NVME SSD won't boot

[subtlelotus]

Hello Everyone. My first post ^^. Let me know if there's a special formatting that I ought to follow.

 

Kernel: Linux sysresccd 4.1.20-alt472-amd64 #2 SMP Sat Mar 19 13:39:36 UTC 2016 x86_64 Intel® Xeon® CPU E3-1505M v5 @ 2.80GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

 

I have a Dell Precision 7710 with a NVME SSD and Skylake. Been trying for 1.5 weeks to get Gentoo installed but can only get to the same error step that I get with Funtoo. Been curious about Funtoo and saw it had boot-update which I thought might fix the issue.

 

After I select the Funtoo kernel on the grub menu it starts loading modules but then stops. Here's a retying of the message from a badly taken pic (possible misspellings): 

>> Hint: Use parameter scandelay[=seconds] if you need waiting ....
>> Activating iSCSI via iBFT
iscsistart: transport lcass version 2.0-870. iscsid version 2...
Could not get boot entry.
>> Determining root device...
!! Block device /dev/nvmen0n1p3 is not a valid root device...
!! Could not find the root block device in .
   Please specify another value or: press Enter for the same, type "shell" for
shell, or "q" to skip

"shell" gives me a working BusyBox. Going into the BusyBox

- 'lsmod | grep nvme' -> revals nothing

- 'modprobe nvme'  -> says it can't find the driver

 

 

Things I've tried:

- Install kernel (debian-sources w/ genkernel) with NVM Express block device built in

- Using UUID (with and without quotes) in /boot/grub/grub.cfg instead of /dev/nvmen0n1p3 -> Stops at the same part   

- Tried 'modprobe nvd'  -> couldn't find driver

 

 

fstab

/dev/nvme0n1p1		/boot		vfat		noauto,noatime	1 2
/dev/nvme0n1p2		none		swap		sw		0 0
/dev/nvme0n1p3		/		ext4		noatime		0 1

/boot/grub/grub.cfg

set timeout=3

  insmod part_gpt
  insmod fat
  set root=(hostdisk//dev/nvme0n1,gpt1)
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3C56-1E23
if loadfont /grub/unifont.pf2; then
   set gfxmode=640x480
   insmod all_video
   terminal_output gfxterm
fi

set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
set menu_color_highlight=blue/cyan

menuentry "Funtoo Linux genkernel - kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-4.4.6-1" {
  insmod part_gpt
  insmod fat
  set root=(hostdisk//dev/nvme0n1,gpt1)
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3C56-1E23
  linux /kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-4.4.6-1 rootfstype=auto real_root=UUID="8ee40964-a006-478a-bb3b-81aba54d0ddb" rootfstype=ext4
  initrd /initramfs-debian-sources-x86_64-4.4.6-1
  set gfxpayload=keep
}

menuentry "Funtoo Linux genkernel - kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-4.5.2-1" {
  insmod part_gpt
  insmod fat
  set root=(hostdisk//dev/nvme0n1,gpt1)
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3C56-1E23
  linux /kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-4.5.2-1 rootfstype=auto real_root=UUID=8ee40964-a006-478a-bb3b-81aba54d0ddb rootfstype=ext4
  initrd /initramfs-debian-sources-x86_64-4.5.2-1
  set gfxpayload=keep
}

menuentry "Funtoo Linux genkernel - kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-3.19.3-1~exp1" {
  insmod part_gpt
  insmod fat
  set root=(hostdisk//dev/nvme0n1,gpt1)
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3C56-1E23
  linux /kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-3.19.3-1~exp1 rootfstype=auto real_root=/dev/nvme0n1p3 rootfstype=ext4
  initrd /initramfs-debian-sources-x86_64-3.19.3-1~exp1
  set gfxpayload=keep
}
set default=1

Also of note:

- The nvme module and ext4, is all I touched on Funtoo

- Fedora installed (though it lagged to start with no SSD blinking) to see if I could get a working Linux distro working 

- Ubuntu installed on my 8G memory stick sharing /dev/nvme0n1p1 (/boot/efi) and /dev/nvme0n1p2 (/boot) -> worked

- SysrescueCD works if I choose the 'Alternate with default options' at grub menu, but the 1st option doesn't seem to (I guess the 4.x vs 3.x kernel)

 

 

 

 

Please let me know if you need any more information ! I can take better pictures or posting of my configs.  Thanks !

 

 

PS: Got to work a 10h tomorrow so I wouldn't be able to respond quickly

[subtlelotus]

Oh - I tried booting all three of these default kernels in grub, plus the 4.5.x that I compiled:

-  kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-4.4.6-1

-  kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-4.5.2-1

-  kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-3.19.3-1~exp1

[Oleg Vinichenko]

Hello Everyone. My first post ^^. Let me know if there's a special formatting that I ought to follow.

 

Kernel: Linux sysresccd 4.1.20-alt472-amd64 #2 SMP Sat Mar 19 13:39:36 UTC 2016 x86_64 Intel® Xeon® CPU E3-1505M v5 @ 2.80GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

 

I have a Dell Precision 7710 with a NVME SSD and Skylake. Been trying for 1.5 weeks to get Gentoo installed but can only get to the same error step that I get with Funtoo. Been curious about Funtoo and saw it had boot-update which I thought might fix the issue.

