Mx-23.2 boot failure

[james]

Earlier this week I was able to get Mx Linux 23.2 installed on my machine:
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 Aero G DDR4 Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i9 12900K 16 Cores Processor
Graphics Card: EVGA RTX 3070 Ti FTW3 Ultra 8GB 4K GPU
RAM (Memory): SP XPower 64GB (4x16) 3200MHz RGB DDR4 Desktop Gaming Memory
SSD: WD Black SN850 1TB GEN4 NVME PCI-Express Internal SSD
I was able to install and configure apps, and use it for 3 days.
Today after a reboot, it will not boot back into the OS, even though it had survived
a previous reboot.
Fortunately I made a snapshot yesterday (using the app of the same name) and put it
on a flash drive as a Live USB. The Live USB will boot up into Mx, and I have tried
using boot repair and regenerating grub, but have been unable to get the machine to
boot back into the operating system. When I attempt to boot the machine without the
Live USB Snapshot, it gets to the blue splash screen showing a hill before dawn where
the options are Mx 23.2, Memory Test, etc., but when I try booting further the machine
hangs with a blinking cursor in the upper left of a black screen.
If I could get advice on how to solve this problem, or, failing that, how to
restore it using the snapshot, I would greatly appreciate it.

[CharlesV]

Please post your QSI ( MX Menu | Quick System Info | Copy for Forum | paste here )

[james]

OK, here it is...

Code: Select all

Snapshot created on: 20240310_1128
System:
  Kernel: 6.7.8-1-liquorix-amd64 [6.7-12~mx23ahs] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0 parameters: audit=0
    intel_pstate=disable rcupdate.rcu_expedited=1 BOOT_IMAGE=/antiX/vmlinuz quiet splash splash
    failsafe
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.36 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.18.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.26.0 Distro: MX-23.2_ahs_x64 Libretto January 21  2024 base: Debian GNU/Linux
    12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Gigabyte product: Z690 AERO G DDR4 v: -CF serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Gigabyte model: Z690 AERO G DDR4 v: x.x serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American
    Megatrends LLC. v: F8a date: 03/28/2022
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Keyboard serial: <filter>
    charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900K bits: 64 type: MST AMCP arch: Alder Lake gen: core 12
    level: v3 note: check built: 2021+ process: Intel 7 (10nm ESF) family: 6 model-id: 0x97 (151)
    stepping: 2 microcode: 0x1E
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 16 mt: 8 tpc: 2 st: 8 threads: 24 smt: enabled cache: L1: 1.4 MiB
    desc: d-8x32 KiB, 8x48 KiB; i-8x32 KiB, 8x64 KiB L2: 14 MiB desc: 8x1.2 MiB, 2x2 MiB L3: 30 MiB
    desc: 1x30 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 862 high: 1700 min/max: 800/3201 boost: enabled scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq
    governor: ondemand cores: 1: 1000 2: 1000 3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 7: 1000 8: 800 9: 800
    10: 800 11: 800 12: 800 13: 800 14: 800 15: 800 16: 1700 17: 800 18: 800 19: 800 20: 800
    21: 800 22: 800 23: 800 24: 800 bogomips: 152985
  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: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data 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: Enhanced / Automatic IBRS, IBPB: conditional, RSB filling,
    PBRSB-eIBRS: SW sequence
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel AlderLake-S GT1 vendor: Gigabyte driver: N/A alternate: i915 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:4680 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA104 [GeForce RTX 3070 Ti] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia v: 525.147.05
    non-free: 530.xx+ status: current (as of 2023-03) arch: Ampere code: GAxxx process: TSMC n7 (7nm)
    built: 2020-22 pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2482
    class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.18.0 driver: X: loaded: N/A
    unloaded: fbdev dri: swrast gpu: nvidia note: X driver n/a display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1280x1024 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 339x271mm (13.35x10.67") s-diag: 434mm (17.09")
  Monitor-1: default res: 1280x1024 hz: 77 size: N/A modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 Mesa 23.1.2-1~mx23ahs renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.6 256 bits)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-S HD Audio vendor: Gigabyte driver: N/A bus-ID: 1-11:3
    alternate: snd_hda_intel, snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 0414:a012
    chip-ID: 8086:7ad0 class-ID: 0300 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA104 High Definition Audio vendor: eVga.com. driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:228b class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Giga-Byte USB Audio type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
  API: ALSA v: k6.7.8-1-liquorix-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: off with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: off 2: wireplumber
    status: off 3: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
  Server-2: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active tools: pacat,pactl,pavucontrol
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-S PCH CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl bus-ID: 00:14.3
    chip-ID: 8086:7af0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Ethernet I225-V vendor: Gigabyte driver: igc v: kernel pcie: gen: 2
    speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 05:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:15f3 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-3: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie:
    gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8161 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth1 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX201 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-14:7 chip-ID: 8087:0026
    class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 3.0 lmp-v: 5.2
    sub-v: 3462 hci-v: 5.2 rev: 3462
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:4 sco-mtu: 96:6 link-policy: rswitch sniff link-mode: peripheral accept
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.39 TiB used: 62.17 GiB (2.5%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD
    serial: <filter> rev: 614600WD temp: 25.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS500G1X0E-00AFY0
    size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD
    serial: <filter> rev: 614600WD temp: 26.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/nvme2n1 maj-min: 259:2 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD
    serial: <filter> rev: 614600WD temp: 25.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-4: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: USB 3.2Gen1 size: 114.6 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 1.00 scheme: MBR
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  Message: No partition data found.
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 40.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2697 libs: 1447 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 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/ stable main
  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 https://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
    2: deb https://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/protonvpn-stable.list
    1: deb [arch="all", signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/protonvpn-stable-archive-keyring.gpg] https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vivaldi.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb/ stable main
Info:
  Processes: 547 Uptime: 1m wakeups: 3 Memory: 62.57 GiB used: 2.25 GiB (3.6%) 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
Video Tweaks:
Detected possible Hybrid Graphics
No kernel video driver

