Arch Linux

altrent

Member

Registered: 2021-05-15

Posts: 4

Can't boot anymore post upgrade

Hi,

Just upgraded my system with 'pacman -Syu', and now my system won't boot anymore.
Kernel loads fine, but then it gets stuck with:
"[FAILED] Failed to start PostgresSQL database server."

keyboard is locked up as well.

How can I fix this?

Thanks

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 77,489

Re: Can't boot anymore post upgrade

Remove the "quiet" parmater and boot the multi-user.target (2nd link in my signature)
Does that provide you w/ more information?

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How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

altrent

Member

Registered: 2021-05-15

Posts: 4

Re: Can't boot anymore post upgrade

Thanks - I was actually able to get to the rescue prompt by adding 'systemd.unit=rescue.target' to the kernel parameter. But then, the keyboard still locks up.
I am wondering if the new kernel (just upgraded to linux-5.12.3.arch1-1 prior to the reboot) is causing some hardware incompatibility.
Looks like my system is completely hosed up at this point.

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 77,489

Re: Can't boot anymore post upgrade

"uname -a" - are you booting an old kernel (because you forgot to mount the /boot partition)?

---

How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

altrent

Member

Registered: 2021-05-15

Posts: 4

Re: Can't boot anymore post upgrade

I wish I could run 'uname', but I can't even login. Everything locks up as soon as the boot sequence completes.
I did not mount nor unmount /boot before the upgrade, so I don't know what happened.
The package upgrade completed smoothly:
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
( 1/19) Creating system user accounts...
( 2/19) Updating journal message catalog...
( 3/19) Reloading system manager configuration...
( 4/19) Updating udev hardware database...
( 5/19) Applying kernel sysctl settings...
( 6/19) Creating temporary files...
( 7/19) Reloading device manager configuration...
( 8/19) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
( 9/19) Updating fontconfig configuration...
(10/19) Rebuilding certificate stores...
(11/19) Updating module dependencies...
(12/19) Updating linux initcpios...
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux.preset: 'default'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-linux -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-linux.img
==> Starting build: 5.12.3-arch1-1
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [autodetect]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [block]
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
  -> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating zstd-compressed initcpio image: /boot/initramfs-linux.img
==> Image generation successful
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux.preset: 'fallback'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-linux -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img -S autodetect
==> Starting build: 5.12.3-arch1-1
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [block]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: aic94xx
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: wd719x
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: xhci_pci
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
  -> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating zstd-compressed initcpio image: /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img
==> Image generation successful
(13/19) Reloading system bus configuration...
(14/19) Warn about old perl modules
(15/19) Updating fontconfig cache...
(16/19) Probing GDK-Pixbuf loader modules...
(17/19) Updating the info directory file...
(18/19) Updating the desktop file MIME type cache...
(19/19) Updating the MIME type database...

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 19,013

Re: Can't boot anymore post upgrade

Boot from installation media.  Chroot in.  Check the journal for the last boot,  the kernel version used for the boot will be listed in the first few journal lines.

altrent

Member

Registered: 2021-05-15

Posts: 4

Re: Can't boot anymore post upgrade

So I just took the SSD from this system (amd based) plugged it into an Intel based system, and it booted just fine. I am amazed that it just worked but it just did. I can't find any logs indicating what went wrong with my amd based system, but I suspect the HW is just nearing the end of its life..
Thanks for all the suggestions and help.