normal to me.

Think of me like a guy that is leaving behind e.g. LILO, /etc/init.d/... and Upstart, and must still "find his way" in a new "universe"/syntax/mental model.