[SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

ssri · 2010-12-17 19:01:09

I compiled kernel26-ck (2.6.36.2-5) successfully, installed the package via pacman -U, mkinitcpio ran automatically, rebooted and was greeted by this error message:

I checked my /boot/grub/menu.lst and /etc/fstab and everything seems to be okay (different kernels have the same rootid). I also updated to the newest arch kernel around the same time and it boots fine. This is the first time I ran into any issue with kernel26-ck after using it for quite awhile; 2.6.36.1 booted fine too. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Last edited by ssri (2010-12-30 12:12:09)

graysky · 2010-12-17 19:29:39

Interesting... I've seen another post recently w/ this major/minor crap too. Can you post your menu.lst here? Also, what happens if you use a /dev/sdxy rather than a uuid?

falconindy · 2010-12-17 20:04:50

Recreate your initcpio. There's an outstanding bug with mkinitcpio that causes it to report success even when the final (crucial) step fails.

https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/20638

You can check the contents of the generated .img file to make sure the necessary kernel modules are included:

bsdtar -tf /boot/kernel26-ck.img | less

ssri · 2010-12-17 20:46:21

falconindy wrote:

Recreate your initcpio. There's an outstanding bug with mkinitcpio that causes it to report success even when the final (crucial) step fails.
https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/20638
You can check the contents of the generated .img file to make sure the necessary kernel modules are included:
bsdtar -tf /boot/kernel26-ck.img | less

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I also saw the mentioned post, but I mistakenly assumed that mkinitcpio was alright after successfully upgrading the official arch kernel. Unfortunately, I do not have access to my laptop right now, but I will try what falcon suggested when I return home. The also brings up another question: If the patched mkinitcpio correctly informs me that initcpio creation failed for kernel26-ck, then how can I update the kernel? Another recompile? I've already done it twice with no error messages and I'm not really looking forward to doing it a third time. Thanks

Last edited by ssri (2010-12-17 20:54:22)

graysky · 2010-12-17 21:19:27

I think you should boot into the ARCH kernel then:

# mkinitcpio -p kernel26-ck

falconindy · 2010-12-18 01:05:17

The initcpio creation is totally separate from the kernel. The fact that the initcpio for the stock kernel is called kernel26.img is a horrible misnomer. It's not the kernel and it's separate from the kernel other than the fact that it carries some modules related to the kernel. Rebuilding your initcpio has no bearing on the functionality of your kernel itself (vmlinuz26-ck).

ssri · 2010-12-22 05:03:30

@falconindy
You are right in that kernel26-ck is missing the kernel modules. Moreover, /lib/modules/2.6.36-ck/kernel is empty after pacman -U the two kernel packages (kernel26-ck-headers, kernel26-ck).

*smacks forehead*

Last edited by ssri (2010-12-22 05:17:37)

graysky · 2010-12-22 09:31:44

@ssri - so it built no modules?? Never seen that before. Did you customize it in any way? What happens if you build it with none of the options enabled?

ssri · 2010-12-22 15:03:20

graysky wrote:

@ssri - so it built no modules?? Never seen that before. Did you customize it in any way? What happens if you build it with none of the options enabled?

Typically I download the files using yaourt -G kernel26-ck, modify the PKGBUILD to enable menuconfig, set the CPU governor to "ondemand," set "powersave" to be enabled rather than be compiled as a module (*) and run makepkg -sc. After I compiled it last night, before reading your last message, /lib/modules/2.6.36-ck/kernel/ continues to be empty, weird. Likewise, I have been compiling kernel26-ck in this way for the past several months and this is the first time I have seen this happen too. Next time, I'll try to compile it without enabling anything like you said. When all of this began, I noticed its small size (51MB) after compiling nearly all of the modules from the default .config. Here's a dump of the kernel compile:

http://arch.pastebin.com/4nJeF9si
or
http://www.multiupload.com/XJNH7HWM1E

Last edited by ssri (2010-12-22 15:17:30)

graysky · 2010-12-22 15:31:02

Use makepkg and see how it works - it will work .

ssri · 2010-12-23 01:13:58

graysky wrote:

Use makepkg and see how it works - it will work .

