Manjaro Boot extremely slow and OS often not responsive on 2015 iMac with faulty but disabled SSD

Support
,
1

Hello,

I’m new to Manjaro and even not an experienced Linux-User. The reason I came here: I wanted to get my broken 2015 iMac 27" working again. MacOS failed to reinstall, because I think the internal SSD is defect. Replacing it with a compatible one is too much work and too expensive right now.

I used Ubuntu before, but after it running badly on my iMac, I tried Manjavo, which I really like. The problems that occurred in Ubuntu are still present in Manjaro though.

The following is the state of my efforts and problems:

  • I have connected an external USB3 SSD for the OS
  • I disabled the internal SSD with libata.force=2.00:disable in GRUB
  • I enabled fstrim, which improved the following first problem a bit, but not completely:

Problems

  1. The OS seems to freeze or hang temporarily when I do a lot of file transfers (sometimes it crashed even). All transfers were done on the external SSD, which also hosts Manjaro and in which /home is encrypted.
  2. Rebooting takes around 5 minutes, also shutting down takes very long.
  3. Waking up from suspense takes a long time, in which I can only see the screen light up and later the GUI comes into sight.

I hope by providing the following, you have enough info. This is my first try on such a forum.

inxi -Fza                                                                                                                                                    ✔ 
System:
  Kernel: 6.6.10-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64
    root=UUID=57285bc6-8b32-4504-a4a5-493e4efdb906 rw quiet splash
    resume=UUID=38b037db-6503-415a-a483-1c6e05ffd63e udev.log_priority=3
    libata.force=2.00:disable
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.10 tk: Qt v: 5.15.12 info: frameworks
    v: 5.113.0 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro Linux
    base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Apple product: iMac17,1 v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 9 v: Mac-B809C3757DA9BB8D
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Apple model: Mac-B809C3757DA9BB8D v: iMac17,1
    serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: Apple
    v: 526.0.0.0.0 date: 11/15/2023
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-6700K bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Skylake-S
    gen: core 6 level: v3 note: check built: 2015 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x5E (94) stepping: 3 microcode: 0xF0
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
    L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1240 high: 1320 min/max: 800/4200 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 1300 2: 1300 3: 1300
    4: 800 5: 1300 6: 1320 7: 1300 8: 1300 bogomips: 64026
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Vulnerable: No microcode
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
    vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: IBRS, IBPB: conditional, STIBP: conditional,
    RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: TSX disabled
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Amethyst [Radeon R9 M395/ M395X Mac Edition] vendor: Apple
    driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: GCN-3 code: Volcanic Islands
    process: TSMC 28nm built: 2014-19 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,DP-2,DP-3 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 1002:6920 class-ID: 0300 temp: 65.0 C
  Device-2: Apple FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in) driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-5:2 chip-ID: 05ac:8511
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.10 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.3
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu unloaded: modesetting
    alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x2160 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1016x571mm (40.00x22.48")
    s-diag: 1165mm (45.88") monitors: <missing: xrandr>
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: Apple iMac serial: <filter> built: 2015
    res: 3840x2160 dpi: 163 gamma: 1.2 size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23")
    diag: 685mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 3840x2160 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11: drv: radeonsi
    inactive: gbm,wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 23.3.3-manjaro1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon R9 M395X (radeonsi tonga
    LLVM 16.0.6 DRM 3.54 6.6.10-1-MANJARO) device-ID: 1002:6920
    memory: 3.91 GiB unified: no
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.274 layers: N/A device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: AMD
    Radeon R9 M395X (RADV TONGA) driver: mesa radv v: 23.3.3-manjaro1.1
    device-ID: 1002:6920 surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a170
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Tonga HDMI Audio [Radeon R9 285/380] driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1
    chip-ID: 1002:aad8 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.6.10-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom BCM43602 802.11ac Wireless LAN SoC vendor: Apple
    driver: brcmfmac v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:43ba class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM57766 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe driver: tg3
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 04:00.0
    chip-ID: 14e4:1686 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp4s0f0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Apple Bluetooth USB Host Controller
    driver: btusb,hid-generic,usbhid type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1
    mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-6:3 chip-ID: 05ac:8294 class-ID: fe01
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 9.1 TiB used: 1.9 TiB (20.9%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Apple model: HDD ST3000DM001
    size: 2.73 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> fw-rev: AQ03 scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Seagate model: Expansion SW
    size: 4.55 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: USB
    rev: 3.2 spd: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 tech: N/A serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 1901 scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Micron model: CT2000X9SSD9
    size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB rev: 3.2
    spd: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: PMAP scheme: GPT
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 146.48 GiB size: 143.13 GiB (97.71%)
    used: 11.53 GiB (8.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdc3 maj-min: 8:35
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 296 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdc2 maj-min: 8:34
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 1.65 TiB size: 1.62 TiB (98.37%)
    used: 548.91 GiB (33.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
    mapped: luks-b66e329e-4b0c-46c1-bd6c-a2d3f04f2c54
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 31.25 GiB used: 323 MiB (1.0%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 66.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 65.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.25 GiB used: 4.08 GiB (13.1%)
  Processes: 302 Power: uptime: 48m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform
    avail: shutdown,reboot,suspend,test_resume image: 12.48 GiB
    daemons: upowerd, org_kde_powerdevil, power-profiles-daemon Init: systemd
    v: 255 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1100 libs: 326 tools: pamac Compilers:
    clang: 16.0.6 gcc: 13.2.1 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9 default: Bash v: 5.2.21
    running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.32

systemd-analyze                                                                                                                  
Startup finished in 50.753s (kernel) + 1min 32.529s (userspace) = 2min 23.283s 
graphical.target reached after 1min 32.516s in userspace.

