Arch Linux

558 jakobsson

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2010-01-19

Posts: 31

HP Z2G4 new Arch installation doesn't start, need advice's [SOLVED]

I bought a refurbished HP Z2 G4 tower computer a few weeks ago. I installed Arch Linux on nvme0n1, a Samsung SSD. I also installed two SATA disks for storage. The two SATA:s are disabled in the boot order.

The problem is that it is impossible to start the machine after being shut down for some time. Only when first started with a live USB, e.g. Puppy Linux or any other live USB, and a reboot after the use of that live USB, does it reboots without any problems.

I think the problem is specific to Arch Linux. Why? Well, I installed Manjaro as a test  on the same computer and Manjaro starts without any problems even after a night's rest, i.e. completely shut down.

I have installed Arch again, this time completely from scratch; following the wiki and my notes from previous installs.  The first installation was a clone I installed with Clonezilla.

Please Note that once the machine starts, everything works without any problems. It is fast. I have updated the BIOS but to no avail, details further down. I have not yet tried  to update the nvme firmware for the Samsung MZVLB512HBJQ-000H1 due to the fact it seems that it requires Windows and I won't touch Windows..

The errors shown in journalctl were also present in Manjaro, but that installation was without any issues.The fact that the cold boot problem still requires me to first boot Puppy Linux and then reboot to get Arch Linux to start indicates perhaps that the problem lies in how the BIOS or hardware (especially the NVMe disk via PCIe Root Port #21 is initialized during a cold boot. There is to the best of my knowledge nothing wrong with the installation in itself!

Code snippets follows...

Boot settings

Secure Boot disabled, Fast Boot disabled, Legacy Boot disabled
All disks are GPT 

Boot order
M.2 SSDO: GRUB
USB:
SATACD:
SATA1: Samsung SSD 870 EVO2TB (Disabled)
SATA2: WDCWD2003FZEX-00Z4SAO (Disabled).

uname -a and journalctl -p 3 -xb

[me@mine ~]$ uname -a
Linux krasaki 6.15.6-arch1-1 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu, 10 Jul 2025 17:10:18 +0000 x86_64 GNU/Linux
[me@mine ~]$ 

[me@mine ~]$journalctl -p 3 -xb
jul 15 09:30:50 krasaki kernel: x86/cpu: SGX disabled or unsupported by BIOS.
jul 15 09:30:50 krasaki kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): AE_AML_BUFFER_LIMIT, Field [CAP1] at bit offset/length 64/32 exceeds size>
jul 15 09:30:50 krasaki kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB._OSC due to previous error (AE_AML_BUFFER_LIMIT) (20240827/pspa>
[me@mine ~]$

Excerpts from journalctl with some warnings. Perhaps relevant??

jul 15 02:59:16 krasaki kernel: ENERGY_PERF_BIAS: Set to 'normal', was 'performance'
jul 15 02:59:16 krasaki kernel: nvme nvme0: missing or invalid SUBNQN field.
jul 15 02:59:16 krasaki kernel: hp_wmi: query 0x4 returned error 0x5
jul 15 02:59:20 krasaki kernel: nvme nvme0: using unchecked data buffer

Dmesg reports almost the same errors and one more?

[me@mine ~]$ sudo dmesg | grep -i error
[    0.205991] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): AE_AML_BUFFER_LIMIT, Field [CAP1] at bit offset/length 64/32 exceeds size of target Buffer (64 bits) (20240827/dsopcode-198)
[    0.205991] ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB._OSC due to previous error (AE_AML_BUFFER_LIMIT) (20240827/psparse-529)
[    0.337984] pcieport 0000:00:1b.0: DPC: error containment capabilities: Int Msg #0, RPExt+ PoisonedTLP+ SwTrigger+ RP PIO Log 4, DL_ActiveErr+
[    0.402273] RAS: Correctable Errors collector initialized.
[    4.609709] hp_wmi: query 0x4 returned error 0x5
[me@mine ~]$ 

Latest BIOS installed. Didn’t change anything... 

[me@mine ~]$  sudo dmidecode -t bios
# dmidecode 3.6
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 3.1 present.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 26 bytes
BIOS Information
	Vendor: HP
	Version: Q50 Ver. 01.08.11
	Release Date: 10/16/2024
	Address: 0xF0000
	Runtime Size: 64 kB
	ROM Size: 32 MB
	Characteristics:
		PCI is supported
		PC Card (PCMCIA) is supported
		BIOS is upgradeable
		BIOS shadowing is allowed
		Boot from CD is supported
		Selectable boot is supported
		EDD is supported
		Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
		8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h)
		Serial services are supported (int 14h)
		Printer services are supported (int 17h)
		ACPI is supported
		USB legacy is supported
		BIOS boot specification is supported
		Function key-initiated network boot is supported
		Targeted content distribution is supported
		UEFI is supported
	BIOS Revision: 8.11
	Firmware Revision: 7.212

Handle 0x0005, DMI type 13, 22 bytes
BIOS Language Information not shown here
[me@mine ~]$

dmesg | grep -i nvme

 
me@mine ~]$ sudo dmesg | grep -i nvme
[    0.965400] nvme nvme0: pci function 0000:01:00.0
[    0.972098] nvme nvme0: missing or invalid SUBNQN field.
[    0.972268] nvme nvme0: D3 entry latency set to 8 seconds
[    0.984047] nvme nvme0: 8/0/0 default/read/poll queues
[    0.987698]  nvme0n1: p1 p2 p3 p4 p5
[    3.962257] EXT4-fs (nvme0n1p2): mounted filesystem 75b6b2e9-f392-4eda-88d6-9f50285393ea r/w with ordered data mode. Quota mode: none.
[    4.288660] EXT4-fs (nvme0n1p2): re-mounted 75b6b2e9-f392-4eda-88d6-9f50285393ea.
[    4.552096] Adding 7566332k swap on /dev/nvme0n1p5.  Priority:-2 extents:1 across:7566332k SS
[    5.315278] EXT4-fs (nvme0n1p3): mounted filesystem b5e01752-6d70-4b76-8fdf-58c013b82b23 r/w with ordered data mode. Quota mode: none.
[    5.323315] EXT4-fs (nvme0n1p4): mounted filesystem ca49e830-7068-4666-bfbf-4b4236ce6dbc r/w with ordered data mode. Quota mode: none.
[    8.001080] nvme nvme0: using unchecked data buffer
[me@mine ~]$ $ 
 

Last edited by 558 jakobsson (2025-07-17 21:07:36)

558 jakobsson

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2010-01-19

Posts: 31

Re: HP Z2G4 new Arch installation doesn't start, need advice's [SOLVED]

Due to an upcoming heavy thunderstorm I disconnect my system from the grid about 2300 hrs yesterday. That's 11 PM i think and after about 12 hrs without power, the system booted. Must have been the lengthy powerless time that drained the machine.

But that wasn''t a permanent solution. After using the machine for about an hour I switched it off. Two hours later with the powerplug connected it didn't boot directly.

Last edited by 558 jakobsson (2025-07-16 19:59:10)

558 jakobsson

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2010-01-19

Posts: 31

Re: HP Z2G4 new Arch installation doesn't start, need advice's [SOLVED]

I apologize for this post. I misinterpreted my notations about the Manjaro test. I did that once again and the same problem after a night shut off but on the grid. So I have put forward a complaint to the seller to take it back. Something is wrong with the machine.