Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[William Kenworthy]

Hi,

    genkernel keeps a very detailed log at /run/iniramfs/gksoreport.txt.
(or similar)

When it exits to the cant find root prompt, type "shell" and you can
read/save the report.

BillK



On 15/5/21 7:10 am, mad.scientist.at.la...@tutanota.com wrote:
> --"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their 
> political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political 
> democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special 
> privilege." Tommy Douglas
>
>
>
>
> May 14, 2021, 15:15 by john.bli...@gmail.com:
>
>> n
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 2:36 AM John Covici <> cov...@ccs.covici.com> > 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I would look in the grub.cfg and give us exactly what is in the stanza
>>>  you are using, including where it thinks the root file system is,
>>>  etc.  Also, see if there is any genkernel option to get some debugging
>>>  info out of the initrd, I know using dracut you can get breakpoints
>>>  during the process and see how its doing.
>>>
>> Tried dracut.  No change.
>>
>> Added the kernel command line debug options (#3 in “Identifying your problem 
>> area” in ‘man dracut’).  No change.
>>
>> Feeling peevish, I made a file of random junk using dd if=/dev/random 
>> of=initrd.img count=4096.  Then supplied that pile of junk as the initrd.  
>> Again, no change.
>>
>> Then I supplied a nonexistent file name (xxx.img) as the initrd.  This time 
>> I got a complaint:
>>
>> error: file ‘/xxx.img’ not found.
>>
>> Press any key to continue...
>>
>> So, it’s getting as far as wanting to read the initrd, and is smart enough 
>> to tell whether the specified initrd actually exists on the specified boot 
>> partition.  But it can’t actually be doing anything with the initrd, or it 
>> would have objected to the random junk I fed it.
>>
>> From > https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_ramdisk#Implementation> , it 
>> appears that grub is in charge of loading both linux and the initrd into 
>> memory, then handing execution over to linux along with a pointer to the 
>> memory location of the initrd.
>>
>> I’ve observed that that no booting output comes out of linux, nor any 
>> complaints from linux about the nonsense contents I fed it from the random 
>> initrd I built.  That suggests to me that grub has failed to load linux 
>> and/or the initrd into memory, or that it's failed to hand execution control 
>> to linux.
>>
>> Next step:  learned how to run an interactive grub2 command shell. With full 
>> debugging turned on, it looks like grub2 can load the kernel image, and it 
>> looks like it loads the initrd as well.  At least there are no complaints 
>> and the reported initrd size looks correct.
>>
>> But when I issue the boot command, grub2 issues a handful of mallocs and 
>> does a little token parsing, and then just stops...
>>
>> So it appears that the boot problem arises right around the handoff from 
>> grub2 to linux.  Don’t know whether grub2 or linux has failed.  I don’t know 
>> how to get either one to tell me more.
>>
>> John
>>
> Have you recompiled the kernel?  Could be a random, erroneous write to disk 
> or something in the kernel compile didn't go well.  I'd suggest also 
> rebuilding the initrd and reinstalling grub.  I.e. I think there is likely a 
> kernel compile issue since it doesn't ever launch the kernel succesfully 
> either on autopilot or when you run grub interactive.  Might also recompile 
> grub, perhaps there's a change in compiler options that produces an 
> incompatible (at least partially).  I also suggest the rebuild so you can be 
> sure you have the right initrd and matching kernel.
>

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[Peter Humphrey]

On Saturday, 15 May 2021 00:54:02 BST John Blinka wrote:

> I don’t think it’s a kernel compile issue.  I just now used 
efibootmgr to
> create a uefi entry with kernel command line parameters to 
define the root
> fs and initrd.  That worked.  That result focuses the blame on 
grub.

I'm glad that worked. Personally, I'm pleased to have ditched grub 
altogether.

-- 
Regards,
Peter Humphrey.

