Hail to yee all,

I think I can use some help... Lucky enough I have a second station (with Void) from which I'm writing this. I must relie on my memory to relate what follows.

My problem: unable to boot. The splashscreen (I hope that's the correct name) does display, with options Obarun | Obarun failsafe | etc.
And I can chose a boot-option with the arrows (Up/Down) but then, after pressing Enter, there's a 5 seconds countdown, it doesn't load anything, and back to splash and 5 seconds countdown again, doesn't load, etc, in a loop.

How I got to this situation: I installed kernel4.19lts, as suggested by fungalnet in a recent post. As far as I can tell, installation went without any issue (I checked the output). Tried to update-grub ("command not found" or something like this). Quite normal! I had forgotten I installed Obarun with Syslinux set as the bootloader (for a change!) :P...

Have NOT rebooted at once. I even made an update, and both kernels (the current 5.5 and the just-added 4.19) had updates.

I have not followed the Archwiki about Syslinux. I prefered to follow the dedicated page of the Obarun documentation, here: https://wiki.obarun.org/doku.php?id=syslinux

Juste in case, I made a copy of /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg under the very original name /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg_bak.

THEN, I edited the file, adding to it an entry of that kind:

LABEL Obarun-Linux
LINUX /boot/vmlinuz-linux
INITRD /boot/initramfs-linux.img
APPEND root=/dev/sda5 ro quiet net.ifnames=0

of which, of course, I modified the values, accordingly to:
1. the path given by the output of the kernel installation for INITRD and LINUX entries (not so sure for the latter though) and
2. for APPEND entry, accordingly to what was already written in the file in the APPEND section of the current kernel. By heart, I cannot tell, but instead of root=/dev/sda5, something like UUID= here-some-crazy-sequence-of-characters

Saved the file. THEN, reboot.

After reboot, the splash displayed the new entry I had just added in the config file (with an explicite name like Obarun-linux-4.19) so I was hoping everything would work. But THEN problem: no boot.

NOTA: I'm not in any despair and have not done the maximum yet. (I need to sleep a few hours first. So if you answer soon after I have submitted and get no answer from me, don't worry).
For instance, I could chroot (but I don't see much the point so far) or, instead, via a live-session of any OS providing a text-editor*, change the settings of /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

(* It seems obvious to you that any live-OS provides a text-editor? It did to me too. But not Void! No GUI-pad, no nano, no nothing! I tried with LXQt AND Mate editions... Same stupid policy.)

I'll chroot with a live-ISO, for instance, IF I have reasons to think I have to uninstall one of the two kernels --in that case, I'll keep 4.19 and throw 5.5.

But the thing is I don't have a notion of what I have missed...

Any clue welcome!

:)
i give you what i have on my system 
% ls -la /boot # i only post the interesting part for you
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 3.0K Jan 26 09:22 syslinux/
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  27M Mar  3 11:38 initramfs-linux-fallback.img
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  26M Mar  3 19:49 initramfs-linux-lts419-fallback.img
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 5.2M Mar  3 19:49 initramfs-linux-lts419.img
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 5.2M Mar  3 11:38 initramfs-linux.img
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3.0M Dec 11 23:32 intel-ucode.img
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 6.3M Mar  3 11:37 vmlinuz-linux
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 5.7M Mar  3 19:49 vmlinuz-linux-lts419

% cat /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg # i only post the interesting part for you
LABEL obarun-lts
    MENU LABEL Obarun-lts
    LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux-lts419
    APPEND root=UUID=5bd9b2ec-5c01-4f0e-a27b-62891f5ff4d4  ro vga=895
    INITRD ../intel-ucode.img,../initramfs-linux-lts419.img
(Yeah, void only provides vi but it is not void it is the "person" that made the live images. Imagine the previous ones were pointing to repositories that don't exist, voidlinux.eu. # xbps-install nano leafpad mousepad - you can also copy or use through chroot tha /usr/bin/arch-chroot script in void and it works in all linux - it does all the necessary mounting )

If you still have the linux kernel installed the previous .cfg should work too, but I am sure you can have both.
If you don't have the intel-ucode installed remove that part and also the vga= may or may not work on your screen.
You can also install grub (pacman -S grub ..then # mkdir /boot/grub ...then # grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg ... then # grub-install /dev/sda ... or whatever hd you use to boot )

With linux 5.5 installed basically if you erase -lts419 from both places you should be able to boot.
Hi everyone!

@ Éric & @ Fungalnet

Many thanks!

As for now, just a short message to say I've been able (for a few minutes) to boot again on Obarun's current kernel "Linux Obarun 5.5.7-arch1-1" (as given output of uname -a) :)

I've not tried yet to fix the whole thing following your recommandations -- but I will, and I'll post further details later.

I've done what seemt simplest to me: restaure the original /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg from a void-live-session. (I've erased my Obarun live-usbpen lately, because I was running out of usbpen-drives). But even that very simple restauration was somehow tricky for me.

(I must say although on GNU/Linux for 12 years, I'm just learning the basics for a couple of months, since on Obarun -- and, more lately, on Void too, to be quite fair. A few months ago, I would have erased and fresh-reinstalled for less than that. But here, I cannot afford to do so: I have not set any seperate /home folder. Besides, it's not by fresh-installing at the first issue that one learns. I'm a living proof of that!)

