Manjaro KDE Won't Boot After .... Not Sure What

I’ve been happily chugging along with Manjaro KDE for a couple weeks and it died. Single booting on 11 year old macbook with upgraded memory and SSD. The interface was glitching this morning and my son restarted it. Now it just boots to a black screen, no GRUB, no terminal, just black. I tried command-alt-F2/F3 and whatever combos with F2 and F3 and it stays black. I can boot from an install thumb drive and after choosing detect EFI it still won’t boot from those options.

I don’t know what changed to cause this. My son swears he didn’t mess with any of the settings and it just glitched out.

I can boot from the thumb drive and check out the logs. I also ran manjaro-chroot and ran pacman -Syu to no avail. I recall last night’s -Syu updated the kernel. Anywho, here is the log from pacman last night. I can post the log from Xorg too, but it’s hella long, is there an etiquette I should follow for log files?

Thanks anyone and everyone. Really loving Manjaro, favorite distro, by far.

[2020-09-12T08:01:38-0700] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman -Syu'
[2020-09-12T08:01:38-0700] [PACMAN] synchronizing package lists
[2020-09-12T08:01:45-0700] [PACMAN] starting full system upgrade
[2020-09-12T08:01:57-0700] [ALPM] running 'kernel-alive-pre.hook'...
[2020-09-12T08:02:01-0700] [ALPM] transaction started
[2020-09-12T08:02:04-0700] [ALPM] installed linux58 (5.8.6-1)
[2020-09-12T08:02:04-0700] [ALPM] upgraded linux-latest (5.7-2 -> 5.8-1)
[2020-09-12T08:02:04-0700] [ALPM] installed linux58-broadcom-wl (6.30.223.271-12)
[2020-09-12T08:02:18-0700] [ALPM] upgraded linux-latest-broadcom-wl (5.7-2 -> 5.8-1)
[2020-09-12T08:02:18-0700] [ALPM] transaction completed
[2020-09-12T08:02:18-0700] [ALPM] running '30-systemd-update.hook'...
[2020-09-12T08:02:18-0700] [ALPM] running '60-depmod.hook'...
[2020-09-12T08:02:31-0700] [ALPM] running '90-mkinitcpio-install.hook'...
[2020-09-12T08:02:32-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux58.preset: 'default'
[2020-09-12T08:02:32-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-5.8-x86_64 -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64.img
[2020-09-12T08:02:32-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Starting build: 5.8.6-1-MANJARO
[2020-09-12T08:02:32-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [base]
[2020-09-12T08:02:32-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [udev]
[2020-09-12T08:02:32-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [autodetect]
[2020-09-12T08:02:33-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [modconf]
[2020-09-12T08:02:33-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [block]
[2020-09-12T08:02:34-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
[2020-09-12T08:02:34-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [keymap]
[2020-09-12T08:02:34-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
[2020-09-12T08:02:34-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Generating module dependencies
[2020-09-12T08:02:34-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64.img
[2020-09-12T08:02:37-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Image generation successful
[2020-09-12T08:02:37-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux58.preset: 'fallback'
[2020-09-12T08:02:37-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-5.8-x86_64 -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64-fallback.img -S autodetect
[2020-09-12T08:02:37-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Starting build: 5.8.6-1-MANJARO
[2020-09-12T08:02:37-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [base]
[2020-09-12T08:02:37-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [udev]
[2020-09-12T08:02:38-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [modconf]
[2020-09-12T08:02:38-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [block]
[2020-09-12T08:02:42-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: xhci_pci
[2020-09-12T08:02:44-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
[2020-09-12T08:02:46-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [keymap]
[2020-09-12T08:02:46-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
[2020-09-12T08:02:50-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Generating module dependencies
[2020-09-12T08:02:51-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64-fallback.img
[2020-09-12T08:02:59-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Image generation successful
[2020-09-12T08:02:59-0700] [ALPM] running '99-grub.hook'...
[2020-09-12T08:03:00-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Generating grub configuration file ...
[2020-09-12T08:03:01-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found theme: /usr/share/grub/themes/manjaro/theme.txt
[2020-09-12T08:03:02-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.8-x86_64
[2020-09-12T08:03:02-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64.img
[2020-09-12T08:03:03-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64-fallback.img
[2020-09-12T08:03:03-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.7-x86_64
[2020-09-12T08:03:03-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64.img
[2020-09-12T08:03:03-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64-fallback.img
[2020-09-12T08:03:06-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+/memtest.bin
[2020-09-12T08:03:06-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] done
[2020-09-12T08:03:06-0700] [ALPM] running 'kernel-alive-post.hook'...
[2020-09-12T08:03:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 
[2020-09-12T08:03:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] e[1;1me[1;32m==>e[1;0me[1;1m Warning:
[2020-09-12T08:03:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	 -> Kernel has been updated. Modules of the current kernel
[2020-09-12T08:03:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	 -> have been backed up so you can continue to use your
[2020-09-12T08:03:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	 -> computer. However, the new kernel will only work 
[2020-09-12T08:03:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	 -> at next boot.
[2020-09-12T08:03:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	e[1;0m
[2020-09-12T08:03:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	e[1;0m

