Arch Linux

saleem

Member

Registered: 2011-09-21

Posts: 168

[SOLVED] Root device mounted successfully, but /sbin/init does

Just did a fresh install and when rebooted to login to system I faced the following error before I could enter any username

ERROR: Root device mounted successfully, but /sbin/init does not exist.
Bailing out, you are on your own. Good luck

sh: can't access tty; job control turned off
[rootfs ]#

Have never faced such an issue previously ever.Tried few solutions from some threads from forum but those did not fix the issue.Now lost what to do?
Any tips/directions would be appreciated.

Last edited by saleem (2025-01-23 18:54:18)

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 75,438

Re: [SOLVED] Root device mounted successfully, but /sbin/init does

/sbin is supposed to be asymlink to usr/bin - what files/directories do exist in the root FS? ("ls")

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How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 13,725

Re: [SOLVED] Root device mounted successfully, but /sbin/init does

This usually means you mounted the wrong partition. Check your bootloader config, make sure root= is correct.

saleem

Member

Registered: 2011-09-21

Posts: 168

Re: [SOLVED] Root device mounted successfully, but /sbin/init does

Thanks for your replies but one simple thing got it fixed , don`t` know how i.e re-installed pacman as mentioned in this link

https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comm … _sbininit/

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 75,438

Re: [SOLVED] Root device mounted successfully, but /sbin/init does

Did the system crash during the update?
Reinstalling pacman specifically will certainly not have fixed anything here and the thread talks about sanitizing broken packages (and abusing --overwrite, which is categorically *wrong*)

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How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

saleem

Member

Registered: 2011-09-21

Posts: 168

Re: [SOLVED] Root device mounted successfully, but /sbin/init does

Did the system crash during the update?
Reinstalling pacman specifically will certainly not have fixed anything here and the thread talks about sanitizing broken packages (and abusing --overwrite, which is categorically *wrong*)

It was a fresh install from chroot from my ancient arch Linux ( just did a new install for 2025 for a change ) . Once installation was completed ( all usual settings for system plus user which I keep ) I existed chroot and tried to boot I to this installation but encountered the error . Now I only followed the reinstallation of pacman from this thread and it magically made system to boot normally, used it for hours after that without any issue. I am not sure why pacman reinstall from chroot fixed this issue .