[Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

AnyTimeTraveller · 2019-12-14 21:00:59

After running arch stably for the last year or so, after an update it stopped booting.
Grub2 is installed on EFI and only shows the two lines:
"Loading Linux linux ...
Loading initial ramdisk ..."
Nothing happens after that.
When booting from grub's command line, it just freezes up after I enter the 'boot' command.
The only way I can turn off the laptop, is by holding the power button for 10 seconds.

I did several fresh installs, figuring that I messed up an update, but always got the same results.
I made sure to follow the install.txt on the live image to a t.
I have the standard 3-partition gpt layout:
/dev/sda1 512M EFI (vfat)
/dev/sda2 50G Linux root (ext4)
/dev/sda3 8G Linux swap (mkswap)
[some empty space]

I tried mounting sda1 at /boot as well as /efi, same result.
I tried using efibootmgr to directly load linux from the UEFI boot options, which resulted in a complete black screen and required me to reset the machine as well.

I successfully installed Ubuntu 18.04 and the latest Manjaro in between installs, which worked flawlessly.

I don't know what to do anymore.
I must be making some mistake that I'm not seeing...

Last edited by AnyTimeTraveller (2020-04-28 22:41:04)

seth · 2019-12-14 21:41:16

Try to install (and boot) the lts kernel. Also be sure to not boot "quiet" and add some debug parameters, https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ge … bug_output - maybe you get more info about where things stall.

AnyTimeTraveller · 2019-12-15 22:40:02

Yep, that was it.
Thank you for your help!

I reinstalled with the lts kernel as well as the zen kernel and the LTS kernel still boots. (I guess you could also just install the kernel in a chroot, but I wanted a fresh start again)
I also looked up kernel versions and I think that it's likely that the update to version 5.4 that broke it.

Is there anything I can do to fix this in future versions?

loqs · 2019-12-15 22:50:04

With the addition of the parameters seth linked to is any output produced when booting a 5.4 kernel?

AnyTimeTraveller · 2019-12-17 07:15:28

Regardless of which parameters I add, it showed only GRUB's output.
To verify that I wasn't doing anything wrong, I added the same parameters to the lts kernel.
That resulted in the boot taking ages, because the efi-log at the start slowed everything down to a crawl.

seth · 2019-12-17 07:33:06

Can you boot "nomodeset"?

AnyTimeTraveller · 2019-12-19 21:25:05

Same result.

This is me adding the parameters in the GRUB editor:
https://simonscode.org/kernel-params.png
This is what happens when I press F10 to boot:
https://simonscode.org/boot.png

It stays frozen like that until I hold the power button for 10 seconds to reset the machine.

EDIT: Fix images

Last edited by AnyTimeTraveller (2019-12-20 17:09:48)

seth · 2019-12-19 21:36:57

Please replace the oversized images w/ thumbnails and/or links.

Can you boot the failsafe initramfs?

loqs · 2019-12-19 22:39:07

If the failsafe initrd does not work please post the dmesg output from linux-lts and also try downgrading linux to 5.3.13 and test that version.

AnyTimeTraveller · 2020-02-20 11:52:49

Hi,
sorry for my silence.
I have been using the LTS kernel until today and had no issues.
I just didn't have the time to investigate.
The problem reappeared.
I updated the kernel yesterday and can't boot.
Same problems as before. Only this time, I can't even boot the Arch ISO.
I am guessing by that, that the Arch ISO uses the lts kernel and that whatever changes were made back then are now in there.
Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this.

I'm gonna download an old ISO tonight and see if I can't downgrade again.
Booting with an Ubuntu 19.04 USB Stick works as before.

Any other ideas on how I can get some debug info out of my machine?

schard · 2020-02-20 12:07:09

You can try booting with the kernel parameters acpi=off and noapic.

AnyTimeTraveller · 2020-02-20 16:25:30

That did it!
I can boot again!

AnyTimeTraveller · 2020-02-20 16:33:45

Update: The option `acpi=off` is enough to get me to boot, but now the keyboard of my laptop doesn't work anymore.
So, I can't get past my login screen.
I even tried switching TTYs and Ctrl+Alt+PrintScr combinations, but nothing works.

schard · 2020-02-20 16:37:25

Can you use the keyboard from within the install medium?
If so, boot it and mount your installed system to /mnt.
Then chroot to it and edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and move keyboard before autodetect in the HOOKS array.
Then run

mkinitcpio -P

exit the chroot and reboot.

AnyTimeTraveller · 2020-02-20 16:59:55

I can't get the arch ISO to boot.
Does it also work from a Ubuntu ISO?
That's all I have on hand right now and I'm not at home.

loqs · 2020-02-20 17:36:10

Provided the Ubuntu iso provides chroot you can follow Chroot#Using_chroot.
The arch iso uses the linux package. Is the arch iso that no longer boots the same one you used to install the system?

