[SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

aantipop · 2008-06-04 21:27:54

i didnt upgrade for about three weeks because i had no internet connection. today i did those many upgrades and after a reboot my system is not able to boot now: leaving me in a recovery terminal with this error:

ERROR: Failed to parse block device name for '/dev/sda2' unknown
ERROR: root fs cannot be detected. Try using the rootfstype= kernel parameter.
Waiting for devices to settle...done.
Root device '/dev/sda2' doesn't exist, attempting to create it
ERROR: Faild to pars block device name for '/dev/sda2'
ERROR: Unable to create/detect root device '/dev/sda2'
Dropping recovery shell... type 'exit' to reboot
NOTE: klibc contains no 'ls' binary, use 'echo *' insted

If the device '/dev/sda2'  gets created while you are here,
try adding 'rootdelay=8' or higher to the kernel command-line
ramfs$

first thing i tried was the rootfstype= kernel parameter in grub, but it didnt help, same with the rootdelay=8 option.

when i have a look on my pacman.log i see that building the hooks failed:

[2008-06-04 16:43] warning: /etc/mkinitcpio.conf installed as /etc/mkinitcpio.conf.pacnew
[2008-06-04 16:43] upgraded mkinitcpio (0.5.18.1-1 -> 0.5.19-1)
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>>
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>> If you use the LILO bootloader, you should run 'lilo' before rebooting.
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>>
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>> Updating module dependencies. Please wait ...
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>> MKINITCPIO SETUP
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>> ----------------
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>> If you use LVM2, Encrypted root or software RAID,
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>> Ensure you enable support in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf .
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>> More information about mkinitcpio setup can be found here:
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>> http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mkinitcpio
[2008-06-04 16:44] 
[2008-06-04 16:44] >>> Generating initial ramdisk, using mkinitcpio.  Please wait...
[2008-06-04 16:44] ==> Building image "default"
[2008-06-04 16:44] ==> Running command: /sbin/mkinitcpio -k 2.6.25-ARCH -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/kernel26.img
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Begin build
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [base]
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [udev]
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [autodetect]
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [pata]
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [scsi]
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [sata]
[2008-06-04 16:44] ==> FAIL
[2008-06-04 16:44] ==> Building image "fallback"
[2008-06-04 16:44] ==> Running command: /sbin/mkinitcpio -k 2.6.25-ARCH -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/kernel26-fallback.img -S autodetect
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Begin build
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [base]
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [udev]
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [pata]
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [scsi]
[2008-06-04 16:44] :: Parsing hook [sata]
[2008-06-04 16:44] ==> FAIL
[2008-06-04 16:44] upgraded kernel26 (2.6.24.4-1 -> 2.6.25.4-1)

i edited mkinitcpio.conf and removed sata and scsi (since i have only one ide drive). then i booted the arch-install cd and did a pacman -Sf kernel26 but it still fails when building the hooks. the error message is not very informative, it says something like " 'is not a file" and some "command not foundf" and "stem not found" or so, i cant remember exactly.

then i tried to roll back the mkinitcpio to version 5.18 and the kernel to version 24, but it still fails at building
the hooks. im now really lost, have to boot to windows to get some things done. PLEASE help me to rescue my system !!

here is the output of mkinitcpio -v -p kernel26:

==> Building image "default"
==> Running command: /sbin/mkinitcpio -v -k 2.6.25-ARCH -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/kernel26.img
:: Begin build
:: Parsing hook [base]
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
:: Parsing hook [udev]
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
:: Parsing hook [autodetect]
:: Parsing hook [pata]
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
==> FAIL
==> Building image "fallback"
==> Running command: /sbin/mkinitcpio -v -k 2.6.25-ARCH -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/kernel26-fallback.img -S autodetect
:: Begin build
:: Parsing hook [base]
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
:: Parsing hook [udev]
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
:: Parsing hook [pata]
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
$}
==> FAIL

Last edited by aantipop (2008-06-07 10:41:05)

droog · 2008-06-04 23:18:30

Try putting hda instead of sda and see if you can boot. if you removed pata and put ide like you said it should be hda now.

aantipop · 2008-06-05 06:09:43

no success, i think, because mkinitcpio fails. any idea what to do now ???

edit:

here are some errormessages printed on screen when mkinitcpio fails..note these are NO typos:

:command not foundf: line8:
:command not foundf: line16:
:command not foundf: line24:
`not foundle`
in (/bin ........etc etc)
`is not a file
`does not exist
`can not be found.stems
==>FAIL

i can boot into 2.6.24 now again, but am missing the nvidia driver to start up X, its not in my cache

Last edited by aantipop (2008-06-05 07:54:06)

aantipop · 2008-06-05 17:04:40

i got my xserver working by manually installing the driver, so at least i have a working machine. now im able to post the exact errors of a mkinitcpio -p kernel26:

