[Solved] missing initramfs.linux.img when dual booting

[enrico68]

Hello,

I am trying to install Gentoo on a laptop dualbooting with Arch. I started installing Arch as it was the only distribution that recognized my Broadcom wireless chipset, allowing me to have an internet connection. Unfortunately the Live Gentoo cd did not see my wireless card.

Here is how I partitioned the ssd:

[enrico68]

I have a feeling that Arch is the culprit (maybe), as, when looking into its /boot directory, there is a initramfs-linux.img, whereas in Gentoo /boot there is a initramfs-6.6.47-gentoo.img, which Arch won't recognize. I wish I could just install Gentoo, but, like I said, the live cd does not see my wireless card...and if I try to install Grub and run it from Gentoo, when I restart the system, I get into a black screen...pretty messy...

[AndrewAmmerlaan]

On Gentoo kernels are installed versioned, so this:

[sMueggli]

I guess, you are booting in BIOS legacy mode?

Please share the complete grub.cfg from Arch Linux. And also the "ls -l" of the Gentoo /boot location.

And if you want to install Grub on Gentoo, please provide the value of GRUB_PLATFORMS from your /etc/portage/make.conf and the complete Gentoo grub.cfg.

[Weezer]

As someone who "octuple" boots on a legacy type system, here is what I've found to work well.

Firstly, convert your disk to gpt bios-boot in order to be able to use gpt rather than mbr for your disk partitioning (allows up to 128 partitions rather than four with extended). You might be too far along to mess with that although it could be done. I believe the Arch Installation Wiki talks about it and basically you just have to put a 1MB bios-boot partition at the beginning of your disk, then you can use gpt for disk partitioning.

Second, os-prober is notorious for not working well (I've fought with it many times), so I don't rely on it. I suggest installing grub on your Gentoo installation (I believe you already did) and letting Gentoo make it's own grub.cfg, then use the menu entires within that to create a "custom.cfg" with only those menu entries. Put that in your Arch's /boot/grub/ directory along with it's (Arch's) grub.cfg and you should then be able to boot. The custom.cfg needs only the menu entries from Gentoo, nothing else. I should also clarify to NOT run the grub-install commands from Gentoo. Simply create the grub.cfg so you can use the menu entries.

The only downside to this is that when you update your kernel(s) in Gentoo, you have to manually edit your custom.cfg to reflect the new kernel versions. I get around that by using symlinks. Similar to what Arch does, I symlink my kernels in the Gentoo's /boot/ directory to something like:

ln -s initramfs-6.10.6-gentoo.img initramfs-linux.img
ln -s vmlinuz-6.10.6-gentoo vmlinux-linuz

and use the generic entries in the custom.cfg file. I simply update the symlinks when new kernels are installed (wrote a script for that).

Once set up, you rarely need to edit the menu entries. When you do make grub configuration changes, you do have to either manually edit the custom.cfg file or use grub to re-create the entries and put those in the custom.cfg file.

I use this same method for every "distro" I have and it works well (once set up). Just pick one distro to be the maintainer of "GRUB" so to speak and use custom.cfg for all the rest.

I'm sure there are better ways but this might get you going at least.

[enrico68]

Hello Andrew, and thank you for helping me out.

[enrico68]

[enrico68]

Hello Mueggli,

[AndrewAmmerlaan]

[Weezer]

[enrico68]

[enrico68]

[enrico68]

Hi Weezer,

upon boot the system does not show Gentoo, just Arch.

Here is my custom grub.cfg in Arch. I decided to let Arch do the booting:

[enrico68]

Here is what I see in /boot inside Gentoo:

[AndrewAmmerlaan]

Your custom grub.cfg has an entry named Gentoo, but the kernel and initramfs it references are not Gentoo kernels, that's the Arch kernel (unversioned)

[enrico68]

I read through some of Grub options, and I trimmed down my custom grub.cfg like so:

[AndrewAmmerlaan]

Am I correct that you are booting a custom configured kernel for Gentoo? Could you please install our pre-configured distribution kernel first? Otherwise we are trying to solve multiple problems at the same time, black screen on a custom kernel usually means missing gpu/framebuffer drivers. But it will be a lot easier if we can first address the bootloader situation and then once this works find out why your custom kernel does not work.
_________________
OS: Gentoo 6.8.10-gentoo-dist, ~amd64, 23.0/desktop/plasma/systemd
MB: MSI Z370-A PRO
CPU: Intel Core i9-9900KS
GPU: Intel Arc A770 16GB & Intel UHD Graphics 630
SSD: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 32GB DDR4-2400

[AndrewAmmerlaan]

[enrico68]

[enrico68]

[enrico68]

[pietinger]

enrico68,

if you configure your kernel yourself you have a lot of options to deal with the menu entries in grub ...

First of all:

[Weezer]

[Weezer]

Pietinger and Andrew both are giving good advice as we may not be dealing with just grub issues here.

I should mention that I don't symlink anything related to ucode. I only symlink the kernel entries (because the version changes). That is really the only difference between the grub.cfg that Gentoo creates and the custom.cfg file. It should "just work" if done correctly prior to any symlinking.

[Weezer]