Failed to start Cryptography Setup for home

argusarrest · 2025-05-06 04:24:08

I hope this is the right place for this post. I have been struggling for a few days now to understand and fix some problems with my encrypted drives at start up. I used the guided installer and chose full disk encryption. When booting I get asked for a passphrase to unlock the root partition, as expected, but I am asked for a passphrase to open the /home partition, as well. Given that a key file was placed in /etc/cryptsetup-keys.d/ and the crypttab references it I presume the home partition is meant to unlock on its own, but that does not occur.

When checking the systemd units the unit

systemd-cryptsetup@home.service

fails. When checking its status I get this:

 systemd-cryptsetup@home.service - Cryptography Setup for home
     Loaded: loaded (/run/systemd/generator.late/systemd-cryptsetup@home.service; generated)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2025-05-05 20:48:41 EDT; 19min ago
 Invocation: 1dfff4ed36d64ac782067002c88ddb24
       Docs: man:crypttab(5)
             man:systemd-cryptsetup-generator(8)
             man:systemd-cryptsetup@.service(8)
    Process: 1139 ExecStart=/usr/bin/systemd-cryptsetup attach home /dev/disk/by-diskseq/1-part3   (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
   Main PID: 1139 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
   Mem peak: 1G
        CPU: 30.564s

May 05 20:48:21 archlinux systemd[1]: Starting Cryptography Setup for home...
May 05 20:48:32 archlinux systemd-cryptsetup[1139]: Set cipher aes, mode xts-plain64, key size 512 bits for device /dev/disk/by-diskseq/1-part3.
May 05 20:48:41 archlinux systemd-cryptsetup[1139]: Cannot use device /dev/disk/by-diskseq/1-part3 which is in use (already mapped or mounted).
May 05 20:48:41 archlinux systemd-cryptsetup[1139]: Failed to activate with specified passphrase: Device or resource busy
May 05 20:48:41 archlinux systemd[1]: systemd-cryptsetup@home.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
May 05 20:48:41 archlinux systemd[1]: systemd-cryptsetup@home.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
May 05 20:48:41 archlinux systemd[1]: Failed to start Cryptography Setup for home.
May 05 20:48:41 archlinux systemd[1]: systemd-cryptsetup@home.service: Consumed 30.564s CPU time, 1G memory peak.

Also the decryption process is slow as it is waiting for a Start Job on Cryptography Setup for Home.
I have tried making a new keyfile and adding it to the LUKS header, setting the keyfile in crypttab to none, and both specifying and removing keyslots from from the crypttab. All lead to (nearly) identical results.
I am able to log into the system, but I would like to understand why the problem is occurring and, if possible, fix it.

Thank you for any help

twelveeighty · 2025-05-06 14:26:39

While you likely didn't do anything "wrong", I would recommend you redo the install using the officially supported Installation Guide, not the guided installer. The guided installer is more for automating installations on multiple machines, not for doing your first Arch installation. Especially since you are (rightfully) concerned with understanding WHY things work or don't work, the Installation Guide will get you there, even though it might take longer.

If you're still interested in addressing this Guided Installer build, click the "Report" button on your original post and ask a mod to move it to the Guided Installer forum.

argusarrest · 2025-05-06 22:47:36

twelveeighty wrote:

While you likely didn't do anything "wrong", I would recommend you redo the install using the officially supported Installation Guide, not the guided installer.

That would probably be best. However, given I am strapped for time at the moment I may have to settle for something else and return to Arch when I can.

I have used EndeavourOS for a while and with a new computer I thought I would make the transition, but given I also need to move and have a new job I doubt I will have the time to fix whatever problems may arise, unfortunately. Thank you though.

Edit: Also, I am unsure what should be done with this post at this point, so I will leave it as is until further instruction.

Last edited by argusarrest (2025-05-06 22:49:15)

WorMzy · 2025-05-06 22:52:10

Mod note: it's unclear if you are persisting with this install or switching back to EndeavourOS, (or something else), but moving to archinstall subforum for now.

argusarrest · 2025-05-09 01:46:08

WorMzy wrote:

Mod note: it's unclear if you are persisting with this install or switching back to EndeavourOS, (or something else)

Apologies for the lack of clarity. I will be switching to something else for the foreseeable future.

WorMzy · 2025-05-09 08:15:35

Thanks for clearing that up. I'll go ahead and close this for now.

Mod note: Closing.

Arch Linux

#1 2025-05-06 04:24:08

Failed to start Cryptography Setup for home

#2 2025-05-06 14:26:39

Re: Failed to start Cryptography Setup for home

#3 2025-05-06 22:47:36

Re: Failed to start Cryptography Setup for home

#4 2025-05-06 22:52:10

Re: Failed to start Cryptography Setup for home

#5 2025-05-09 01:46:08

Re: Failed to start Cryptography Setup for home

#6 2025-05-09 08:15:35

Re: Failed to start Cryptography Setup for home

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