Unexpected end of file for kernel 6.15

[mikaka27]

Ever since stable from 2025-06-23 kernel 6.15 does not boot at all.
I get an error message like this:

Rough translation:

error: unexpected end of file /@/boot/vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64.
error: you must load kernel first.

Pressing any key will continue...

For now I’ve tried to remove the kernel, clear pacman cache, change to different pacman mirrors and then reinstall, but it does not help.
Is there a way to verify that the kernel file on disk is complete/correct?

Uninstall:

~ >>> sudo LC_ALL=C mhwd-kernel -r linux615                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
checking dependencies...
:: base optionally requires linux: bare metal support
:: libratbag optionally requires linux: Linux 5.2 is required for Logitech wireless devices

Packages (4) linux615-6.15.3-1  linux615-headers-6.15.3-1  linux615-r8168-8.055.00-5  linux615-virtualbox-host-modules-7.1.10-5

Total Removed Size:  297.08 MiB

:: Do you want to remove these packages? [Y/n] Y
:: Running pre-transaction hooks...
(1/2) Removing linux initcpios...
(2/2) Remove DKMS modules

Error! hid-xpadneo/0.9.1: Missing the module source directory or the symbolic link pointing to it.
Manual intervention is required!

Error! vboxhost/6.1.26_OSE: Missing the module source directory or the symbolic link pointing to it.
Manual intervention is required!
==> dkms remove --no-depmod hid-xpadneo/v0.9.7 -k 6.15.3-1-MANJARO
==> depmod 6.15.3-1-MANJARO
:: Processing package changes...
(1/4) removing linux615-virtualbox-host-modules                                                                                                                           [#########################################################################################################] 100%
(2/4) removing linux615-r8168                                                                                                                                             [#########################################################################################################] 100%
(3/4) removing linux615-headers                                                                                                                                           [#########################################################################################################] 100%
(4/4) removing linux615                                                                                                                                                   [#########################################################################################################] 100%
ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkzfp.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkxdmfcore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkxdmf3.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkxdmf2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkvpic.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtksys.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkmetaio.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkloguru.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkkissfft.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkioss.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkh5part.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkfides.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkexodusII.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkWrappingTools.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkWebGLExporter.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkWebCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkViewsQt.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkViewsInfovis.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkViewsCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkViewsContext2D.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkUtilitiesBenchmarks.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkTestingRendering.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkTestingIOSQL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkTestingGenericBridge.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingVtkJS.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingVolumeOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingVolumeAMR.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingVolume.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingVR.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingUI.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingTk.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingSceneGraph.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingRayTracing.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingQt.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingParallelLIC.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingParallel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingOpenVR.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingMatplotlib.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingLabel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingLOD.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingLICOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingImage.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingGL2PSOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingFreeTypeFontConfig.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingFreeType.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingFFMPEGOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingExternal.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingContextOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingContext2D.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingAnnotation.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkPythonInterpreter.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkPythonContext2D.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkParallelMPI4Py.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkParallelMPI.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkParallelDIY.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkParallelCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkJava.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInteractionWidgets.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInteractionStyle.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInteractionImage.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInfovisLayout.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInfovisCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInfovisBoostGraphAlgorithms.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingStencil.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingStatistics.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingSources.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingMorphological.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingMath.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingHybrid.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingGeneral.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingFourier.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingColor.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOXdmf3.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOXdmf2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOXMLParser.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOXML.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOVideo.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOVeraOut.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOVPIC.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOTecplotTable.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOTRUCHAS.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOSegY.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOSQL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOPostgreSQL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallelXdmf3.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallelXML.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallelNetCDF.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallelLSDyna.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallelExodus.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOPLY.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOPIO.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOPDAL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOOpenVDB.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOOggTheora.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOOMF.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOODBC.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIONetCDF.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMySQL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMovie.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMotionFX.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMPIParallel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMPIImage.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMINC.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOLegacy.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOLSDyna.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOLAS.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOInfovis.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOImport.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOImage.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOIOSS.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOHDF.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOH5part.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOH5Rage.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOGeometry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOGeoJSON.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOGDAL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOFides.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOFFMPEG.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOExportPDF.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOExportGL2PS.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOExport.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOExodus.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOEnSight.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOCityGML.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOChemistry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOCONVERGECFD.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOCGNSReader.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOAsynchronous.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOAMR.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOADIOS2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkGeovisGDAL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkGeovisCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkGUISupportQtSQL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkGUISupportQtQuick.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkGUISupportQt.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersVerdict.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersTopology.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersTexture.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersStatistics.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersSources.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersSelection.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersSMP.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersReebGraph.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersPython.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersProgrammable.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersPoints.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelVerdict.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelStatistics.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelMPI.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelImaging.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelGeometry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelFlowPaths.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelDIY2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersModeling.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersImaging.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersHyperTree.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersHybrid.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersGeometry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersGeneric.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersGeneral.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersFlowPaths.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersExtraction.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersAMR.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkDomainsParallelChemistry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkDomainsChemistryOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkDomainsChemistry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkDICOMParser.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonTransforms.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonSystem.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonPython.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonMisc.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonMath.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonExecutionModel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonDataModel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonComputationalGeometry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonColor.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonArchive.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkChartsCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkAcceleratorsVTKmFilters.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkAcceleratorsVTKmDataModel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkAcceleratorsVTKmCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/3) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/3) Updating module dependencies...
(3/3) Updating Grub-Bootmenu
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found theme: /usr/share/grub/themes/manjaro/theme.txt
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.12-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.12-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.6-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.6-x86_64-fallback.img
Warning: os-prober will not be executed to detect other bootable partitions.
Systems on them will not be added to the GRUB boot configuration.
Check GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER documentation entry.
Adding boot menu entry for UEFI Firmware Settings ...
Detecting snapshots ...
Found snapshot: 2025-06-27 17:16:49 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-27_17-16-49/@ | ondemand weekly | {timeshift-autosnap} {created before upgrade} |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-27 16:15:11 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-27_16-15-11/@ | ondemand daily  | {timeshift-autosnap} {created before upgrade} |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-25 22:00:08 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-25_22-00-08/@ | daily           | N/A                                           |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-25 20:04:33 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-25_20-04-33/@ | ondemand        | {timeshift-autosnap} {created before upgrade} |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-24 20:00:01 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-24_20-00-01/@ | daily           | N/A                                           |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-23 19:00:00 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-23_19-00-00/@ | daily           | N/A                                           |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-21 19:00:00 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-21_19-00-00/@ | daily           | N/A                                           |
Found 7 snapshot(s)
Unmount /tmp/grub-btrfs.c4pYAuvj7S .. Success
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+/memtest.bin
/usr/bin/grub-probe: warning: unknown device type nvme0n1.
done

Cache clear:

~ >>> sudo paccache -rk0                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

==> finished: 4 packages removed (disk space saved: 182.08 MiB)

Install:

~ >>> sudo LC_ALL=C mhwd-kernel -i linux615                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core is up to date
 extra is up to date
 multilib is up to date
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Packages (4) linux615-6.15.3-1  linux615-headers-6.15.3-1  linux615-r8168-8.055.00-5  linux615-virtualbox-host-modules-7.1.10-5

Total Download Size:   182.08 MiB
Total Installed Size:  297.08 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] Y
:: Retrieving packages...
 linux615-r8168-8.055.00-5-x86_64                                                                                                             202.1 KiB  1443 KiB/s 00:00 [#########################################################################################################] 100%
 linux615-virtualbox-host-modules-7.1.10-5-x86_64                                                                                             480.7 KiB  3.01 MiB/s 00:00 [#########################################################################################################] 100%
 linux615-headers-6.15.3-1-x86_64                                                                                                              38.7 MiB  15.0 MiB/s 00:03 [#########################################################################################################] 100%
 linux615-6.15.3-1-x86_64                                                                                                                     142.7 MiB  23.7 MiB/s 00:06 [#########################################################################################################] 100%
 Total (4/4)                                                                                                                                  182.1 MiB  30.0 MiB/s 00:06 [#########################################################################################################] 100%
(4/4) checking keys in keyring                                                                                                                                            [#########################################################################################################] 100%
(4/4) checking package integrity                                                                                                                                          [#########################################################################################################] 100%
(4/4) loading package files                                                                                                                                               [#########################################################################################################] 100%
(4/4) checking for file conflicts                                                                                                                                         [#########################################################################################################] 100%
(4/4) checking available disk space                                                                                                                                       [#########################################################################################################] 100%
:: Processing package changes...
(1/4) installing linux615                                                                                                                                                 [#########################################################################################################] 100%
Optional dependencies for linux615
    wireless-regdb: to set the correct wireless channels of your country [installed]
    linux-firmware: firmware images needed for some devices [installed]
(2/4) installing linux615-headers                                                                                                                                         [#########################################################################################################] 100%
(3/4) installing linux615-r8168                                                                                                                                           [#########################################################################################################] 100%
(4/4) installing linux615-virtualbox-host-modules                                                                                                                         [#########################################################################################################] 100%
ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkzfp.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkxdmfcore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkxdmf3.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkxdmf2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkvpic.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtksys.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkmetaio.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkloguru.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkkissfft.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkioss.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkh5part.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkfides.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkexodusII.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkWrappingTools.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkWebGLExporter.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkWebCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkViewsQt.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkViewsInfovis.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkViewsCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkViewsContext2D.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkUtilitiesBenchmarks.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkTestingRendering.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkTestingIOSQL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkTestingGenericBridge.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingVtkJS.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingVolumeOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingVolumeAMR.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingVolume.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingVR.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingUI.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingTk.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingSceneGraph.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingRayTracing.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingQt.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingParallelLIC.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingParallel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingOpenVR.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingMatplotlib.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingLabel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingLOD.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingLICOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingImage.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingGL2PSOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingFreeTypeFontConfig.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingFreeType.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingFFMPEGOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingExternal.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingContextOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingContext2D.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkRenderingAnnotation.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkPythonInterpreter.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkPythonContext2D.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkParallelMPI4Py.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkParallelMPI.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkParallelDIY.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkParallelCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkJava.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInteractionWidgets.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInteractionStyle.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInteractionImage.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInfovisLayout.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInfovisCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkInfovisBoostGraphAlgorithms.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingStencil.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingStatistics.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingSources.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingMorphological.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingMath.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingHybrid.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingGeneral.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingFourier.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkImagingColor.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOXdmf3.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOXdmf2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOXMLParser.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOXML.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOVideo.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOVeraOut.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOVPIC.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOTecplotTable.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOTRUCHAS.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOSegY.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOSQL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOPostgreSQL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallelXdmf3.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallelXML.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallelNetCDF.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallelLSDyna.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallelExodus.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOParallel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOPLY.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOPIO.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOPDAL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOOpenVDB.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOOggTheora.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOOMF.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOODBC.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIONetCDF.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMySQL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMovie.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMotionFX.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMPIParallel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMPIImage.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOMINC.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOLegacy.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOLSDyna.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOLAS.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOInfovis.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOImport.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOImage.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOIOSS.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOHDF.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOH5part.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOH5Rage.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOGeometry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOGeoJSON.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOGDAL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOFides.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOFFMPEG.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOExportPDF.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOExportGL2PS.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOExport.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOExodus.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOEnSight.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOCityGML.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOChemistry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOCONVERGECFD.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOCGNSReader.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOAsynchronous.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOAMR.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkIOADIOS2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkGeovisGDAL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkGeovisCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkGUISupportQtSQL.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkGUISupportQtQuick.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkGUISupportQt.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersVerdict.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersTopology.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersTexture.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersStatistics.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersSources.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersSelection.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersSMP.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersReebGraph.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersPython.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersProgrammable.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersPoints.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelVerdict.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelStatistics.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelMPI.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelImaging.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelGeometry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelFlowPaths.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallelDIY2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersParallel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersModeling.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersImaging.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersHyperTree.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersHybrid.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersGeometry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersGeneric.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersGeneral.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersFlowPaths.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersExtraction.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkFiltersAMR.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkDomainsParallelChemistry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkDomainsChemistryOpenGL2.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkDomainsChemistry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkDICOMParser.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonTransforms.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonSystem.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonPython.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonMisc.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonMath.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonExecutionModel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonDataModel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonComputationalGeometry.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonColor.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkCommonArchive.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkChartsCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkAcceleratorsVTKmFilters.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkAcceleratorsVTKmDataModel.so.1 is not a symbolic link

