Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

rebornKidz · 2026-01-17 06:37:42

Assalamualaikum ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ

it's twice I face this problem, about the vfat module. I am lack of some knowledge.

https://i.imgur.com/Uq0aU1f.jpeg

I intend to use latest stable kernel, right now i am not install the kernel-lts package.
I am looking the recommended approach, which i expect give me working fallback option on grub entry.

Mod note: replaced oversized image with link.

Last edited by rebornKidz (2026-01-26 18:40:11)

astralc · 2026-01-17 06:56:35

It mean you don't correctly have one of the following:
1. Missing modules for same kernel version in /usr/lib/modules for booted kernel. - can also happen if /boot not mounted when updating.
2. initramfs not matching kernel.

according to description, you maybe encountered 2. Check your (generated) bootloader config, and if both matching kernel and initramfs updated in /boot after pacman update.
Fallback initramfs stopped being generated by default in mkinitcpio .preset, so check if you have it there. (maybe you have old fallback initramfs in /boot, which not match current kernels)

rebornKidz · 2026-01-17 12:33:49

I am still figuring out how to get loaded bootloader.

My boot loader config

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="Arch"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="loglevel=3 quiet"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""
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_COLOR_NORMAL="light-blue/black"
GRUB_COLOR_HIGHLIGHT="light-cyan/blue"
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false

mkinitcpio.conf (/etc/mkinitcpio.conf)

MODULES=(amdgpu radeon vfat)
BINARIES=()
FILES=()
HOOKS=(base udev autodetect microcode modconf kms keyboard keymap consolefont block filesystems fsck modconf)

mkinicpio linux preset

ALL_kver="/boot/vmlinuz-linux"
PRESETS=('default')
default_image="/boot/initramfs-linux.img"

I see some fallback config is disabled.

On properly running and configured arch, doing `pacman -Syu` is enough to get the full upgrade?

seth · 2026-01-17 16:02:10

You bootloader config would be /boot/grub/grub.cfg but that's not really necessary or authoritative.
Post the output of

lsblk -f; cat /proc/cmdline

rebornKidz · 2026-01-17 19:05:02

cmdline

BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=759f6fc2-0535-4342-9f93-5f6bb1486fb3 rw loglevel=2

lsblk

NAME        FSTYPE FSVER LABEL         UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINTS
sda                                                                                        
|-sda1      vfat   FAT32               30C5-ACC5                                           
|-sda2                                                                                     
|-sda3      ntfs         System        4A60D16C60D15F6F                                    
`-sda4      ntfs                       DAA40FCEA40FAC57                                    
nvme0n1                                                                                    
|-nvme0n1p1 ext4   1.0   /             759f6fc2-0535-4342-9f93-5f6bb1486fb3   29.7G    47% /
|-nvme0n1p2 ntfs         /cross-system 68DFD0FE55198462                       57.8G    72% /mnt/p2
|-nvme0n1p3 ext4   1.0   /arch-media   1256b93c-8d3d-44cd-b630-13dbf8a0bcbb    192G     0% /home
`-nvme0n1p4 vfat   FAT32 ESP           0F5A-6664

seth · 2026-01-17 19:47:19

You're booting from some dedicated partition that's not mounted into /boot and that's most likely either sda1 or nvme0n1p4
Check which of them has a kernel, mount that into /boot, re-install the kernel

rebornKidz · 2026-01-18 09:30:51

Okay Seth, thanks for the attention, will try mount p4 but failed. So here we try astralc verdict number 1.

unable to mount unknown file system 'vfat' dmsg you may have more information after failed mount system call.

You expect me to `pacman -S kernel kernel-ls` the reboot afterward, right (systemctl reboot)?

seth · 2026-01-18 09:35:39

You'll have to do that chrooting in from a live system (install iso) and the kernel package is "linux", not "kernel"

rebornKidz · 2026-01-18 13:26:39

Some how i still unable to do it, here is what I do on liveusb:

mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /
mount /dev/nvme0n1p4 /boot
arch-chroot /
genfstab /
pacman -Sy linux linux-lts

Hopefully i recall it right, but this is the first time i encounter no /etc/mtab. It yield error when i not doing genfstab.

seth · 2026-01-18 13:45:41

mount /dev/nvme0n1p4 /mnt/boot

You mounted it into the /boot path of the install iso (which isn't available after the chroot)

Scimmia · 2026-01-18 13:47:21

And

mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /

Is just insane. You can't do that and expect a functional system in any way.

seth · 2026-01-18 14:00:53

I completely overread that… https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Chroot

Scimmia · 2026-01-18 14:05:31

I did the first time, too, didn't notice it until you mentioned where boot was mounted.

rebornKidz · 2026-01-19 02:51:18

Yeah, I am insane enough, I do change the order, mount my p4 to /boot. install linux-lts package, expecting to get a new kernel and a new system working.
Here, I am able to get my grub.cfg in case that helps, or leave some clue, I put the old one too.

Kindly don't stay away from me, even if i a little bit manic, stupid, and insane.
Note to myself, the newer linux-lts or linux is downloaded, try looking it up on cache folder.

