Starting Problem

[Maybole]

I installed Linux Mint 20 cinamon on an old HP laptop. For 6 months it has performed perfrctly apart from the very occasional lock up.

Today it will not start properly, I get a 2 line menu offering me " Linux Mint 20 cinamon "

or Advanced settings. I selected the first anf the LM symbol appeared for a few seconds the was replaced by:

[0.006383] do_IRQ: 1.55 No Irq handler for vector

BusyBox v1.30.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.30.1-4ubuntu.3) built-in shell (ash)

Enter "help" for a list of built-in commands.

(Initramfs) _

I have no idea what this means, entering help brings up a lot of meaning les gobbledegook.

I need an expert to guide me.

I have not yet been able to find a repair shop in the Chiang mai area which will touch Linux, all insist that they are Windows only.

Does anybody know of a Linux specialist ?

[1FinickyOne]

12 minutes ago, Maybole said:

a lot of meaning les gobbledegook.

I have a problem getting started in the morning too.. coffee helps. 

[doctormann]

Just a thought - may not be relevant but has Mint automatically upgraded the kernel?

The answer may be to revert to a previous kernel.  You should be able to do this from 'Advanced Settings'.  If it works and boots from the older kernel you need to go into the Update Manager, select View Kernels and remove the offending kernel.  You will probably get offered the kernel again but you can tell the system to ignore this.

Worth a try - quick and easy to do.

Caveat:  I'm still on 19.3 Cinnamon (supported for a few years yet) so YMMV as they say.

 

[farang51]

On 3/12/2021 at 11:39 AM, Maybole said:

I installed Linux Mint 20 cinamon on an old HP laptop. For 6 months it has performed perfrctly apart from the very occasional lock up.

I can't help you with the starting problem but I may be able to help with the lock ups.

My new laptop locked up frequently, which turned out to be because of a too small swap file. After increasing the size of the swap file, I haven't had any lock ups. I did as described in this post:

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?p=1570969&sid=79144128acce941555fcdffc9986a7be#p1570969

[SpaceKadet]

Yes, Linux error messages can be very cryptic, meaningful only to the developers and Linux gurus most of the time.

I can tell you what your error means, but you’ll not be much wiser.

 

Basically, your error happens very early in the boot sequence. The underlying hardware or firmware (BIOS) presents an interrupt vector 55 to the Linux kernel. What the error says, it’s that the kernel doesn’t have the driver routines to handle this interrupt, and stops the boot sequence.

It throws you into initramfs, which is like a mini Linux filesystem used only during boot and residing in RAM. It containing all the drivers from the kernel and some additional utilities for the boot process, and gets removed once the proper filesystem is mounted.

 

Now, how to fix it: Because this is happening very early in the boot sequence it can be quite difficult to diagnose. The developers clearly think that the vector55 interrupt should not happen, so there are no driver routines in the kernel. There might be some more information in dmesg log, just type dmesg on the command line.

I would also disconnect any USB devices, and check for any BIOS updates for your laptop.

 

It might also explain your occasional lock ups, as when the Linux kernel is fully booted, it has access to much better recovery utilities.

 

Sorry can’t be of more help, but it’s all I can do without having physical access to your hardware. And I’m nowhere near Chiang Mai, so can’t visit, even for a beer.

[userabcd]

Often times its much easier to just reinstall linux from scratch again. Once the boot sequence giving problems in linux its quite a task to diagnose and correct.

 

I've been using Manjaro installed on a usb for about a year now and have found it to be a most stable distro. Never had any problem with kernel updates which is currently on 5.11.2-1

Edited March 15, 2021 by userabcd

[doctormann]

33 minutes ago, userabcd said:

Often times its much easier to just reinstall linux from scratch again. Once the boot sequence giving problems in linux its quite a task to diagnose and correct.

 

I've been using Manjaro installed on a usb for about a year now and have found it to be a most stable distro. Never had any problem with kernel updates which is currently on 5.11.2-1

I did one time have a kernel problem that stopped the system shutting down properly.  It was one of the 4.15 series.  I reverted the kernel, which fixed the problem.  Subsequent kernel upgrades have had no issues for me.  I think that kernel upgrade problems are pretty rare but they can happen.  Reverting the kernel can be an easy fix, which is why I have suggested to the OP that he should try this.

