diff --git a/build/scripts/create-rpi-image.sh b/build/scripts/create-rpi-image.sh
index a1fe64b..a3f0b06 100755
--- a/build/scripts/create-rpi-image.sh
+++ b/build/scripts/create-rpi-image.sh
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ CFGTXT
 
     # cmdline.txt — kernel command line
     # Note: must be a single line
-    echo "console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 kubesolo.data=LABEL=KSOLODATA" > "$MNT/cmdline.txt"
+    echo "console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 kubesolo.data=LABEL=KSOLODATA initcall_debug loglevel=7" > "$MNT/cmdline.txt"
 
     # Copy kernel as kernel8.img (RPi 3/4/5 ARM64 convention)
     cp "$KERNEL" "$MNT/kernel8.img"
diff --git a/init/lib/20-persistent-mount.sh b/init/lib/20-persistent-mount.sh
index e1c7d54..de2de6f 100755
--- a/init/lib/20-persistent-mount.sh
+++ b/init/lib/20-persistent-mount.sh
@@ -84,8 +84,20 @@ if [ ! -b "$KUBESOLO_DATA_DEV" ]; then
     dmesg 2>/dev/null | grep -i -e 'error' -e 'fail' -e 'unable' | while read -r line; do
         log_err "  $line"
     done
+    log_err "--- Full dmesg (last 60 lines) ---"
+    dmesg 2>/dev/null | tail -60 | while read -r line; do
+        log_err "  $line"
+    done
     log_err "=== End diagnostics ==="
-    return 1
+    log_err ""
+    log_err "Dropping to debug shell in 10 seconds..."
+    log_err "Run 'dmesg' to see full kernel log."
+    log_err "Run 'ls /sys/class/block/' to check block devices."
+    log_err ""
+    sleep 10
+    # Drop to interactive shell instead of returning failure
+    # (returning 1 with set -e causes kernel panic before emergency_shell)
+    exec /bin/sh </dev/console >/dev/console 2>&1
 fi
 
 # Mount data partition (format on first boot if unformatted)