I downloaded your pkgbuild and associated config files from aur and ran makepkg to compile the kernel. Entered "Y" to enable BFS with a timing freq of 1000Hz. Sadly, after using pacman -U kernel26-ck-headers[version] kernel26-ck[version], which ran mkinitcpio too, /lib/modules/2.6.36-ck/kernel remains empty, and, accordingly, mkinitcpio -p kernel26-ck didn't do anything either. Weird.

graysky · 2010-12-23 01:47:52

@ssri - I'm at a total loss as to what could be going on. I've built this many MANY times on half a dozen machines with no problems. Let's rule out something insane on your system.

1) Post the output of

$ head /path/to/kernel26-ck/PKGBUILD

2) If you still have the packages you just build, what are their respective sizes?

I just built it for a new machine earlier today.

$ ls -hl kernel26-ck-*
-rw-r--r-- 1 facade users  24M Dec 22 13:36 kernel26-ck-2.6.36.2-5-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 facade users 4.2M Dec 22 13:38 kernel26-ck-headers-2.6.36.2-5-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

3) Install devtools and compile it in a clean chroot --> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/De … ean_Chroot.

Last edited by graysky (2010-12-23 02:18:58)

ssri · 2010-12-23 02:30:46

$head PKGBUILD
# Contributor: graysky <graysky AT archlinux dot us>
# Contributor: Tobias Powalowski <tpowa@archlinux.org>
# Contributor: Thomas Baechler <thomas@archlinux.org>
###########################################################################################################
#                                          Patch and Build Options
###########################################################################################################
_BFQ_patches="n"        # add BFQ patches
_makemenucfg="n"        # menuconfig option
_localmodcfg="n"        # make localmod config - compile ONLY probed modules - see notes below!
_use_current="n"        # use the current kernel's .config file - see notes below!

ls -hl kernel26-ck-*
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 4.7M Dec 22 16:54 kernel26-ck-2.6.36.2-5-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 4.1M Dec 22 16:55 kernel26-ck-headers-2.6.36.2-5-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

some older, successful compiles:

$ ls -hl kernel26-ck-*
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  27M Aug 11 09:48 kernel26-ck-2.6.35.1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  27M Aug 10 20:32 kernel26-ck-2.6.35-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  27M Aug 16 23:57 kernel26-ck-2.6.35.2-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  28M Aug 21 12:24 kernel26-ck-2.6.35.3-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  28M Aug 29 03:47 kernel26-ck-2.6.35.4-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  27M Sep 20 20:35 kernel26-ck-2.6.35.4-4-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  27M Sep 21 14:51 kernel26-ck-2.6.35.5-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  28M Sep 28 15:17 kernel26-ck-2.6.35.6-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  28M Oct 10 16:26 kernel26-ck-2.6.35.7-10-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  24M Nov 23 01:50 kernel26-ck-2.6.36.1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  24M Nov 25 01:40 kernel26-ck-2.6.36.1-3-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  24M Nov  9 20:12 kernel26-ck-2.6.36-9-x86_64-BFQ.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user  24M Nov 22 03:58 kernel26-ck-2.6.36-9-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 4.1M Nov 23 01:54 kernel26-ck-headers-2.6.36.1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 4.1M Nov 25 01:44 kernel26-ck-headers-2.6.36.1-3-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 4.1M Nov  9 20:15 kernel26-ck-headers-2.6.36-9-x86_64-BFQ.pkg.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 4.1M Nov 22 04:01 kernel26-ck-headers-2.6.36-9-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

graysky · 2010-12-23 02:55:56

That's interesting. How about #3?

I built you up the packages until you get this sorted out (sent you the d/l link in an email/the files won't stay up for long) - only mods I used were to switch the timing freq to 1k Hz as you requested (and of course I answered yes to the bfs). Other than that, no deviations from the ARCH defaults. Do let me know how that cleanchroot compile goes (I suspect it will work just fine).