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[mad . scientist . at . large]

--"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their 
political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political 
democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege." 
Tommy Douglas




May 14, 2021, 15:15 by john.bli...@gmail.com:

> n
>
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 2:36 AM John Covici <> cov...@ccs.covici.com> > wrote:
>
>>
>> I would look in the grub.cfg and give us exactly what is in the stanza
>>  you are using, including where it thinks the root file system is,
>>  etc.  Also, see if there is any genkernel option to get some debugging
>>  info out of the initrd, I know using dracut you can get breakpoints
>>  during the process and see how its doing.
>>
>
> Tried dracut.  No change.
>
> Added the kernel command line debug options (#3 in “Identifying your problem 
> area” in ‘man dracut’).  No change.
>
> Feeling peevish, I made a file of random junk using dd if=/dev/random 
> of=initrd.img count=4096.  Then supplied that pile of junk as the initrd.  
> Again, no change.
>
> Then I supplied a nonexistent file name (xxx.img) as the initrd.  This time I 
> got a complaint:
>
> error: file ‘/xxx.img’ not found.
>
> Press any key to continue...
>
> So, it’s getting as far as wanting to read the initrd, and is smart enough to 
> tell whether the specified initrd actually exists on the specified boot 
> partition.  But it can’t actually be doing anything with the initrd, or it 
> would have objected to the random junk I fed it.
>
> From > https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_ramdisk#Implementation> , it 
> appears that grub is in charge of loading both linux and the initrd into 
> memory, then handing execution over to linux along with a pointer to the 
> memory location of the initrd.
>
> I’ve observed that that no booting output comes out of linux, nor any 
> complaints from linux about the nonsense contents I fed it from the random 
> initrd I built.  That suggests to me that grub has failed to load linux 
> and/or the initrd into memory, or that it's failed to hand execution control 
> to linux.
>
> Next step:  learned how to run an interactive grub2 command shell. With full 
> debugging turned on, it looks like grub2 can load the kernel image, and it 
> looks like it loads the initrd as well.  At least there are no complaints and 
> the reported initrd size looks correct.
>
> But when I issue the boot command, grub2 issues a handful of mallocs and does 
> a little token parsing, and then just stops...
>
> So it appears that the boot problem arises right around the handoff from 
> grub2 to linux.  Don’t know whether grub2 or linux has failed.  I don’t know 
> how to get either one to tell me more.
>
> John
>
Have you recompiled the kernel?  Could be a random, erroneous write to disk or 
something in the kernel compile didn't go well.  I'd suggest also rebuilding 
the initrd and reinstalling grub.  I.e. I think there is likely a kernel 
compile issue since it doesn't ever launch the kernel succesfully either on 
autopilot or when you run grub interactive.  Might also recompile grub, perhaps 
there's a change in compiler options that produces an incompatible (at least 
partially).  I also suggest the rebuild so you can be sure you have the right 
initrd and matching kernel.

[gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Blinka]

On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 7:32 PM Dale  wrote:

>
> I had another thought.  Just in case it is a bug with grub that only
> affects certain hardware, maybe try a different bootloader?  Maybe try
> lilo or some other bootloader that works with your hardware.  I seem to
> recall you having EFI so I'm sure there is plenty of those to choose from.


Good thought - I just now got a successful boot using efibootmgr.  Peter
Humphries also suggested that somewhere in this thread, but also stated
that he couldn’t get grub to work on the same brand mobo (Asus).  I’d
almost believe that it’s a grub-Asus thing except for the fact that
Sysrescue and Ubuntu both boot successfully. And I think they use grub.

Maybe time to experiment with a different version or fresh installation of
grub.  Except that I’m burnt out on booting.  Think I’ll go outside and dig
some holes.

John

>

[gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Blinka]

On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 7:10 PM  wrote:

> >
> Have you recompiled the kernel?  Could be a random, erroneous write to
> disk or something in the kernel compile didn't go well.  I'd suggest also
> rebuilding the initrd


Yes.  Same problems with several kernels and associated initrds, the latter
produced by genkernel or dracut or even some gibberish I pretended was an
initrd.  From grub debug output, I believe the problem exists right before
the kernel tries to use the initrd.  It’s contents are irrelevant at that
stage.

and reinstalling grub.