I’m no expert on Apple hardware, but I think the above is the culprit. I would recommend going back to kernel 5.7 from within a chroot.

Open up a terminal in the live session and use su - to become root. Then issue… :arrow_down:

mkdir /manjaro
mount /dev/your_manjaro_partition /manjaro
mount /dev/your_efi_partition /manjaro/boot/efi
manjaro-chroot /manjaro
pacman-mirrors -f 5 && pacman -Syy linux57
grub-install --recheck --no-rs-codes --modules="part_gpt zstd" --efi-directory="/boot/efi" --target="x86_64-efi"
update-grub
sync && exit

Then, reboot and cross your fingers… :wink:

:crossed_fingers:

1 Like

Thank you so much for your reply and careful directions. I know the manjaro-chroot command but did not know, until now, how to go back to the old kernel.

I think you are on to something. Biggest change between working and broken was the kernel update.

It worked up until the grub portion. Here is the output. Not sure what to make of " grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1. Check your device.map." I double checked and I mounted my the EFI for the hard drive (/dev/sda1) and not the thumb drive (/dev/sdb2).

Any thoughts? Thanks!

    [2020-09-14T07:49:22-0700] [PACMAN] Running 'pacman -Syy linux57'
    [2020-09-14T07:49:22-0700] [PACMAN] synchronizing package lists
    [2020-09-14T07:50:05-0700] [ALPM] running 'kernel-alive-pre.hook'...
    [2020-09-14T07:50:05-0700] [ALPM] transaction started
    [2020-09-14T07:50:07-0700] [ALPM] reinstalled linux57 (5.7.19-2)
    [2020-09-14T07:50:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] >>> NOTE, 5.7.19 was the last maintenance release by Greg Kroah-Hartman.
    [2020-09-14T07:50:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]     This kernel series is now marked EOL (end of life).
    [2020-09-14T07:50:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]     
    [2020-09-14T07:50:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]     It is recommend to move on to linux58 series.
    [2020-09-14T07:50:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]     Use followed cmd to do that: 'sudo mhwd-kernel -i linux58'
    [2020-09-14T07:50:07-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]     
    [2020-09-14T07:50:07-0700] [ALPM] transaction completed
    [2020-09-14T07:50:07-0700] [ALPM] running '30-systemd-update.hook'...
    [2020-09-14T07:50:07-0700] [ALPM] running '60-depmod.hook'...
    [2020-09-14T07:50:20-0700] [ALPM] running '90-mkinitcpio-install.hook'...
    [2020-09-14T07:50:20-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux57.preset: 'default'
    [2020-09-14T07:50:20-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-5.7-x86_64 -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64.img
    [2020-09-14T07:50:20-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Starting build: 5.7.19-2-MANJARO
    [2020-09-14T07:50:20-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [base]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:20-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [udev]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:20-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [autodetect]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:21-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [modconf]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:21-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [block]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:21-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:22-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [keymap]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:22-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:22-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Generating module dependencies
    [2020-09-14T07:50:22-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64.img
    [2020-09-14T07:50:24-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Image generation successful
    [2020-09-14T07:50:24-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux57.preset: 'fallback'
    [2020-09-14T07:50:24-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-5.7-x86_64 -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64-fallback.img -S autodetect
    [2020-09-14T07:50:25-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Starting build: 5.7.19-2-MANJARO
    [2020-09-14T07:50:25-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [base]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:25-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [udev]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:25-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [modconf]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:25-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [block]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:31-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:33-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [keymap]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:33-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET]   -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
    [2020-09-14T07:50:37-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Generating module dependencies
    [2020-09-14T07:50:38-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64-fallback.img
    [2020-09-14T07:50:46-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ==> Image generation successful
    [2020-09-14T07:50:46-0700] [ALPM] running '99-grub.hook'...
    [2020-09-14T07:50:47-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Generating grub configuration file ...
    [2020-09-14T07:50:48-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found theme: /usr/share/grub/themes/manjaro/theme.txt
    [2020-09-14T07:50:49-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.8-x86_64
    [2020-09-14T07:50:49-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64.img
    [2020-09-14T07:50:50-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64-fallback.img
    [2020-09-14T07:50:50-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.7-x86_64
    [2020-09-14T07:50:50-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64.img
    [2020-09-14T07:50:50-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64-fallback.img
    [2020-09-14T07:50:51-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1.  Check your device.map.
    [2020-09-14T07:50:51-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1.  Check your device.map.
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+/memtest.bin
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] done
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM] running 'kernel-alive-post.hook'...
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] ls: cannot access 'backup': No such file or directory
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] e[1;1me[1;32m==>e[1;0me[1;1m Warning:
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	 -> Kernel has been updated. Modules of the current kernel
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	 -> have been backed up so you can continue to use your
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	 -> computer. However, the new kernel will only work 
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	 -> at next boot.
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	e[1;0m
    [2020-09-14T07:50:52-0700] [ALPM-SCRIPTLET] 	e[1;0m
    ```

Note for reference:

And moving on, once manjaro-chroot'ed et al …

Please make sure we have working mirrors and do a full db resync and upgrade.

sudo pacman-mirrors -f && sudo pacman -Syyu

After that we may be interested in any errors, output, etc.

[besides the sorting of mirrors … if same as above, thats fine too, let us know]

1 Like

Thank you for the response and link to the articles. I ran that command and did a full sync and upgrade with no errors. The pacman update ended with " there is nothing to do"

I read the article on providing good information and included the result of flagged dmesg and inxi -Fazy.

Any guidance?

Thanks for your help!

