arch linux- error:failed to get canonical path of 'airootfs' (grub to USB installation)

Question

I'm trying to install arch-linux for the first time. everything was OK till I tried to install "grub" boot-loader to a USB drive.

I am working by the WIKI ARCH LINUX guide.

both of this commands worked with no errors:

# mkdir -p /mnt/usb ; mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/usb

# grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck --debug --boot-directory=/mnt/usb/boot /dev/sdc

but the next command return an error:

failed to get canonical path of 'airootfs' :

# grub-mkconfig -o /mnt/usb/boot/grub/grub.cfg

can any one assist?

(tried to arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash on this one the command is not found).

Answer 1

Try adding --root-directory=/mnt to the grub-install command. It seems to be undocumented, but I saw it mentioned on some forum, and it worked for me.

Answer 2

Hit this same problem a short while ago, and figured it out. It seems like you may not have the grub package installed in your target file system.

So arch-chroot to the target (/mnt/usb), run pacman -S grub, and then execute grub-install and grub-mkconfig with correspondingly updated parameters to account for the chroot.

Answer 3

I may be three years too late, but for googlers like myself who happened upon this thread, here is the answer:

The problem is that you are running the grub-install and grub-mkconfig programs from the archiso live media. If you arch-chroot into the mounted filesystem, the error will be corrected.

By appending --root-directory=mnt to the grub-install options, you can bypass the issue, but grub-mkconfig does not include such a nifty workaround.

Answer 4

try executing arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash first