I believe the problematic kernels do actually boot. It just takes 12 to 13 minutes. dmesg shows several 120 second timeouts. Here is an excerpt that shows the final timeout and then (presumably) the error that is related to the hang.
<pre> [ 840.304049] INFO: task swapper/0:1 blocked for more than 120 seconds. [ 840.304052] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. [ 840.304054] swapper/0 D ffffffff81806240 0 1 0 0x00000000 [ 840.304058] ffff880118301e80 0000000000000046 0000000000000000 ffff880114537040 [ 840.304061] ffff880118301fd8 ffff880118301fd8 ffff880118301fd8 00000000000137c0 [ 840.304065] ffff880117c19700 ffff8801182f8000 ffff880118301e70 0000000000000009 [ 840.304068] Call Trace: [ 840.304074] [<ffffffff8165b50f>] schedule+0x3f/0x60 [ 840.304078] [<ffffffff81092df5>] async_synchronize_cookie_domain+0x75/0x120 [ 840.304082] [<ffffffff8108bd20>] ? add_wait_queue+0x60/0x60 [ 840.304085] [<ffffffff81092ef7>] async_synchronize_full+0x17/0x20 [ 840.304090] [<ffffffff81641107>] init_post+0xe/0xc5 [ 840.304094] [<ffffffff81cfcd74>] kernel_init+0x164/0x164 [ 840.304098] [<ffffffff81667b74>] kernel_thread_helper+0x4/0x10 [ 840.304101] [<ffffffff81cfcc10>] ? start_kernel+0x3bd/0x3bd [ 840.304104] [<ffffffff81667b70>] ? gs_change+0x13/0x13 [ 947.952877] ACPI Error: Method parse/execution failed [\_SB_.WADR] (Node ffff880118260028), AE_AML_INFINITE_LOOP (20110623/psparse-536) [ 947.952891] ACPI Error: Method parse/execution failed [\_SB_.BAT1.UPBI] (Node ffff880118260258), AE_AML_INFINITE_LOOP (20110623/psparse-536) [ 947.952898] ACPI Error: Method parse/execution failed [\_SB_.BAT1._BIF] (Node ffff880118260208), AE_AML_INFINITE_LOOP (20110623/psparse-536) [ 947.952906] ACPI Exception: AE_AML_INFINITE_LOOP, Evaluating _BIF (20110623/battery-419) [ 947.952909] ACPI: Battery Slot [BAT1] (battery present) [ 947.954127] Freeing unused kernel memory: 924k freed [ 947.954237] Write protecting the kernel read-only data: 12288k </pre>
This is with 3.2.0-36-generic #57-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jan 8 21:44:52 UTC 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
I believe the problematic kernels do actually boot. It just takes 12 to 13 minutes. dmesg shows several 120 second timeouts. Here is an excerpt that shows the final timeout and then (presumably) the error that is related to the hang.
<pre> kernel/ hung_task_ timeout_ secs" disables this message. 50f>] schedule+0x3f/0x60 df5>] async_synchroni ze_cookie_ domain+ 0x75/0x120 d20>] ? add_wait_ queue+0x60/ 0x60 ef7>] async_synchroni ze_full+ 0x17/0x20 107>] init_post+0xe/0xc5 d74>] kernel_ init+0x164/ 0x164 b74>] kernel_ thread_ helper+ 0x4/0x10 c10>] ? start_kernel+ 0x3bd/0x3bd b70>] ? gs_change+0x13/0x13 INFINITE_ LOOP (20110623/ psparse- 536) INFINITE_ LOOP (20110623/ psparse- 536) INFINITE_ LOOP (20110623/ psparse- 536) INFINITE_ LOOP, Evaluating _BIF (20110623/ battery- 419)
[ 840.304049] INFO: task swapper/0:1 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
[ 840.304052] "echo 0 > /proc/sys/
[ 840.304054] swapper/0 D ffffffff81806240 0 1 0 0x00000000
[ 840.304058] ffff880118301e80 0000000000000046 0000000000000000 ffff880114537040
[ 840.304061] ffff880118301fd8 ffff880118301fd8 ffff880118301fd8 00000000000137c0
[ 840.304065] ffff880117c19700 ffff8801182f8000 ffff880118301e70 0000000000000009
[ 840.304068] Call Trace:
[ 840.304074] [<ffffffff8165b
[ 840.304078] [<ffffffff81092
[ 840.304082] [<ffffffff8108b
[ 840.304085] [<ffffffff81092
[ 840.304090] [<ffffffff81641
[ 840.304094] [<ffffffff81cfc
[ 840.304098] [<ffffffff81667
[ 840.304101] [<ffffffff81cfc
[ 840.304104] [<ffffffff81667
[ 947.952877] ACPI Error: Method parse/execution failed [\_SB_.WADR] (Node ffff880118260028), AE_AML_
[ 947.952891] ACPI Error: Method parse/execution failed [\_SB_.BAT1.UPBI] (Node ffff880118260258), AE_AML_
[ 947.952898] ACPI Error: Method parse/execution failed [\_SB_.BAT1._BIF] (Node ffff880118260208), AE_AML_
[ 947.952906] ACPI Exception: AE_AML_
[ 947.952909] ACPI: Battery Slot [BAT1] (battery present)
[ 947.954127] Freeing unused kernel memory: 924k freed
[ 947.954237] Write protecting the kernel read-only data: 12288k
</pre>
This is with 3.2.0-36-generic #57-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jan 8 21:44:52 UTC 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux