New Manjaro install (dual boot) gives "can't find UUID" error

Support
1

Hi everyone, newbie here.

I just got a computer with Windows 10, and wanted to install Manjaro as a dual boot.
I followed the instructions provided in the user guide :

  1. I disabled SecureBoot in my UEFI

  2. I shrinked my Windows partition with Windows’ utility

  3. I booted on a Manjaro Live USB

  4. I used the install wizard and used the “replace existing partition” option (by selecting the free partition resulting from the shrink in 1)

  5. I shutdown my computer, removed the USB key, booted it up

  6. I get to GRUB, from there I can boot to Windows without a problem
    However, when I try to boot Manjaro I get the /new_root: can't find UUID=... error

I checked the UUID given in the error to see if it matches the partition where Manjaro is installed, and it is the same.

I don’t know what to do, as it does not seem to be a disk detection issue (since it’s the same one for Windows and Manjaro, and Windows boots correctly, btw I don’t know if that matters but my disk is a NVME SSD), neither a kernel update issue as I could often see on forums concerning this “can’t find UUID” error. (Some users solved it by simply reinstalling Manjaro, but I’m just trying to install it in the first place…)

Finally as I’m a newbie I do not really understand the solutions provided on these forums nor the commands that people want OP to try. So if I need to run specific commands, please explain me what they do and the goal behind so that I can understand it and solve this kind of issue by myself in the future :slight_smile:

Many thanks in advance !

Edit: formatting (+ I will provide detailed system information later)

2

Check that ALL the UUID’s of the partitions used in “fstab”:

cat /etc/fstab

They match the real UUID’s:

lsblk -f

If they are not the same, update it:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

3

use USB iso manjaro

sudo lsblk -fs
sudo parted -l
sudo manjaro-chroot -a
nano /etc/fstab
update-grub
exit ( end-chroot )
4

@Wibol I guess you meant on the Live USB Manjaro

lsblk -f gives me

nvme0n1p1 vfat      FAT32            ESP              C2F3-279A                                                                                                                                          
nvme0n1p2                                                                                                 
nvme0n1p3 BitLocker 2                                                                                     
nvme0n1p4 ntfs                       WINRETOOLS       040AABD80AABC4D0                                    
nvme0n1p5 ntfs                       Image            1CF0AC1FF0AC015E                                    
nvme0n1p6 ntfs                       DELLSUPPORT      F036012C3600F57E                                    
nvme0n1p7 ext4      1.0                               b64993c0-9cac-46bd-a692-8e861bdf404e  313,3G     2% /run/media/manjaro/b64993c0-9cac-46bd-a692-8e861bdf404e

However the file opened by the command cat /etc/fstab has only one partition :

# <file system>           <dir>   <type>     <options>      <dump>  <pass>
/dev/mapper/root-image    /       auto       defaults       0       0

I think that is not what I’m supposed to get, because when I browse manually with Dolphin to the new partition created, the file I find in run/media/manjaro/b64993c0-(...)/etc/fstab/ is different :

# <file system>      <mount point>   <type>     <options>          <dump>  <pass>
UUID=C2F3-279A       /boot/efi       vfat       umask=0077         0       2
UUID=b64993c0-(...)  /               ext4       defaults,noatime   0       1

So I think that’s the file I you were talking about, and the UUIDs seem to be good, right ?

@stephane sudo manjaro-chroot -a returns

grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sda1. Check your device.map.
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sda1. Check your device.map.
==> Detected systems:
 --> 0) ManjaroLinux
==> Select system to mount [0-0] :

(I enter 0)

==> ERROR: You can't mount 0!

I assume that this device.map issue is also what makes cat /etc/fstab returns the wrong file…

5

You are right. I was too brief in my notes. I’m sorry.

