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#1 2013-04-21 16:26:15

SkyValley
Member
Registered: 2008-04-09
Posts: 20

[Solved] Toshiba laptop won't boot

I have a Toshiba Equium A210-17I that I can't get to boot using archlinux. I get as far as 'Loading ../initramfs-linux.img.......ready.' and nothing else happens. I've previously installed mint which worked without any issues, so the problem seems to be software rather than hardware. I'm guessing something to do with how the kernel is set up? What could be the problem?

Last edited by SkyValley (2013-04-22 15:55:36)

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#2 2013-04-21 16:59:21

Inxsible
Forum Fellow
From: Chicago
Registered: 2008-06-09
Posts: 9,183

Re: [Solved] Toshiba laptop won't boot

is this a new install ? did you follow the beginners guide to the letter?

you have really given very little information for anyone to be able to help you


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#3 2013-04-21 17:34:04

hadrons123
Member
From: chennai
Registered: 2011-10-07
Posts: 1,249

Re: [Solved] Toshiba laptop won't boot

@OP probably KMS issue. Read more on KMS https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ke … de_Setting


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#4 2013-04-21 18:16:18

SkyValley
Member
Registered: 2008-04-09
Posts: 20

Re: [Solved] Toshiba laptop won't boot

Inxsible wrote:

is this a new install ? did you follow the beginners guide to the letter?

you have really given very little information for anyone to be able to help you

Yes, it's a new install, but it's been installed correctly. I can put the hard drive into another computer and it will boot up and work without a problem, for example.

hadrons123 wrote:

@OP probably KMS issue. Read more on KMS https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ke … de_Setting

I don't think it's the display, I don't get a blank screen etc, just a flashing cursor after 'Loading ../initramfs-linux.img.......ready.' in the boot sequence. Everything is set up as the KMS wiki page suggests, but still no luck.

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#5 2013-04-22 00:08:11

Inxsible
Forum Fellow
From: Chicago
Registered: 2008-06-09
Posts: 9,183

Re: [Solved] Toshiba laptop won't boot

SkyValley wrote:

Yes, it's a new install, but it's been installed correctly. I can put the hard drive into another computer and it will boot up and work without a problem, for example.

You mean, the arch install works fine on another computer? neutral


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There's no such thing as a stupid question, but there sure are a lot of inquisitive idiots !

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#6 2013-04-22 02:07:08

WonderWoofy
Member
From: Los Gatos, CA
Registered: 2012-05-19
Posts: 8,414

Re: [Solved] Toshiba laptop won't boot

If the arch install works fine on another computer... does that mean the initramfs was created with that other computer?  Did you try both the initramfs-linux.img and initramfs-linux-fallback.img?  The difference is that the fallback does not have the "autodetect" hook, which strips out all the unneeded modules, so it becomes (more or less) machine specific.

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#7 2013-04-22 12:25:58

SkyValley
Member
Registered: 2008-04-09
Posts: 20

Re: [Solved] Toshiba laptop won't boot

I'll explain exactly what I'm doing.

Someone gave me an old laptop that they told me was broken. After looking at it, I found that there was a weird glitch that would freeze the laptop if a key was pressed during a bootloader screen. If I pressed a key on the keyboard during grub/syslinux/windows safe mode selection screen, for example, everything would lock up. Since I couldn't properly use a bootloader, I tried taking the hard drive out of the laptop, plugging it into another computer, installing the OS and then putting it back into the laptop when the install was done. If I installed linux mint, the laptop would boot up fine and I've been using it like that for several months now without any problem. If I try the same method installing archlinux, I just get the above.

I'm wondering then what the difference could be between the mint install and the arch install. Why does one boot but not the other? I tried initramfs-linux-fallback.img too, but that still doesn't work.

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#8 2013-04-22 12:29:42

Trilby
Inspector Parrot
Registered: 2011-11-29
Posts: 29,449
Website

Re: [Solved] Toshiba laptop won't boot

*headdesk*

So it *is* a hardware problem.  The install clearly works: you used it on a different computer.  The hardware clearly is broken, as now described.  Linux mint - which does *a lot* for you without prompting/asking/informing you, gets around this problem.  I'm sure there is a way to get around this problem with arch too ... but it may take configuring.

If you want help doing any of that though, you need to be more forthcoming and not keep your would-be-helpers in the dark about what is actually going on.


"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" -  Richard Stallman

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#9 2013-04-22 15:55:07

SkyValley
Member
Registered: 2008-04-09
Posts: 20

Re: [Solved] Toshiba laptop won't boot

I tried some other distributions to check if those would boot and I noticed a pattern. The distros that booted were all using grub while I've been using syslinux. I replaced syslinux with grub and now it seems to work fine. Since I don't have problems with the laptop other than under these specific circumstances, I have to disagree with Trilby and say that it's probably some sort of software or bios problem. If that is indeed the case (and someone else comes across this thread looking for a solution), try installing arch linux via a different computer using grub as the bootloader. After you've done that, you can plug the hard drive back into the laptop and it should all work as long as you don't touch anything while you see the bootloader screen.

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