loss of USB, NVRAM problem?

watgrad · 2016-10-29 17:56:06

System info:
MacBook Pro 12,1
single boot to arch (fully updated)
systemd-boot
KDE Plasma 5

I'm experiencing problems with usb initialization / recognition on start-up.

Originally, this problem started when I had the system set up to dual boot Mac OSX and Arch. The system was working flawlessly in arch (and OSX).
Suddenly, the system began taking long to boot to Arch, and when it got to the login screen, no USB. (Note this is not the lightDM problem that is documented)
I thought it was maybe a hardware failure, but USB always worked fine in OSX.
I decided that I must have damaged the system somehow so reinstalled Linux, removing OSX - now single boot Arch with systemd-boot.

Again, Arch worked flawlessly for about 2 weeks. Then again (suddenly - there were no system updates when this started), it delays start and gets to the login screen with no USB. (I cannot get to a terminal, as no USB ports are active, macs keyboard is USB, so no typing, no trackpad as it is USB, no mouse cause no ports work....).

I've noticed that if I reset the PRAM (NVRAM) everytime I start up, the system works fine. When I shutdown and restart - no USB.
This behaviour is consistent and constant. If I reset PRAM on startup, the system starts fine - every time. If I don't reset PRAM, it starts with no USB, every time.

I've tried:
- reset the SMC, but no effect
- the LTS kernel - same problems
- I've downgraded linux firmware, same problems.

So I'm stumped

My question is, would there be some process that is writing to the NVRAM on shutdown, corrupting it? If so, how would I identify this?
Thanks for any help / suggestions you can provide.

I will post Dmesg of a successful boot, (can't get to terminal on broken boot). and journal logs.

watgrad · 2016-10-29 18:15:45

DMESG: http://pastebin.com/jCQGxJzd
Journal: http://pastebin.com/V2X1s7VX

Arch Linux

#1 2016-10-29 17:56:06

loss of USB, NVRAM problem?

#2 2016-10-29 18:15:45

Re: loss of USB, NVRAM problem?

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