[aantipop@blackbox ~]$ mkinitcpio -p kernel26
==> Building image "default"
==> Running command: /sbin/mkinitcpio -k 2.6.24-ARCH -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/kernel26.img
: command not foundf: line 8:
: command not foundf: line 16:
: command not foundf: line 24:
:: Begin build
' not foundle '
 in (/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/opt/java/bin:/opt/java/jre/bin:/opt/mozilla/bin:/usr/bin/perlbin/site:/usr/bin/perlbin/vendor:/usr/bin/perlbin/core:/opt/qt/bin:/opt/kde/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/sbin)
' is not a file
' does not exist
:: Parsing hook [base]
:: Parsing hook [udev]
:: Parsing hook [autodetect]
ERROR: User does not have proper permissions to read superblocks, raid and filesystem modules are not detected
:: Parsing hook [pata]
:: Parsing hook [scsi]
:: Parsing hook [sata]
' can not be found.stems
==> FAIL
==> Building image "fallback"
==> Running command: /sbin/mkinitcpio -k 2.6.24-ARCH -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/kernel26-fallback.img -S autodetect
: command not foundf: line 8:
: command not foundf: line 16:
: command not foundf: line 24:
:: Begin build
' not foundle '
 in (/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/opt/java/bin:/opt/java/jre/bin:/opt/mozilla/bin:/usr/bin/perlbin/site:/usr/bin/perlbin/vendor:/usr/bin/perlbin/core:/opt/qt/bin:/opt/kde/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/sbin)
' is not a file
' does not exist
:: Parsing hook [base]
:: Parsing hook [udev]
:: Parsing hook [pata]
:: Parsing hook [scsi]
:: Parsing hook [sata]
' can not be found.stems
==> FAIL

line 8, 16, 24 OF WHAT ?? it looks like a typo somewhere, but i dont know where..
is this related to this bug: http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/10534

bender02 · 2008-06-05 17:28:49

Looks funny... I'd try to check these things:
1) /bin/sh should be a symlink to bash (not some other shell)
2) I'm sure I run mkinitcpio as root, and I don't have any funky parameters (like color) automatically set for grep, sed, awk, and such
3) Upgrading of some basic packages (mkinitcpio, initscripts, coreutils, klibc-*) went OK without any errors

aantipop · 2008-06-05 17:59:30

1) lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 Jan 29 21:45 /bin/sh -> bash
2) yes, because pacman runs mkinitcpio when upgrading the kernel. could you explain how i can make sure not to use funky parameters ? i only remember that i installed pacman-color, nothing else
3) i reinstalled everything in this list without any error message

http://pastebin.ca/1039663

bender02 · 2008-06-05 18:13:53

aantipop wrote:

2) yes, because pacman runs mkinitcpio when upgrading the kernel. could you explain how i can make sure not to use funky parameters ? i only remember that i installed pacman-color, nothing else

(Just that in your previous post you ran mkinitcpio as user, I think.) What I meant is that you can for instance let grep *always* use color (which is not a good idea) by setting the environment variables GREP_OPTIONS and GREP_COLORS to something.

Another thing that comes to mind is that you might have a typo in your /etc/mkinitcpio.conf (since mkinitcpio sources that file). So make sure it's correct (and possibly try running mkinitcpio with the default config file which comes with the package).

aantipop · 2008-06-05 19:07:42

i replaced my mkinicpio in /sbin/ with the one out of the package manually, same with the mkinipcio.conf file, because i thought of a typo too. but it doesnt help. i also tried version 5.18 which i pulled of the installation cd, no success

im pretty much sure that i didnt try to colorize grep. sorry for the odd question, but how do i check for other wrong enviroment variables ? here is my .bashrc if that helps ?

alias ls='ls --color=auto'
PS1='[\u@\h \W]\$ '
if [ -f /etc/bash_completion ]; then
    . /etc/bash_completion
fi
export OOO_FORCE_DESKTOP=kde
complete -cf sudo
alias spm='sudo pacman-color'

bender02 · 2008-06-05 19:38:12

Well, it looks fine, probably no problem with grep or such. (You can see the environment variables that are set with 'env'.) I am out of ideas Maybe last thing: are your permissions on /tmp as they should be?

drwxrwxrwt 8 root root 4096 2008-06-05 12:31 tmp

aantipop · 2008-06-05 20:00:25

yes permissions on temp are like that:
drwxrwxrwt 9 root root 4,0K 6. Jun 21:45 tmp

well is there any uncompromising way to recover my system? something like deleting /boot or so ? i mean its functioning perfectly, but i cant perform the kernel update. i want to avoid a re-install, because i invested much time into this installation..:/

bender02 · 2008-06-05 20:16:47

Reinstalling the whole base group should bring you to the state of things right after the installation (except for the config files, of course). You should try to figure the problem out, not updating the kernel will not be very good in the long run. Maybe dig into the mkinitcpio script, putting some 'echo's around, to isolate the part that generates the funny errors.