Scimmia · 2026-01-19 02:53:54

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Instal … le_systems

rebornKidz · 2026-01-19 05:27:11

Will retry mount to /mnt and arch-chroot there, thanks for radiating your sanity. It's still the same.
This time I am not execute `genfstab /` , I will try again later with the genfstab. Thanks guys

seth · 2026-01-19 09:48:35

"genfstab /" will not change your fstab and "pacman -Sy linux linux-lts" will constitute a partial update.
Also you first need to figure what your boot partition actually is

mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt
mount /dev/nvme0n1p4 /mnt/boot
ls -lR /mnt/boot | less # make sure that's actually the correct partition, in doubt
ls -lR /mnt/boot | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st # post the link and wait for comments… otherwise
arch-chroot /mnt
pacman -S linux # no -y, you should still have the kernel package in the cache and from your grub.cfg you also don't have the lts kernel

rebornKidz · 2026-01-19 14:51:09

https://0x0.st/PK48.txt

no vfat.mod, am I expecting rightly ? Or it's on exfat.mod.
Thanks Seth.

seth · 2026-01-19 15:09:31

-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   8560 Jul  1  2025 fat.mod

Looks like a boot partition, though so re-install the kernel after the chroot and reboot

rebornKidz · 2026-01-19 17:21:36

oh that one. I just do as instructed it still got same error.

seth · 2026-01-19 19:46:33

Which kernel are you currently booting?
What are the current contents (ls -lR) of /dev/nvme0n1p4 and sda1 ?

rebornKidz · 2026-01-20 01:08:53

Ah you need to see the sda1 too? i missed it.
but uname -a

Linux narayana.search 6.15.3-arch1-1 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu, 19 Jun 2025 14:41:19 +0000 x86_64 GNU/Linux

pacman -Q linux

linux 6.18.5.arch1-1

the p4
https://gist.github.com/sukrosono/b990b … b657a54594

I need more time to show the sda1, all partition? Uh no, i assume Seth want to see only the bootable.
here is the sda1

Last edited by rebornKidz (2026-01-20 03:07:10)

seth · 2026-01-20 08:19:18

There's no grub nor kernel on sda1

mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt
stat /mnt/vmlinuz-linux
file /mnt/vmlinuz-linux
mount /dev/nvme0n1p4 /mnt/boot
stat /mnt/vmlinuz-linux
file /mnt/vmlinuz-linux

rebornKidz · 2026-01-20 15:17:38

here is p1
p4

are we getting somewhere?
Thanks for helping

Last edited by rebornKidz (2026-01-20 17:01:44)

seth · 2026-01-20 15:27:54

  File: vmlinuz-linux
  Size: 16613568  	Blocks: 32456      IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: 259,4	Inode: 15          Links: 1
Access: (0755/-rwxr-xr-x)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
Access: 2026-01-19 00:00:00.000000000 +0000
Modify: 2026-01-19 17:08:48.000000000 +0000
Change: 2026-01-19 17:08:48.000000000 +0000
 Birth: 2026-01-19 17:08:49.620000000 +0000
=======================
vmlinuz-linux: Linux kernel x86 boot executable, bzImage, version 6.18.5-arch1-1 (linux@archlinux) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sun, 11 Jan 2026 17:10:53 +0000, RO-rootFS, Normal VGA, setup size 512*39, syssize 0xf6800, jump 0x26c 0x8cd88ec0fc8cd239 instruction, protocol 2.15, from protected-mode code at offset 0x2cc 0xf2f6d9 bytes ZST compressed, relocatable, handover offset 0xf5ba00, legacy 64-bit entry point, can be above 4G, 32-bit EFI handoff entry point, 64-bit EFI handoff entry point, EFI kexec boot support, xloadflags bit 5, max cmdline size 2047, init_size 0x405e000

Looking at my own post and

  File: ./vmlinuz-linux
  Size: 15798784  	Blocks: 30864      IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: 259,1	Inode: 12          Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
Access: 2026-01-17 11:45:51.628530373 +0000
Modify: 2025-06-23 15:07:57.007298652 +0000
Change: 2025-06-23 15:07:57.007298652 +0000
 Birth: 2025-06-23 15:07:56.993300041 +0000
============================
vmlinuz-linux: Linux kernel x86 boot executable, bzImage, version 6.15.3-arch1-1 (linux@archlinux) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu, 19 Jun 2025 14:41:19 +0000, RO-rootFS, Normal VGA, setup size 512*39, syssize 0xf0c20, jump 0x26c 0x8cd88ec0fc8cd239 instruction, protocol 2.15, from protected-mode code at offset 0x2cc 0xed3cdb bytes ZST compressed, relocatable, handover offset 0xefd310, legacy 64-bit entry point, can be above 4G, 32-bit EFI handoff entry point, 64-bit EFI handoff entry point, EFI kexec boot support, xloadflags bit 5, max cmdline size 2047, init_size 0x425a000

is there a kernel at the root path of /dev/nvme0n1p1 ?

Arch Linux

#1 2026-01-17 06:37:42

Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#2 2026-01-17 06:56:35

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#3 2026-01-17 12:33:49

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#4 2026-01-17 16:02:10

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#5 2026-01-17 19:05:02

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#6 2026-01-17 19:47:19

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#7 2026-01-18 09:30:51

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#8 2026-01-18 09:35:39

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#9 2026-01-18 13:26:39

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#10 2026-01-18 13:45:41

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#11 2026-01-18 13:47:21

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#12 2026-01-18 14:00:53

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#13 2026-01-18 14:05:31

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#14 2026-01-19 02:51:18

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#15 2026-01-19 02:53:54

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#16 2026-01-19 05:27:11

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#17 2026-01-19 09:48:35

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#18 2026-01-19 14:51:09

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#19 2026-01-19 15:09:31

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#20 2026-01-19 17:21:36

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#21 2026-01-19 19:46:33

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#22 2026-01-20 01:08:53

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#23 2026-01-20 08:19:18

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#24 2026-01-20 15:17:38

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

#25 2026-01-20 15:27:54

Re: Fail to boot due to vfat module,after upgrade.Strangely lts doing fine

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