That may or may not be the answer, but it’s such an obvious step. Will
definitely give that a try.

I.e. I think there is likely a kernel compile issue since it doesn't ever
> launch the kernel succesfully either on autopilot or when you run grub
> interactive.  Might also recompile grub, perhaps there's a change in
> compiler options that produces an incompatible (at least partially).  I
> also suggest the rebuild so you can be sure you have the right initrd and
> matching kernel.


I don’t think it’s a kernel compile issue.  I just now used efibootmgr to
create a uefi entry with kernel command line parameters to define the root
fs and initrd.  That worked.  That result focuses the blame on grub.

John

>

[gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[Dale]

mad.scientist.at.la...@tutanota.com wrote:
>
> Have you recompiled the kernel?  Could be a random, erroneous write to disk 
> or something in the kernel compile didn't go well.  I'd suggest also 
> rebuilding the initrd and reinstalling grub.  I.e. I think there is likely a 
> kernel compile issue since it doesn't ever launch the kernel succesfully 
> either on autopilot or when you run grub interactive.  Might also recompile 
> grub, perhaps there's a change in compiler options that produces an 
> incompatible (at least partially).  I also suggest the rebuild so you can be 
> sure you have the right initrd and matching kernel.
>
>


I had another thought.  Just in case it is a bug with grub that only
affects certain hardware, maybe try a different bootloader?  Maybe try
lilo or some other bootloader that works with your hardware.  I seem to
recall you having EFI so I'm sure there is plenty of those to choose from.

Dale

:-)  :-)

[gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Blinka]

n

On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 2:36 AM John Covici  wrote:

>
> I would look in the grub.cfg and give us exactly what is in the stanza
> you are using, including where it thinks the root file system is,
> etc.  Also, see if there is any genkernel option to get some debugging
> info out of the initrd, I know using dracut you can get breakpoints
> during the process and see how its doing.


Tried dracut.  No change.

Added the kernel command line debug options (#3 in “Identifying your
problem area” in ‘man dracut’).  No change.

Feeling peevish, I made a file of random junk using dd if=/dev/random
of=initrd.img count=4096.  Then supplied that pile of junk as the initrd.
Again, no change.

Then I supplied a nonexistent file name (xxx.img) as the initrd.  This time
I got a complaint:

error: file ‘/xxx.img’ not found.

Press any key to continue...

So, it’s getting as far as wanting to read the initrd, and is smart enough
to tell whether the specified initrd actually exists on the specified boot
partition.  But it can’t actually be doing anything with the initrd, or it
would have objected to the random junk I fed it.

>From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_ramdisk#Implementation, it
appears that grub is in charge of loading both linux and the initrd into
memory, then handing execution over to linux along with a pointer to the
memory location of the initrd.

I’ve observed that that no booting output comes out of linux, nor any
complaints from linux about the nonsense contents I fed it from the random
initrd I built.  That suggests to me that grub has failed to load linux
and/or the initrd into memory, or that it's failed to hand execution
control to linux.

Next step:  learned how to run an interactive grub2 command shell. With
full debugging turned on, it looks like grub2 can load the kernel image,
and it looks like it loads the initrd as well.  At least there are no
complaints and the reported initrd size looks correct.

But when I issue the boot command, grub2 issues a handful of mallocs and
does a little token parsing, and then just stops...

So it appears that the boot problem arises right around the handoff from
grub2 to linux.  Don’t know whether grub2 or linux has failed.  I don’t
know how to get either one to tell me more.

