Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

thewebdoctor · 2011-03-09 21:44:38

After I installed Arch a couple of days ago, it booted OK, then it didn't, then it did... and now it looks like it won't boot at all

My frozen screen looks like this:
MOD EDIT - Please follow image posting guidelines from the forum rules - Use thumbnails only. --Inxsible http://www.drlanelester.com/bootprob.jpg
In spite of what the error says, /sbin/init does exist.

I have two hard drives, an old 160 GB ATA that on which I have separate partitions, each of which has a different distro. I have a fairly new 500 GB SATA with all my data (docs, pics, music, etc.).

In the picture, the distro drive is sda, and the data drive is sdb. Arch is on sda11.

I can boot all the other distros on sda without the error being generated. So I'm thinking maybe something is wrong with the "Arch" part of the drive, or something is wrong with my Arch installation.

I'm hoping these errors will allow you to tell me what the problem is.

Lane

scorpyn · 2011-03-09 23:00:44

My best bet would be that your drives are "jumping around", causing confusion as to which hard disk is /dev/sda, /dev/sdb etc.

To fix this, change your lines in /etc/fstab to something like this (<UUID> is the uuid of the partition, don't use < and >) :

UUID=<UUID> /boot ext4 defaults,noatime 0 2
UUID=<UUID> / ext4 defaults,noatime 0 1

You can list the UUID:s by running ls in /dev/disk/by-uuid/

or this works (on ext partitions, not sure about btrfs etc).

tune2fs -l /dev/sda1 | grep UUID
tune2fs -l /dev/sda2 | grep UUID
tune2fs -l /dev/sda3 | grep UUID
tune2fs -l /dev/sda4 | grep UUID
... etc ...

thewebdoctor · 2011-03-09 23:49:11

thewebdoctor wrote:

MOD EDIT - Please follow image posting guidelines from the forum rules - Use thumbnails only.

Excuse me. I just looked at the rule, but I don't know how to post a thumbnail that will allow a person to see the larger image.

Lane

thewebdoctor · 2011-03-09 23:51:08

scorpyn wrote:

My best bet would be that your drives are "jumping around", causing confusion as to which hard disk is /dev/sda, /dev/sdb etc.
To fix this, change your lines in /etc/fstab to something like this (<UUID> is the uuid of the partition, don't use < and >) :

Thanks for the suggestion.

For a long time, Ubuntu has used UUIDs in fstab, so I'm used to them. I will take your advice and post the results back here.

Lane

thewebdoctor · 2011-03-10 00:12:04

With UUIDs instead of sdx values, I was able to boot. Thank you again, scorpyn, for the suggestion.

Since I couldn't boot Arch, I booted another distro, mounted the Arch partition, and used blkid to get the UUIDs.

Lane

ANOKNUSA · 2011-03-10 00:24:40

thewebdoctor wrote:

thewebdoctor wrote:
MOD EDIT - Please follow image posting guidelines from the forum rules - Use thumbnails only.
Excuse me. I just looked at the rule, but I don't know how to post a thumbnail that will allow a person to see the larger image.
Lane

Check out omploader and imageshack.

thewebdoctor · 2011-03-10 00:59:48

I rejoiced too soon. Even with the UUIDs in fstab, I just rebooted and got the hung system pictured at the link in the top post.

So I'm back to wondering what caused the problem.

Lane

scorpyn · 2011-03-10 10:24:06

Odd.

Maybe you could post a new picture of what it looks like now?

In the picture above, sda is 500gb and sdb is 160gb, indicating that they have switched places (if I'm correct in my intrepretation that the 160gb drive is the one with the arch install).

Also post the output of these commands :

tune2fs -l /dev/sda11
tune2fs -l /dev/sdb11

I suppose you're using grub? Maybe you could post that config as well?

Last edited by scorpyn (2011-03-10 10:24:27)

thewebdoctor · 2011-03-10 12:53:56

scorpyn wrote:

Odd.
Maybe you could post a new picture of what it looks like now?

Here you go:
http://www.drlanelester.com/bootprob2.jpg

In the picture above, sda is 500gb and sdb is 160gb, indicating that they have switched places (if I'm correct in my intrepretation that the 160gb drive is the one with the arch install).

Yes, I've observed that they switch places, hence the good advice about using UUIDs. However, the switching has never been a problem.

Also post the output of these commands :
tune2fs -l /dev/sda11
tune2fs -l /dev/sdb11

Of course, this is in Ubuntu Minimal CD, since I can't boot Arch:

root@PC1:~# tune2fs -l /dev/sda11
tune2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Filesystem volume name:   Arch
Last mounted on:          <not available>
Filesystem UUID:          f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f
Filesystem magic number:  0xEF53
Filesystem revision #:    1 (dynamic)
Filesystem features:      has_journal ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype sparse_super large_file
Filesystem flags:         signed_directory_hash 
Default mount options:    (none)
Filesystem state:         clean
Errors behavior:          Continue
Filesystem OS type:       Linux
Inode count:              645904
Block count:              2582528
Reserved block count:     129126
Free blocks:              2114916
Free inodes:              570722
First block:              0
Block size:               4096
Fragment size:            4096
Reserved GDT blocks:      630
Blocks per group:         32768
Fragments per group:      32768
Inodes per group:         8176
Inode blocks per group:   511
Filesystem created:       Tue Mar  8 07:24:12 2011
Last mount time:          Wed Mar  9 19:44:27 2011
Last write time:          Wed Mar  9 19:54:03 2011
Mount count:              16
Maximum mount count:      36
Last checked:             Tue Mar  8 07:24:12 2011
Check interval:           15552000 (6 months)
Next check after:         Sun Sep  4 08:24:12 2011
Reserved blocks uid:      0 (user root)
Reserved blocks gid:      0 (group root)
First inode:              11
Inode size:               256
Required extra isize:     28
Desired extra isize:      28
Journal inode:            8
Default directory hash:   half_md4
Directory Hash Seed:      0cdfb748-f13a-4a22-85d7-94026324abf8
Journal backup:           inode blocks

