Broken Arch Linux: Kernel Panic - failed to read configuration 'etc/mkinitcpio.conf

In this article, I will document how I resolved a critical error on Arch Linux where the system failed to generate initramfs images due to a corrupted mkinitcpio.conf file. In simpler terms, GRUB was not functioning correctly to proceed with system initialization after a faulty dependency upgrade.

The main error was:

error: fs/fshelp.c:find_file:266: file '/initramfs-linux.img' not found

and then KERNEL PANIC!

Cause of the problem

After attempting to upgrade dependencies, for some reason (installation interruption, package corruption, or incomplete configuration), the essential file:

/etc/mkinitcpio.conf

It was damaged/modified in the system, which made it impossible to generate an initramfs.

Step by step solution

1. Enter the chroot correctly

First, we mount and access the system we have installed on our disk from a live iso

mount /dev/sdXn /mnt
mount -t proc /proc /mnt/proc
mount --rbind /sys /mnt/sys
mount --rbind /dev /mnt/dev

arch-chroot /mnt

2. Manually create or edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

And I added this content (the official default Arch file):

MODULES=()
BINARIES=()
FILES=()

HOOKS=(base udev autodetect microcode modconf kms keyboard keymap consolefont block filesystems fsck)

COMPRESSION="zstd"
COMPRESSION_OPTIONS=()

MODULES_DECOMPRESS="no"

3. Regenerate the initramfs

mkinitcpio -P

result

Initcpio image generation successful

This confirms that the system already has a valid initramfs-linux.img.

4. Regenerate GRUB

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

finally

exit
umount -R /mnt
reboot

And the system started up without problems.

Conclusion

The error “failed to read configuration etc/mkinitcpio.conf” usually indicates that the mkinitcpio configuration file is missing or corrupted.

The solution involves:

• Manually creating a valid file
• Regenerating the initramfs
• Updating GRUB

Documenting this helped me better understand how the boot process works in Arch Linux and how to handle emergencies from a Live ISO.

It has been a pleasure to share this experience with you, see you next time!!. :)