ldconfig: /usr/lib/libvtkAcceleratorsVTKmCore.so.1 is not a symbolic link

:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/5) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/5) Updating module dependencies...
(3/5) Install DKMS modules
==> dkms install --no-depmod hid-xpadneo/v0.9.7 -k 6.15.3-1-MANJARO
Deprecated feature: CLEAN (/var/lib/dkms/hid-xpadneo/v0.9.7/source/dkms.conf)
==> depmod 6.15.3-1-MANJARO
(4/5) Updating linux initcpios...
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux615.preset: 'default'
==> Using default configuration file: '/etc/mkinitcpio.conf'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64 -g /boot/initramfs-6.15-x86_64.img
==> Starting build: '6.15.3-1-MANJARO'
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [autodetect]
  -> Running build hook: [microcode]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [kms]
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
  -> Running build hook: [keymap]
  -> Running build hook: [consolefont]
==> WARNING: consolefont: no font found in configuration
  -> Running build hook: [block]
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
  -> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating zstd-compressed initcpio image: '/boot/initramfs-6.15-x86_64.img'
  -> Early uncompressed CPIO image generation successful
==> Initcpio image generation successful
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux615.preset: 'fallback'
==> Using default configuration file: '/etc/mkinitcpio.conf'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64 -g /boot/initramfs-6.15-x86_64-fallback.img -S autodetect
==> Starting build: '6.15.3-1-MANJARO'
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [microcode]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [kms]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'ast'
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'xhci_pci_renesas'
  -> Running build hook: [keymap]
  -> Running build hook: [consolefont]
==> WARNING: consolefont: no font found in configuration
  -> Running build hook: [block]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'bfa'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qed'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla1280'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla2xxx'
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
  -> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating zstd-compressed initcpio image: '/boot/initramfs-6.15-x86_64-fallback.img'
  -> Early uncompressed CPIO image generation successful
==> Initcpio image generation successful
(5/5) Updating Grub-Bootmenu
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found theme: /usr/share/grub/themes/manjaro/theme.txt
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.15-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.15-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.12-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.12-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.6-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.6-x86_64-fallback.img
Warning: os-prober will not be executed to detect other bootable partitions.
Systems on them will not be added to the GRUB boot configuration.
Check GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER documentation entry.
Adding boot menu entry for UEFI Firmware Settings ...
Detecting snapshots ...
Found snapshot: 2025-06-27 17:16:49 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-27_17-16-49/@ | ondemand weekly | {timeshift-autosnap} {created before upgrade} |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-27 16:15:11 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-27_16-15-11/@ | ondemand daily  | {timeshift-autosnap} {created before upgrade} |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-25 22:00:08 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-25_22-00-08/@ | daily           | N/A                                           |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-25 20:04:33 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-25_20-04-33/@ | ondemand        | {timeshift-autosnap} {created before upgrade} |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-24 20:00:01 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-24_20-00-01/@ | daily           | N/A                                           |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-23 19:00:00 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-23_19-00-00/@ | daily           | N/A                                           |
Found snapshot: 2025-06-21 19:00:00 | timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-06-21_19-00-00/@ | daily           | N/A                                           |
Found 7 snapshot(s)
Unmount /tmp/grub-btrfs.6FR2szRcL5 .. Success
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+/memtest.bin
/usr/bin/grub-probe: warning: unknown device type nvme0n1.
done

[Aragorn]

@mikaka27

error: unexpected end of file /@/boot/vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64.
error: you must load kernel first.

This is a known problem with kernel 6.15 and grub when /boot is on btrfs.