[Lacessit]

I would suggest a re-installation of Linux Mint. This can be done by downloading from the internet to a USB on another computer.

The OP should bear in mind he said "an old HP laptop". SSD hard disks don't last forever.

[topt]

7 hours ago, Lacessit said:

The OP should bear in mind he said "an old HP laptop". SSD hard disks don't last forever.

Did you mean SSD or HDD...........?

[Maybole]

I have been able to do a heath check on the Hard Drive and received a 100% result. I have been unable to get into the bowels of the system to try a re install.

I still cannot find a Linux specialist repair expert in Chiang mai.

[fdsa]

find how to edit the boot command — usually it's to press "e" in the boot loader menu — and add the following words to the end of boot line (the one that starts with "linuxefi /vmlinuz...") :

acpi=off noapic

if that wont help then try this option instead:

acpi=noirq

 

 

what about booting the previous kernel version? usually it helps:

On 3/14/2021 at 11:58 AM, doctormann said:

The answer may be to revert to a previous kernel.  You should be able to do this from 'Advanced Settings'.  If it works and boots from the older kernel you need to go into the Update Manager, select View Kernels and remove the offending kernel.  You will probably get offered the kernel again but you can tell the system to ignore this.

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by fdsa

[connda]

This is where you need to learn enough about Mint to backup your systems and be able to restore them.  You've now found out how important that is.  I'm not gloating - I'm speaking from experience.  Most of us have probably bricked our systems at least once, or twice, or more.  After getting smacked in the noggin you eventually learn to create backup schemes and usually more than one.

At a minumum
*install Time Shift which is like Windows Restore Point.  Keep at least a couple of snapshots to revert back to.
*Back up your home directory.   I use LuckyBackup which can be downloaded from the Mint Software Managers. I back it up to a USB hard drive.
*Image your partitions.  I keep a / (root) and a /home (home) partition and use Clonezilla on a USB  to back up the partitions to a separate USB hard drive.  That way if your system pukes and dies (like yours has) you can reinstall your root partition without overwriting your data in /home or simply reapply the last image you took before your system tanked.   If you even need help to wade through all the Clonzilla options to simply get to the point where you can just image a partition and restore the partition, you can message me.  Because there are so many option it looks complicated.  But creating / restoring a image is pretty simple.

In the meanwhile register for the official Mint forum and post your problem in the Newbie section.  https://forums.linuxmint.com/  One of the Mint Whiz-Kids may be able to suggest a fix that doesn't require a reinstall (assuming you don't have backups which I'm assuming you don't).  Good luck.

[connda]

On 3/12/2021 at 11:39 AM, Maybole said:

Today it will not start properly, I get a 2 line menu offering me " Linux Mint 20 cinamon "

or Advanced settings

Click on Advanced Setting.  That ***should*** bring up a list of all your older kernels if you have done a kernel upgrade.

If you have a selection of older kernels, scroll down the list and pick an older kernel.  That will probably get you running again.  If you don't have any older kernels - well - then we are back to you needing a backup and restore strategy.
Then back to my original suggestion.  Sign up for the Mint forums and post your problem in the Newbie section.  You will get some help there.

[khunphil]

Hi,

Check your Bios and the way you boot your hard drive. I had the problem after an update, hard disc boot went back to RST  instead of AHCI. Just changing the option to AHCI could fix your problem. What does your Bio tell you ? Also check that (if you ave Linux in standalone), you should have non secured Boot.

Good luck.

Accessing Bios with F2  or F8 I think

Phil

[Maybole]

HURRAY, ALHAMDILALLAH, It is now working.

I am not 100% sure how it happened, but I pressed "esc" in the brief period after power on and it brought a number of options accessed by the F keys. I tried them all in turn and  think it was F9 which gave me access to the USB memory stick which I had used to instal Linux in the first place, and I was able to do a completely new clean installation.

Now for the chore of installing the drivers for my printer/scanner and a few other accessories,

MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO TRIED TO HELP.