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    Kernel Upgrades Render System Unbootable

    System: Panasonic Toughbook CF-29
    It has been running Kubuntu for years.
    After upgrading from 9.10 to 10.04, the system would not boot. It got as far as the Kubuntu splash screen, then the screen went black, and nothing more happened. I solved this (in short) by manually editing /boot/grub/menu.lst and booting from an old kernel, then removing the new kernel packages.

    Then, a bit later, i ran an apt-get update, and saw than there was a new kernel package available. Thinking that it might contain a fix, I installed it. No fix, same problem, same workaround.

    Last night, I was notified that "Security Updates" were being automatically installed, followed by a notice that I needed to restart the system. New kernel? Probably, but they must have this fixed by now, I thought. I was wrong.

    Now, I can't get to the grub menu during boot, so as to use recovery mode (if it works) or the old working kernel, and it won't boot from a 10.04 Live CD that I burned on the same machine, and from which I have run another install. So the 10.04 CD is known to be good.

    So three different kernels in a row have now installed themselves into an unbootable condition. I find it hard to believe that Kubuntu has been shipping broken kernels since the release of 10.04, so something else may be happening. But I get no retrievable error messages, since the system dies so fast that it leaves nothing that I've been able to find.

    The system boots fine from a 9.10 Live CD, so the fact that 9.10 kernels work, and 10.04 kernels don't, either from CD or HD, points directly at the new kernels as the source of the problem. However, if many people were seeing this, posts would be all over the place, and it would have been fixed very quickly.

    Any ideas?

    #2
    Re: Kernel Upgrades Render System Unbootable

    Hi,

    I have exactly the same problem with my old Benq Joybook 2100.
    I haven't tried to run another kernel though.

    I hope we'll get the fix sooner or later.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Kernel Upgrades Render System Unbootable

      Originally posted by erisian

      it won't boot from a 10.04 Live CD that I burned on the same machine, and from which I have run another install. So the 10.04 CD is known to be good.

      ...

      Any ideas?
      When the initial/text menu on the Live CD comes up, did you try using any boot options? I forget which F-key they are, maybe F4 or F6. I would start with the power-management related ones (noacpi, noapic, nolapic) and then if that doesn't help, maybe look into some of the "modeset" options ("nomodeset", etc.). Just guessing here -- it seems to be something related to the hardware on that Toughbook.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Kernel Upgrades Render System Unbootable

        Yes, you're right, that is hardware problem with old intel video chips.
        I added "i915.modeset=1" to the kernel options and it works now.

        Here's the workaround for the issue:
        https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Bugs/Lucidi8xxFreezes

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Kernel Upgrades Render System Unbootable

          I have encountered the same thing and also had to use an older kernel for a long time. I am not convinced that this is a problem with video. I didn't try adding "i915.modeset=1" to the kernel options, but the system will work just fine with a new kernel when KDE is replaced with another window manager. My feeling is that it is a KDE problem. My go-around with this is in this thread which might also have some useful information here.

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