For instance of what I call "tricky for me": from both Void-LXQt and Void-Mate live-sessions, when browsing my Obarun@ ThinkPad hard-drive from PCManFM and Caja, and when opening its /boot folder, I was amazed to find an empty folder. (The same from the terminal with cd and ls commands.)

It took me more or less 20 minutes to figure out that the /boot directory containing /boot/syslinux is on ANOTHER partition than the main one! :P Just see how noob I am for some basic things. But that's great to learn at last! :)

I don't know yet how I'm gonna manage these kernels and the bootloader (and which bootloader). But I'll give further notice soon.

Thanks again!
Except for obarun specific information the majority of the stuff relating to bootloading mounting chrooting can be found on wiki.archlinux.org

You have a separate boot partition that both installations share? So this is efi not bios? I am not sure how that can be handled.
Hello again!

Thanks to good advise from Éric (see post # 2 of the present thread + the Obarun documentation page on Syslinux, the link is in # 1), I am now the happy runner of a dual-kernel Obarun. :) And without having installed Grub so far.

Partly by ignorance, partly by zeal, I had a bit messed the configuration file of Syslinux /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

Now, it's clean.

Previously, ie before getting unable to boot, I had set this:
LABEL obarun-linux-4.19
    MENU LABEL Obarun-linux-4.19
    LINUX /boot/vmlinuz-linux
    INITRD /boot/initramfs-linux-lts419.img
    APPEND root=UUID=544b90aa-8033-4ed2-befe-09c98b8d13e0 ro

LABEL obarun-linux-5.5
    MENU LABEL Obarun-linux-5.5
    LINUX /boot/vmlinuz-linux
    APPEND root=UUID=544b90aa-8033-4ed2-befe-09c98b8d13e0 ro
    INITRD /boot/initramfs-linux.img

LABEL obarunfallback
    MENU LABEL Obarun Fallback
    LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
    APPEND root=UUID=544b90aa-8033-4ed2-befe-09c98b8d13e0 ro
    INITRD /boot/initramfs-linux-lts419-fallback.img
Now, the right version goes thus:
LABEL obarun-linux-4.19
    MENU LABEL Obarun-linux-4.19-lts
    LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux-lts419
    APPEND root=UUID=544b90aa-8033-4ed2-befe-09c98b8d13e0 ro
    INITRD ../initramfs-linux-lts419.img

LABEL obarun-linux-5.5
    MENU LABEL Obarun-linux-5.5
    LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
    APPEND root=UUID=544b90aa-8033-4ed2-befe-09c98b8d13e0 ro
    INITRD ../initramfs-linux.img
    
LABEL obarun-fallback
    MENU LABEL Obarun Fallback
    LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux-lts419
    APPEND root=UUID=544b90aa-8033-4ed2-befe-09c98b8d13e0 ro
    INITRD ../initramfs-linux-lts419-fallback.img
Nota Bene:
1. I have put the kernel 4.19 before the current one so that it's loaded by default if I ever miss the chance to modify the kernel-version at splash with the arrow keys. Someone who lands on this thread for a similar problem may want to do otherwise. If so, just invert the order of the paragraphs in your config.
2. I have also set kernel 4.19 for Obarun Fallback option.

I checked that all options work, and they do. I consider my problem as solved. :)

Thanks again to Éric & Fungalnet! :D

Regards
@ fungalnet
You have a separate boot partition that both installations share? So this is efi not bios? I am not sure how that can be handled.
Not sure I understand your question. But just to be sure you understand the remark I made that possibly inspired this question, let me clarify.

I do not dual-boot. So, my ThinkPad is my Obarun box, period.

(My Void OS is installed on another older and 32-bit computer.)

I just got a bit amazed, when live-sessioning (with a Void iso) in order to modify the /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg of Obarun on ThinkPad, that this file cannot be found browsing the /boot directory of the ThinkPad hard-drive, although its path is /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg. I eventually found it in a separate (very small) partition of 512Mio with mountpoint /boot. (This mountpoint was not obvious, when live-sessioning. It just happens that I just checked my /dev/sda with Gparted, in order to answer to you properly.)

I do not recollect having set that small /boot partition on purpose --it was two months ago. Maybe I did? Maybe it's the default scheme for an Obarun installation from the live-iso?*

Now, back to my rescue-live-session with a Void-iso. Although the /boot dir (of the main partition) was empty, it was there. Hence, I'm wondering if it could be a symlink (or contain a symlink) to the /boot dir that exists physically on the 512Mio partition with mountpoint /boot. ??? That's another occasion for me to realize I'm still a noob. :P

But what I do remember now (and had forgotten) is that, when installing Obarun (once again from the live-iso), I set syslinux instead of grub as the bootloader, a bit out of curiosity -- there are not many distros out there nowadays that propose syslinux.

*The Obarun live-iso I used is the JWM flavoured of last November.

As for if it is EFI or Bios, I bloody don't know, sorry. :( YAOFMTRIMSAN: Yet another occasion for me to realize I'm still a noob. :P

Thanks for your concern!

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