_Marco_ · 2008-06-05 20:56:19

well, I'd simply backup everything (to backup the configs) and start experimenting.
I'd remove every not core package, to see if some package conflict (example the colored shell pkg) and, as suggested by bender02, reinstall the core one.
(@bender02 : I think reinstalling would fix the config files too, aren't they renamed in filename.pacsave? this would be the perfect cure for the system, correct me if I'm wrong)
just be sure to keep safe the backup

bender02 · 2008-06-05 21:02:53

_Marco_ wrote:

(@bender02 : I think reinstalling would fix the config files too, aren't they renamed in filename.pacsave? this would be the perfect cure for the system, correct me if I'm wrong)

Well, I think uninstalling leaves .pacsave files; upgrading (and I think this includes reinstalling with -S) creates .pacnews and leaves the current configs untouched.

_Marco_ · 2008-06-05 21:32:16

uhm.. I don't know
reputedly (consider that I'm dead tired so don't shoot me )
if removing a file "filename" rename it to "filename.pacsave", then reinstalling it pacman would not find a file with name "filename" and so there is no need to put a "filename.pacnew" file.. it should simply put the original config file...

but as I was saying now I go to sleep.. I hope someone clarify (or try) this
bye

schivmeister · 2008-06-06 12:04:53

Before running mkinitpcio, edit /sbin/mkinitcpio and place:

set -x

on top before any code is run (below #!/bin/bash) and

set +x

at the end of the file. Then pipe the mkinitcpio outpute to a file for inspection:

sudo mkinitcpio -vp kernel26 &> errors

It will contain tons of code, but try to enter in decisive commands as how they are shown - to see if there's a problem running those commands themselves. And use a pastebin so we can take a look too.

Last edited by schivmeister (2008-06-06 12:05:39)

aantipop · 2008-06-06 16:15:41

here is the output:
http://pastebin.com/m12a29e88

what does "set -x" and +x do ?

bender02 · 2008-06-06 17:22:40

set [+/-]x turns on and off bash debugging.
The weird output you were getting is right after "source /etc/mkinitcpio.conf"; you can see that what the script gets from mkinitcpio.conf are lines like

MODULES=$'\r'

and

HOOKS='base udev autodetect pata filesystems

(without the closing ')

So, please, have a *good* look at your mkinitcpio.conf!

EDIT: above I noticed that you talked about mkinitpcio.conf, I hope that typo was only in the forums, not in /etc/.

Last edited by bender02 (2008-06-06 17:25:04)

aantipop · 2008-06-06 23:28:52

here is my mkinitcpio.conf, i cant find a problem there:

# vim:set ft=sh
# MODULES
# The following modules are loaded before any boot hooks are
# run.  Advanced users may wish to specify all system modules
# in this array.  For instance:
#     MODULES="piix ide_disk reiserfs"
MODULES=""

# BINARIES
# This setting includes, into the CPIO image, and additional
# binaries a given user may wish.  This is run first, so may
# be used to override the actual binaries used in a given hook.
# (Existing files are NOT overwritten is already added)
# BINARIES are dependancy parsed, so you may safely ignore libraries
BINARIES=""

# FILES
# This setting is similar to BINARIES above, however, files are added
# as-is and are not parsed in anyway.  This is useful for config files.
# Some users may wish to include modprobe.conf for custom module options,
# like so:
#    FILES="/etc/modprobe.conf"
FILES=""

# HOOKS
# This is the most important setting in this file.  The HOOKS control the
# modules and scripts added to the image, and what happens at boot time.
# Order is important, and it is recommended that you do not change the
# order in which HOOKS are added.  Run 'mkinitcpio -H <hook name>' for
# help on a given hook.
# 'base' is _required_ unless you know precisely what you are doing.
# 'udev' is _required_ in order to automatically load modules
# 'modload' may be used in place of 'udev', but is not recommended
# 'filesystems' is _required_ unless you specify your fs modules in MODULES
# Examples:
#    This setup specifies all modules in the MODULES setting above.
#    No raid, lvm2, or encrypted root is needed.
#    HOOKS="base"
#
#    This setup will autodetect all modules for your system and should
#    work as a sane default
#    HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata scsi sata filesystems"
#
#    This is identical to the above, except the old ide subsystem is
#    used for IDE devices instead of the new pata subsystem.
#    HOOKS="base udev autodetect ide scsi sata filesystems"
#
#    This setup will generate a 'full' image which supports most systems.
#    No autodetection is done.
#    HOOKS="base udev pata scsi sata usb filesystems"
#
#    This setup assembles an pata raid array with an encrypted root FS.
#    Note: See 'mkinitcpio -H raid' for more information on raid devices.
#    HOOKS="base udev pata raid encrypt filesystems"
#
#    This setup loads an lvm2 volume group on a usb device.
#    HOOKS="base udev usb lvm2 filesystems"
HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata filesystems"

i dont have tab-completion here, so there may be typos here.

thanks for the helping hands btw

bender02 · 2008-06-07 03:06:14

What happens when you run 'source /etc/mkinitcpio.conf'?

