Unable to boot without 'noapic' boot flag

[Stephen Rees-Carter]

When I try and boot 12.10 from a live CD without any tweaks, it crashes on a black screen and requires a hard-reset. The only way to get around it is to enable the 'noapic' boot flag.

This problem has been present for the past couple of releases, and it'd be great if it actually got fixed. I've reported it before, but I've made a new bug report now to provide updated dumps etc.
It's worth noting that at one point it was actually fixed in the mainline kernels, see comment #7 on Bug #903558.
I also had some success with a custom kernel config file someone provided me, but I lack the skills to identify the solution from that.

I'd love to get some help with this bug. Please.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.10
Package: linux-image-3.5.0-14-generic 3.5.0-14.17
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.5.0-14.17-generic 3.5.3
Uname: Linux 3.5.0-14-generic x86_64
AcpiTables: Error: command ['pkexec', '/usr/share/apport/dump_acpi_tables.py'] failed with exit code 127: Error executing /usr/share/apport/dump_acpi_tables.py: Permission denied
ApportVersion: 2.5.1-0ubuntu7
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ubuntu 3456 F.... pulseaudio
CasperVersion: 1.323
Date: Fri Sep 14 12:14:50 2012
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" - Alpha amd64 (20120914)
MachineType: LENOVO 7859CTO
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true file=/cdrom/preseed/username.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash -- noapic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.5.0-14-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.5.0-14-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.91
SourcePackage: linux
StagingDrivers: rts_pstor
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 11/04/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 8GET38WW (1.15 )
dmi.board.name: 7859CTO
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr8GET38WW(1.15):bd11/04/2011:svnLENOVO:pn7859CTO:pvrThinkPadL520:rvnLENOVO:rn7859CTO:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 7859CTO
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad L520
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Does this only happen when you try to boot from the Live CD, or all the time?

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v3.6 kernel[0] (Not a kernel in the daily directory) and install both the linux-image and linux-image-extra .deb packages.

Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. Please only remove that one tag and leave the other tags. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text.

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, for example it will not boot, please add the tag: 'kernel-unable-to-test-upstream'.
Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.6-rc5-quantal/

[Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin)]

> Does this only happen when you try to boot from the Live CD, or all the time?

Both from a Live CD and when Ubuntu 12.10 is installed. (i.e. all the time)

> Please test the latest v3.6 kernel[0]

I've installed v3.6-rc5-quantal with no success. It still requires the 'noapic' boot flag.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

This issue appears to be an upstream bug, since you tested the latest upstream kernel. Would it be possible for you to open an upstream bug report[0]? That will allow the upstream Developers to examine the issue, and may provide a quicker resolution to the bug.

If you are comfortable with opening a bug upstream, It would be great if you can report back the upstream bug number in this bug report. That will allow us to link this bug to the upstream report.

[0] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/kernel

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Stephen Rees-Carter, as per http://download.lenovo.com/express/ddfm.html an update is available for your BIOS (1.23). If you update to this following https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BiosUpdate , does it change anything?

If not, could you please both specify what happened, and provide the output of the following terminal command:
sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date

Please note your current BIOS is already in the Bug Description, so posting this on the old BIOS would not be helpful.

For more on BIOS updates and linux, please see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette .

Thank you for your understanding.