Failed to mount UUID after clean install

Support
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1

Hello, so I have installed quite a few different Linux distros on different machines and have ran into a lot of the same issues, which I have always to this day managed to resolve. However, I am stumped on this one, my friend asked me to install a Linux Distro on his HP Laptop 15-fd0083wm with 4GB (1X4GB) DDR-3200 Mhz Ram and a 128GB UFS hard drive, and it did have Windows 11 on it. Then of course I disabled secure boot, and cleared the boot keys (as they were tied to windows), then booted into the live Manjaro USB then formatted the internal hard drive for ext4, then installed Manjaro on the entire disk, choosing the ‘Wipe the whole disk option’ then I went to reboot and I got this error:

ERROR: Failed to mount ‘UUID=c3932856-298b-40b7-9445-bed98cb1af9f’ on real root

You are now being dropped into an emergency shell. sh: can’t access tty: job control turned off

[rootfs ~]#

And I have actually already made sure the UUID’s matched up, and for some reason I keep on getting this error message, like clock work. Normally I can figure things out, but this has sincerely stumped me. Could someone assist me with this please? I would really appreciate it, because as of now, I still have not made any progress her. Thank you all a lot!!

2

Hi @AtomicSolAmen,

Where have you made sure what UUIDs match up? Sounds, to me, like it’s not matched up in fstab, and that shouldn’t have happened with a clean installation.

Please provide the output of:

cat /etc/fstab

And

fdisk --list
3

I really appreciate your prompt response. I am at work at the moment, but will gather that information as soon as possible… However, as far as gathering that information, I would have to usb live boot then chroot correct? Perhaps I am asking rhetorical questions but I am just making sure.

4

I suspect you’ll end up in a chroot environment to do repairs anyway, not :100: on this, so you might just as well. For in case you need the this:

How to chroot

  1. Ensure you’ve got a relatively new ISO or at least one with a still supported LTS kernel.

  2. Write/copy/dd the ISO to a USB thumb drive.

  3. When done, boot with the above mentioned USB thumb drive into the live environment.

  4. Once booted, open a terminal and enter the following command to enter the chroot environment:

manjaro-chroot -a
  1. If you have more than one Linux installation, select the correct one to use from the list provided.

When done, you should now be in the chroot environment.

But, be careful, as you’re now in an actual root environment on your computer, so any changes you make will persist after a restart.

5

Joining the party to promote Ventoy as an alternative to writing a Manjaro Live Installer directly to a USB. Enjoy.

Create a Ventoy USB (ISO Launcher)

Boot with a Ventoy USB, and ISO files are automatically listed in the Ventoy menu, and can be booted directly. A 32GB capacity USB should allow ample space to store several ISOs of your choice; an 8GB capacity USB might hold one, or two ISO’s; do the math.

Ventoy is available from the official Manjaro extra repository:

sudo pacman -S ventoy
Ventoy Usage:

Type ventoy (without arguments) to see usage information:

Usage:  Ventoy2Disk.sh CMD [ OPTION ] /dev/sdX  
 CMD:  
  -i  install Ventoy to sdX (fails if disk already installed with Ventoy)  
  -I  force install Ventoy to sdX (no matter if installed or not)  
  -u  update Ventoy in sdX  
  -l  list Ventoy information in sdX  
  
 OPTION: (optional)  
  -r SIZE_MB  preserve some space at the bottom of the disk (only for install)  
  -s/-S       enable/disable secure boot support (default is enabled)  
  -g          use GPT partition style, default is MBR (only for install)  
  -L          Label of the 1st exfat partition (default is Ventoy)  
  -n          try non-destructive installation (only for install)

Creating the Ventoy USB:

Write the Ventoy system to an empty USB drive;
use /dev/sdX to target the device itself, and not a partition:

sudo sh ventoy -i -r 100 -S -g -L VOLUME /dev/sdX
  • Enable -s or disable -S Secure Boot.
  • Substitute VOLUME for a volume label name to use.
  • Substitute /dev/sdX for the location of your USB device.
  • Preserve some space on the target device (example allows 100mb).

Updating the Ventoy USB:

Update the Ventoy system on an existing Ventoy USB;
ensure the updated Ventoy version is available in Manjaro; and then:

sudo ventoy -u /dev/sdX
  • The Ventoy USB update process is non-destructive.

I hope this method saves you some time, frustration, and potentially wasted USB’s; as it already does for many others. Cheers.

6

If you install in UEFI mode then allow ~300 MiB space for an ESP. You can pre-format this partition in FAT32 before installing, already.

7

I thought the installer would create this automatically, using this option?

8

You say that you have:

Possible scenario:

I presume this was an attempt to clean up the disk to some extent, before installing Manjaro. The same result might have been achieved by launching GParted (in the Live environment) and deleting all existing partitions; and creating a new GPT partition table; if needed.

On some systems (particularly laptops and older desktops) the disk might need to be re-initialised before the new state of the disk will take properly (and survive a reboot). All it takes is to shutdown the machine (fully; powered off) for maybe 30 seconds before booting the Installer again to install Manjaro.

Another scenario:

You formatted the disk with an MBR instead of GPT partitioning scheme; or perhaps the Manjaro Installer USB was mistakenly created as MBR. Either way, perform the installation again while ensuring a fully UEFI installation experience.

Or, it could be something else again…

Good luck.

9

   ~      ~  cat /etc/fstab  :check_mark:

/etc/fstab: static file system information

/dev/mapper/root-image / auto defaults 0 0
   ~  fdisk --list  :check_mark:
fdisk: cannot open /dev/sda: Permission denied
fdisk: cannot open /dev/loop0: Permission denied
fdisk: cannot open /dev/loop1: Permission denied
fdisk: cannot open /dev/loop2: Permission denied
fdisk: cannot open /dev/loop3: Permission denied
fdisk: cannot open /dev/sdb: Permission denied
   ~  sudo fdisk --list  :check_mark:
Disk /dev/sda: 57.77 GiB, 62026416128 bytes, 121145344 sectors
Disk model: USB DISK 3.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 64 7625635 7625572 3.6G 0 Empty
/dev/sda2 7625636 7633827 8192 4M ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)

Disk /dev/loop0: 149.56 MiB, 156823552 bytes, 306296 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop1: 972.4 MiB, 1019637760 bytes, 1991480 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop2: 1.62 GiB, 1737560064 bytes, 3393672 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/loop3: 810.54 MiB, 849907712 bytes, 1659976 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/sdb: 119.2 GiB, 127984992256 bytes, 31246336 sectors
Disk model: KLUDG4UHGC-B0E1
Units: sectors of 1 * 4096 = 4096 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 524288 bytes / 524288 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 015A992F-DC9A-4FBF-BA22-6865621EC5BC

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdb1 512 77311 76800 300M EFI System
/dev/sdb2 77312 29216701 29139390 111.2G Linux filesystem
/dev/sdb3 29216702 31230359 2013658 7.7G Linux swap

Partition 3 does not start on physical sector boundary.
   ~ 

10

Thats not a UUID.
Are you also using encryption?
If so then you will need to check /etc/crypttab.