root@PC1:~# tune2fs -l /dev/sdb11
tune2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Filesystem volume name:   Backup2
Last mounted on:          <not available>
Filesystem UUID:          639b799a-a734-4800-8377-f7a866346a5b
Filesystem magic number:  0xEF53
Filesystem revision #:    1 (dynamic)
Filesystem features:      has_journal ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype needs_recovery sparse_super large_file
Filesystem flags:         signed_directory_hash 
Default mount options:    (none)
Filesystem state:         clean
Errors behavior:          Continue
Filesystem OS type:       Linux
Inode count:              2564096
Block count:              10240000
Reserved block count:     512000
Free blocks:              5063484
Free inodes:              2550806
First block:              0
Block size:               4096
Fragment size:            4096
Reserved GDT blocks:      1021
Blocks per group:         32768
Fragments per group:      32768
Inodes per group:         8192
Inode blocks per group:   512
Filesystem created:       Mon Oct 25 14:02:35 2010
Last mount time:          Thu Mar 10 07:35:39 2011
Last write time:          Thu Mar 10 07:35:39 2011
Mount count:              26
Maximum mount count:      36
Last checked:             Sat Mar  5 06:03:31 2011
Check interval:           15552000 (6 months)
Next check after:         Thu Sep  1 07:03:31 2011
Reserved blocks uid:      0 (user root)
Reserved blocks gid:      0 (group root)
First inode:              11
Inode size:               256
Required extra isize:     28
Desired extra isize:      28
Journal inode:            8
Default directory hash:   half_md4
Directory Hash Seed:      73a92a3e-101b-4145-ac81-b856f84a6e4b
Journal backup:           inode blocks

I suppose you're using grub? Maybe you could post that config as well?

Actually, I'm using the grub2 from my Ubuntu Minimal CD partition. Here is the Arch stanza:

menuentry "Arch Linux (on /dev/sdb11)" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd1,msdos11)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f
    linux /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda11 ro
    initrd /boot/kernel26.img
}

This was created by grub-update.

Lane

scorpyn · 2011-03-10 13:52:33

If I'm reading

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gr … _scripting

correctly...

menuentry "Arch Linux (on /dev/sdb11)" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd1,msdos11)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f
    linux /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda11 ro
    initrd /boot/kernel26.img
}

or, more specifically

    set root='(hd1,msdos11)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f
    linux /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda11 ro

should probably be changed to

    search --fs-uuid --no-floppy --set=root f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f
    linux /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f ro

ie something like this :

menuentry "Arch Linux" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    search --fs-uuid --no-floppy --set=root f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f
    linux /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f ro
    initrd /boot/kernel26.img
}

...or perhaps you could just copy+paste that whole section (form the wiki) and change the UUIDs?

 menuentry "Arch Linux" {
   insmod part_msdos
   insmod ext2

   #Enter the UUID of your boot partition (this is where grub and your kernel reside)
   set uuid_grub_boot=f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f
   
   #Enter the UUID of the partition containing the root partition of your Arch Linux installation.            
   set uuid_os_root=f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f
   
   #(Note: this may be the same as your boot partition)
   
   #Here we set the grub "root" variable by locating the uuid of the root partition identified above   
   search --fs-uuid --no-floppy --set=root $uuid_os_root
   
   #Here we set a custom variable grub_boot by locating the uuid of the boot partition identified above          
   search --fs-uuid --no-floppy --set=grub_boot $uuid_grub_boot
   
   #Here's the magic. We test to see if the boot and root partitions have the same UUID.
   #If they do we append /boot to the $grub_boot variable. For ex. (hd0,1) becomes (hd0,1)/boot.
   if [ $uuid_grub_boot == $uuid_os_root ] ; then
      set grub_boot=$grub_boot/boot
   fi
   
   # $grub_boot now points to the correct location, so the following will properly find the kernel and initrd
   linux ($grub_boot)/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/$uuid_os_root ro
   initrd ($grub_boot)/kernel26.img
 }

Last edited by scorpyn (2011-03-10 14:02:21)

thewebdoctor · 2011-03-10 14:53:25

Rather than the elaborate one from the wiki, I decided to try your version:

menuentry "Arch Linux" {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    search --fs-uuid --no-floppy --set=root f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f
    linux /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/f444847f-f4b6-4187-b7d4-966596f83c5f ro
    initrd /boot/kernel26.img
}

I'm pleased to report that two boots have been successful, so we'll see how it goes!

Thank you for your help. Now to start a new thread about my video woes...

Lane

Arch Linux

#1 2011-03-09 21:44:38

Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

#2 2011-03-09 23:00:44

Re: Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

#3 2011-03-09 23:49:11

Re: Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

#4 2011-03-09 23:51:08

Re: Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

#5 2011-03-10 00:12:04

Re: Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

#6 2011-03-10 00:24:40

Re: Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

#7 2011-03-10 00:59:48

Re: Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

#8 2011-03-10 10:24:06

Re: Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

#9 2011-03-10 12:53:56

Re: Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

#10 2011-03-10 13:52:33

Re: Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

#11 2011-03-10 14:53:25

Re: Can't Boot: Arch Problem, Hardware Problem, or?

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