Mailing List Archive

Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”
On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 7:23 PM Jack <ostroffjh@users.sourceforge.net>
wrote:

>
> I'd start by removing any "quiet" or "splash" from the kernel command
> line. You should be able to see them when you hit "e". I'm not sure
> if it will actually help, but it should be a start.


Thanks, but neither one appears. My command line is

linux /vmlinuz… root=UUID=… ro loglevel=4 nomodeset

Here I’ve replaced the full name of the kernel and the uuid of the boot
partition with ellipses because it’s too tedious to type. I’ve scrutinized
the actual ones for typos and am convinced there are none. Leaving out the
loglevel command doesn’t change the behavior at all.

John

>
Re: Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...” [ In reply to ]
John Blinka wrote:
>
>
> On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 7:23 PM Jack <ostroffjh@users.sourceforge.net
> <mailto:ostroffjh@users.sourceforge.net>> wrote:
>
>
> I'd start by removing any "quiet" or "splash" from the kernel command
> line.    You should be able to see them when you hit "e". I'm not
> sure
> if it will actually help, but it should be a start.
>
>
> Thanks, but neither one appears.  My command line is
>
> linux  /vmlinuz… root=UUID=… ro loglevel=4 nomodeset
>
> Here I’ve replaced the full name of the kernel and the uuid of the
> boot partition with ellipses because it’s too tedious to type.  I’ve
> scrutinized the actual ones for typos and am convinced there are
> none.  Leaving out the loglevel command doesn’t change the behavior at
> all.
>
> John


I hate these init thingys and will admit I know little about the
things.  I had a thought tho, could it be that the file system needed to
read the init thingy isn't included somehow or in the kernel maybe?  If
it is pointing to the right place, sounds like it is to me, then it has
to be a read problem I'd think. 

I haven't ever had to use the edit menu on grub2 that I remember.  It
might be worth mentioning that it may have tab completion.  That would
certainly remove a typo if it can complete the kernel or init thingys
file name on its own.  Just a thought.

Going back under my desk now. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 
Re: Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...” [ In reply to ]
On 5/13/21 6:51 PM, John Blinka wrote:
> On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 7:23 PM Jack <ostroffjh@users.sourceforge.net
> <mailto:ostroffjh@users.sourceforge.net>> wrote:
>
>
> I'd start by removing any "quiet" or "splash" from the kernel command
> line.    You should be able to see them when you hit "e". I'm not
> sure
> if it will actually help, but it should be a start.
>
>
> Thanks, but neither one appears.  My command line is
>
> linux  /vmlinuz… root=UUID=… ro loglevel=4 nomodeset
>
> Here I’ve replaced the full name of the kernel and the uuid of the
> boot partition with ellipses because it’s too tedious to type.  I’ve
> scrutinized the actual ones for typos and am convinced there are
> none.  Leaving out the loglevel command doesn’t change the behavior at
> all.

Given  you say the UUID is for the boot partition, then both the linux
and initrd should just have the name of the kernel and initrd files
(without leading "/boot",) which sounds like what you've got.  I'd next
wonder if something is missing from the kernel/initrd combination, such
as a kernel module necessary for some early part of the boot process or
a file system (per Dale's suggestion.)  Assuming that you ran genkernel
after booting a live image and chrooting into the new system, then we
know the hardware can boot a good kernel/image combo.  Mainly I'm  just
thinking out loud here, trying to coax someone's little gray cells into
action.
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...” [ In reply to ]
On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 9:10 PM Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> I hate these init thingys and will admit I know little about the
> things. I had a thought tho, could it be that the file system needed to
> read the init thingy isn't included somehow or in the kernel maybe? If
> it is pointing to the right place, sounds like it is to me, then it has
> to be a read problem I'd think.


All the uefi stuff is on a fat filesystem. I would think that something
that fundamental (and universally supported) is embedded in the bios. The
grub bootloader itself is on that fat filesystem, and it must have loaded
or else I wouldn’t have access to the grub edit facility. So I think I’m
ok on file system support.



>
> I haven't ever had to use the edit menu on grub2 that I remember. It
> might be worth mentioning that it may have tab completion. That would
> certainly remove a typo if it can complete the kernel or init thingys
> file name on its own. Just a thought.


Grub documentation says it does have tab completion. But the file names,
uuids, and other things prone to typos that I referenced are generated by
grub, so typos are unlikely to be an issue. And I’ve checked them
meticulously. They look ok.

>
> Going back under my desk now.


Maybe I’d be less frustrated by this new mobo if I did the same! ;)

John
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...” [ In reply to ]
On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 9:12 PM Jack <ostroffjh@users.sourceforge.net>
wrote:

> Given you say the UUID is for the boot partition, then both the linux and
> initrd should just have the name of the kernel and initrd files (without
> leading "/boot",) which sounds like what you've got. I'd next wonder if
> something is missing from the kernel/initrd combination, such as a kernel
> module necessary for some early part of the boot process or a file system
> (per Dale's suggestion.) Assuming that you ran genkernel after booting a
> live image and chrooting into the new system, then we know the hardware can
> boot a good kernel/image combo. Mainly I'm just thinking out loud here,
> trying to coax someone's little gray cells into action.
>
In my early linux days, I thought it would be clever to include kernel
support for my root filesystem in a module. Whose code resided on the root
filesystem... That didn’t work, of course, but at least the kernel started
to boot and threw out an error message. Here, I just get complete
silence. So, I doubt that file system support is an issue.

John