Arch Linux

stef_204

Member

Registered: 2014-08-15

Posts: 37

Failed to start Getty on tty1 - Stuck boot process

Hi,

I have searched for posts and links specifically addressing this issue but have failed to come up with a solution yet and am stumped, at the moment.

Very frequently, upon boot or reboot, after filesystem is mounted--so at the end of boot process--I get a blank screen with a blinking cursor; stuck there and unable to login interacively since no login prompt is offered.
At that point, it sometimes blinks for a while and finally gets unstuck and displays interactive login and I can login; or it just stays stuck there, with the cursor blinking, indefinitely.

At that point, if I open a new terminal [Crtl] + [Alt] + [F3], all is in order and I can login.  (However, the failed state on tty1 just stays stuck there, unresolved, which I do not like.)

$ journalctl -b -u getty@tty1
-- Logs begin at Wed 2013-03-20 07:19:08 CET, end at Tue 2014-12-16 11:39:37 CET. --
Dec 16 11:05:32 archlinux systemd[1]: start request repeated too quickly for getty@tty1.service
Dec 16 11:05:32 archlinux systemd[1]: Failed to start Getty on tty1.
Dec 16 11:05:32 archlinux systemd[1]: Unit getty@tty1.service entered failed state.
Dec 16 11:05:32 archlinux systemd[1]: getty@tty1.service failed.

This seems to always be the case when the problem occurs; I have checked journalctl -b many times.

if this helps, here is some more output:

 % systemctl status getty@tty1.service
● getty@tty1.service - Getty on tty1
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/getty@.service; enabled)
  Drop-In: /etc/systemd/system/getty@.service.d
           └─activate-numlock.conf
   Active: failed (Result: start-limit) since Tue 2014-12-16 11:05:32 CET; 23min ago
     Docs: man:agetty(8)
           man:systemd-getty-generator(8)
           http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/serial-console.html
  Process: 411 ExecStartPost=/bin/sh -c setleds +num < /dev/%I (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
  Process: 410 ExecStart=/sbin/agetty --noclear %I $TERM (code=killed, signal=HUP)
 Main PID: 410 (code=killed, signal=HUP)

Dec 16 11:05:32 archlinux systemd[1]: start request repeated too quickly for getty@tty1.service
Dec 16 11:05:32 archlinux systemd[1]: Failed to start Getty on tty1.
Dec 16 11:05:32 archlinux systemd[1]: Unit getty@tty1.service entered failed state.
Dec 16 11:05:32 archlinux systemd[1]: getty@tty1.service failed.

And here is my getty@tty1.service, located in /etc/systemd/system/getty.target.wants:

#  This file is part of systemd.
#
#  systemd is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
#  under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
#  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
#  (at your option) any later version.

[Unit]
Description=Getty on %I
Documentation=man:agetty(8) man:systemd-getty-generator(8)
Documentation=http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/serial-console.html
After=systemd-user-sessions.service plymouth-quit-wait.service

# If additional gettys are spawned during boot then we should make
# sure that this is synchronized before getty.target, even though
# getty.target didn't actually pull it in.
Before=getty.target
IgnoreOnIsolate=yes

# On systems without virtual consoles, don't start any getty. Note
# that serial gettys are covered by serial-getty@.service, not this
# unit.
ConditionPathExists=/dev/tty0

[Service]
# the VT is cleared by TTYVTDisallocate
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty --noclear %I $TERM
Type=idle
Restart=always
RestartSec=0
UtmpIdentifier=%I
TTYPath=/dev/%I
TTYReset=yes
TTYVHangup=yes
TTYVTDisallocate=yes
KillMode=process
IgnoreSIGPIPE=no
SendSIGHUP=yes

# Unset locale for the console getty since the console has problems
# displaying some internationalized messages.
Environment=LANG= LANGUAGE= LC_CTYPE= LC_NUMERIC= LC_TIME= LC_COLLATE= LC_MONETARY= LC_MESSAGES= LC_PAPER= LC_NAME= LC_ADDRESS= LC_TELEPHONE= LC_MEASUREMENT= LC_IDENTIFICATION=

[Install]
WantedBy=getty.target
DefaultInstance=tty1

I am thinking that I may be able to change some parameter in the above file (getty@tty1.service) to remove this "start request repeated too quickly" perhaps?
Unless that is a safety guard configured elsewhere in the system?  If so where?

Thanks for any helpful feedback.

Last edited by stef_204 (2014-12-16 11:14:15)