[CharlesV]

Have a look at this topic, I think it will help.

viewtopic.php?p=766277#p766277

Instructions from fehlix

To add / change kernel boot parameter, we can do this by editing the GRUB menu entry.
During the GRUB menu countdown of the default 5 seconds press any key like space bar to interrupt the countdown.
At the bottom of the menu you see a line
Press 'e' to edit the selected entry
Which means you press the key labeled with "E" to get the GRUB menu editor open.
Here you can navigate with the arrow keys, and Pos1- and End-key.
To add/change boot parameter you would now navigate to the line starting with "linux"
To quick jump to the end of the linux line, press the End-key or alternatively press arrow-down and arrow-left.
Now change splash to nosplash or remove splash.
The default runlevel 5 ( in systemd speak "graphical" target) is not explicitly set b/c that's the default.
To get to the linux console we want to boot to runlevel 3. (the non-graphical target)
To boot from the editor, you find also a hint at the bottom to boot:
Press Ctrl+x or F10 to boot

You would now get the console login prompt.

To install nvidia you would first update/refresh the apt package lists with
sudo apt update

followed by running the nvidia installer
sudo ddm-mx -i nvidia

+++Edit+++: When done, to reboot:
sudo reboot


Note: An alternative way to get the system updated and get nvidia installed,
would be to boot first into the LiveSystem from the LiveUSB.
And open tool "Chroot Rescue Scan" from the menu.
The tool will scan/search for installed linux systems and list the found system to select,
and opens a chroot terminal as user root on the installed system
Here you can now do the same (as root - no sudo needed)
apt update

and
ddm-mx -i nvidia


PS: The "ibt" boot parameter mentioned may help (or not) to get nvidia issue sorted,
in case you want to turn it off ( I think it's turned on by default in recent kernels)
Add boot parameter
ibt=0 (or ibt=off )

Kernel boot parameter which you want to add permanently to the GRUB menu,
best to be adjusted with help of "MX Boot Options" tool.

[james]

Thanks to everyone who is trying to help, but I have a worse problem that I need to explain. Each morning, I download a weather graphic that shows the temperature, rain chance, wind speed, etc. to the Downloads folder. Yesterday, before I asked for help, I spent many hours trying to troubleshoot this issue myself, using the USB Live Snapshot to look at logs, fstab file, and so on. While using the USB Live Snapshot, I used Thunar to move a file into the Downloads folder. That is when I noticed that the weather graphic in the folder was from 3 days ago: the morning BEFORE I had made the Snaphot that I used to make the USB Live flash drive rather than the one I put there yesterday morning before I rebooted the machine and ran into the problem of not being able to boot. In other words, my ignorance is so profound that I do not understand when I am looking at the files on my machine that I need to troubleshoot, and when I am looking at the files on the USB Live flash drive. How do I make sure I am working with the files on my machine?

