Rebooting POST error message

[Batty]

When rebooting my PC after using Natty I get the following message on the POST screen.

***** Warning : System BOOT Fail ******
Your system last boot fail or POST interrupted
Please enter setup to load default and reboot again

press F1 to continue F2 to enter setup.

Pressing F1 to continue allows Natty to boot up OK.

PC = Asus P5N-E-SLI Motherboard
Intel Core2 Duo 2.4Ghz CPU
Nvidia Geforce 8600GT

Any ideas what could be the problem?


Dave

[dibl]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

Did the mobo POST correctly? Try a cold boot and make sure it goes through POST correctly -- on the Asus splash you should be able to press an "F" key and have it show the POST sequence.

If you don't see anything wrong during post, then when the boot menu comes up, press "e" and delete the "quiet" and "splash" options, and then Ctrl-X and watch the boot messages to see if it reveals anything.

Finally, you can review the dmesg output for signs of trouble with a hardware device.

You said "natty" -- does this mean you have another OS installed that boots correctly?

[Batty]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

I run Kubuntu 10.10 and Arch with no trouble.

If run Natty and restart or shutdown I get the error message when I start up PC the next time, regardless of which OS i start.

I wondered if Natty was not doing something correctly during boot or shutdown.

If I run 10.10 or Arch the next power on does not show the error message

Dave

[Batty]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

Here is a copy of dmesg output.

the only two bits that caught the untrained eye were


[ 0.000000] No NUMA configuration found
[ 0.000000] Faking a node at 0000000000000000-0000000140000000

[ 0.000000] Checking aperture...
[ 0.000000] No AGP bridge found
[ 0.000000] Calgary: detecting Calgary via BIOS EBDA area
[ 0.000000] Calgary: Unable to locate Rio Grande table in EBDA - bailing!

I am running the 64bit version of Natty, might give 32bit ago in a minute to see if it's the same

Dave

[dibl]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

You might try (from a Live CD) running fsck on the partition where Natty is installed. Then boot it and see how it behaves.

I doubt the 64-bit arch has anything to do with the issue you're having (although I've been wrong before ...).

[Batty]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

I've installed 32bit onto a different hard drive. It behaves just like 64bit version.
Fsck made no difference.
Just going to dig out another PC to see if it's just my combination of hardware.

Dave

[dibl]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

Good idea to check it on other hardware.

Shutdown/suspend/resume issues typically end up being associated with either the video hardware or the ACPI configuration. You might try changing the ACPI setting in BIOS.

[Batty]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

Installs and work fine on a different PC.

If I "restart" PC I do not get the same POST error. It only happens if I "shutdown" and then start up.

I've even flashed BIOS up to current version, but didn't help.

Dave

[dibl]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

Installs and work fine on a different PC.

So, it's a "special feature" of the one computer. Here's a procedure to see whether it's the video hardware.

Ctrl-Alt-F1 to the tty1 console, and log in there.

sudo service kdm stop

sudo shutdown now -h

If it subsequently boots without error, then the answer is "video hardware/driver/settings".

[Batty]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

Nope, that made no difference.

It is only Alpha3, hopefully it'll go away as we progress through the updates.

Cheers Dave

[dibl]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

Hmmmm -- some interaction between the BIOS and the shutdown sequencing, I suppose. Is there any chance the CMOS battery has given up the ghost?

[Batty]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

Pc works perfectly without any boot up problems on Kubuntu 10.10 and Arch.

Just out of interest I tried Ubuntu Natty Alpha 3 and it gives me the same error.

Obivously a 'buntu problem not just Kubuntu

Dave

[Batty]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

Interestingly, or maybe not!

I gave Fedora Alpha KDE a go today as it uses KDE4.6.1 and Kernel 2.6.38rc.
it gives me the same error, makes me think it's the 2.6.38rc that's causing the issue.

might try a few more things later to try and narrow it down.

Dave

[dibl]

Re: Rebooting POST error message

I wish I knew more about kernel configurations, but I don't. However I'm very confident that the list of hardware and BIOS setting changes that the kernel can perform during shutdown, which will be persistent after power-off, must be an extraordinarily short list. I would suspect it is something like the "setup entry" flag that Windows detects when you make a change in BIOS and then reboot.

I also would bet real money that the "error" message is a non-issue -- I don't think there's any error. There's only the detection of something different.