MX21 does not boot, hangs after “wild flowers screen”.

[LeantoLinux]

Having an interest in Linux I bought a pre-owned Toshiba Satellite Pro C50-A-1MX 64 bit with a wiped 500 GB HDD to play with. I installed Linux MX21 and got on with it OK for a few months. I am not a console person just use the graphic interface to do what needs to be done.

A couple of months or so before Christmas I received a notification which, IIRC, told me there was an update or upgrade, I can’t remember which. It gave me no advice as to options just a command line to type into. I had no idea what to do with this but must have done something as text on the screen disappeared. I quit and tried to boot the laptop again. The device starts and shows the first page with options for start up, then moves on to show the “wild flowers” screen but then goes to a dark blue blank screen. I have looked on the MX forum but found nothing remotely similar discussed.

In January I installed Linux Mint into half of the HDD which went OK, I am typing this now on the Satellite in Mint. I hoped that I might be able to see the Documents and Downloads folders in Linux MX but I am told that I do not have access.

I have two questions:
1. Is there a recovery app or routine I could use to repair the MX21 distro on my laptop?
2. Is there a simple data recovery app for newbies that I could use to locate and copy any documents saved in the MX21 areas of the HDD?

Thanks in anticipation of replies to my questions and or any other advice that might help me get MX21 running again on this laptop.

I do not see how to provide system info specific to MX21 as it will not boot. As Mint does boot I have attached the info I can extract

Code: Select all

System:    Host: GW-SATELLITE-PRO-C50-A-1MX Kernel: 5.4.0-136-generic i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc 
           v: 7.5.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.14.1 tk: Gtk 3.22.30 wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM 
           Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: TOSHIBA product: SATELLITE PRO C50-A-1MX v: PSCG7E-02C04QMP 
           serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Intel model: PT10F v: Type2 - Board Version serial: <filter> 
           UEFI [Legacy]: Insyde v: 1.40 date: 04/22/2014 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 30.0 Wh condition: 30.0/49.5 Wh (61%) volts: 11.4/10.8 
           model: TKBSS G71C000FS110 serial: <filter> status: Full 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i3-3110M bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge 
           rev: 9 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 19155 
           Speed: 2394 MHz min/max: 1200/2400 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2395 2: 2394 3: 2394 
           4: 2394 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: Toshiba America Info Systems 
           driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:0166 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) v: 4.2 Mesa 20.0.8 
           compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio 
           vendor: Toshiba America Info Systems driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
           chip ID: 8086:1e20 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-136-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lite-On 
           driver: ath9k v: kernel port: 3040 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 168c:0034 
           IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA8171 Gigabit Ethernet 
           vendor: Toshiba America Info Systems driver: alx v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
           chip ID: 1969:10a1 
           IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-3: Toshiba Atheros AR3012 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb bus ID: 3-3:4 
           chip ID: 0930:021c 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 523.07 GiB used: 45.40 GiB (8.7%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: MQ01ABF050 size: 465.76 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> 
           ID-2: /dev/sdc type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: USB 3.2Gen1 size: 57.30 GiB 
           serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 239.20 GiB used: 9.02 GiB (3.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Device-1: 1-1.1:3 info: Alcor Micro Multi Flash Reader type: Mass Storage 
           driver: usb-storage rev: 2.0 chip ID: 058f:6366 
           Device-2: 1-1.3:4 info: Chicony type: Video driver: uvcvideo rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 04f2:b41a 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Device-3: 3-2:2 info: Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse type: Mouse 
           driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 2.0 chip ID: 046d:c016 
           Device-4: 3-3:4 info: Toshiba Atheros AR3012 Bluetooth type: Bluetooth driver: btusb 
           rev: 1.1 chip ID: 0930:021c 
           Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
           Device-5: 4-1:2 info: SanDisk type: Mass Storage driver: usb-storage rev: 3.2 
           chip ID: 0781:55a9 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 45.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com tricia main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
Info:      Processes: 225 Uptime: 5h 45m Memory: 3.75 GiB used: 1.49 GiB (39.7%) Init: systemd 
           v: 237 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.5.0 alt: 7 Client: Unknown python3.6 client 
           inxi: 3.0.32
           [code]