There are two things you can do…

1. Edit the file /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and make sure that you are using cat as the compression method — i.e. no compression at all — as in the example below…

# COMPRESSION
# Use this to compress the initramfs image. By default, zstd compression
# is used for Linux ≥ 5.9 and gzip compression is used for Linux < 5.9.
# Use 'cat' to create an uncompressed image.
#COMPRESSION="zstd"
#COMPRESSION="gzip"
#COMPRESSION="bzip2"
#COMPRESSION="lzma"
#COMPRESSION="xz"
#COMPRESSION="lzop"
#COMPRESSION="lz4"
#COMPRESSION="zstd"
COMPRESSION=cat

Then, rebuild your initramfs…

mkinitcpio -P

2. If the above does not help, use kernel 6.12, which is an LTS kernel, and which does not have this problem.

[megavolt]

@mikaka27

error: unexpected end of file /@/boot/vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64.
error: you must load kernel first.

My first thought: canceled updates, but that is not the case here. However, it could be that your BTRFS file system is almost full. While pacman checks the memory for the installation of the packages, this is not the case when generating the kernel images. It can happen that the image is written, but not completely. In this case, no error message is displayed. Check the filesystem usage:

sudo btrfs filesystem usage /mountpoint

Remove some data and do a balance:

sudo btrfs balance start -musage=90 -dusage=90 --bg /mountpoint ;  \
sudo watch -n1 'btrfs balance status /mountpoint' 

@Aragorn

This is a known problem with kernel 6.15 and grub when /boot is on btrfs.

Interestingly, I’m running linux 6.15 and have been using cat for compression for months as I’m already compressing that via BTRFS file system. I have not encountered this problem. Maybe @Aragorn’s solution will help.

EDIT: I switched from cat to zstd, recreated the initramfs and rebooted. No problem at all. I don’t think there’s a problem buried here.

[linux-aarhus]

So the issue comes from the fact that using btrfs on /boot creates a read error when decompressing a compressed file stored on a compressed filesystem?

[Aragorn]

@megavolt

@Aragorn

This is a known problem with kernel 6.15 and grub when /boot is on btrfs.

Interestingly, I’m running linux 6.15 and have been using cat for compression for months as I’m already compressing that via BTRFS file system. I have not encountered this problem. Maybe @Aragorn’s solution will help.

EDIT: I tried switching from cat to zstd and rebooted. No problem at all. I don’t think there’s a problem buried here.

It’s not a problem until you rebuild the initramfs. Switching back to zstd without rebuilding the initramfs won’t make a difference.

There is however a problem with 6.15 on btrfs — see this thread, and it’s a grub problem.

---

@linux-aarhus

So the issue comes from the fact that using btrfs on /boot creates a read error when decompressing a compressed file stored on a compressed filesystem?

Yes, exactly. btrfs uses inline compression, and in combination with an additional external compression algorithm, this may lead to the creation of sparse files. grub cannot handle those, because it does not have proper support for btrfs.

As has also already been noted elsewhere, grub will also not save the last-booted entry if /boot is on btrfs because grub cannot write to btrfs, and as we’ve just seen again, it also has problems reading from it under certain circumstances.

[megavolt]

@Aragorn

It’s not a problem until you rebuild the initramfs. Switching back to zstd without rebuilding the initramfs won’t make a difference.

Wow I get a noob treatment. Of course I recreated the initramfs.

@Aragorn

There is however a problem with 6.15 on btrfs — see this thread, and it’s a grub problem.

I read it, but I have zero problem booting linux615 compressed with zstd on BTRFS with zstd compression on my local installation.

[Aragorn]

@megavolt

I have zero problem booting linux615 compressed with zstd on BTRFS with zstd compression on my local installation.

Just for the record, Intel or AMD? There does appear to be a nuance there.

Also, I think the state of the underlying btrfs filesystem may play a role in whether the file is sparse or not. And that should be insignificant either way, but then again, grub is… grub.

[megavolt]

@Aragorn

Just for the record, Intel or AMD?

INTEL

@Aragorn

There does appear to be a nuance there

Possible…

[Aragorn]

Maybe it’s the copy-on-write thing in combination with the double compression.

[andreas85]

@mikaka27

Rough translation:

error: unexpected end of file /@/boot/vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64.
error: you must load kernel first.

Pressing any key will continue...