systemd-analyze blame                                                                                                                  ✔ 
22.892s systemd-cryptsetup@luks\x2db66e329e\x2d4b0c\x2d46c1\x2dbd6c\x2da2d3f04f2c54.service
 1.182s dev-sdc3.device
 1.110s NetworkManager.service
  412ms ModemManager.service
  335ms home.mount
  294ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev-early.service
  277ms systemd-udev-trigger.service
  238ms systemd-remount-fs.service
  216ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
  215ms systemd-modules-load.service
  213ms systemd-journal-flush.service
  201ms lvm2-monitor.service
  186ms NetworkManager-wait-online.service
  182ms user@1000.service
  142ms udisks2.service
  131ms systemd-ask-password-wall.service
  120ms upower.service
  115ms boot-efi.mount
  112ms plymouth-quit.service
  109ms systemd-rfkill.service
  103ms modprobe@fuse.service
  103ms systemd-udevd.service
   98ms systemd-journald.service
   96ms systemd-sysctl.service
   96ms systemd-fsck@dev-mapper-luks\x2db66e329e\x2d4b0c\x2d46c1\x2dbd6c\x2da2d3f04f2c54.service
   94ms plymouth-quit-wait.service
   88ms polkit.service
   85ms systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\x2duuid-12A4\x2d07BD.service
   84ms systemd-vconsole-setup.service
   83ms systemd-userdbd.service
   78ms systemd-random-seed.service
   78ms modprobe@drm.service
   76ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
   70ms systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service
   69ms plymouth-start.service
   69ms dbus-broker.service
   54ms systemd-logind.service
   53ms plymouth-read-write.service
   40ms bluetooth.service
   39ms dev-disk-by\x2duuid-38b037db\x2d6503\x2d415a\x2da483\x2d1c6e05ffd63e.swap
   39ms systemd-update-utmp.service
   39ms wpa_supplicant.service
   39ms kmod-static-nodes.service
   37ms modprobe@configfs.service
   36ms systemd-backlight@backlight:acpi_video0.service
   35ms alsa-restore.service
   33ms user-runtime-dir@1000.service
   33ms systemd-user-sessions.service
   30ms bolt.service
   29ms power-profiles-daemon.service
   26ms dev-hugepages.mount
   25ms dev-mqueue.mount
   24ms sys-kernel-debug.mount
   23ms sys-kernel-tracing.mount
   23ms modprobe@loop.service
   16ms sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount
   14ms sys-kernel-config.mount
   12ms tmp.mount
    9ms rtkit-daemon.service
    2ms modprobe@dm_mod.service


The time when unit became active or started is printed after the "@" character.
The time the unit took to start is printed after the "+" character.

graphical.target @1min 32.516s
└─sddm.service @1min 32.516s
  └─plymouth-quit.service @1min 32.384s +112ms
    └─systemd-user-sessions.service @1min 32.340s +33ms
      └─network.target @1min 32.320s
        └─wpa_supplicant.service @1min 32.280s +39ms
          └─basic.target @1min 31.150s
            └─dbus-broker.service @1min 31.076s +69ms
              └─dbus.socket @1min 31.053s
                └─sysinit.target @1min 31.045s
                  └─systemd-update-utmp.service @25.756s +39ms
                    └─systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service @25.519s +216ms
                      └─local-fs.target @25.492s
                        └─home.mount @25.156s +335ms
                          └─systemd-fsck@dev-mapper-luks\x2db66e329e\x2d4b0c\x2d46c1\x2dbd6c\x2da2d3f04f2c54.service @25.020s +96ms
                            └─dev-mapper-luks\x2db66e329e\x2d4b0c\x2d46c1\x2dbd6c\x2da2d3f04f2c54.device @24.955s