sh-5.0# sudo dmesg -l emerg,alert,crit,err,warn
[    8.789349] clocksource: timekeeping watchdog on CPU0: Marking clocksource 'tsc-early' as unstable because the skew is too large:
[    8.789352] clocksource:                       'hpet' wd_now: f7d5e342 wd_last: bf8c6c5 mask: ffffffff
[    8.789354] clocksource:                       'tsc-early' cs_now: 101f318e81 cs_last: fe3185de2 mask: ffffffffffffffff
[    8.789370] TSC found unstable after boot, most likely due to broken BIOS. Use 'tsc=unstable'.
[   10.497077] Warning! ehci_hcd should always be loaded before uhci_hcd and ohci_hcd, not after
[   10.767257] ACPI Warning: \_SB.PCI0.IXVE.IGPU._DSM: Argument #4 type mismatch - Found [Buffer], ACPI requires [Package] (20200110/nsarguments-59)
[   13.212278] overlayfs: null uuid detected in lower fs '/', falling back to index=off,nfs_export=off.
[   18.091357] applesmc applesmc.768: hwmon_device_register() is deprecated. Please convert the driver to use hwmon_device_register_with_info().
[   19.369611] uvcvideo 1-4:1.0: Entity type for entity Processing 3 was not initialized!
[   19.369616] uvcvideo 1-4:1.0: Entity type for entity Camera 1 was not initialized!
[   21.219601] kauditd_printk_skb: 13 callbacks suppressed
[   32.207287] kauditd_printk_skb: 6 callbacks suppressed
[   41.346024] kauditd_printk_skb: 12 callbacks suppressed
[   47.779417] kauditd_printk_skb: 4 callbacks suppressed
12System:
  12Kernel 5.6.15-1-HOST x86_64 12bits 64 12compiler gcc 12v 10.1.0 
  12parameters BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-x86_64 lang=en_US keytable=us tz=UTC 
  driver=free nouveau.modeset=1 i915.modeset=1 radeon.modeset=1 
  misobasedir=HOST misolabel=HOST_KDEM_2003 quiet systemd.show_status=1 
  apparmor=1 security=apparmor 
  12Desktop KDE Plasma 5 12tk Qt 5.15.0 12wm kwin_x11 12dm N/A 12Distro HOST Linux 
12Machine:
  12Type Laptop 12System Apple 12product MacBook5,1 12v 1.0 12serial <filter> 12Chassis 
  12type 10 12v Mac-F42D89C8 12serial <filter> 
  12Mobo Apple 12model Mac-F42D89C8 12v Proto 12serial N/A 12UEFI Apple 
  12v MB51.88Z.007D.B03.0904271443 12date 04/27/09 
12Battery:
  12ID-1 BAT0 12charge 37.0 Wh 12condition 37.0/58.3 Wh (63%) 12volts 12.5/10.8 
  12model Newer Tech ASMB013 12type Li-ion 12serial N/A 12status Full 12cycles 57 
12CPU:
  12Topology Dual Core 12model Intel Core2 Duo P7350 12socket U2E1 12bits 64 12type MCP 
  12arch Penryn 12family 6 12model-id 17 (23) 12stepping 6 12microcode 60F 
  12L1 cache 128 KiB 12L2 cache 3072 KiB 
  12flags lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx 12bogomips 7963 
  12Speed 1745 MHz 12min/max 1596/1995 MHz 12base/boost 2000/2000 12volts 1.6 V 
  12ext-clock 266 MHz 12Core speeds (MHz) 121 1592 122 1592 