For now I’ve tried to remove the kernel, clear pacman cache, change to different pacman mirrors and then reinstall, but it does not help.
Is there a way to verify that the kernel file on disk is complete/correct?

This indicates that Grub is already having problems decompressing the kernel. Possibly not just with the initramdisk.

That would mean something went wrong when writing the kernel. It’s already precompressed, and compression is attempted again when saving to Btrfs.

There seems to be an incompatibility between the saving of the compressed kernel xxx by the kernel yyy and the btrfs file system driver zzz.

To trigger this, mkinitcpio cannot be used; instead, the kernel in question must be uninstalled and reinstalled.

It might also be helpful to compare the kernel checksums after they have been written. But of course, that won’t help if the error lies with Grub.
This is possible using maxi

P.S.:
When i installed the update to 6.15, i had kernel 6.12 running

[mikaka27]

Hi I think you’re right that the cause is that kernel and initramfs files are sparse files. But for me the cause of that seems to be running bees to deduplicate root partition (that includes /boot).

I’ve fixed that as follows:

/boot >>> sudo systemctl disable --now beesd@1181ad1e-bf33-43dd-9ebd-6738320d9ccc
/boot >>> find . | xargs -I {} sudo btrfs property set {} compression none
/boot >>> sudo cp -a --reflink=never --sparse=never initramfs-6.15-x86_64-fallback.img initramfs-6.15-x86_64-fallback2.img                                                                                                                                                               
/boot >>> sudo cp -a --reflink=never --sparse=never initramfs-6.12-x86_64-fallback.img initramfs-6.12-x86_64-fallback2.img                                                                                                                                                               
/boot >>> sudo cp -a --reflink=never --sparse=never vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64 vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64_2                                                                                                                                                                                            
/boot >>> sudo mv initramfs-6.15-x86_64-fallback2.img initramfs-6.15-x86_64-fallback.img                                                                                                                                                                                                 
/boot >>> sudo mv initramfs-6.12-x86_64-fallback2.img initramfs-6.12-x86_64-fallback.img                                                                                                                                                                                                 
/boot >>> sudo mv vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64_2 vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
/boot >>> find initramfs-6.* -printf '%S\t%p\n'                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
1,00002 initramfs-6.6-x86_64-fallback.img
1,00001 initramfs-6.6-x86_64-fallback.img.tmp
1,00002 initramfs-6.6-x86_64.img
1,00032 initramfs-6.6-x86_64.img.tmp
1,00002 initramfs-6.12-x86_64-fallback.img
1,00008 initramfs-6.12-x86_64.img
1,00002 initramfs-6.15-x86_64-fallback.img
1,00008 initramfs-6.15-x86_64.img
/boot >>> find vmlinuz-6.* -printf '%S\t%p\n'                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
1,00027 vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64
1,00026 vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
1,00023 vmlinuz-6.15-x86_64

If I keep bees disabled, the files are kept as non-sparse, but as soon as I enable it, it does something that makes some of them sparse (or caused find to return value below 1). Why that happens I’m not sure, I though it supposed to do the deduplication only, not change the files to sparse files.

Or I’m misinterpreting the output from find.
I’ll disable bees for now.

[megavolt]

@mikaka27

I think you’re right that the cause is that kernel and initramfs files are sparse files. But for me the cause of that seems to be running bees to deduplicate root partition (that includes /boot).

Very interesting. I also use deduplication for the root partition, but duperemove. This doesn’t seem to cause any problems.

I usually leave it running in the background:

duperemove -drhq --hashfile=/var/cache/duperemove_hashfile --io-threads=$(( $(/usr/bin/nproc) / 2 )) --cpu-threads=$(( $(/usr/bin/nproc) / 2 )) --dedupe-options=same,partial --exclude "/var/cache/duperemove*" / 

[mikaka27]

I’ve switched to using it for now, but just in case I excluded /boot like this:
duperemove -rdh --hashfile=/.duperemove.hash --exclude=/boot /

[philm]

bees is known to be problematic: GRUB: Extent not found after running bees · Issue #249 · Zygo/bees · GitHub

[mikaka27]

Yea, seems like a very similar problem

[philm]

Some can switch to unstable branch and test the kernel updates. I added some BTRFS patches …