Strange boot-up problems on old desktop computer

[br1anstorm]

I have been trying to keep an ancient desktop computer operating, essentially as a 'spare' machine on which to experiment.

The computer has a single 160GB hard disk drive, obviously formatted legacy/BIOS. I think it originally had WinXP on it. I have reformatted the hard drive and managed to install the 32-bit version of MX23.5 on it.

The essential inxi system information is as follows:

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System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-33-686-pae [6.1.133-1] arch: i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-33-686-pae root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.20.0 vt: 1
    dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.6_386 Libretto Jan 12  2025 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: DIXONSXP product: N/A v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Foxconn model: P4M800P7MB serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Phoenix v: 6.00 PG
    date: 09/21/2006
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Celeron D bits: 64 arch: Netburst Presler built: 2006 process: Intel 65nm
    family: 0xF (15) model-id: 6 stepping: 4 microcode: 0x4
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 1 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 16 KiB desc: d-1x16 KiB L2: 512 KiB
    desc: 1x512 KiB
  Speed (MHz): 3320 min/max: N/A core: 1: 3320 bogomips: 6639
  Flags: ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3
  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 disabled
  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; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: VIA CN700/P4M800 Pro/P4M800 CE/VN800 Graphics [S3 UniChrome Pro] vendor: Foxconn
    driver: N/A bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1106:3344 class-ID: 0300
  Display: server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X: loaded: vesa
    dri: swrast gpu: N/A display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1280x1024 s-dpi: 95 s-size: 342x271mm (13.46x10.67") s-diag: 436mm (17.18")
  Monitor-1: default res: 1280x1024 size: N/A modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.6 128 bits) direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: VIA VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio vendor: Foxconn driver: snd_via82xx v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:11.5 chip-ID: 1106:3059 class-ID: 0401
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-33-686-pae status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL-8100/8101L/8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter vendor: Foxconn driver: 8139too
    v: 0.9.28 modules: 8139cp port: fc00 bus-ID: 00:09.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8139 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: unknown speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 148.99 GiB used: 8.11 GiB (5.4%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD1600BB-56RDA0 size: 148.99 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: <unknown> type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 0K20
    scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 59.59 GiB size: 58.36 GiB (97.93%) used: 7.98 GiB (13.7%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
  ID-2: /home raw-size: 89.39 GiB size: 87.43 GiB (97.81%) used: 127.6 MiB (0.1%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 1024 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  Src: lm-sensors+/sys Message: No sensor data found using /sys/class/hwmon or lm-sensors.
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2129 libs: 1060 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
  Processes: 176 Uptime: 15m wakeups: 947 Memory: 1.9 GiB used: 1.09 GiB (57.3%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

There is however a problem over getting it to boot up. I have experimented, and tried three routes. Only one seems to work, and it is a bit complicated. There seems to be a problem with Grub, or its location.

On first powering up, the initial screen display (from Phoenix Technologies) offers three options: click TAB to see Post Screen, DEL to enter Setup, ESC to enter Boot Menu.

Esc> Boot menu then offers a choice, either to boot from the HDD, or from a CDROM/DVD. Here is what happens in each case.

Route 1: boot from HDD - doesn't work

The screen display gives a terminal-style text listing the drives and PCI devices, and a message saying "Verifying DMI Pool Data....". This is then followed after a few minutes by a message saying "Boot from CD: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press Enter" and a blinking cursor. Putting a CD/DVD into the tray results in no further action, just a blinking cursor. The only further step is to Ctrl-Alt-Delete, which brings back the initial screen display with TAB/DEL/ESC.

Route 2: boot from Live CD/DVD

Choosing Esc from the initial screen (with an MX23.5 bootable ISO disk in the CD/DVD tray) and selecting to boot from that CD/DVD launches a Live session. The first splash screen is of course familiar, and offers various options.

Route 2(a) : MX23.5 live session. This works normally.... the computer launches into a Live session in the usual way. But of course that doesn't get us very far, and only lasts until shutdown.

Route 2(b): One of the options listed on the initial MX Live splash screen menu is to 'Boot from Hard Disk'. Selecting this option opens a black, terminal-style screen with the words "Grub loading, Welcome to Grub...". Then after a few moments the message "error: attempt to read and write outside of disk 'hd0'", followed by a new line saying "grub rescue>". I have no idea what I could type into the space which follows. So I can only again do Ctrl-Alt-Del to get back to the initial screen display, in order to try the next possibility....

Route 2(c): The last option listed on the MX Live splash screen menu is "Switch to Grub bootloader". Choosing that launches the MX23.5 Libretto screen [from the installed version of MX23.5 which is actually on the hard drive}. But this is followed by a terminal-style text screen with the message "ata3: SRST failed (error no =-16)".
This message appears a couple of times. But if left alone, eventually the system boots into a CLI interface, with a series of terminal-type instructions, thus

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clans login:

[clans is the name I gave the computer when I installed MXLinux, so I enter my login name, which is brian]

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password:  

[so I enter the password selected when I installed MXLinux]

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you have no mail...

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brian@clans:

At that line I enter

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startx

. I cannot now remember where I picked up that trick (probably a forum post I read years ago). But it works, in the sense that the computer then boots up into the MX23.5 which is actually installed on the desktop computer's hard drive.

And that's where I am now and posting this help request into the forum.

It seems to my non-expert eye that there is something wrong with the Grub. But I don't know what to do about it. Is it corrupted? (it seems not - it does work eventually if I follow route 2(c). Is it in the wrong place on the desktop hard disk drive? I simply don't have the knowledge or skill to work out the significance of the 'grub rescue' message or the reference to 'disk hd0'.

I am of course slightly tempted to throw the entire computer into a junkyard skip on the grounds that the machine is obsolete! But it is frustrating to think that the solution to this current problem might in fact be relatively simple. There is no precious personal data on the system which is at risk of loss: it would just be nice to get this old system to boot up and function normally. Can anyone suggest what to do? I'm ready to provide whatever further descriptive information might help, and/or to try out terminal commands.

[oops]

... to see first some potential errors and warninge you can try in the terminal :
sudo dmesg -k -l emerg,alert,crit,err,warn ; dmesg | egrep -i --color 'error|critical|failed'

[j2mcgreg]

@br1anstorm wrote:

Route 2(b): One of the options listed on the initial MX Live splash screen menu is to 'Boot from Hard Disk'. Selecting this option opens a black, terminal-style screen with the words "Grub loading, Welcome to Grub...". Then after a few moments the message "error: attempt to read and write outside of disk 'hd0'", followed by a new line saying "grub rescue>". I have no idea what I could type into the space which follows. So I can only again do Ctrl-Alt-Del to get back to the initial screen display, in order to try the next possibility....

From here:
https://www.donordrives.com/western-dig ... DYsNFjv1tA
and here:
https://gearspace.com/board/geekzone/86 ... 424lv.html
Your hard drive is nineteen years old and has almost certainly failed. You should still be able to find a replacement on Amazon and while you are at it pick up a ribbon cable too.

[br1anstorm]

... to see first some potential errors and warninge you can try in the terminal :
sudo dmesg -k -l emerg,alert,crit,err,warn ; dmesg | egrep -i --color 'error|critical|failed'

Interesting to try some investigative detective work. This is what came up in the terminal...

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$ sudo dmesg -k -l emerg,alert,crit,err,warn ; dmesg | egrep -i --color 'error|critical|failed'
[sudo] password for brian:           
[    0.457367] acpi PNP0A03:00: fail to add MMCONFIG information, can't access extended PCI configuration space under this bridge.
[    0.503459] pnp 00:00: disabling [mem 0x000c8e00-0x000cbfff] because it overlaps 0000:01:00.0 BAR 6 [mem 0x000c0000-0x000dffff]
[   10.666962] ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
[   15.526961] ata1: SRST failed (errno=-16)
[   20.726961] ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
[   25.586960] ata1: SRST failed (errno=-16)
[   30.786960] ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
[  233.587426] device-mapper: core: CONFIG_IMA_DISABLE_HTABLE is disabled. Duplicate IMA measurements will not be recorded in the IMA log.
dmesg: read kernel buffer failed: Operation not permitted

I see some familiar information there: the "SRST failed" message is what I got when trying one of the various boot-up routes, as described in my original post. But I'm not sure what further insights the rest of the quoted text reveals.

[br1anstorm]

Your hard drive is nineteen years old and has almost certainly failed.

Yup, it is an ancient machine. But I did try to check the condition of the hard drive using the "Disks" utility. The verdict was that the drive was OK, and had just 3 bad sectors. That doesn't seem to me to explain the problem I have described.

Getting a replacement hard drive is perhaps one way to go. But (a) it doesn't actually diagnose the existing problem; and (b) I wasn't planning to get into the business of rebuilding, or replacing parts in, such an old and slow machine - at least not without first pinning down exactly what is causing the current problem. After all, the drive seems to be working all right once it is actually booted up.

[j2mcgreg]

@br1anstorm wrote:

Yup, it is an ancient machine. But I did try to check the condition of the hard drive using the "Disks" utility. The verdict was that the drive was OK, and had just 3 bad sectors. That doesn't seem to me to explain the problem I have described.

It does if you consider that the drive's motor may no longer be spinning up properly or consistently, the sealants will have dried out and are leaking, and the plastic components will have dried out and shrunk.

[i_ri]

ram try one stick at a time.
two 1G sticks; try one alone; try other one alone.
place one in slot nearest cpu. it may like just one.

when usb works, dvd works, hdd not work; check hdd cables.

[br1anstorm]

When troubleshooting problems - whether on a computer, or in areas like cars with which I am more experienced - I like to be methodical, examine the evidence, and try to reach a diagnosis. I'm not normally inclined to the "suck it and see" approach, followed by swapping out parts on the basis of best-guess or assumptions.

That's why I outlined the detailed steps I had taken to try to boot up this system. Of course I could replace the HDD... the CPU ... the RAM ... hell, I could replace the entire computer.

But sorry, guys, that slightly misses the point. I'm hoping, first, that the problem can be more precisely identified on the basis of the evidence I have offered, or further checks.... not just by a strategy that is based on ".... it's an old machine, replace whatever looks the most likely culprit".

Is it not possible to run further checks, or terminal commands, to narrow down the cause/source of the problem?

[CharlesV]

MX Boot repair will give you a few options to try, you might start there and see if either reinstalling or repairing grub might help.

This issue sounds to me like something is possibly running the wrong grub? and then eventually figuring it out. If you can wipe the drive, that might be another method to see whats up - wipe the drive and then reinstall.. and personally I would install into one partition / and see if that helps things.

[oops]

... You can also try for an old PC, a old kernel (ex: 5.10.xx , or 4.19.xx antiX via MXPI)
https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html