[SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

fitebone · 2020-04-10 05:52:57

Hello, i recently haphazardly upgraded some packages through pacman and my system now stops after:

Starting version 245.4-2-arch
/dev/nvme0n1p3: clean, xxx/xxx files, xxx/xxx blocks

I am new to arch and searched for some guidance online from the wiki and elsewhere, but to no avail. I'm assuming the problem is with systemd-rfkill or systemd in general since that is the last line in the logs before the system just hangs forever while booting. I also don't know if I need to give you all some journalctl output to help you understand my issue. Should I be arch-chrooting in off of a live disk and trying to reinstall the linux, linux-firmware, or other packages? Any help would be greatly appreciated and I apologize if I seem completely inept.

Here is a log file from a recent unsuccessful boot.

https://postimg.cc/HJTFL8GW

EDIT: Ultimately this wiki page solved this issue for me. I guess the problem had something to do with SDDM and my Nvidia GPU. I also have a terrible habit of partial upgrading which could have also led to this issue!

Last edited by fitebone (2020-04-10 21:16:25)

paulkerry · 2020-04-10 06:16:46

Look again at your posted log...
"Started Simple Desktop Display Manager"
"Reached target Graphical Interface"

so maybe try to disable SDDM for instance or boot to a non-graphical target.

seth · 2020-04-10 06:18:02

That doesn't look like an unsuccessful boot at all, more like a problem w/ sddm.
Can you boot the multi-user.target? https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sy … _boot_into

Edit: blast!

Last edited by seth (2020-04-10 06:18:49)

fitebone · 2020-04-10 15:02:58

I was able to boot using multi-user.target. What do I do now? I'm not sure how to rollback sddm or how to not repeat this in the future. Thanks for your help so far.

seth · 2020-04-10 15:09:26

The main goal was to determine the actual problem.

Check "sudo journalctl -b -1" for the journal of the last boot (assuming that's a failed one) - you can upload it using the tip from https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pastebin
Also try to startx/xinit: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinitrc (to see whether you can launch the X11 server w/o sddm)
You can probably also start the graphical.target, switch to another VT (ctrl+alt+f2/f3/…), login and inspect the status of the sddm service.

fitebone · 2020-04-10 15:14:27

Hey Seth, thanks for the quick replies, they are very reassuring. While I was booted into the system I decided to pacman -Syu and that seemed to resolve the issue as I was immediately able to boot the system normally.

What can I do to prevent this sort of issue in the future? Some people recommended setting up a backup kernel. Are there other things I can do along with that? Thanks again.

seth · 2020-04-10 15:23:43

Check the pacman log on what was actually updated.
There's no way to prevent this from happening again.

It's a good idea to have two kernels (eg. the main and the lts one) installed, because there's little chance for both breaking at the same time (and only then you're in real trouble, resp. require an offline fix from some live distro)
Other than that, you just learned how to manipulate the boot process to sidestep issues (kernel issues are very rare, it's usually some GUI stuff *after* the actual boot, that leave you w/ a less than complete system) - another important rescue parameter is "nomodeset", https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ke … odesetting

fitebone · 2020-04-10 15:35:36

Assuming this was a GUI issue does that mean this was a kernel issue, or are these things mutually exclusive? Also, if I install an lts kernel, is there any upkeep I have to do for it (e.g. backup certain config files to it or something)?

"nomodeset" looks interesting, I've had to use it before because I have an Nvidia GPU that would screw up the text while booting a live disk. I'll look into it some more.

Here's the log:

[2020-04-10T00:12:09-0400] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman -Syu'
[2020-04-10T00:12:09-0400] [PACMAN] synchronizing package lists
[2020-04-10T00:31:19-0400] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman -U linux'
[2020-04-10T00:52:22-0400] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman -U linux'
[2020-04-10T00:57:33-0400] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman -S linux'
[2020-04-10T11:04:56-0400] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman -Syu'
[2020-04-10T11:04:56-0400] [PACMAN] synchronizing package lists
[2020-04-10T11:05:00-0400] [PACMAN] starting full system upgrade
[2020-04-10T11:07:39-0400] [ALPM] transaction started
[2020-04-10T11:07:40-0400] [ALPM] removed python-xdg (0.26-4)
[2020-04-10T11:07:40-0400] [ALPM] upgraded cbindgen (0.14.0-1 -> 0.14.0-2)
[2020-04-10T11:07:40-0400] [ALPM] upgraded dialog (1:1.3_20200228-1 -> 1:1.3_20200327-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:40-0400] [ALPM] upgraded libinstpatch (1.1.3-1 -> 1.1.4-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:40-0400] [ALPM] upgraded jack (0.125.0-8 -> 0.125.0-9)
[2020-04-10T11:07:40-0400] [ALPM] upgraded libdrm (2.4.100-1 -> 2.4.101-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:40-0400] [ALPM] upgraded nvidia-utils (440.64-10 -> 440.82-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:40-0400] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] If you run into trouble with CUDA not being available, run nvidia-modprobe first.
[2020-04-10T11:07:40-0400] [ALPM] upgraded fluidsynth (2.1.1-1 -> 2.1.2-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:41-0400] [ALPM] upgraded go (2:1.14.1-1 -> 2:1.14.2-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:41-0400] [ALPM] upgraded gst-plugins-bad-libs (1.16.2-6 -> 1.16.2-7)
[2020-04-10T11:07:41-0400] [ALPM] upgraded libdvdread (6.1.0-1 -> 6.1.1-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:41-0400] [ALPM] upgraded libdvdnav (6.1.0-1 -> 6.1.0-2)
[2020-04-10T11:07:41-0400] [ALPM] upgraded librsvg (2:2.48.2-1 -> 2:2.48.3-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:41-0400] [ALPM] upgraded libssh (0.9.3-1 -> 0.9.4-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:41-0400] [ALPM] upgraded imagemagick (7.0.10.4-1 -> 7.0.10.6-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:41-0400] [ALPM] upgraded gst-plugins-bad (1.16.2-6 -> 1.16.2-7)
[2020-04-10T11:07:41-0400] [ALPM] upgraded gtk-update-icon-cache (1:3.24.17+4+g8c97702a07-2 -> 1:3.24.18-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:41-0400] [ALPM] upgraded gtk3 (1:3.24.17+4+g8c97702a07-2 -> 1:3.24.18-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] upgraded k3b (1:19.12.3-1 -> 1:19.12.3-2)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] upgraded kwin (5.18.4.1-2 -> 5.18.4.1-4)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] upgraded libstaroffice (0.0.6-1 -> 0.0.7-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] upgraded make (4.3-1 -> 4.3-3)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] upgraded mlt (6.20.0-2 -> 6.20.0-3)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] upgraded nvidia (440.64-10 -> 440.82-2)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] installed python-pyxdg (0.26-6)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] upgraded rpcsvc-proto (1.4-1 -> 1.4.1-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] upgraded rtkit (0.12-1 -> 0.13-1)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] upgraded vlc (3.0.8-12 -> 3.0.8-13)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] upgraded vtk (8.2.0-9 -> 8.2.0-10)
[2020-04-10T11:07:42-0400] [ALPM] transaction completed
[2020-04-10T11:07:43-0400] [ALPM] running '20-systemd-sysusers.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:43-0400] [ALPM] running '30-systemd-daemon-reload.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:43-0400] [ALPM] running '30-systemd-update.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:43-0400] [ALPM] running '60-depmod.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:48-0400] [ALPM] running 'dbus-reload.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:48-0400] [ALPM] running 'detect-old-perl-modules.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:48-0400] [ALPM] running 'gdk-pixbuf-query-loaders.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:48-0400] [ALPM] running 'glib-compile-schemas.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:49-0400] [ALPM] running 'gtk-query-immodules-3.0.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:49-0400] [ALPM] running 'gtk-update-icon-cache.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:49-0400] [ALPM] running 'texinfo-install.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:49-0400] [ALPM] running 'update-desktop-database.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:49-0400] [ALPM] running 'update-mime-database.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:07:49-0400] [ALPM] running 'update-vlc-plugin-cache.hook'...
[2020-04-10T11:11:54-0400] [PACKAGEKIT] synchronizing package lists
[2020-04-10T11:11:54-0400] [PACKAGEKIT] synchronizing package lists
[2020-04-10T11:12:11-0400] [PACKAGEKIT] synchronizing package lists
[2020-04-10T11:16:30-0400] [PACKAGEKIT] synchronizing package lists
[2020-04-10T11:16:51-0400] [PACKAGEKIT] synchronizing package lists
[2020-04-10T11:16:51-0400] [PACKAGEKIT] synchronizing package lists

Last edited by fitebone (2020-04-10 18:11:04)

seth · 2020-04-10 15:54:19

Please always wrap shell output and file contents in "code" tags, https://bbs.archlinux.org/help.php#bbcode

The interesting updates are libdrm, nvidia* and maybe imagemagick but it's hard to say why exactly SDDM failed (unless there're errors in the journal)

The issue wasn't w/ the kernel, because the multi-user.target still booted fine (and there was no kernel update to fix it).
The nvidia module might have induced this, but even if, it's hard to say whether the kernel or the userspace part of the driver was at fault.

You can just install additional kernels, that's it. The only other thing you'll want is the nvidia-lts or nvidia-dmks package (which is an out-of-tree part of the kernel)

fitebone · 2020-04-10 18:10:22

I wasn't quite sure how do do multiline code correctly, sorry about that. I'm now going to install the lts kernal and the packages you've recommended. Last question: should I be checking every pacman package before installing to prevent unwanted consequences such as this?

Thanks for the persistent and detailed help Seth!

Last edited by fitebone (2020-04-10 18:11:23)

Slithery · 2020-04-10 18:27:47

fitebone wrote:

While I was booted into the system I decided to pacman -Syu and that seemed to resolve the issue as I was immediately able to boot the system normally.
What can I do to prevent this sort of issue in the future?

Stop upgrading individual packages as this will lead to an unsupported partial upgrade situation.

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=130309

fitebone · 2020-04-10 19:03:26

Thanks for the reply Slithery, I have been completely ignorant of my partial upgrades up until now. I am reading the wiki pages to get a grasp of what I have been doing wrong. I think we can close this thread, you all have been very helpful!

Arch Linux

#1 2020-04-10 05:52:57

[SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#2 2020-04-10 06:16:46

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#3 2020-04-10 06:18:02

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#4 2020-04-10 15:02:58

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#5 2020-04-10 15:09:26

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#6 2020-04-10 15:14:27

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#7 2020-04-10 15:23:43

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#8 2020-04-10 15:35:36

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#9 2020-04-10 15:54:19

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#10 2020-04-10 18:10:22

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#11 2020-04-10 18:27:47

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

#12 2020-04-10 19:03:26

Re: [SOLVED] Arch freezing on boot.

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