ok, so dont type “1” or anything just hit enter?
From the logs, this installation looks unfinished.
From what I can see, it didn’t get far enough through the installation to be viable. The logs end before the packages were installed.
Yes that was from the online install. The offline install went mostly without a hitch except for the kernel part 
Try this:
sudo mount -o subvol=@ /dev/sda2 /mnt
sudo arch-chroot /mnt
pacman -S linux linux-headers
This assumes your btrfs partition is /dev/sda2
Just finished updating the system with the sudo pacman -Syu command while in chroot. Should I run those commands now? or just the pacman -S linux linux-headers?
Did your kernel get updated with the update? If so, that should be all you need.
Im sorry, what command do I use to verify if the kernel was updated?
Look in /var/log/pacman.log, and see if linux was updated.
Alternatively, it won’t hurt to just reinstall them if that is easier.
2026-08-03T11:04:22-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-api-headers (6.19-1 -> 7.1-1)
[2026-08-03T11:04:26-0400] [ALPM] upgraded util-linux-libs (2.42-1 -> 2.42.2-1)
[2026-08-03T11:04:35-0400] [ALPM] upgraded util-linux (2.42-1 -> 2.42.2-1)
[2026-08-03T11:05:07-0400] [ALPM] upgraded archlinux-keyring (20260420-1 -> 20260727-1)
[2026-08-03T11:08:30-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux (6.19.14.arch1-1 -> 7.1.5.arch1-2)
[2026-08-03T11:08:30-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-whence (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:08:32-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-amdgpu (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:08:33-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-atheros (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:08:33-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-broadcom (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:08:34-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-cirrus (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:08:38-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-intel (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:08:40-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-mediatek (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:08:56-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-nvidia (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:09:11-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-other (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:09:12-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-radeon (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:09:14-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-realtek (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:09:14-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware (20260410-1 -> 20260622-1)
[2026-08-03T11:09:26-0400] [ALPM] upgraded linux-headers (6.19.14.arch1-1 -> 7.1.5.arch1-2)
Yeah, looks good.
type exit to leave chroot, correct? and do I have to unmount before rebooting? Sorry I am very new to this and would rather ask a human than HAL.
Yeah, just exit and then reboot
Update: did a reboot. Reached GRUB, chose EndeavourOS but received the same error as before:“must load kernel first”
Good news! I was able to get EndeavourOS installed properly. In the end, no matter what I tried, attempting the GRUB option failed everytime. As a last ditch effort I went back to square one and did the online install choosing systemd this time. Everything worked this time. Now the fun part, setting up everything how I like it. The “ricing” will come later. A huge thank you to all who gave me a helping hand! @dalto @thefrog @UncleSpellbinder
glad you have it working however you should have been able to install grub and still successfully booted. So not sure what the actual issue seems to be with it not working correctly for you.