  12Vulnerabilities 12Type itlb_multihit 12status KVM: Split huge pages 
  12Type l1tf 12mitigation PTE Inversion; VMX: EPT disabled 
  12Type mds 
  12status Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT disabled 
  12Type meltdown 12mitigation PTI 
  12Type spec_store_bypass 12status Vulnerable 
  12Type spectre_v1 
  12mitigation usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
  12Type spectre_v2 
  12mitigation Full generic retpoline, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
  12Type tsx_async_abort 12status Not affected 
12Graphics:
  12Device-1 NVIDIA C79 [GeForce 9400M] 12vendor Apple MacBook5 1 12driver nouveau 
  12v kernel 12bus ID 02:00.0 12chip ID 10de:0863 
  12Device-2 Apple Built-in iSight 12type USB 12driver uvcvideo 12bus ID 1-4:3 
  12chip ID 05ac:8507 12serial <filter> 
  12Display x11 12server X.org 1.20.8 12compositor kwin_x11 12driver nouveau 
  12note display driver n/a 
  12Message Advanced graphics data unavailable for root. 
12Audio:
  12Device-1 NVIDIA MCP79 High Definition Audio 12driver snd_hda_intel 12v kernel 
  12bus ID 00:08.0 12chip ID 10de:0ac0 
  12Sound Server ALSA 12v k5.6.15-1-HOST 
12Network:
  12Device-1 NVIDIA MCP79 Ethernet 12driver forcedeth 12v kernel 12port 21e0 
  12bus ID 00:0a.0 12chip ID 10de:0ab0 
  12IF enp0s10 12state down 12mac <filter> 
  12Device-2 Broadcom and subsidiaries BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN 
  12vendor Apple AirPort Extreme 12driver b43-pci-bridge 12v N/A 12port 1000 
  12bus ID 03:00.0 12chip ID 14e4:432b 
  12IF-ID-1 wlan0 12state up 12mac <filter> 
12Drives:
  12Local Storage 12total 261.77 GiB 12used 14.68 GiB (5.6%) 
  12ID-1 /dev/sda 12model Mercury Electra 6G SSD 12size 232.89 GiB 12block size 
  12physical 512 B 12logical 512 B 12sata 3.2 12speed 3.0 Gb/s 12serial <filter> 12rev 5A0 
  12temp 31 C 
  12SMART yes 12state enabled 12health PASSED 12on 29d 6h 12cycles 874 12read 7.3 MiB 
  12written 7.0 MiB 
  12ID-2 /dev/sdb 12type USB 12model USB DISK 3.0 12size 28.88 GiB 12block size 
  12physical 512 B 12logical 512 B 12serial <filter> 12rev PMAP 
  12SMART Message Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure? 
12Partition:
  12ID-1 / 12raw size 230.69 GiB 12size 226.07 GiB (98.00%) 12used 14.49 GiB (6.4%) 
  12fs ext4 12block size 4096 B 12dev /dev/sda2 
12Swap:
  12Alert No Swap data was found. 
12Sensors:
  12System Temperatures 12cpu 70.0 C 12mobo N/A 12gpu nouveau 12temp 72 C 
  12Fan Speeds (RPM) N/A 
12Info:
  12Processes 176 12Uptime 1h 56m 12Memory 7.53 GiB 12used 1.54 GiB (20.5%) 
  12Init systemd 12v 246 12Compilers 12gcc 10.2.0 12Packages 12pacman 1263 12lib 350 
  12flatpak 0 12Client Unknown Client: systemd 12inxi 3.1.05 

