Hi,
> i am still trying to get something to boot and will be grateful for
> any suggestions, including other places to ask.
[..]
>
> grub comes up, i select the default debian version. the
> kernel loads and starts doing things for 7 seconds.
[..]
Note that you can add break=premount to the kernel cmdline
to force an initramfs shell, then use sh -x /scripts/$phase/$script
to manually step through the initramfs procedure.
You can use "grep maybe_break /usr/share/initramfs-tools/init" to
check the valid break= values, and their order.
>
> then drops into a shell, initramfs. the error message is
> roughly like the following (transcribed manually, "..." not
> in the original).
>
> Check cryptopts=source= bootarg:cat/proc/command line or
> missing modules, device:cat/proc/modules ls/dev -r ALERT!
> /dev/disk/by-uuid/a892...732 does not exist dropping to a
> shell!
>
> i do not understand this error message. that partition DOES
> exist. the uuid refers to /dev/sda3 (the raw partition that
> contains encrypted root).
Does the partition exist, or does the /dev/disk/by-uuid/...
symlink exist? The error message clearly indicates it's looking
for a /dev/disk/by-uuid symlink, so the presence of /dev/sda3 is
not enough.
Also, can you verify that /conf/conf.d/cryptroot exists
in the initramfs and contains the correct line?
>
> in fact, in the initrd busybox shell, i can do cryptsetup
> luksOpen /dev/sda3 toshiba-root. i do not know how or where
> to mount it, however. mounting it on / not work.
You need to mount it (readonly) on /root. Then exit the initramfs shell
and the boot should continue normally.
> strangely, despite having dropped into an initramfs shell,
> the kernel keeps spewing USB messages every 30 seconds or
> so. these start with usb disconnect, then new usb device
> and it mentions my mouses and stuff. i have to clear the
> screen each time.
I would expect that dmesg -n 1 should solve that, but am not sure
if that works within the initramfs.
Hope this helps,
Arno
