Arch Linux

Meinichi

Member

Registered: 2026-06-27

Posts: 1

Startup failure : Timed out waiting for device after upgrading kernel

Few days earlier I upgraded my kernel using pacman -Syu, as I was trying to reboot ,the next time for the computer was really long( grub), and failed, showing
```
[TIME] Timed out waiting for device /dev/.a942ad-ce4e-4e67-8576-fa0526f597a1.
[Depend] Dependency failed for File System .a942ad-ce4e-4e67-8576-fa0526f597a1.
[Depend] Dependency failed for /sysroot
[Depend] Dependency failed for Initrd Root File System
[Depend] Dependency failed for Mountpoints Configured in the Real Root
[Depend] Dependency failed for Initrd Root Device

You are in emergency mode. After logging in, type "journalctl -xb" to view system logs

Cannot open access to console, the root account is locked.
```

I asked AI for this and it replied that there's something wrong with my nvme UUID in grub.cfg ,but I checked all the files that might have included my disk UUID and it seems all okay...

mpan

Member

Registered: 2012-08-01

Posts: 1,619

Website

Re: Startup failure : Timed out waiting for device after upgrading kernel

Welcome to the forum.

This error comes from the early userspace. From its final stages where it tries to mount your actual root filesystem to switch to it. This is long after the boot loader, GRUB or other.

At a first glance it looks like the device name is set wrong. But given it did boot earlier, the second guess is that some modules might’ve not been included while the initcpio generation during update.

Does the system boot with the fallback image, if one is present?
What is your filesystem (type?)
Is the partition encrypted?

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Paperclips in avatars?

aminepro

Member

Registered: 2025-01-31

Posts: 77

Re: Startup failure : Timed out waiting for device after upgrading kernel

I asked AI for this and it replied that there's something wrong with my nvme UUID in grub.cfg ,but I checked all the files that might have included my disk UUID and it seems all okay...

there's just one file that you need to check

cat /etc/fstab 

[TIME] Timed out waiting for device /dev/.a942ad-ce4e-4e67-8576-fa0526f597a1.

also don't /dev/disk/by-uuid/"uuid here" the right format ?

At a first glance it looks like the device name is set wrong. But given it did boot earlier, the second guess is that some modules might’ve not been included while the initcpio generation during update.

so it isn't wrong? then you should just reboot from the iso remount everything as it is in fstab and pacman -Syu again. otherwise maybe the partition itself is corrupted somehow.

#the following is irrelevant

Does the system boot with the fallback image, if one is present?
What is your filesystem (type?)
Is the partition encrypted?

he said he's using AI how would he be able to be in that level?

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 2,272

Re: Startup failure : Timed out waiting for device after upgrading kernel

he said he's using AI how would he be able to be in that level?

by using archinstall because following some YT video?
there're just too many people out there don't know to install a linux distribution you should read official documentation

mpan

Member

Registered: 2012-08-01

Posts: 1,619

Website

Re: Startup failure : Timed out waiting for device after upgrading kernel

he said he's using AI how would he be able to be in that level?

What about not making hostile assumptions? So far we have no evidence of OP doing anything wrong.

Where from did you infer that using “AI” means the person can’t answer the questions? In 2026 “I used AI” is equivalent to “I searched before asking” in 2010s.

Last edited by mpan (2026-07-24 21:43:31)

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Paperclips in avatars?

aminepro

Member

Registered: 2025-01-31

Posts: 77

Re: Startup failure : Timed out waiting for device after upgrading kernel

I'm not doing any hostile assumption, what I really thought is he might feel unease being asked about such things, if that's really hostile then I'll be worse than him cause I read the documentation and still find doing such stuff (like using a different file system instead of ext4 for linux and fat for efi partition advanced, also I find encrypting a partition really weird for someone who's still learning the basics) difficult or to not exaggerate unneeded to keep it simple.

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 76,999

Re: Startup failure : Timed out waiting for device after upgrading kernel

In 2026 “I used AI” is equivalent to “I searched using bing before asking” in 2010s.

Ftfy

[TIME] Timed out waiting for device /dev/.a942ad-ce4e-4e67-8576-fa0526f597a1.

The pattern w/ the bogus device node frequently shows up for systems booting from UFS/MMC, https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=313706

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