 

After I select the Funtoo kernel on the grub menu it starts loading modules but then stops. Here's a retying of the message from a badly taken pic (possible misspellings): 

>> Hint: Use parameter scandelay[=seconds] if you need waiting ....
>> Activating iSCSI via iBFT
iscsistart: transport lcass version 2.0-870. iscsid version 2...
Could not get boot entry.
>> Determining root device...
!! Block device /dev/nvmen0n1p3 is not a valid root device...
!! Could not find the root block device in .
   Please specify another value or: press Enter for the same, type "shell" for
shell, or "q" to skip

"shell" gives me a working BusyBox. Going into the BusyBox

- 'lsmod | grep nvme' -> revals nothing

- 'modprobe nvme'  -> says it can't find the driver

 

 

Things I've tried:

- Install kernel (debian-sources w/ genkernel) with NVM Express block device built in

- Using UUID (with and without quotes) in /boot/grub/grub.cfg instead of /dev/nvmen0n1p3 -> Stops at the same part   

- Tried 'modprobe nvd'  -> couldn't find driver

 

 

fstab

/dev/nvme0n1p1		/boot		vfat		noauto,noatime	1 2
/dev/nvme0n1p2		none		swap		sw		0 0
/dev/nvme0n1p3		/		ext4		noatime		0 1

/boot/grub/grub.cfg

set timeout=3

  insmod part_gpt
  insmod fat
  set root=(hostdisk//dev/nvme0n1,gpt1)
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3C56-1E23
if loadfont /grub/unifont.pf2; then
   set gfxmode=640x480
   insmod all_video
   terminal_output gfxterm
fi

set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
set menu_color_highlight=blue/cyan

menuentry "Funtoo Linux genkernel - kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-4.4.6-1" {
  insmod part_gpt
  insmod fat
  set root=(hostdisk//dev/nvme0n1,gpt1)
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3C56-1E23
  linux /kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-4.4.6-1 rootfstype=auto real_root=UUID="8ee40964-a006-478a-bb3b-81aba54d0ddb" rootfstype=ext4
  initrd /initramfs-debian-sources-x86_64-4.4.6-1
  set gfxpayload=keep
}

menuentry "Funtoo Linux genkernel - kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-4.5.2-1" {
  insmod part_gpt
  insmod fat
  set root=(hostdisk//dev/nvme0n1,gpt1)
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3C56-1E23
  linux /kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-4.5.2-1 rootfstype=auto real_root=UUID=8ee40964-a006-478a-bb3b-81aba54d0ddb rootfstype=ext4
  initrd /initramfs-debian-sources-x86_64-4.5.2-1
  set gfxpayload=keep
}

menuentry "Funtoo Linux genkernel - kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-3.19.3-1~exp1" {
  insmod part_gpt
  insmod fat
  set root=(hostdisk//dev/nvme0n1,gpt1)
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 3C56-1E23
  linux /kernel-debian-sources-x86_64-3.19.3-1~exp1 rootfstype=auto real_root=/dev/nvme0n1p3 rootfstype=ext4
  initrd /initramfs-debian-sources-x86_64-3.19.3-1~exp1
  set gfxpayload=keep
}
set default=1

Also of note:

- The nvme module and ext4, is all I touched on Funtoo

in what way these touched?

[subtlelotus]

Hello Oleg,

 

On the debian-sources kernel config, I turned both of these from their original <M> into <*>

• Device Drivers -> NVM Express block device 
• File Systems -> The Extended 4 (ext4) filesystems

 

Note: Before touching the kernel I tried the original kernel I had from the instructions from  funtoo.org/install. I assume the original kernel also had both as <M>.

 

The same message comes up at boot before and after compiling the kernel.

 

 

Thanks

[subtlelotus]

Maybe someone can point me toward's what to look for ?

 

Since I'm booting up to the point where it's looking for the NVME and I have access to BusyBox, where am I in the boot process ? would that still be in the grub domain ?

 

From what I gather, after the grub selection and the computer is loading modules it doesn't load the nvme before is searches for root.

 

I would like to document the whole process for Funtoo as well. From all the searching that I've done on NVME Gentoo/Linux I only found a handful of solutions that seem specific to the user, distro, or model of computer. I've not come across an A - Z process. Once I'm able to fix it I wouldn't mind starting from a fresh install to fully document the solution as I've started from scratch about 5+ times now anyways - haha.

[jmmc]

Hi subtlelotus -

My experience is I've wrangled/wrestled w Funtoo on decent variety of Dell  hardware, but I since 2015 I usually find the debian-sources to almost universally boot on almost anything I toss at it these days, typically without any edits to the config.

Just first pass musing/question here: are your partitions for this drive aligned to 4096 bytes? They have some info over at Arch on this drive/driver: (you've probably seen it, but just reposting in case not)

 

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Solid_State_Drives/NVMe

Not sure this would prevent actual booting/usage if it's not aligned as such, but it sounds like it's recommended for this particular model drive.

Also, any chance the microcode in the drive itself is in need of an update? I had an OCZ SSD I was wrestling with in Linux a couple years ago which cleared up after I updated the microcode in the drive. Again, just a thought.

 

Also a question: (from your initial post): so, you mention you tried SystemRescuecd. Q: we're you able to actually fdisk/access/partition/save on the NVMe SSD once SysResc booted?