System Display black screen on reboot or after a clean shutdown with USB-C Dock Monitor

[Matthieu Clemenceau]

I'm running focal devel and the latest kernel (see proc version below)

Linux version 5.4.0-18-generic (buildd@lgw01-amd64-034) (gcc version 9.2.1 20200306 (Ubuntu 9.2.1-31ubuntu3)) #22-Ubuntu SMP Sat Mar 7 18:13:06 UTC 2020

Dock Monitor is supported very well with multiple usb devices plugged on the monitor.

However on reboot I face a black screen with no ability to enter my FDE password.
Both my Laptop screen and the attached usb-c display nothing
I have to hard power off and reboot without the USB-C monitor plugged in.

Otherwise A reboot cycle with the usb-c unplugged works perfectly.

Also I tried to run ubuntu-bug linux or ubuntu-bug linux-image-generic without success. I would be happy to provide much more debugging information. I will attach then to the launchpad Bug #
---
ProblemType: Bug
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu18
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC2: mclemenceau 2988 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: mclemenceau 2988 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: mclemenceau 2988 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-01-05 (64 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 19.10 "Eoan Ermine" - Release amd64 (20191017)
MachineType: HP HP Spectre x360 Convertible 13-ae0xx
NonfreeKernelModules: zfs zunicode zavl icp zcommon znvpair
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 i915drmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.4.0-18-generic root=/dev/mapper/vgubuntu-root ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-18.22-generic 5.4.24
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-5.4.0-18-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-5.4.0-18-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.186
Tags: focal
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-18-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to focal on 2020-01-23 (47 days ago)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip libvirt lpadmin lxd plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 06/14/2018
dmi.bios.vendor: AMI
dmi.bios.version: F.21
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: 83B9
dmi.board.vendor: HP
dmi.board.version: 56.41
dmi.chassis.type: 31
dmi.chassis.vendor: HP
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAMI:bvrF.21:bd06/14/2018:svnHP:pnHPSpectrex360Convertible13-ae0xx:pvr:rvnHP:rn83B9:rvr56.41:cvnHP:ct31:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.family: 103C_5335KV HP Spectre
dmi.product.name: HP Spectre x360 Convertible 13-ae0xx
dmi.product.sku: 2TV18AS#ABA
dmi.sys.vendor: HP

[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

apport information

[Ubuntu Kernel Bot (ubuntu-kernel-bot)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. While running an Ubuntu kernel (not a mainline or third-party kernel) please enter the following command in a terminal window:

apport-collect 1866852

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.

[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

apport information

[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

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[Francis Ginther (fginther)]

@mclemenceau,

Is this still an issue with the latest focal kernel, 5.4.0-21.25? Several upstream updates have been applied as well as some Dell dock specific patches (see lp:1868217).

[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

@Francis,

Yes, unfortunately. I just updated this morning to 5.4.0-21 #25
I tried two different reboot without success.
Let me know if there's anything else you would need or more traces.

[Andrea Righi (arighi)]

@mclemenceau do you have another pc / device that you can use to ssh into your laptop when the screen is black? If you can do that it'd be nice to see how a dmesg looks like when the screen is all black. Thanks!

[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

Unfortunately, when the screen is black I have no ssh access

From a cold boot, When I press the power button, nothing happen, the screen remains black, I don't even see the BIOS logo or FDE password key. (when USB-C is plugged in)
I'm having a feeling the kernel might not even be started and it could be a Hardware BIOS issue...

[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

I started thinking this wasn't a kernel issue since I wasn't getting any display from a cold boot...

I changed grub configuration to show menu and remove quiet splash from Linux CMD LINE and it turns out that when I press the power button the first thing I see is the Grub menu and no keyboard input are working, arrows or enter key when USB-C is plugged in but when I unplugged the USB-Type C monitor, I can press enter during the Grub menu and it boots.

So I believe the issue is with Grub hanging while USB-C monitor plugged in.

[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

After removing all devices plugged in one by one, Issue seems to be caused by my USB dongle needed for my wireless keyboard and mouse...

I've seen report online see below

https://askubuntu.com/questions/884199/grub-freezes-when-logitech-unifying-receiver-plugged-in
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/Linux-Spectre-x360-13-late-2019-does-not-work-with-Linux/td-p/7316977

Those two reports seem limited to my hardware, could be HP BIOS.

the recommended workaround is to enable Legacy Mode which isn't acceptable for me since it requires to disable Secure Boot.

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

i wonder if usb-hub can reproduce it.

[Matthieu Clemenceau (mclemenceau)]

Update: I switched to Groovy and I'm now able to do a full reboot without interruption
Issue is resolved on Groovy.