[SOLVED] initramfs unpacking failed: Decoding failed

[AllanMn]

-k all : all kernel versions. Well, I just did the latest. Should work.

[aargiee]

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initramfs unpacking failed: Decoding failed

Paste this into a terminal:

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xed admin:///etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf

Change COMPRESS=lz4 to COMPRESS=gzip

Save the changes then:

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sudo update-initramfs -u

and reboot.

I have the same issue after I did the fresh install. I cannot perform the solution you posted since it does not boot up. I get a blank black screen.

[AllanMn]

You see "initramfs unpacking failed: Decoding failed" and then a blank screen?

Can you get to recovery mode? i.e.

Booting into recovery mode
Switch on your computer.
Wait until the UEFI/BIOS has finished loading, or has almost finished. (During this time you will probably see a logo of your computer manufacturer.) Note: UEFI fast boot may be too fast to give time to press any key.
With BIOS, quickly press and hold the Shift key, which will bring up the GNU GRUB menu. (If you see the Ubuntu logo, you've missed the point where you can enter the GRUB menu.) With UEFI press (perhaps several times) the Escape key to get grub menu.
Select the line which starts with "Advanced options".

Select the line ending with "(recovery mode)", probably the second line, something like:

Ubuntu GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.8.0-26-generic (recovery mode)

I have the same issue after I did the fresh install. I cannot perform the solution you posted since it does not boot up. I get a blank black screen.

[disc0rdante]

Fixed the error message on boot for me, Dell XPS18, thanks aargiee!

[zcot]

Paste this into a terminal:

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xed admin:///etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf

What is this root-access URL sorcery, and why does it just return `The specified location is not mounted` on my just-upgraded Mint 20 system? ("admin:///" is not search friendly)

Ta.

That's gvfs functionality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GVfs

admin:// is the mechanism.

gvfs-admin is not mentioned in that wiki page as one of the backends but check man gvfs for current info to see it.

that terminal message is "normal", but probably some way that the system is not acting fully compliant with all the pieces of the specification of multiple pieces of that mechanism, but it does fully work as intended.

[Billw 6500]

many thanks Kadaitcha Man
i ran the sudo uodate-initramfs -u first just to see what it did.
It created an image for my current cinnamon 20 kernel and fixed the problem.
I didn't have to edit the file

[Billw 6500]

installed new kernel today and got the error again. the command sudo update-initramfs -u didn't work this time.
i reverted to the previous kernel and everything is good

[Pjotr]

installed new kernel today and got the error again. the command sudo update-initramfs -u didn't work this time.
i reverted to the previous kernel and everything is good

Makes more sense to change the compression method then, instead of only updating initramfs:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... .html#ID26
(item 26)

[daibak]

Thank you for this helpful link to
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... .html#ID26
Scroll down to tip number 26 in long list

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 Boot error concerning the unpacking of initramfs
26. You might get to see the following error during booting, which is a bug:

which solved this boot issue on a HP Stream 13 running LM 20 Ulyana XFCE using terminal in two minutes.

[adam_hardy42]

Leave it on lz4.

Run:

sudo update-initramfs -c -k $(uname -r)

Reboot.

There is/was a bug in the ubuntu tools.

I ran this command and now there is a stream of output rather than just the initramfs failure message, so I assume it's fixed (final reboot at 16:42)

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Sep 15 19:59:47 erebor kernel: [    0.354296] Trying to unpack rootfs image as initramfs...
Sep 16 09:56:00 erebor kernel: [    0.341981] Trying to unpack rootfs image as initramfs...
Sep 16 09:56:00 erebor kernel: [    0.520188] Initramfs unpacking failed: Decoding failed
Sep 16 15:44:47 erebor kernel: [    0.361314] Trying to unpack rootfs image as initramfs...
Sep 16 15:44:47 erebor kernel: [    0.545937] Initramfs unpacking failed: Decoding failed
Sep 16 15:48:48 erebor kernel: [    0.355229] Trying to unpack rootfs image as initramfs...
Sep 16 15:48:48 erebor kernel: [    0.539664] Initramfs unpacking failed: Decoding failed
Sep 16 16:42:16 erebor kernel: [    0.357761] Trying to unpack rootfs image as initramfs...
Sep 16 16:42:56 erebor kernel: [    0.358013] Trying to unpack rootfs image as initramfs...

[N0HAM]

I am now back to Unpacking Failed, Decoding Failed.

From my experience so far, I guess I will have to wait for LM 20.1 or 21 to solve this problem.

The problem is severe enough that this puts LM 20 in not ready for production status in my book.

New clients will be getting the latest release of 19 installed by me.

What was the rush to get 20 out before it was ready?

[Pjotr]

I am now back to Unpacking Failed, Decoding Failed.

This is guaranteed to work around that:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... .html#ID26
(item 26)

[N0HAM]

I am now back to Unpacking Failed, Decoding Failed.

This is guaranteed to work around that:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... .html#ID26
(item 26)

OUTSTANDING! Not only did this solve the problem but also several other failures at start up. Will this fix be in the next update of LM or will I have to keep running the two commands on the bash line for new install I do?

Cheers
Jonathan

[Pjotr]

I am now back to Unpacking Failed, Decoding Failed.

This is guaranteed to work around that:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... .html#ID26
(item 26)

OUTSTANDING! Not only did this solve the problem but also several other failures at start up. Will this fix be in the next update of LM or will I have to keep running the two commands on the bash line for new install I do?

Cheers
Jonathan

Good to hear!

It's an upstream issue (Ubuntu), which hasn't been fixed yet, as far as I know. So yes, you'll have to do this for each new installation of Linux Mint....

[LanceM]

LMDE 4 uses

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gzip

and that error is not present.

[LanceM]

janne - report this as a bug at https://github.com/linuxmint/linuxmint/issues

This error was raised in the beta, but not as an issue preventing the live iso from booting at all.

I've just doublechecked booting the stable live ISO on both my machines and it boots fine albeit the error does show in journalctl output when run just after booting the live session.

It might be worth you experimenting with a different USB stick or using different USB ports.

I have one install of Mint 20 Beta that I use. I have kept it updated. Of my 5 installs, this is the only one without the boot error. Why would that be?

[FrankB616]

Solution listed above by Kadaitcha Man worked for my install as well. Boot seems to be slower, but that is entirely subjective, I know. In any case the error message is gone.

[A Grumpy OAP]

Paste this into a terminal:

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xed admin:///etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf

Change COMPRESS=lz4 to COMPRESS=gzip

Save the changes then:

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sudo update-initramfs -u

and reboot.

Worked for me thanks.

Known upstream bug - https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/1835660
https://github.com/linuxmint/mint20-beta/issues/90

Sometimes it would stay on the monitor for a while, as if it were thinking what to do. Like they say, it didn't affect the running at all. It was beginning to get on my nerves wondering what it was though.

[mrarjunz]

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initramfs unpacking failed: Decoding failed

Paste this into a terminal:

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xed admin:///etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf

Change COMPRESS=lz4 to COMPRESS=gzip

Save the changes then:

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sudo update-initramfs -u

and reboot.

worked for me thank you so much, I saw this problem mostly in HP laptops.

[Fontenele]

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initramfs unpacking failed: Decoding failed

Paste this into a terminal:

Code: Select all

xed admin:///etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf

Change COMPRESS=lz4 to COMPRESS=gzip

Save the changes then:

Code: Select all

sudo update-initramfs -u

and reboot.

Worked fine for me too, thanks for the tip.