EDIT: Another idea: what format is your /etc/mkinitcpio.conf? - I mean dos/unix? At the end of lines, you have \n's or \r\n's?

Last edited by bender02 (2008-06-07 03:09:55)

nexus7 · 2008-06-07 06:21:46

aantipop wrote:

i didnt upgrade for about three weeks because i had no internet connection. today i did those many upgrades and after a reboot my system is not able to boot now: leaving me in a recovery terminal with this error:

ERROR: Failed to parse block device name for '/dev/sda2' unknown
ERROR: root fs cannot be detected. Try using the rootfstype= kernel parameter.
Waiting for devices to settle...done.
Root device '/dev/sda2' doesn't exist, attempting to create it
ERROR: Faild to pars block device name for '/dev/sda2'
ERROR: Unable to create/detect root device '/dev/sda2'
Dropping recovery shell... type 'exit' to reboot
NOTE: klibc contains no 'ls' binary, use 'echo *' insted

If the device '/dev/sda2'  gets created while you are here,
try adding 'rootdelay=8' or higher to the kernel command-line
ramfs$

Hmm, are you really sure your /boot/grub/menu.lst is still correct?
I recently had exactly the same error after installing grub-gfx with the kernel line pointing to /dev/hdaX instead of /dev/sdaX then. I had to edit grub at boot time and then fix the menu.lst lateron.

For updating your kernel, because you now seem to use version .24 again: I also had trouble building the .25-kernel while I set up a fresh Arch system (with kernel .24 on the ftp-iso) and did the first # pacman -Syu during the installation process. Though the new kernel somehow was build there were many errors because lots of the hooks and modules were not found, so I preferred not to reboot. Finally running

  # mkinitcpio -k 2.6.25-ARCH -p kernel26 -g /boot/kernel26.img

did the trick, including building a fallback-initrd. You just have to re-install the new kernel soon to have the standard # mkinitcpio -g /boot/kernel26.img again, otherwise the fallback-image won't be created.

Last edited by nexus7 (2008-06-07 06:29:34)

aantipop · 2008-06-07 10:39:38

[aantipop@blackbox ~]$ source /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
: command not found
: command not found
: command not found
[aantipop@blackbox ~]$

the format is DOS, says konqueror and:

[aantipop@blackbox etc]$ file mkinitcpio.conf
mkinitcpio.conf: ASCII English text, with CRLF line terminators
[aantipop@blackbox etc]$

i converted the file with dos2unix. SUCCESS!

when i tried to recover i edited several files with MS wordpad.
my learned lesson: dont use ms wordpad for editing unix files.

what i still dont get: i started using windows for editing files just when the problems started. so the wrong format of the files is not the inital problem.

thanks a lot, bender02 and schivmeister for tracking the problem. now i cross my fingers for a reboot

edit:
$ uname -r
2.6.25-ARCH

Last edited by aantipop (2008-06-07 10:53:06)

bender02 · 2008-06-07 17:30:32

Glad we could help.

I'm pretty sure there are editors on windows that can preserve the format ... so get yourself one [gvim for instance].

schivmeister · 2008-06-08 18:46:49

Wow that's an epic I always ensure I nano/vim (they have auto insert newline at EOF) and save files which are possibly involved in the problem I'm facing.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-06-04 21:27:54

[SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#2 2008-06-04 23:18:30

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#3 2008-06-05 06:09:43

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#4 2008-06-05 17:04:40

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#5 2008-06-05 17:28:49

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#6 2008-06-05 17:59:30

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#7 2008-06-05 18:13:53

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#8 2008-06-05 19:07:42

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#9 2008-06-05 19:38:12

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#10 2008-06-05 20:00:25

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#11 2008-06-05 20:16:47

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#12 2008-06-05 20:56:19

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#13 2008-06-05 21:02:53

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#14 2008-06-05 21:32:16

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#15 2008-06-06 12:04:53

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#16 2008-06-06 16:15:41

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#17 2008-06-06 17:22:40

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#18 2008-06-06 23:28:52

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#19 2008-06-07 03:06:14

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#20 2008-06-07 06:21:46

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#21 2008-06-07 10:39:38

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#22 2008-06-07 17:30:32

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

#23 2008-06-08 18:46:49

Re: [SOLVED] arch doesnt boot after some upgrades

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