John

[gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Blinka]

On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 7:50 AM John Blinka  wrote:

>
>
> On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 3:12 AM William Kenworthy 
> wrote
>
>> >
>> Try https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingKernelBoot ... I am not sure
>> genkernel uses that exact name but I did need to find the initramfs boot
>> log to diagnose a failure in a genkernel initramfs at one time.
>
>
Unfortunately, made no difference and provided no new information.
https://www.askapache.com/linux/linux-debugging/ might be too old to be
relevant any more, but tried almost everything it suggested to obtain
debugging output.  Not one byte of debug info appeared.  Going to try the
dracut approach suggested elsewhere.

John

>

[gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Blinka]

On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 3:12 AM William Kenworthy  wrote

> >
> Try https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingKernelBoot ... I am not sure
> genkernel uses that exact name but I did need to find the initramfs boot
> log to diagnose a failure in a genkernel initramfs at one time.


That’s an intriguing link.  Exploring it now.

John

>
>

[gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Blinka]

On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 2:36 AM John Covici  wrote:

>
> I would look in the grub.cfg and give us exactly what is in the stanza
> you are using, including where it thinks the root file system is,
> etc.  Also, see if there is any genkernel option to get some debugging
> info out of the initrd, I know using dracut you can get breakpoints
> during the process and see how its doing.


Here’s what I see when pressing “e” just before the system attempts to boot:

setparams ‘Gentoo GNU/Linux’

load_video
if [ “x$grub_platform” = xefi ]; then
set gfxpayload=keep
fi
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root=‘hd0,gpt2’
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search —no-floppy —fs-uuid —set=root —hint-bios=hd0,gpt2
—hint-baremetal=ahci0, got2 5C75-30A0
else
  search —no-floppy —fs-uuid —set=root 5C75-30A0
fi
echo‘Loading Linux 5.10.27-gentoo-x86_64 ...’
linux /vmlinuz-5.10.27-gentoo-x86_64
root=UUID=0df096ca-4dc8-4325-9296-7b0ddb67f044 ro loglevel=4 nomodeset
echo‘Loading initial ramdisk ...’
initrd/early_ucode.cpio
/initramfs-5.10.27-gentoo-x86_64.img

I have checked the uuid and filenames - they are correct.  (hd0,gpt2) makes
sense.  There’s only 1 disk connected, it uses gpt, and the second
partition is a fat boot partition with the above uuid.  The named files
exist on that partition.

I don’t see anything in ‘man genkernel’ that looks like a way to get debug
info out of an initrd/initramfs.  Looks like there’s a way to turn it off,
so perhaps it’s on by default?

John

Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[Peter Humphrey]

On Friday, 14 May 2021 00:06:07 BST John Blinka wrote:

> How does one debug this situation?

Just coming to this belatedly, not having noticed what may be a connection 
until now. I 
have an Asus X99-A motherboard, and I never got grub to work at all. I use a 
combination of efibootmgr and bootctl to manage my boot process. (Bootctl is in 
sys-
boot/systemd-boot; that's the only systemd package I have on this openrc 
system.)

You could look at the handbook [1] for how to set these up. I had to develop my 
own 
method by picking bits out of it. I use efibootmgr to create entries in the 
UEFI BIOS, then 
bootctl to keep them up to date. Oh, and I had to leave a small, otherwise 
unused 
partition before the FAT32 boot partition. From parted:

Number  Start  EndSize  File system Name  Flags 
1  1.00MiB9.00MiB8.00MiB 
2  9.00MiB1025MiB1016MiB   fat32 boot, esp 
3  1025MiB50176MiB   49151MiB  linux-swap(v1)swap 
4  50176MiB   66560MiB   16384MiB  ext4 
5  66560MiB   132096MiB  65536MiB  ext4
[...]
This may be a red herring of course; I wouldn't be too surprised if I'm doing 
things all 
wrong, and your motherboard may differ from mine in many ways.


1.  https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Bootloader[1]


-- 
Regards,
Peter.