[james]

Charles,
I followed the instructions you pasted above beginning with 'Note: An alternative way to get the system updated and get nvidia installed, would be to boot first into the LiveSystem from the LiveUSB.' I used "Chroot Rescue Scan" to update the nVidia driver (although it said the proper driver was already installed). I then used "MX Boot Options" tool to remove splash, add "ibt=off", and then APPLY. I saved the entire text from the "Chroot Rescue Scan" terminal as a gedit text file in the Downloads folder, and took a screensnap of "MX Boot Options" also in the Downloads folder. I then rebooted. No change, the machine hangs just as before, and I had to reboot again with Live USB Snapshot. Unfortunately, the two files I planned to paste into this message are not in the Downloads folder, which I do not understand. A thing I had not mentioned: the screen resolution whenever I am using Live USB Snapshot is very poor and stretched, so I was hoping that your suspicion that I was encountering a video driver issue was correct, but the above instructions did not fix anything. Any other ideas would be welcome.
James

[james]

My impression of Mx Linux is that it is the best choice of Linux OS. I was able to install it as well as apps, configure it, and use it for several days - very happy with it. Then, three days ago after a reboot it will no longer boot into the OS. This is almost certainly a minor problem, easily solved by someone with experience, but I have been unable to solve it. I would be thankful for some help, because this begins the third day of my computer being a brick.

[j2mcgreg]

Charles,
I followed the instructions you pasted above beginning with 'Note: An alternative way to get the system updated and get nvidia installed, would be to boot first into the LiveSystem from the LiveUSB.' I used "Chroot Rescue Scan" to update the nVidia driver (although it said the proper driver was already installed). I then used "MX Boot Options" tool to remove splash, add "ibt=off", and then APPLY. I saved the entire text from the "Chroot Rescue Scan" terminal as a gedit text file in the Downloads folder, and took a screensnap of "MX Boot Options" also in the Downloads folder. I then rebooted. No change, the machine hangs just as before, and I had to reboot again with Live USB Snapshot. Unfortunately, the two files I planned to paste into this message are not in the Downloads folder, which I do not understand. A thing I had not mentioned: the screen resolution whenever I am using Live USB Snapshot is very poor and stretched, so I was hoping that your suspicion that I was encountering a video driver issue was correct, but the above instructions did not fix anything. Any other ideas would be welcome.
James

What utility did you use to write the snapshot ISO to your USB drive?

[DukeComposed]

OK, here it is...

Code: Select all

Snapshot created on: 20240310_1128
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.39 TiB used: 62.17 GiB (2.5%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD
    serial: <filter> rev: 614600WD temp: 25.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS500G1X0E-00AFY0
    size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD
    serial: <filter> rev: 614600WD temp: 26.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/nvme2n1 maj-min: 259:2 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD
    serial: <filter> rev: 614600WD temp: 25.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-4: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: USB 3.2Gen1 size: 114.6 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 1.00 scheme: MBR
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  Message: No partition data found.
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.

I'm a little concerned that there's no partition information found in this QSI. I see four storage devices: two 1 TB drives, 1 500-ish GB drive, and the USB flash drive. I suggest checking each of the fixed drives and explicitly listing out the contents of each of their partition tables with "sudo fdisk -l /dev/<nvmewhatevername>".

In other words, my ignorance is so profound that I do not understand when I am looking at the files on my machine that I need to troubleshoot, and when I am looking at the files on the USB Live flash drive. How do I make sure I am working with the files on my machine?

The files on your machine are going to be the ones on a fixed drive. Pay attention when working and stay mindful that ~/Desktop isn't your desktop, but /media/<username>/Desktop is. The live session will attempt to mount your fixed drives under /media and can see them in the sidebar in Thunar, probably as "1 TB Encrypted" or something along that effect. The files here are what will persist after you remove the USB flash drive.

[Charlie Brown]

... no partition information found in this QSI ...

Normal. Live session.