Boot stops at initramfs

ObsidianOps · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2005 Posts: 22 Location: Boston, MA

This is one of the strangest computer problems i've encountered. Basically I was do some emerging earlier today (normal, working system, emerging programs, updating, just routine stuff), so I left it to work on some other stuff. Well, i came back and try to enter my password to the xscreensaver prompt, and it didn't work (I suppose that could have been explained by some sort of mental lapse on my part, though I think I ruled that out by attempting every password I've ever used in various states of capitalization.

That's only the beginning though. I reset the computer and tried to boot back in to see if it had just been some sort of temporary error, but I didn't even make it that far. Now, every time I try to boot it gets to the point of initramf ("Booting (initramfs)......") and it just stops, followed by some garbled symbols. (1: [square][square][sideways TIE fighter][upside-down question mark] 1: etc....). I can type any number just fine, but letters come out as those same garbled symbols.

Even stranger is when I tried to boot using a knoppix 4.0 dvd, it gave me an error about the ramfs and refused to boot as well. My Gentoo livecd works, as well as XP, which lives on a different partition of the same hard drive.

I'm using a genkernel, with the 2.6.16-r3 sources. I hadn't updated or touched the kernel or any part of /boot/ in between everything working and nothing working. I assume one of the updates somehow broke my system, though I don't understand how.

Is there a way to fix this, short of a reinstall? I've spent the last few weeks getting my linux just the way I like it after moving to new hardware, and I'd really prefer this setup stick around for a while.

Thanks in advance for anybody who has any clue about this one.

Edit: It also might be worth mentioning that when I tried booting into windows (which was successful), it gave me some strange error about new hardware being successfully installed and requiring a reboot (although I've changed nothing). Normally I'd just right this off as windows being its usual psychopathic self, but under the circumstances it might be significant.

didymos · Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 4:48 am Post subject:

I'd check your memory. You may have gotten a bad stick. Course, it could be something else, but memory seems like the most likely culprit.
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Thomas S. Howard

slycordinator · Advocate Joined: 31 Jan 2004 Posts: 3065 Location: Korea

ObsidianOps · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2005 Posts: 22 Location: Boston, MA

Alright, well I've done a whole bunch of checks on my RAM, using a few different scanners in windows and off some utility boot cd. Didn't notice any problems. I also should mention that there was no decrease in performance when I'm running in Windows from before to after linux stopped working (and I use Windows mainly for games, which push a machine to its limits as it is). I opened up my case and gave my memory a look, and nothing seemed out of ordinary.

So I think somehow I messed up part of the gentoo boot process. Since it screws up at booting the initramfs, maybe its the initramfs* file in /boot. I really don't understand much about the gentoo boot process, but I suppose I'll run genkernel again and see what happens.

Thanks

ObsidianOps · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2005 Posts: 22 Location: Boston, MA

Hmm, if I can't even chroot into my partition (I get a segmentation fault error), does that mean that my partition is totally shot?

I still don't even have any clue what's broken. If its just my partition then why doesn't knoppix work? And if its my RAM then why do other OS's and memory scans check out okay?

slycordinator · Advocate Joined: 31 Jan 2004 Posts: 3065 Location: Korea

ObsidianOps · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2005 Posts: 22 Location: Boston, MA

Well, the truth is that I have a 64-bit processor, but I chose to run 32-bit linux (I did the research and found that running in 64-bit mode really has no actual performance increase, and the packages are less stable). This is the first case in which I've run into the problem though, I set up my system just fine the first time. I suppose portage could have updated me to something less desirable though...

So lets say I do have a bad tarball, is there any fix to this? I'm getting ready to start from scratch, though if I have an alternative I'll definitely follow it.

slycordinator · Advocate Joined: 31 Jan 2004 Posts: 3065 Location: Korea

AFAIK you can't use an x86 tarball for a 64-bit machine in gentoo

Also, on your "packages are less stable" comment:
For packages that don't work in 64-bit yet, you can create a 32-bit chroot inside the 64-bit.
http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/base/amd64/howtos/index.xml?part=1&chap=2

Actually, looking at that link, you might be having trouble chrooting because you don't have setarch installed and didn't make it so your chroot will use linux32. Not sure though.

And this is the first time I've heard of someone saying gentoo's amd64 packages are unstable. You might've done your research and assumed that the info that pertained to other distros pertained to gentoo as well.