IFL 2.90+ fails to boot

[bob66412]

Image for Linux boot media, starting with 2.90, will not boot my WIN 8.1 desktop PC. The Linux boot process hangs after displaying initrmfs.gz. My configuration log indicates that I made no recent BIOS changes. I have tested booting with 2.90 and 2.91 using both BIOS Legacy and UEFI settings – IFL still will not boot.

Image for Linux boot media, 2.87 and earlier, boot with no problems.

Something has changed for the worse since IFL 2.90. Any way to determine what a fix might be?

Thanks, rb

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

bob66412 wrote:
> Image for Linux boot media, starting with 2.90, will not boot my WIN 8.1
> desktop PC. The Linux boot process hangs after displaying initrmfs.gz. My
> configuration log indicates that I made no recent BIOS changes. I have
> tested booting with 2.90 and 2.91 using both BIOS Legacy and UEFI settings
> – IFL still will not boot.
>
> Image for Linux boot media, 2.87 and earlier, boot with no problems.
>
> Something has changed for the worse since IFL 2.90. Any way to determine
> what a fix might be?
>
> Thanks, rb

Have you tried booting from an alternate boot media type?
In other words, if having problems booting from optical discs, try a USB flash drive, or vice versa.

[bob66412]

Makes no difference - both a boot CD and a boot memory stick hangs the computer after displaying initrmfs.gz

rb

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

bob66412 wrote:
> Makes no difference - both a boot CD and a boot memory stick hangs the
> computer after displaying initrmfs.gz
>
> rb

When booting as a BIOS (legacy) system, does it hang after you get the lines of dots after the initrmfs.gz, as in:
Loading initrmfs.gz...............................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
..............ready.

Or is it just:
Loading initrmfs.gz (no dots at all)

This would tell whether it's a problem loading initrmfs.gz (boot loader related), or a problem with the kernel not running after initrmfs.gz is loaded. You will only be able to see the difference on a BIOS based sytem. UEFI systems will just show "Loading initrmfs.gz..." (always 3 dots) in either case.

Also, if you can give a link to your system's specs, that might help if this turns out to be a kernel issue (the kernel has been changed since version 2.87).

[bob66412]

When booting from 2.91 the screen shows "Loading initrmfs.gz..." (always 3 dots).

Configuration info is:

Windows 8.1 (x64) (build 9600)
Boot Mode: Legacy BIOS in UEFI (Secure Boot not supported)
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. Z87X-UD4H
3.40 gigahertz Intel Core i7-4770
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
8192 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Hyper-threaded (8 total)
Board: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. Z87X-UD4H-CF
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
UEFI: American Megatrends Inc. F5 05/16/2013

Intel(R) 8 Series/C220 Series SATA AHCI Controller - 8C02
Standard SATA AHCI Controller
Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller
Intel(R) 8 Series/C220 Series USB EHCI #1 - 8C26
Intel(R) 8 Series/C220 Series USB EHCI #2 - 8C2D
Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0100 (Microsoft)

If you need a more detailed configuration I'd prefer a private method of providing you a link.

rb

[mjnelson99]

I did wonder if you have the version of IFL with or w/o networking CUI
or GUI?
Not sure it would make a difference though.
Mary

,> Image for Linux boot media, starting with 2.90, will not boot my WIN
8.1 desktop PC.

The Linux boot process hangs after displaying initrmfs.gz. My
configuration log indicates that I made no recent BIOS changes. I have
tested booting with 2.90 and 2.91 using both BIOS Legacy and UEFI
settings - IFL still will not boot.
>
> Image for Linux boot media, 2.87 and earlier, boot with no problems.
>
> Something has changed for the worse since IFL 2.90. Any way to determine

what a fix might be?
>
> Thanks, rb
>
>

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

bob66412 wrote:
> When booting from 2.91 the screen shows "Loading initrmfs.gz..."
> (always 3 dots).

Ok, thanks for the information. It doesn't seem like there's much it can be other than some problem between the kernel/config and that system. The boot loader hasn't changed since IFL 2.87, so if 2.87 does boot on that system, that just leaves the kernel (which has changed).

It may be worth trying the "verbose" and "debug" command line parameters at boot time to see if any additional messages show up on the screen before it hangs. That can be done at the Grub boot screen by:
1. Pressing 'e' to display the edit screen for the grub boot commands

2. Edit the "linux" line (will be similar to the one below) to insert the "verbose" and "debug" parameters after the "/vmlinuz" as shown below:
(original example line): linux /vmlinuz uefimode=yes iflkmap=us ktl=qwerty iflbflag=0 ProductKey=XXXX-YYYY-ZZZZ
(modified example line): linux /vmlinuz verbose debug uefimode=yes iflkmap=us ktl=qwerty iflbflag=0 ProductKey=XXXX-YYYY-ZZZZ

3. After editing, stay right on the editing screen and press the <F10> key to boot

4. See if anything else shows up after the "Loading initrmfs.gz..." message

If anything does show up, please report those messages back. If not, there's not much else that can be done other than to try other kernel versions or configurations. If you can send an email to support ( support@terabyteunlimited.com ), I'll try to have one or two test versions available early next week that you can try.The test versions would be zip files that you download and create boot media in the usual way with MakeDisk.

[bob66412]

I tried "verbose debug", which yielded no additional information.

I decided to try one other thing - updating the PC BIOS. I updated from F5 to F9 and am now able to boot from a 2.91 memory stick. (I had previously read the BIOS changes info on the Gigabyte site and from that I saw no BIOS changes looked necessary. Hope that all continues to work O.K.)

Thanks for you help, rb

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

bob66412 wrote:
> I tried "verbose debug", which yielded no additional information.
>
> I decided to try one other thing - updating the PC BIOS. I updated from F5
> to F9 and am now able to boot from a 2.91 memory stick. (I had previously
> read the BIOS changes info on the Gigabyte site and from that I saw no BIOS
> changes looked necessary. Hope that all continues to work O.K.)
>
> Thanks for you help, rb

OK glad to hear it, and thanks very much for posting that information.