Comment 300 for bug 554172

We users are NOT experts in the Launchpad rules and regulations.
We just want our problems addressed.

Please do whatever is necessary to open up a bug that addresses the
long standing and still present condition of init scripts not being executed
reliably.

For "Title" and "Description" I propose:

        Boot service starts are sometimes, randomly, unreliable.
        Execution of /etc/init/* and /etc/init.d/* boot scripts sometimes fail.

        Since the introduction of the upstart version of /bin/init we continue
        see unreliable boot sequences where it appears boot scripts in
  /etc/init/ and /etc/init.d/ are not always executed to completion.

  Bug #554172, Comment #295 2011-02-12
                "... in a fresh 10.10 install (both 32 and 64bit). init.d
                services are not always started. eg. hostapd and sabnzbdplus."

        It is crucial to note that evidence suggests
                the behavior is somewhat random, and
                that it appears to be more prevalent on multi-core processors.

        This bug was once thought to be based on the "console output" stanza in
         /etc/init/*.conf noted in Bug #554172 and duplicates, but ongoing
        evidence is that the problem has not been completely solved.

I ask this based on the following observations from this bug (#554172) ...

> John Edwards wrote on 2011-02-12: #293
> Jens Schødt, this bug is in the kernel console device not being writeable
> early enough in the boot.

This bug's Description starts with:
   "Cups is not loading on my machine at boot, must run sudo /etc/init.d/cups
   start to after booting to print."

It became titled 'system services using "console output" not starting at boot'
later on when that seemed to be the root cause of all the problems.

While the "console output" fix improved the situation it obviously is not
the complete solution.

> Steve Langasek wrote on 2011-02-12: #299
> If anyone is having problems with getting an init script to start up
> reliably at boot time on your system, please file a new bug report against
> the upstart package in Ubuntu.
> :
> ... *this* bug is fixed, ...

> Jens Schødt wrote on 2011-02-12: #295
> I see problems in a fresh 10.10 install (both 32 and 64bit). init.d services
> are not always started. eg. hostapd and sabnzbdplus.

To my mind, Jens is saying "this bug still exists in 10.10", and that while
this _bug_ is marked "Fix Released", the evidence is that the _problem_ is not.

There are 20 duplicates to this bug, some going back to 9.10 in early 2010.
And that says to me that adding another bug which will just get marked
"possible duplicate" (John Edwards, comment #293) and it will again not
be investigated or attended to.

In bug 642555: (we can see this problem has a long and convoluted history)
> Colin Watson wrote on 2010-11-22: Comment #10
> The thing is that we don't know what the root cause of this problem
> (i.e. the one at the start of this bug report) is. Without data, it's
> just speculation. At the moment, we haven't proven that your missing
> boot messages actually have anything to do with services not starting -
> the link is only circumstantial. If there's conclusive evidence to the
> contrary that I've missed, in the form of >>>>> debug logs <<<<<,
> please do point me at it.

True enough. In Bug 554172: Comment #296 (above)
> I suggest, at the very least, /bin/init be given a detailed logging
> function that announces _everything_ it does, and _why_, into syslog ...

I believe this new Bug needs to be marked in whatever way Canonical/Ubunuto
wants to so that it is given the proper attention.

And the root repair is not necessarily to fix upstart. It is to make the boot
process reliable.

        Please, we are asking for your help.