[1] https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Bootloader

[gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[William Kenworthy]

On 14/5/21 2:35 pm, John Covici wrote:
> On Thu, 13 May 2021 21:58:25 -0400,
> John Blinka wrote:
>> [1  ]
>> On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 9:12 PM Jack 
>> 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
> I would look in the grub.cfg and give us exactly what is in the stanza
> you are using, including where it thinks the root file system is,
> etc.  Also, see if there is any genkernel option to get some debugging
> info out of the initrd, I know using dracut you can get breakpoints
> during the process and see how its doing.
>
Try https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingKernelBoot ... I am not sure
genkernel uses that exact name but I did need to find the initramfs boot
log to diagnose a failure in a genkernel initramfs at one time.

BillK

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Covici]

On Thu, 13 May 2021 21:58:25 -0400,
John Blinka wrote:
> 
> [1  ]
> On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 9:12 PM Jack 
> 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

I would look in the grub.cfg and give us exactly what is in the stanza
you are using, including where it thinks the root file system is,
etc.  Also, see if there is any genkernel option to get some debugging
info out of the initrd, I know using dracut you can get breakpoints
during the process and see how its doing.

-- 
Your life is like a penny.  You're going to lose it.  The question is:
How do
you spend it?

 John Covici wb2una
 cov...@ccs.covici.com

[gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Blinka]

On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 9:12 PM Jack 
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

[gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Blinka]

On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 9:10 PM Dale  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...”

[Jack]

On 5/13/21 6:51 PM, John Blinka wrote:
On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 7:23 PM Jack > 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...”

[Dale]

John Blinka wrote:
>
>
> On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 7:23 PM Jack  > 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

:-)  :-) 

[gentoo-user] Re: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Blinka]

On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 7:23 PM Jack 
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: [gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[Jack]

On 5/13/21 5:06 PM, John Blinka wrote:

Hi, Gentooers,

New thread, next obstacle in booting new Asus mobo.

As the subject says, the boot hangs indefinitely. Output to the screen is

  Booting a command list

Loading Linux 5.10.27-gentoo-x86_64 ...
Loading initial ramdisk ...

And there it stops forever.

The kernel is the latest stable gentoo-sources.  I normally do a 
custom configuration, but in this instance built it with “genkernel 
all”, using whatever config genkernel produces. I use grub (grub2), 
and installed the kernel and initrd with “grub-mkconfig -o 
/boot/grub/grub.cfg”, as I normally do.


Googling around shows that this problem tends to occur when grub can’t 
find the initrd.


So  I looked at the grub boot script by pressing “e” just before the 
boot starts to make sure that grub is looking in the right place for 
the kernel and for the initrd.  I think it is, since deliberately 
misspelling either file name with the grub editor causes error 
messages saying grub can’t find what I told it to look for.  And those 
error messages do not occur with the boot script that grub generated.


Normally, loading the initrd takes only a few seconds.

How does one debug this situation?

John


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.

[gentoo-user] boot hangs forever at “Loading initial ramdisk...”

[John Blinka]

Hi, Gentooers,

New thread, next obstacle in booting new Asus mobo.

As the subject says, the boot hangs indefinitely.  Output to the screen is

  Booting a command list

Loading Linux 5.10.27-gentoo-x86_64 ...
Loading initial ramdisk ...

And there it stops forever.

The kernel is the latest stable gentoo-sources.  I normally do a custom
configuration, but in this instance built it with “genkernel all”, using
whatever config genkernel produces. I use grub (grub2), and installed the
kernel and initrd with “grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg”, as I
normally do.

Googling around shows that this problem tends to occur when grub can’t find
the initrd.

So  I looked at the grub boot script by pressing “e” just before the boot
starts to make sure that grub is looking in the right place for the kernel
and for the initrd.  I think it is, since deliberately misspelling either
file name with the grub editor causes error messages saying grub can’t find
what I told it to look for.  And those error messages do not occur with the
boot script that grub generated.

Normally, loading the initrd takes only a few seconds.

How does one debug this situation?

John