grub2 sometimes fails to boot

[PeterPall]

Binary package hint: grub-pc

Not a big deal for me, but I thought I should report this nonetheless:

If the following line is commented out in /etc/default/grub:
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console
my system rarely (Tried to start the system 30 of which it happened 3 times) hangs prior to loading the kernel. Note that around the begining of December 2010 there was a kernel bug as well that could lead to a black screen *after* the kernel was loaded (Bug #683775). To make sure the kernel really doesn't load I repeated this test starting my computer (A acer aspire an A110L) with the shift key pressed. About every tenth time the computer hung instead of displaying a boot menu. Sometimes the screen stays blank except of a blinking cursor, sometimes it just stays blank (but the backlight is on) - and one time the display faded in a way that seems to indicate that the LCD matrix is no more accessed by the graphics card.

Since this behavior and Bug #683775 seem to have occoured at roughly the same time they might be somehow related. But since one is a kernel bug and the other occours prior to loading the kernel chances might be low.

My graphics card identifies itselves as follows:
        *-display:0
             description: VGA compatible controller
             product: Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
             configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
             resources: irq:16 memory:78480000-784fffff ioport:60c0(size=8) memory:60000000-6fffffff memory:78500000-7853ffff
        *-display:1 UNCLAIMED
             description: Display controller
             product: Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
             resources: memory:78400000-7847ffff

Kind regards,

    Gunter.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: grub-pc 1.99~20101126-1ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.37-8.20~blankdebug2v201012031740-generic 2.6.37-rc4
Uname: Linux 2.6.37-8-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Sun Dec 5 11:05:44 2010
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_GB.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: grub2

[PeterPall (peterpall)]

Today I seem to have encountered the problem even if the line

GRUB_TERMINAL=console

of the file /etc/default/grub wasn't commented out and even if I ran

sudo update-grub

after making this change -which seems to indicate that it might not be a graphics-related problem after all.
Can anybody confirm this?

[Anton Gladky (gladky-anton)]

I still cannot load normally to Ubuntu even after kernel update. I can just choose "safe graphic mode" and then boot. Otherwise I get black screen.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

Anton, if you're getting to the point of seeing "safe graphics mode", then you have a different bug. This bug is about not even being able to see the boot menu. (In any case, the GRUB menu does not include anything called "safe graphics mode", so I guess you must be talking about a live CD or a USB stick or something.)

PeterPall, could you try version 1.99~20101221-1ubuntu1? That fixes a subtle memory corruption problem (bug 686705) which would have happened before the boot menu was displayed. It's possible that this might have been your problem.

[Anton Gladky (gladky-anton)]

Hi, Colin,

the problem is already solved for me.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/683775/comments/29

Thank you.

Anton

On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 8:30 PM, Colin Watson <email address hidden>wrote:

> Anton, if you're getting to the point of seeing "safe graphics mode",
> then you have a different bug. This bug is about not even being able to
> see the boot menu. (In any case, the GRUB menu does not include
> anything called "safe graphics mode", so I guess you must be talking
> about a live CD or a USB stick or something.)
>
> PeterPall, could you try version 1.99~20101221-1ubuntu1? That fixes a
> subtle memory corruption problem (bug 686705) which would have happened
> before the boot menu was displayed. It's possible that this might have
> been your problem.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/685445
>
> Title:
> grub2 sometimes fails to boot
>
> Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: grub-pc
>
> Not a big deal for me, but I thought I should report this nonetheless:
>
> If the following line is commented out in /etc/default/grub:
> #GRUB_TERMINAL=console
> my system rarely (Tried to start the system 30 of which it happened 3
> times) hangs prior to loading the kernel. Note that around the begining of
> December 2010 there was a kernel bug as well that could lead to a black
> screen *after* the kernel was loaded (Bug #683775). To make sure the kernel
> really doesn't load I repeated this test starting my computer (A acer aspire
> an A110L) with the shift key pressed. About every tenth time the computer
> hung instead of displaying a boot menu. Sometimes the screen stays blank
> except of a blinking cursor, sometimes it just stays blank (but the
> backlight is on) - and one time the display faded in a way that seems to
> indicate that the LCD matrix is no more accessed by the graphics card.
>
> Since this behavior and Bug #683775 seem to have occoured at roughly the
> same time they might be somehow related. But since one is a kernel bug and
> the other occours prior to loading the kernel chances might be low.
>
> My graphics card identifies itselves as follows:
> *-display:0
> description: VGA compatible controller
> product: Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller
> vendor: Intel Corporation
> physical id: 2
> bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
> version: 03
> width: 32 bits
> clock: 33MHz
> capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
> configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
> resources: irq:16 memory:78480000-784fffff ioport:60c0(size=8)
> memory:60000000-6fffffff memory:78500000-7853ffff
> *-display:1 UNCLAIMED
> description: Display controller
> product: Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated
> Graphics Controller
> vendor: Intel Corporation
> physical id: 2.1
> bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
> version: 03
> wi...

[Neil Perry (nperry)]

This bug has been fixed now, no longer happening.

Marking as Invaild, if anyone still able to reproduce using latest natty kernel please re-open.