[j2mcgreg]

Without knowing where this "update" came from, but taking into account that you were able to install Linux Mint, I'm going to hazard a guess that you have flashed your bios to its latest available version. Following this trail of thought, I think that it's likely that flashing the bios also set the bios to its factory defaults. If this is the case, you are going to have to enter the bios and disable Secure Boot. The clue here is your install of Linux Mint. Linux Mint will install
and boot with Secure Boot enabled, but MX Linux will not.

[richb]

@LeantoLinux
When posting Quick System Info. Just use "Copy for Forum" as provided in the app and paste tin the post to keep proper formatting. Do not use inxi. I have formatted your QSI properly.

EDIT:
It was pointed out to me that you are on Mint.. So QSI is not available to you. My error. Code tags can still be used by selecting the text and clicking on </> available at the top of the post block.

[pbear]

A few thoughts.

1. Unable to access files suggests a permissions problem. The trump card to overcome this barrier is root/admin status. In Mint, open File Manager; in the left pane, click the MX folder; right-click somewhere blank in the right pane, select Open as Root; navigate to home > your name. Confirm you can see the files and report back. There are ways to copy out the files without having to use not-very-reliable data recovery processes.

2. I assume you chose 19.3 because it's a 32-bit computer. Not a great choice, as LM19 goes end-of-life in a few months. If you want to use Mint, try the LMDE edition. Cinnamon rather than XFCE desktop; disable Effects (an app on Menu). Frankly, though, the best solution might be to copy out your personal files, then reinstall MX. Or you could reinstall MX and also install LMDE for comparison. Actually, do it the other way around, i.e., install MX last, so it will be in charge of boot.

3. From the fact you don't mention it, I infer MX doesn't appear in the Mint boot menu. This might be repairable, but it's complicated. Reinstall will be simpler and faster. If you are keen to try the repair, boot a live session (the same thing you used to install MX) and see whether the Boot Repair app (on Menu) can fix the problem.

4. In future, if the computer won't boot, the live session should be your tool of first resort. You can do all sorts of things, including repairs, copying files, accessing the Forum by internet, and even generating a system info report. There is no need to install another operating system to do these things.

5. The firmware wasn't updated recently. It's dated 04/22/2014 (see Machine section).

[Eadwine Rose]

@richb user is on Mint

[Huckleberry Finn]

@LeantoLinux shortly, you can use live session or any other distro you can boot (Mint in your case) as already mentioned. You can even copy-paste the whole home folder to somewhere else (the one in MX's partition).

Just: While you're at it, also have a look whether MX partition(s) got full. Either simply using the file manager, or any disk management tool, GParted etc.

[j2mcgreg]

@pbear wrote;

I assume you chose 19.3 because it's a 32-bit computer. Not a great choice, as LM19 goes end-of-life in a few months.

it's a 64 bit box. See here:

Code: Select all

Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i3-3110M bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge 

I assume that his choice of the 32 bit version of Linux Mint was just a novice mistake.

@LeantoLinux

You infer in your first post that you are a novice at this, but you don't say whether you are a beginner with Linux in general or are just new to MX. If it's the former, there is the distinct possibility that you obliterated your MX install when you partitioned your drive in order to install Linux Mint.

In future, when you are presented with an unknown update, ask us. We will give you an honest answer.

[pbear]

it's a 64 bit box. See here:

Oops. Partly "why 19.3?" and expecting 32-bit to be the explanation (which is common), then there's a mention of 32-bit in the first line of the report.

Anyhoo, what that means, LeanToLinux, is that would be easy to dual boot MX and Mint. For consistency (easier learning curve), use Mint 21.1 XFCE.