[SOLVED] ELILO v3.16 for EFI/x68_64: no login prompt

Got the boot options sorted so the new desktop boots -- partially. Now I need advice on how to get it to boot the rest of the way and display a login prompt.

What I see on the screen starts with the subject line above:
ELILO v3.16 for EFI/x68_64
.
Loading kernel vmlinuz ... done

And that's it. No login prompt. Keyboard not recognized; the Enter key does nothing This is with 14.2 installed.

Friday, after the UEFI boot issue was fixed the system rebooted and at the login prompt I logged in as root, then ran halt. Why it stops now where it does needs to be fixed so I can get this system upgraded, configured, and working.

Need more information? Ask and it will be provided.

TIA,

Rich

whats in your elilo.conf look like and whats in your ..EFI/Slackware directory...


mine look like this:

bash-4.4$ ls /boot/efi/EFI/Slackware/
elilo.conf  elilo.conf~  elilo.efi  initrd.gz  vmlinuz	vmlinuz-generic



bash-4.4$ cat /boot/efi/EFI/Slackware/elilo.conf
chooser=simple
delay=1
timeout=1
#
image=vmlinuz-generic
        label=vmlinuz-generic
        initrd=initrd.gz
        read-only
        append="root=UUID=dd19f790-27af-44c2-9a29-5ab7bc2cfcbd vga=normal ro"
bash-4.4$

Rich

boot off the dvd and use cfdisk or fdisk to set the /dev/sda1 boot flag. also go in the BIOS and make sure the UEFI SATA is in the boot list after the UEFI DVD.

did you create an initrd.gz, forget to copy it to /boot/efi/EFI/Slackware?

id you create an initrd.gz, copied, but forgot to edit
/boot/efi/EFI/Slackware/elilo.conf ?

chooser=simple
delay=1
timeout=1
#
image=vmlinuz-generic
label=slackware
initrd=initrd.gz
read-only
append="root=/dev/sda2 vga=normal ro"

image=vmlinuz-huge
label=slackhuge
read-only
append="root=/dev/sda2 vga=normal ro"

Did you edit elilo.conf and use the wrong "root="?

Originally Posted by linuxtinker whats in your elilo.conf look like and whats in your ..EFI/Slackware directory...

Well, as I wrote, I could not boot the system so I could not see elilo.conf. However, as I replied to kingbeowulf directly, and off the forum:


Ed,

This is interesting ... but not definitive.

First, I did not create an initrd because I could not boot the system to
do anything, including setting up the generic kernel.

Second, I turned on the system and the screen telling me to press F1 to
enter BIOS setup displayed. So I turned off the box.

Third, I again turned on the system and kept pressing [Del] until the BIOS
screen appeared. The date and time were set to Jan. 1, 2009 and 00:00. In
other words, the BIOS lost its settings somehow. The pictures of available
boot devices was as yesterday: left-most 'slackware', middle 'SSD',
right-most 'disabled'. So, without changing anything I pressed the button on
the bottom to boot the system.

The ELILO prompt flashed by and the system booted. Really!

Logged in as root I looked at /dev/sda/ with cfdisk. There's no option to
set a partition bootable, probably because the type is GPT, not DOS. And,
/dev/sda1 is shown as EFI system, formatted as type vfat and the Mountpoint
is /boot/efi (mounted).

So, 1) why might the date/time in the BIOS be lost? and 2) why might it
not boot directly from /dev/sda1/?

A curious mind wants to know.

A gen-u-wine puzzler, eh?

linuxtinker/kingbeowulf:

Right after my last post I told the system to reboot. It came up with the ELILO prompt, showed it loaded vmlinuz, and froze. Just what it did before.

Am I correct in thinking this is definitely BIOS related? Why will it boot when I enter the BIOS settings main page, click the 'select boot medium' button, select 'slackware' and click the 'do it' button, but not boot directly?

Rich

On your first post it looks like you logged in but it halted, so wouldnt that rule out the BIOS? If you boot from the slackware iso can you mount the efi partition? list both the boot and EFI/Slackware and if present the elilo.conf.

Huge or generic kernel? if generic following from the slackware documentation then mkinitrd and copy both initrd.gz and vmlinuz-generic-4.4.14 -> /boot/efi/EFI/slackware.

I was in a similar position trying out my m2 ssd and moving from mbr to UEFI and LVM, had a few problems but as long as initrd & vmlinuz are in efi/slackware it works

Originally Posted by pr0xibus On your first post it looks like you logged in but it halted, so wouldnt that rule out the BIOS? If you boot from the slackware iso can you mount the efi partition? list both the boot and EFI/Slackware and if present the elilo.conf. Huge or generic kernel? if generic following from the slackware documentation then mkinitrd and copy both initrd.gz and vmlinuz-generic-4.4.14 -> /boot/efi/EFI/slackware. I was in a similar position trying out my m2 ssd and moving from mbr to UEFI and LVM, had a few problems but as long as initrd & vmlinuz are in efi/slackware it works

pr0xibus,

I was not sufficiently clear so I'll try again.

I cannot log it. After the system says it has loaded vmlinuz the system is locked. That is, neither keyboard nor mouse have any response. No login prompt is displayed. Only after the first time we got the settings correct could I log in. I did so as root, then shut down the system to take it home.

The installation installs and boots the huge kernel. I was not able to create an initrd or specify the generic kernel because I can not log in to the system to do so.

Everyone has had valid ideas yet none worked here. My conclusion is that the motherboard is defective, specifically the BIOS. I even replaced the CMOS battery because the original one drained by sitting so long. So, today I order new motherboard, CPU, and memory and will put the existing CPU and RAM up for sale.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Rich