Can't boot using EFISTUB

Question

Hello,
I am trying to install arch on my recent laptop (lenovo thinkpad) in UEFI. I already made an aproximatively successful install of arch few weeks ago using grub, and I believe it should work, but I just prefer refind wich seems clearer to me (I mean I feel like I know what part of the computer Im changing, while grub-install is just too magic for me, especially when I end up still having a part of the grub on a completly formated hard disk... anyway).
When I try to boot arch from rEFInd, the system hangs on "using load options *load options i chosed*". It seems to freeze and all I can do is press power button to reboot laptop.
I checked files in my efi partition and i'm sure everything is fine. I have a refind_linux.conf file in my arch folder, created with what I found in the beginner's guide
"Boot to 5" "root=/dev/sda5 ro rootfstype=ext4 systemd.unit=graphical.target"
"Boot to console" "root=/dev/sda5 ro rootfstype=ext4 systemd.unit=multi-user.target"
I also tryed to use label or partuuid in it (root=PARTUUID=XXXXXX) and it didnt solve the problem.
I created a custom entry with the refind.conf file (in EFI/refind/ folder), adding something like :
menuentry "Arch" {
icon \EFI\BOOT\icons\os_arch.icns
loader \EFI\arch\vmlinuz-arch.efi
initrd \EFI\arch\initramfs-arch.img
options "ro root=/dev/sda3"
One interesting thing I noticed when doing this is that when I made mistake with paths for kernel or ram, refind would tell me so and wouldnt crash. The hang really happens upon loading those files.
I tryed to boot arch from the efi shell that I could access from the usb drive I used for installation, and had the same crash problem in the console.
That made me think that something was really wrong with my vmlinuz-linux file or my initramfs, I tryed reinstalling both with mkinitcpio and pacman -S linux, still got stuck. Of course after the updates I would recopy them in /EFI/arch/ folder with the correct names according to the wiki.
I was able to partly boot to arch from refind by replacing my vmlinuz with the one that was given with the arch iso (downloaded from torrent on the official site), but everything wasn't still right and I found that solution messy anyway and didnt want to search too much on that path.
So that's it, i hope it is clear, my english is far from perfect and I apologyze for that. And hi everyone by the way, i'm new to arch, still not sure if i'm going to use that distribution. I'm usually not the linux type but I have to say i'm much more excited about this one than the others I used (ubuntu and stuff like that). At least, when i encounter a problem (and for some reason, I alwails encounter loads of problems on linux), I learn stuff.
Thanks

Answer 1

Hika wrote:
srs5694 wrote:Second, for the auto-detection code (with refind_linux.conf), rEFInd matches the first initrd file it finds to your kernel. Arch, though, provides two initrd files for your default kernel, so rEFInd might be launching either of those initrd files. If you want to use auto-detection, it's best to include separate options lines, each of which references a specific initrd file. With the last couple versions of rEFInd, those references will override the auto-detection. I doubt if this is really your problem, but it could be at least part of it, and it's something you should keep in mind in the future in any event.
I am not sure I understand this one. You mean I should add an "initrd=\EFI\arch\initramfs-arch.img" to each of my options ?
Yes -- but see below. Also, you'd probably want to create at least one entry that references the fallback initrd rather than the default one.
I thought about doing so but I read somewhere someone saying that that kind of feature (specifying initrd for auto-detection entries) wasn't implemented yet. I will do this in the future anyway.
It's a very recent feature. I'm not sure if it's implemented in the version of rEFInd you'd get via pacman, but it's definitely present in the latest version of rEFInd available from its own downloads page.
By the way, how do I access the options I added in refind_linux ? I couldnt find it, I tryed to press inser or + as I read somewhere, got redirected to an empty menu. I first thought I made a mistake with the refind_linux file, but the options I add in it are taken in account for default loading (as I said i can see the loading options just before the crash so i could check).
After you highlight your main Arch option, pressing Insert, F2, or + should bring up a menu of the sub-options specified in refind_linux.conf or in the manual boot stanza you created. Highlight one of these and press Insert, F2, or + again and you should see the options editor screen with the current options. If you see the editor but the options it shows are blank, or show only the initrd= option, then that suggests that you've not placed refind_linux.conf correctly; the file should be in the same directory as the kernels to which it applies. If you don't get an editor at all, then that suggests you're using an old version of rEFInd; the options editor was added with version 0.4.7.
srs5694 wrote:Third, what kernel version are you using? Early versions of the EFI stub loader didn't display error messages when they couldn't find their initrd files. Newer versions do. (I don't recall where the cutoff was, though -- probably with 3.5.0 or perhaps 3.6.0.) Thus, if you're using an old version, it could be that the kernel can't find the referenced initrd file for some reason, and so is silently hanging. If you're using a more recent kernel, this is less likely, since the kernel should display an error message to the effect that it couldn't load the initrd file.
As I said I tryed to reinstall the kernel , so I guess I must have the last version. I just typed pacma -Q, I got the package linux 3.6.10-1 installed.
OK, so if you try to launch that and the system hangs without displaying an error message, that suggests that the problem isn't simply that the kernel can't find its initrd file.
Beyond that, I'm not sure. Maybe you've encountered an obscure bug in the EFI stub loader, or perhaps your kernel is incompatible with your hardware in some basic way. A kernel version upgrade might fix it, or you could try installing ELILO and use that -- ELILO will at least bypass the EFI stub loader, in case it's the cause of your problem. (GRUB 2 might also work, but ELILO is much easier to configure manually.)
Well, grub 2 used to work with a previous install I made of arch. The only changed I made since that time is a bios update, could it cause that kind of problem ?
Perhaps. UEFI firmware is still immature. It's also big -- the core of EFI is about the same size as the core of the Linux kernel (without its drivers), and it's not nearly as well tested. That's a breeding ground for bugs, and I've seen some weird ones.
That said, you've switched from GRUB 2 to the EFI stub loader at the same time you upgraded your firmware. Thus, it's impossible to say which change has caused the problem. My hunch is it's the switch from GRUB 2 to to the EFI stub loader, but it could be that the latter is failing because of a problem with your firmware (new or old version might not matter).
I might also try a proper reinstall of rfind using the guide that is on the offical refind site instead of the arch one.
If I am right, a proper uninstall of refind would be to remove the package using pacman, revert all the modifications I made in the EFI partition, and remove the boot entry in bios using efibootmgr. (that's partly a question)
Yes, that would uninstall rEFInd. The latest version (0.6.1) has an install.sh script that should do the job right in most cases, although you might need to use a parameter or two on some systems. If you're using an emergency boot disc, in particular, note the new --root option, which you use to point to the root of your regular installation. (You should mount your /boot and/or ESP at appropriate places within that tree, too.) Also, be aware that rEFInd's defaults are built with Fedora, Ubuntu, SUSE, and similar distributions in mind. Arch's naming and handling of kernels is unusual, which is why you might need to explicitly specify your initrd in refind_linux.conf or create manual boot stanzas in refind.conf for Arch but not for most other distributions.