After linux kernel update system won't boot

[Marcin]

Whenever I try updating packages listed bellow via Software Updater, Ubuntu gets stuck on purple screen after restart. No key combination seems to do anything. I can login to desktop only via recovery and then normal boot option. I'm using Ubuntu 15.10.

linux-generic
installed version 4.2.0.16.18
available version 4.2.0.30.33

linux-firmware
Installed version: 1.149
Available version: 1.149.3

linux-headers-generic
Installed version: 4.2.0.16.18
Available version: 4.2.0.30.33

linux-image-generic
Installed version: 4.2.0.16.18
Available version: 4.2.0.30.33

linux-headers-4.2.0-30
Installed version: None
Available version: 4.2.0-30.35

linux-image-extra-4.2.0-30-generic
Installed version: None
Available version: 4.2.0-30.35

linux-libc-dev
Installed version: 4.2.0-16.19
Available version: 4.2.0-30.35

linux-headers-4.2.0-30-generic
Installed version: None
Available version: 4.2.0-30.35

linux-image-4.2.0-30-generic
Installed version: None
Available version: 4.2.0-30.35

I'm not sure if all of them seams to cause the problem.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 1548985

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Mike Zane (kziane)]

Confirming marcin's bug report as well after it failed starting on a TPM error:
"A TPM error (6) occurred attempting to read a pcr value"
The only way for me to get access was to boot from previous base: 4.2.0-27-generic

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

I'd like to perform a kernel bisect to figure out which commit caused this regression. We need to identify the earliest kernel that did not exhibit the bug and the first kernel that did exhibit the bug.

Can you test the following kernels and post back?

http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2.8-ckt1-wily/
http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2.8-ckt2-wily/
http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2.8-ckt3-wily/

You don't have to test every kernel, just up until the first kernel that has this bug.

Thanks in advance!

[basse (basse)]

I ran into this too, after updating today to 4.2.0-30 i'm unable to boot.
the boot gets stuck quit soon, says something about tsc clocksource, then waits, then drops to initramfs prompt and says it got fed up waiting for root filesystem. no wait to boot, except choosen the previous (27) one which works fine.

i have these on my system:

ii linux-signed-image-4.2.0-27-generic 4.2.0-27.32
ii linux-signed-image-4.2.0-30-generic 4.2.0-30.35

.b

[Marcin (marsprivate+web)]

First two versions work.
Problem comes up after installing the third one.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

It looks like I can bisect between v4.2.8-ckt2-wily and v4.2.8-ckt3-wily. However, can you first test v4.2.8-ckt4-wily to see if it resolves this bug? It can be downloaded from:

http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2.8-ckt4-wily/

[Marcin (marsprivate+web)]

Unfortunately v4.2.8-ckt4-wily doesn't work either.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Is this a virtual machine or physical hardware?

[Marcin (marsprivate+web)]

It's physical hardware.

[Rei Alexandra Aoyama (reiaaoyama)]

In my case, it is a VM with encrypted HD. If you need any info, I can try to get it.

[David Baird (david-baird)]

I get the same or very similar behaviour running Kubuntu 15.10 running under VMWare Fusion on a Mac. After doing a sudo apt-get dist-upgrade the vm fails to boot, getting stuck on the boot logo. Hitting escape right after the machine starts shows me the boot log, and it gets wedged on the line "starting terminate plymouth boot screen", indicating to me that perhaps it is video related.

I have reproduced this twice by taking a copy of another VM and performing the same update.

Once wedged, no combination of keys has any effect, and I'm unable to boot to a console because I don't get a grub menu on boot (it's in quiet mode by default?). The HD is not encrypted, but one home directory is encrypted with ecryptfs. Being a bit of a noob, I was unable to rollback to previous kernel version (not sure how to do it if I can't get to a console), but I was able to get my data from the volume and provision another VM. I'll try provisioning a fresh VM from 15.10 iso to see if it is easily reproduced, or if there is something particular about my install.

[David Baird (david-baird)]

*** Update

I was able to reproduce this issue in a fresh provisioning from the Kubuntu 15.10 ISO, although the boot log now stops at

[OK] Started Accounts Service

(See screen shot).

Steps to reproduce:

1) Create a new VM (VMWare Fusion 8.1.0, although I doubt this matters) 4 cpu cores, 8GB Ram, 60GB disk
2) Install Kubuntu 15.10 from ISO (x64)
3) Install open-vm-tools

    sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools
    sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools-desktop

5) Restart
6) Upgrade distribution

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get upgrade

7) Restart. Machine wont complete the boot process, resulting in a black screen

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

I am not convinced yet that this is a duplicate of https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1548587.

Can one of the people experiencing this issue please test the kernel at:
http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kamal/lp1548587.3/ and let us know if it fixes this bug or not?

[Marcin (marsprivate+web)]

I've installed every package except for linux-tools-4.2.0-30-generic_4.2.0-30.35 because I didn't know where to get dependencies (linux-tools) from. However it boots normally.

[basse (basse)]

I tried the kamal3 kernel, still hangs up here. ..

.b

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

@basse,

It sounds like you have a different issue. Can you open a new bug "ubuntu-bug linux" and add a comment here what that new bug # is and we'll start working with you to find your issue.

[basse (basse)]

sure, i'll do that.

.b

[basse (basse)]

here's the link.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1550316

[Marcin (marsprivate+web)]

Sorry It actually didn't fixed the issue. I haven't uninstalled the ckt2 version and grub thought it's older one.
I realized that today uninstalled it and installed the newest packages and it won't work like previously.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Marcin, thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please execute the following command only once, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect 1548985

When reporting bugs in the future please use apport by using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.