PC not booting...don't know why

[MintHawk]

Hello, everyone.
Today, out of the blue, the boot screen gets stuck to a black screen with the message:

Code: Select all

Give root password for maintenance
(Or press Control-D to continue)

When I enter the password it does nothing and when I press CTRL-D it boots up again with the same result.
Any ideas?

[CharlesV]

going to need your QSI (even from a stick )

when you enter the password, are you at a prompt ? If so.. then type in
startx

[j2mcgreg]

If you can't even provide a QSI from a live session, at least give us the make and complete model name of the computer. If the computer is a self built, the make / model of the motherboard.

[Adrian]

QSI is important, you might be running out of space on /home partition for example, that's one common reason for not being able to log in, but I think you'd still see the LightDM login prompt -- assuming you are using XFCE release, that's another reason we need QSI to see what version and what flavor you are talking about.

[Stevo]

Usually you get that message if a damaged filesystem is detected. You should try running an fsck on the installed partitions from a Live session to see what's going on.

Note that an installed system will automatically run an fsck at boot every 30 days or 100 boots...wait a bit to see if it completes before panic ensues.

[MintHawk]

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-37-amd64 [6.1.140-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-37-amd64 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: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.6_x64 Libretto April 13  2025 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Inspiron 5558 v: N/A serial: <superuser required> Chassis:
    type: 9 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0KG6JV v: A00 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell v: A18 date: 12/30/2019
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 35.4 Wh (85.5%) condition: 41.4/41.4 Wh (100.0%) volts: 15.7 min: 14.8
    model: Panasonic DELL 78V9D941 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-5200U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Broadwell gen: core 5 level: v3
    note: check built: 2015-18 process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x3D (61) stepping: 4
    microcode: 0x2F
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache: L1: 128 KiB
    desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 723 high: 798 min/max: 500/2700 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
    governor: ondemand cores: 1: 798 2: 500 3: 798 4: 798 bogomips: 17558
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; 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 mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW; STIBP: conditional; RSB
    filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5500 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-8
    process: Intel 14nm built: 2014-15 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:1616 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Microdia Integrated Webcam HD type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 2-5:3
    chip-ID: 0c45:6712 class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 362x204mm (14.25x8.03") s-diag: 416mm (16.36")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG Display 0x0484 built: 2014 res: 1366x768 hz: 60 dpi: 101 gamma: 1.2
    size: 344x194mm (13.54x7.64") diag: 395mm (15.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 5500 (BDW GT2)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Broadwell-U Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0
    chip-ID: 8086:160c class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:9ca0 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-37-amd64 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: Intel Wireless 3160 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:08b3 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet vendor: Dell driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie:
    speed: Unknown lanes: 63 link-max: gen: 6 speed: 64 GT/s port: e000 bus-ID: 07:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8136 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: wlan1 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8723BU 802.11b/g/n WLAN Adapter type: USB driver: btusb,rtl8xxxu
    bus-ID: 2-3:7 chip-ID: 0bda:b720 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci1 rfk-id: 4 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.0
    sub-v: 9f73 hci-v: 4.0 rev: e2f
  Info: acl-mtu: 820:8 sco-mtu: 255:16 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park
    link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio,
    telephony
  Device-2: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 2-6:4
    chip-ID: 8087:07dc class-ID: e001
  Report: ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.0 sub-v: f00
    hci-v: 4.0 rev: f00
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:5 sco-mtu: 96:6 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff
    link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio,
    telephony
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 86.59 GiB (18.6%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 4B6Q
    scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 465.51 GiB size: 457.13 GiB (98.20%) used: 86.59 GiB (18.9%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 274 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 3 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C mobo: N/A sodimm: SODIMM C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 fan-2: 0 fan-3: 0
Repos:
  Packages: 2298 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2281 libs: 1179 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 17
  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://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/mx/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
  Processes: 229 Uptime: 10m wakeups: 4 Memory: 7.67 GiB used: 2.28 GiB (29.7%) 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: UEFI

I managed to get into the system by giving my root password (yes, I got it right/it was different from the other password) and typed EXIT in the terminal prompt.
It booted right up into the login screen. However, I'd like to know why it happens.

[j2mcgreg]

@MintHawk wrote:

However, I'd like to know why it happens.

If this was a one-time event, it will be very hard to determine the cause. However, given your laptop's age (10 years) you should:
1. back up your data
2. give its interior a thorough cleaning and replace the thermal paste on the cpu
3. test the battery and the power brick with an ammeter or volt meter to be sure that their outputs meet spec
4. disconnect and reconnect the SSD and ram to ensure that chip creep isn't a factor going forward

[MintHawk]

Thanks for the answer.
Yes, the laptop is old and I'm sure that's the reason.
I'll try to replace the paste although opening up laptops is not my cup of tea (unlike desktops).

[oops]

First step. You should first do than stevo said

( or in the terminal: lsblk -f ... then ... e2fsck -Dyf /dev/sda# ... for the root partition and the /home )

[Stevo]

First step. You should first do than stevo said

( or in the terminal: lsblk -f ... then ... e2fsck -Dyf /dev/sda# ... for the root partition and the /home )

Note that those partitions must be unmounted first, which is difficult on a running system, which is why I suggested the Live USB. Adding that feature to MX Boot Repair might help, though gparted can also do it from a GUI.