FYI, no funny CFLAGS -

$ grep FLAG /etc/makepkg.conf 
#CFLAGS="-march=core2 -mtune=generic -O2 -pipe" # optimized for xeon_new
CFLAGS="-march=x86-64 -mtune=generic -O2 -pipe" # default for x86_64
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}"
MAKEFLAGS="-j4"

Here is the compile log if you're interested.

Last edited by graysky (2010-12-23 03:04:13)

ssri · 2010-12-23 03:38:44

I'll try out #3 and will compile the kernel this evening. Many thanks for the compiled kernel packages since they obviously worked. When I saw your makepkg.conf, I remembered that I had to change the compile flags when debugging ncmpcpp. However, I checked mine and it seems that I already reverted back to default:

$ grep FLAG /etc/makepkg.conf
# ARCHITECTURE, COMPILE FLAGS
CFLAGS="-march=x86-64 -mtune=generic -O2 -pipe"
CXXFLAGS="-march=x86-64 -mtune=generic -O2 -pipe"
LDFLAGS="-Wl,--hash-style=gnu -Wl,--as-needed"
MAKEFLAGS="-j2"

Hopefully compiling in chroot helps; I can simply use yaourt to compile in chroot and install if I'm feeling lazy .

Last edited by ssri (2010-12-23 03:45:37)

graysky · 2010-12-23 04:00:18

Cool, lemme know if the chroot worked.

ssri · 2010-12-23 06:47:54

Compiling in chroot, not using yaourt, yielded a bootable kernel. However, there are more instances of kworker events taking up a large share of my CPU, particularly one that takes up ~40%, that results in sluggish performance, i.e. intermittent pauses every 5-7secs. *sigh* I did not see that with -ARCH or your binaries.

Last edited by ssri (2010-12-23 06:48:21)

graysky · 2010-12-23 12:53:06

ssri wrote:

Compiling in chroot, not using yaourt, yielded a bootable kernel. However, there are more instances of kworker events taking up a large share of my CPU, particularly one that takes up ~40%, that results in sluggish performance, i.e. intermittent pauses every 5-7secs. *sigh* I did not see that with -ARCH or your binaries.

I'm beginning to wonder if your machine is stable... are you overclocking it? Did you tweak any of the voltages? What are your hardware details (CPU/MB/RAM)? If you are overclocking it, what are the specific settings you're using (multiplier, FSB, memory settings, timings, voltages, etc.)

You might want to try a stability test using either mprime or linpack. Both of which are in the AUR - click the link in my sig,

ssri · 2010-12-30 02:22:21

Okay, I'm back from a trip and found the same problem when compiling kernel26 from ABS with no modifications whatsoever. Since this is becoming more of a general problem, I decided to continue the thread here: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=110899

PS. Graysky, thanks for the help and, no, I do not overclock my laptop nor do I see any reason to do so . My machine specs are:
CPU: 1.8GHz core2duo
Memory: 4GB
Graphics: ATi Mobility Radeon x2300 (R500 legacy)

Last edited by ssri (2010-12-30 05:23:33)

graysky · 2010-12-30 10:47:43

Please make this thread as solved since it's not kernel26-ck's fault

Last edited by graysky (2010-12-30 10:49:03)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-12-17 19:01:09

[SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#2 2010-12-17 19:29:39

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#3 2010-12-17 20:04:50

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#4 2010-12-17 20:46:21

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#5 2010-12-17 21:19:27

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#6 2010-12-18 01:05:17

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#7 2010-12-22 05:03:30

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#8 2010-12-22 09:31:44

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#9 2010-12-22 15:03:20

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#10 2010-12-22 15:31:02

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#11 2010-12-23 01:13:58

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#12 2010-12-23 01:47:52

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#13 2010-12-23 02:30:46

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#14 2010-12-23 02:55:56

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#15 2010-12-23 03:38:44

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#16 2010-12-23 04:00:18

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#17 2010-12-23 06:47:54

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#18 2010-12-23 12:53:06

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#19 2010-12-30 02:22:21

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

#20 2010-12-30 10:47:43

Re: [SOLVED]kernel26-ck: Unable to determine root number->Recovery Console

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