journalctl -p err -b 0 --no-pager                                                                                                                INT ✘  39s  
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: x86/cpu: SGX disabled by BIOS.
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, SSDT 0xFFFF888100F36C00 Table is already loaded (20230628/tbdata-548)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU0.GCAP due to previous error (AE_ALREADY_EXISTS) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU0._OSC due to previous error (AE_ALREADY_EXISTS) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, SSDT 0xFFFF888100F29000 Table is already loaded (20230628/tbdata-548)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU0.GCAP due to previous error (AE_ALREADY_EXISTS) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU0._PDC due to previous error (AE_ALREADY_EXISTS) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, SSDT 0xFFFF888100F2A800 Table is already loaded (20230628/tbdata-548)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU1.APPT due to previous error (AE_ALREADY_EXISTS) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU1.GCAP due to previous error (AE_ALREADY_EXISTS) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU1._PDC due to previous error (AE_ALREADY_EXISTS) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.OSCP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-330)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU2.GCAP due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU2._PDC due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.OSCP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-330)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU3.GCAP due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU3._PDC due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.OSCP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-330)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU4.GCAP due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU4._PDC due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.OSCP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-330)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU5.GCAP due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU5._PDC due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.OSCP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-330)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU6.GCAP due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU6._PDC due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.OSCP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-330)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU7.GCAP due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_PR.CPU7._PDC due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: apple-properties: device path parse error -19 at 0x14:
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: apple-properties: 00000000: 52 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 02 01 0c 00 d0 41 03 0a  R............A..
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: apple-properties: 00000010: 00 00 00 00 01 01 06 00 00 02 7f ff 04 00 2c 00  ..............,.
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: apple-properties: 00000020: 00 00 41 00 41 00 50 00 4c 00 2c 00 69 00 67 00  ..A.A.P.L.,.i.g.
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: apple-properties: 00000030: 2d 00 70 00 6c 00 61 00 74 00 66 00 6f 00 72 00  -.p.l.a.t.f.o.r.
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: apple-properties: 00000040: 6d 00 2d 00 69 00 64 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 01 00  m.-.i.d.........
Feb 10 10:52:13 marcels-imac kernel: apple-properties: 00000050: 12 19                                            ..
Feb 10 10:52:15 marcels-imac kernel: brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using brcm/brcmfmac43602-pcie for chip BCM43602/1
Feb 10 10:52:15 marcels-imac kernel: brcmfmac: brcmf_c_process_clm_blob: no clm_blob available (err=-2), device may have limited channels available
Feb 10 10:52:15 marcels-imac kernel: brcmfmac: brcmf_c_process_txcap_blob: no txcap_blob available (err=-2)
Feb 10 10:52:15 marcels-imac kernel: brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware: BCM43602/1 wl0: Nov 10 2015 06:38:10 version 7.35.177.61 (r598657) FWID 01-ea662a8c
Feb 10 10:52:17 marcels-imac kernel: Bluetooth: hci0: command 0x0c03 tx timeout
Feb 10 10:52:25 marcels-imac kernel: Bluetooth: hci0: BCM: Reset failed (-110)
Feb 10 10:52:38 marcels-imac kernel: usb 1-6: Failed to suspend device, error -110
Feb 10 10:53:43 marcels-imac systemd[1]: Timed out waiting for device /dev/disk/by-uuid/36ae14e0-79d5-4f21-87e3-b67edf3a1789.
Feb 10 10:55:13 marcels-imac kernel: usb 1-6: Failed to suspend device, error -110
Feb 10 10:55:16 marcels-imac systemd[669]: /run/user/1000/systemd/generator.late/app-signal\x2ddesktop@autostart.service:18: WorkingDirectory= path is not absolute, ignoring: 
Feb 10 10:55:16 marcels-imac systemd[669]: /run/user/1000/systemd/generator.late/app-1password@autostart.service:18: WorkingDirectory= path is not absolute, ignoring:
2

This is not a good solution - expect bottlenecks

This is to be expected when using a removable device.

Perhaps - but it is the only way to remedy your issues …

I have no idea if disabling write cache will have any effect - you can try though.

An entirely different approach is to use ventoy - but as you say - you have no experience with Linux - and in that sentiment - there is no turnkey solutions - only hard work.

Using ventoy alllows for - besides the ISO storage partition - one or more data partition (use GPT if you want more than one) on the USB device.

Either create your own ISO or use the default full ISO to boot - always save data to the designated storage partition.

The only drawback - unless you create your own ISO - is that you cannot install new applications - you cannot do that with your own either - what you can do is to customize the ISO with your preferred applications.

Perhaps you can gain something by using grub’s copy to ram - it would depend on a lot of factors - and would likely require some experimentation to achieve something useful.

2 Likes
3

pretty obvious that this is the main reason for the malad. the system will always try to boot from the first disc and this is the internal, but broken ssd in your case. this will cause the time-delay because of a lot of unsuccesful tries to boot from it.
i know that opening the imac is a pain in the ass but it’s worth to think about it. the concept of the imacs is at maximum temperature ratings designed that cause a hefty wore-out of the cooling-paste. it’s also worth to clean the fans from dust and last but not least there is a bug that a series of amd-gpu’s is missing one of the 4 screws of the cooler that cause a bad contact of the cooler to the gpu. all in, if you wanna use this imac then it’s worth to do a complete housekeeping in this imac and replace the ssd at this point.
it’s hard to maintain it but there are a lot of tutorials how to do it and maybe someone in your community is keen with it.

2 Likes
4

Thank you very much for your advices. I decided to give up on the iMac now and sell it to someone who would like to invest the time and money to repair it.

Still I found Manjaro to be the next OS to run on my other machine.

5

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