Last edited by loqs (2020-02-20 17:36:25)

AnyTimeTraveller · 2020-02-20 19:06:10

I used the Ubuntu ISO to download a 2019.12 Arch ISO and used that to chroot.
That worked.
I applied the changes to the mkinitcpio.conf and added 'acpi=off' to my grub config and ran the regeneration commands.

But the problem of my keyboard not working has still not been solved.

loqs · 2020-02-20 19:16:08

From /var/log/pacman.log which kernel versions did work without disabling ACPI and which did not?
Edit:
archlinux-2019.12.01-x86_64.iso used linux 5.3.13.1-1 so that is one data point.

Last edited by loqs (2020-02-20 19:23:15)

AnyTimeTraveller · 2020-02-20 19:20:29

I wanted to find out what ACPI actually did and found this website.
https://01.org/linux-acpi/documentation … cpi-issues
I tried all the different options under the "My system doesn't boot" section and only the acpi=off option actually booted.
Replacing that with any of the options listed there, results in the same freeze.

Last edited by AnyTimeTraveller (2020-02-20 19:20:52)

loqs · 2020-02-20 19:29:16

acpi=ht
pci=noacpi
acpi=noirq
pnpacpi=off
noapic
nolapic

All failed on what kernel version?
Edit:
You could try changing acpi_os_name and acpi_osi
https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentatio … meters.txt

What is the keyboard? How is it connected? Is it used in early boot or are you checking its use later?
What is the dmesg from 5.3.13 and also from a later kernel that required acpi=off ?

Last edited by loqs (2020-02-20 19:44:58)

AnyTimeTraveller · 2020-02-20 19:47:24

I tried the version 5.5.4-arch1-1

This is my pacman.log if that helps: https://simonscode.org/pacman.log

AnyTimeTraveller · 2020-02-20 19:49:00

I just found the log entry of the lts version.

I couldn't boot anymore when the version of the packet linux-lts upgraded from 4.19.101-1 -> 5.4.20-1

AnyTimeTraveller · 2020-02-20 19:52:05

The problem first appeared on the package `linux` with the version 5.4.3.arch1-1

loqs · 2020-02-20 19:57:05

That was the first version of linux you installed on the system had the issue? So you installed linux-lts to get the system to boot?
Edit:
I would leave linux-lts at 4.19.101 and use linux packages for testing.

Last edited by loqs (2020-02-20 20:03:56)

AnyTimeTraveller · 2020-02-20 20:08:20

loqs wrote:

That was the first version of linux you installed on the system had the issue? So you installed linux-lts to get the system to boot?

The first version with a problem was
linux 5.4.3.arch1-1

I foolishly tried to just reinstall my OS, so the pacman.log doesn't go back that far.
I made the first post on the day I first faced the issue, so whatever the most recent version was on 14.12.2019, was the version with the issue.
I update about every week, so there might be a version before that.
I can try downgrading to that next.

Yes, I installed linux-lts which resulted in a normal boot sequence without any other issues.
I also tried messing around with the microcode and linuz-zen, but that had no effect as far as I could tell.

loqs wrote:

What is the keyboard? How is it connected? Is it used in early boot or are you checking its use later?
What is the dmesg from 5.3.13 and also from a later kernel that required acpi=off ?

The keyboard is the builtin keyboard of an HP Envy x360. Model: 15-aq000ng

It's connected directly to the motherboard.

I don't know what you mean with 'checking its use'. It works in BIOS, GRUB, and Ubuntu without issues.

I'll downgrade to 5.3.13 next and upload my dmesg outputs for each version.

Arch Linux

#1 2019-12-14 21:00:59

[Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#2 2019-12-14 21:41:16

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#3 2019-12-15 22:40:02

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#4 2019-12-15 22:50:04

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#5 2019-12-17 07:15:28

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#6 2019-12-17 07:33:06

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#7 2019-12-19 21:25:05

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#8 2019-12-19 21:36:57

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#9 2019-12-19 22:39:07

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#10 2020-02-20 11:52:49

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#11 2020-02-20 12:07:09

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#12 2020-02-20 16:25:30

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#13 2020-02-20 16:33:45

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#14 2020-02-20 16:37:25

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#15 2020-02-20 16:59:55

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#16 2020-02-20 17:36:10

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#17 2020-02-20 19:06:10

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#18 2020-02-20 19:16:08

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#19 2020-02-20 19:20:29

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#20 2020-02-20 19:29:16

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#21 2020-02-20 19:47:24

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#22 2020-02-20 19:49:00

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#23 2020-02-20 19:52:05

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#24 2020-02-20 19:57:05

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

#25 2020-02-20 20:08:20

Re: [Solved] Not booting, no log messages whatsoever

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