According to Jude DaShiell: # Failed to create secure file system message went away after I changed ro to rw in # syslinux.cfg. Should /dev/sda3 have been mentioned in syslinux.cfg where # I have /home? If so, I didn't do that and this may explain some of the # difficulties. The device mentioned in syslinux.cfg should refer to the root (/) of your system. It usually should be mounted read-only when the kernel is loaded, which is why the ro parameter is included at the end of the kernal append line. The system then remounts everything rw later in the boot process. All your filesystems should be mounted in /etc/fstab. Did you run genfstab -p /mnt >/mnt/etc/fstab or similar, optionally including -U or -L, during the install process? Doing so should have remounted / rw once the kernel was successfully loaded. As soon as you can do so, it could help if you can post the dmesg output you managed to save along with your latest syslog or systemd journal. ~Kyle