Boot pauses after GRUB

Hi, im a Linux beginner and i have a problem with loading Manjaro Cinnamon on my Lenovo T500.

Everytime i start my notebook, after the BIOS POST, i can see the GRUB text on top of my screen for a brief second, then my notebook takes between 1 and 8 minutes to display the “block clean” message and continue booting.

This is the problem. This 1-8 minute break. While my notebook is in this state, the “HDD LED” does not blink or light up. The screen is on, but empty.

It started after maybe the 10th bootup of manjaro.
I switched the kernel via the Manjaro Settings Manager from 6.11 to 6.12, but i cant remember, if the problem started there.

I searched the forum a bit but did not find any solution. Here is some info about my system. If you need more info, please let me know.

tw@t500-manjaro ~]$ inxi -Fzy
System:
  Kernel: 6.12.4-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64
  Desktop: Cinnamon v: 6.4.2 Distro: Manjaro Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 22434MG v: ThinkPad T500
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: 22434MG serial: <superuser required> BIOS: LENOVO
    v: 6FET93WW (3.23 ) date: 10/12/2012
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 28.5 Wh (62.6%) condition: 45.5/56.2 Wh (81.1%)
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: Intel Core2 Duo P8400 bits: 64 type: MCP cache:
    L2: 3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1596 min/max: 800/2267 cores: 1: 1596 2: 1596
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Mobile 4 Series Integrated Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel
  Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.14 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.4 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting dri: crocus gpu: i915 resolution: 1280x800~60Hz
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: crocus,swrast
    platforms: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 2.1 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.2.8-arch1.1
    renderer: Mesa Mobile Intel GM45 Express (CTG)
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo,glxinfo x11: xprop,xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
  API: ALSA v: k6.12.4-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.7 status: active
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82567LM Gigabit Network driver: e1000e
  IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300 driver: iwlwifi
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Broadcom BCM2045B (BDC-2.1) [Bluetooth Controller] driver: btusb
    type: USB
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 state: up address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 232.89 GiB used: 18.08 GiB (7.8%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 EVO 250GB size: 232.89 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 220.11 GiB used: 18.08 GiB (8.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8.19 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) dev: /dev/sda2
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 35.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): fan-1: 0 fan-2: 0
Info:
  Memory: total: 4 GiB available: 3.72 GiB used: 985.8 MiB (25.9%)
  Processes: 188 Uptime: 24m Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.37

[tw@t500-manjaro ~]$  cat /etc/default/grub | head -n6
GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="Manjaro"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet apparmor=1 security=apparmor resume=UUID=9f34bf42-a220-4d95-83e1-ba67e4fbe069 udev.log_priority=3"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

Remove “quiet” from GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT. Leave the rest of the options in place. Then run sudo update-grub. You might see what the real holdup is because the startup messages won’t be suppressed.

1 Like

I would try older LTS kernels.

2 Likes

The above 2 things and the journal from the beginning of the boot can provide insights.

journalctl -b

P.s. and once installed 6.6 on next boot you have to select the older kernel manually, otherwise boots the latest.


I performed an Internet search in case your machine might have had an updated BIOS (later than 2012) available, but found nothing conclusive.

An updated BIOS can often improve compatibility (generally). If you have a Lenovo account you might have better success.

Regards.

The device is out of support.
You can find in the archives
https://download.lenovo.com/eol/index.html
That the BIOS v. 3.23 from 2012 is/was the latest
though I may make note that the same index lists

Whatever that means.

After removing quiet and splash to be able to see the boot-up messages I’d suggest using inxi -zv8 in this case as it gives more relevant detail (@soundofthunder has what might be a better one : inxi --admin --verbosity=8 --filter --width).

Then follow with the output of cat /etc/fstab and cat /etc/default/grub as these might provide a clue if, for example, there is a UUID mismatch (usually swap). I’ve seen this cause delays on start-up, as well as issues if, for example, trying to resume from hibernate.

Also note that not using UUIDs can lead to issues with the devices not neccesarily being referenced as e.g. sda or sdb or whatever between boots.

1 Like

Yes, I could only find reference to Thinkpad 560 at the same location; your eyes must be better than mine.

Hi, i removed “quiet” from the file you mentioned and executed the command “sudo update-grub”. After that i rebooted the notebook and the startup was way faster! The delay is now just a few seconds long, not minutes!

I rebooted and shutdown & turned on the notebook apporx. 10 times and the bootup times are staying fast. I think the problem is solved. If it returns, i will tryout the suggestions from the other members.

Thank you very much for all your help. This forum seems to have a great community!

Greets, Thomas

1 Like

I don’t know how removing “quiet” from the grub config solved your problem. That was only supposed to show you the startup messages.

1 Like

Hi ben75,

after reading your reply i became sus, too. So i checked more options. It seems like, the problem occurs only when on battery mode.

I was fooled by the 81% battery state from the inxi output. The battery is still the original one. After 15 years, you can’t expect much from this. Even if its still enough to run the notebook for an hour with manjaro.
I think the battery is not powerful enough to deliver the power the notebook needs during bootup.
So its not a problem of manjaro, but one from the old, crusty hardware.

But i really appreciate your support.
Sorry to not consider this in front of my thread here.

Greets Thomas