Everything seems fine, but to avoid confusion, your second full line of “fstab” should be:

UUID=b64993c0-9cac-46bd-a692-8e861bdf404e  /  ext4  defaults,noatime   0       1

If it is correct, I don’t understand what could be happening. Much less the reason why you can’t chroot. As a last option on my part, you can check that the GRUB doesn’t contain any reference to a non-existent or incorrect UUID with:

cat /etc/default/grub

6

Everything seems fine, but to avoid confusion, your second full line of “fstab” should be:
UUID=b64993c0-9cac-46bd-a692-8e861bdf404e / ext4 defaults,noatime 0 1

Yes I shorted the UUID but I’ve got that indeed
I checked cat /etc/default/grub but I see no reference to any UUID at all, is it normal ?

Thanks for your help !

7

Yes, it is normal when there isn’t swap partition and there is nowhere to resume from hibernation.

8

Is it normal too that I have no file in /boot/efi ?

If I sum it all up, my system is correctly installed, UUIDs are correctly referenced, but GRUB does not seem to be able to find any partition I made for Manjaro (I just tried to reinstall everything with the manual partitioning, following the method explained here, and I now get an additional hibernation error at boot, because it can’t find the swap partition either.

Isn’t it weird since I’ve got no problem booting to Windows from GRUB ?
Could another bootloader work better than GRUB ?
Are Windows or my UEFI settings preventing GRUB from seing anything else than Windows’ partition ? (so many questions, I’m sorry for that)

Edit:
I also noticed that I have no /boot/grub/device.map file.
I wanted to see if this (https://askubuntu.com/questions/484042/boot-grub-device-map-is-missing-on-ubuntu-14-04) could solve my problem, but grub-mkdevicemap is not a valid command…

9

Hi. I have exact same problem. Nvme ssd, Intel 11th gen CPU. Lastest manjaro 20.2 with 5.9 kernel.

In bios I have only UEFI option (not AHCI), could it be problem? Or is any solution to this?

Thanks.

Edit: I turn off quiet mode in kernel parameters and first messeges are about ACPI BIOS error: Failure creating named object and ACPI error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS.

Then is waiting 10 seconds for device…mounting device on real root… and then messege about can’t find UUID and drop to emergency shell.

10

This isn’t related to the UUID issue. It’s also not completely uncommon … Toshiba by any chance? … as it happens on at least a few of those (maybe other brands too), mine included.

11

Yeah, I thought that. It is Acer aspire 5. But now I can chroot. I run update-grub, but it is only worse :). I don’t see grub menu anymore, it goes straight to manjaro and can’t find uuid thing.

12

Great that chroot works.

It’s worth posting the results of blkid and cat /etc/fstab to check for mismatches.

As for the GRUB menu not showing, cat /etc/default/grub will be useful here. I know that the latest ISOs don’t show GRUB by default, at least in a VM. :smiley:

It might be better to start a new thread for this. :smiley_cat: … Can always link it back here if it works out well.

13

I have the same problem on a HP Envy with i7 1165g7 processor in dual boot.
Installing Ubuntu works out of the box, but manjaro fails on every try.
On boot i get to the splashscreen, but stucks there.

installing it via the manjaro architect results in error: device uuid not found skipping fsck

14

If you are able to chroot into your system, please see my previous post. The info you can provide might enable myself or others to look into what is or isn’t happening. No promises but every little helps, so they say. :wink: :smiley_cat:

15

Hello,

I had the issue and fixed it by turning off the RAID.

See how that goes for you.

Cheers,
Jamps

3 Likes
16

Good point, I’d forgotten about that “fakeRAID” nonsense. Often an issue with systems set up that way running Win10 where the user wants to become an owner & install Linux on the machine, either alongside Win or as a standalone system.

Also welcome to the Forum, @Jamps and also to @rixx and @maj44 :smiley: maybe you’d like to chime in on the Welcome and Introduce Yourself - 2020 thread? :smile_cat:

17

Had the same problem today. turning off Raid also did it for me.

Thanks a lot!

1 Like
18

Yeah! It works. On Acer it is hidden option in Bios. You have to go to BIOS, than go to Main tab and hold Ctrl + s. Two new options will show, one of them is VMD Controller - turn it to disable, save and exit Bios. And you can boot manjaro. Thanks for help.- :slight_smile:

1 Like
19

That was the issue, thank you so much !

Now I just have to figure out how to boot to Windows correctly (without setting RAID back on every time)… :sweat_smile:

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