GoonMaster
Member
i was following a tutorial on fixing grub and got an error telling me that the "vmlinuz" file was missing from my /boot directory. is there a way for me to recover its contents
Solved error: file '/boot/vmlinuz-linux' not found (grub rescue)
- Thread starter GoonMaster
- Start date
Solved issue
It sounds like the kernel is missing from what you explained.
What Linux distribution are you running?
Test Disk might help.
www.cgsecurity.org
What Linux distribution are you running?
Test Disk might help.
Partition Recovery and File Undelete
TestDisk is a free and open source data recovery software tool designed to recover lost partition and unerase deleted files.
OP
GoonMaster
Member
im running archIt sounds like the kernel is missing from what you explained.
What Linux distribution are you running?
Test Disk might help.
Partition Recovery and File Undelete
TestDisk is a free and open source data recovery software tool designed to recover lost partition and unerase deleted files.
That vmlinuz file would be the kernel. You will need to find it. Here it is on this machine, along with it's initrd and system-map mates:
Code:
[flip@flop ~]$ ls /boot
config-6.4.0-4-amd64 initrd.img-6.5.0-2-amd64
config-6.5.0-1-amd64 System.map-6.4.0-4-amd64
config-6.5.0-2-amd64 System.map-6.5.0-1-amd64
efi System.map-6.5.0-2-amd64
grub vmlinuz-6.4.0-4-amd64
initrd.img-6.4.0-4-amd64 vmlinuz-6.5.0-1-amd64
initrd.img-6.5.0-1-amd64 vmlinuz-6.5.0-2-amd64It would help if you navigated to the root directory and hunted for where the vmlinux file is since it's not likely that an installation would leave it out. Sometimes, it can be in the root directory, /, itself, so if you find it, you should copy it with all it mates (as above) into the /boot directory (alternatively create the links in the /boot directory to where the real vmlinuz and the others are).
Here on this machine the vmlinuz files are in the root directory, but they are links to the /boot where the actual vmlinuz file sits:
Code:
[flip@flop ~]$ ll /
total 1.1M
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Sep 22 2022 bin -> usr/bin
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4.0K Oct 21 22:17 boot
drwxr-xr-x 17 root root 3.4K Oct 24 06:14 dev
drwxr-xr-x 166 root root 12K Oct 24 06:15 etc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 904K Sep 17 17:28 familyLife.iso
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Mar 14 2022 home
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 29 Oct 21 22:14 initrd.img -> boot/initrd.img-6.5.0-2-amd64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 29 Oct 21 22:14 initrd.img.old -> boot/initrd.img-6.5.0-1-amd64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Sep 22 2022 lib -> usr/lib
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Sep 22 2022 lib64 -> usr/lib64
drwx------ 2 root root 16K Dec 2 2018 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Dec 2 2018 media
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Dec 2 2018 mnt
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Mar 11 2023 mounts
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Dec 5 2022 opt
dr-xr-xr-x 254 root root 0 Oct 24 06:14 proc
drwx------ 9 root root 4.0K Oct 23 13:49 root
drwxr-xr-x 27 root root 800 Oct 24 06:22 run
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Sep 22 2022 sbin -> usr/sbin
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Dec 2 2018 srv
dr-xr-xr-x 13 root root 0 Oct 24 06:14 sys
drwxrwxrwt 18 root root 60K Oct 24 12:46 tmp
drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 4.0K Sep 9 21:37 usr
drwxr-xr-x 11 root root 4.0K Oct 21 22:18 var
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 26 Oct 21 22:14 vmlinuz -> boot/vmlinuz-6.5.0-2-amd64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 26 Oct 21 22:14 vmlinuz.old -> boot/vmlinuz-6.5.0-1-amd64
Last edited:
OP
GoonMaster
Member
i booted into a live arch iso and i think i might've mounted my drive incorrectly and maybe thats why my kernel isn't where its supposed to be. i remember earlier today i did a bunch of stuff to one of my grub directory and idk if that has something to do with it
OP
GoonMaster
Member
when i ls in /boot i get efi and grub but thats it
OP
GoonMaster
Member
i remember what i did. i tried to mount my drive to /mnt/boot/efi but i kept getting an error telling me that efi wasn't a directory so i just used mkdir and made one
OP
GoonMaster
Member
literally nothing.
You can also chroot into your system and repair it that way too.
www.thetechedvocate.org
How to Use Chroot in Linux and Fix Your Broken System - The Tech Edvocate
Spread the loveIf you have ever encountered a broken system on your Linux machine, you probably know the importance of Chroot. Chroot is a powerful feature that allows you to change the root directory of your system and work with it as if it were the real root directory. This article will guide...
www.thetechedvocate.org
Then the system is defunct. You can re-install if you wish. The arch installation guide apparently is quite thorough:https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/installation_guide
OP
GoonMaster
Member
yes this whole whole issue derived from earlier today when i installed windows onto this nvme drive i have on my computer
OP
GoonMaster
Member
is there a way for me to back up my data before i do. i have months worth of stuff on that install
Boot to a Live version of Linux via a usb or CD/DVD and drag all of your files and other data to an external drive.
If you can't do that then give Test Disk a spin.
So your Windows install and Arch is on the nvme and you haven't any other drives?
Yes of course ... I perhaps ought to have mentioned that. One easy way is to boot up a live disk, and plug in another usb, mount the hard drive, navigate to the where the files you wish to keep, and copy them all to the second usb. Or, if you can bring up a network on the live disk, either online or to another computer on your network, copy or send the files to some other machine.
If you use a usb with persistence, you can copy files to the usb, so you only need one usb stick. If the machine has only one usb port, you can use a 2 or 4 port usb hub.
I mention usbs because of the convenience, and since some can handle upwards of 32 and 64 G, they are likely to be sufficient. YMMV.
OP
GoonMaster
Member
no i have arch and windows installed on separate drives
OP
GoonMaster
Member
im gonna go the networking route. now that im on the live disk and i have an ethernet cable connected to another computer, how do i move the files from my linux drive to my other computer. could you maybe link a tutorial or something. im very new to this stuff
Glad to hear that!
OP
GoonMaster
Member
im probably gonna have to reinstall everything anyway bruh
