Boot failure: "no inittab file found"

[Struwelpeter]

Hello!
I run (or used to run) a Manjaro system with KDE. I have turned on my computer today to be greeted by the following horrific message:

" INIT: No inittab file found
Enter runlevel: "

I have uselessly tried offer a few random numbers as “runlevel” – to no avail, of course. I am not a very experienced user, and what help I have gathered from google has more mystified than helped me. Should I go for full reinstall?

[cscs]

Here is a breakdown of runlevels … are you saying none of those worked?

Run Level	Mode	Action
0	Halt	Shuts down system
1	Single-User Mode	Does not configure network interfaces, start daemons, or allow non-root logins
2	Multi-User Mode	Does not configure network interfaces or start daemons.
3	Multi-User Mode with Networking	Starts the system normally.
4	Undefined	Not used/User-definable
5	X11	As runlevel 3 + display manager(X)
6	Reboot	Reboots the system

You may also try here:

How to work with an unbootable Manjaro (black screen, login failed, cant boot, etc)

When we have problems gaining access to our systems it is difficult to gather information, let alone fix any problems. Here we will cover common causes and solutions to ‘manjaro wont boot’. TTY If your desktop does not load properly then you might still be able to use most, if not all, functionality by dropping to a non-graphical TTY. By default your system will have multiple TTYs, with each corresponding to an Fx key. Your desktop is assigned to one as well - most often F1. You can change…

[TriMoon]

It would help if you mentioned some more info like which bootloader and what kernel arguments you use etc…
Also this:

How to provide good information

When asking questions in the forum it is most helpful to everyone for you to provide some basic information. When sharing information to either give or receive assistance, please be aware of the following: 1 ) In almost every situation not explicitly involving appearance, Text is preferred over Images. 2 ) When providing code or text output, please format it so the content is easy to read. How to Format “Code” in the Forum Its easy to make your text and code easy on the eyes Firs…

[Struwelpeter]

Thank you for your reply!

Here is a breakdown of runlevels … are you saying none of those worked?

I have tried 1, 3 and 5, and the reply I get each time is: (Edit: and also 2, 4, 6 and 0)

INIT: Entering runlevel: 3
INIT: no more processes left in this runlevel

I checked out the advice in the “How to work with an unbootable Manjaro” topic. I booted from a Manjaro USB (the same I used to install my system from a few weeks ago), opened Yakuake and entered:

manjaro-chroot -a

What I get is:

grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1.  Check your device.map.
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1.  Check your device.map.
    ==> Mounting (ManjaroLinux) [/dev/sda3]
     --> mount: [/mnt]
     --> mount: [/mnt/boot/efi]
     --> mount: [/mnt/home]

[Struwelpeter]

It would help if you mentioned some more info like which bootloader and what kernel arguments you use etc…

I don’t know how to provide that sort of information, sorry! But thanks for pointing me to the “How to provide good information” post.