MX 21.3 fails to boot

[duane]

I have been using this as my main computer for quite awhile.
Yesterday morning it started booting partially.
I get the usual x86/cpu outside TXt message
Then there is a line showing the BusyBox version and built-in shell ash
Then the line that says enter help for a list of built-in commands
The last line has (initramfs)

Is there a way to get this booting again?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Eadwine Rose]

With all requests, as per forum rules (which, if you haven't, please read), please share your full Quick System Info, do not edit.
If need be, you can do this using the LiveUSB, thanks.

[duane]

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Snapshot created on: 20230920_0958
System:    Kernel: 5.10.0-33-amd64 [5.10.226-1] x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
           parameters: quiet splash lang=en_US kbd=us tz=America/Los_Angeles 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.18.1 tk: Gtk 3.24.24 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm 4.18.0 vt: 7 
           dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: MX-21.3_x64 Wildflower September 20  2023 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: LENOVO product: 10AB000EUS v: ThinkCentre M93p serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: LENOVO model: SHARKBAY v: 0B98401 WIN serial: <filter> BIOS: LENOVO v: FBKTA7AUS 
           date: 03/11/2015 
CPU:       Info: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5-4570T bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Haswell 
           family: 6 model-id: 3C (60) stepping: 3 microcode: 1C cache: L2: 4 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 bogomips: 23146 
           Speed: 984 MHz min/max: 800/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 984 2: 943 3: 1034 4: 925 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected 
           Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported 
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion 
           Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT vulnerable 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations 
           Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected 
           Type: retbleed status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 
           mitigation: Retpolines, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected 
           Type: srbds status: Vulnerable: No microcode 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics 
           vendor: Lenovo driver: i915 v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0412 class-ID: 0300 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.18.0 driver: 
           loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2") 
           s-diag: 582mm (22.9") 
           Monitor-1: HDMI-1 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 93 size: 527x296mm (20.7x11.7") 
           diag: 604mm (23.8") 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4600 (HSW GT2) v: 4.5 Mesa 20.3.5 
           compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio vendor: Lenovo 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0 chip-ID: 8086:0c0c class-ID: 0403 
           Device-2: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:8c20 class-ID: 0403 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.10.0-33-amd64 running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Ethernet I217-LM vendor: Lenovo driver: e1000e v: kernel port: f080 
           bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:153a class-ID: 0200 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 105 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl 
           port: 0580 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:0895 class-ID: 0280 
           IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 281.34 GiB used: 36.1 GiB (12.8%) 
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
           ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: A-Data model: SU630 size: 223.57 GiB block-size: 
           physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 4R24 
           scheme: GPT 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB model: USB DISK 3.0 size: 57.77 GiB block-size: 
           physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: PMAP scheme: MBR 
           SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure? 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 128 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 
           dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 57.0 C mobo: 27.8 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Packages: note: see --pkg apt: 2233 lib: 1159 flatpak: 0 
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ bullseye main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://la.mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
Info:      Processes: 228 Uptime: 1m wakeups: 1 Memory: 15.51 GiB used: 1.85 GiB (11.9%) 
           Init: SysVinit v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: N/A 
           alt: 10 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.1.4-release inxi: 3.3.06 
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

[duane]

Sorry I forgot to post QSI. I began this post from another computer.

[j2mcgreg]

@duane
There's no way to tell for certain because information like this (taken from my own QSI):

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Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 476.69 GiB size: 468.13 GiB (98.21%) used: 33.79 GiB (7.2%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 274 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1

is always missing from your published QSI reports. However an MX install will fail to boot if / or /home is >= 90% full.

[duane]

Yes, that is what I have discovered since I first posted. Home partition got too full. I had some extra space so I resized it but that is too late to fix the problem.
I can fix this but I do not have a recent osmo backup either. I can't see a way to recover that info since the computer won't boot.
It will just take me some time. I have to remove files and reinstall from my last backup.
This is a Lenovo M93P Tiny computer. I should have bought a larger hard drive before I set it up.
Thanks for your help.

[fehlix]

Have you tried another kernel to boot, in case you have one?
Also a busybox error indicates a very early boot error running code within the intitalramdisk, just after the kernel was selected with the grub menu.
An initrd/busybox error rarely has anything to do with a home partition that is too full.
So either a newly kernel was just not properly installed, or potentially the drive /partition /boot is on (either extra boot partition or root partition) has an error.
So maybe boot with MX LiveUSB and you check first with smartcontrol the drive (GSmartControl found within the menu),
and next with Gparted run a fsck (right-click on the partition and Check ->Apply)
In case all looks fine, and partition do got enough free space,
maybe visit the system with "Chroot Rescue Scan",
and (re-)install latest kernel.

[duane]

Thanks fehlix.
It is late now and I just got back on here.
I will look at it tomorrow when I have time.
I have a lot of other things I should be working on.
I do have another hard drive on order so I have that option as well.