OK.
Next up … we have some funny things to note:

  • your output is funny with 12 preceding everything. Probably not your mistake … but rather a kernel error or similar.
  • speaking of - you are running kernel 5.6 which is EOL. If possible you should change kernels to 5.8 or LTS like 4.19 or 5.4

Aside from those … we probably want to check
pacdiff -o
For any possible pacnews and such.

Also … if it may be worthwhile … please see:


(some of those are defunct … I havent had time to make a new thread)

Thanks. Yeah, that’s funny about the 12s inxi outputs! I looked into it and for some reason it’s outputting color with 12 escape??? I sorted it out though adding on the --tty option.

I’ve included the non-crazy inxi output, and ran pacman -o and found only a couple pacnews files, output is below. I don’t imagine local.gen and fonts.conf are the culprits. First time I’ve heard of those files though so what do I know?

In terms of the kernel version, this problem started, I think, after I updated the kernel to 5.8. I say “I think” because I ran the pacman -Syu update at night which included the kernel, but didn’t reboot. The next morning X glitched out and we rebooted to the sad black screen. No grub, just black. Maybe it wasn’t the kernel update that is the culprit because it still does it when I downgraded to 5.7. I will try an LTS kernel and if that doesn’t work I’ll just go back to 5.8.

I’m wondering if grub has a problem…

Thanks for your help!

sh-5.0# inxi --tty -Fazy
sh: line 1:   234 Aborted                 (core dumped) /sbin/plasmashell --version 2> /dev/null
System:
  Kernel: 5.6.15-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.1.0 
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-x86_64 lang=en_US keytable=us tz=UTC 
  driver=free nouveau.modeset=1 i915.modeset=1 radeon.modeset=1 
  misobasedir=manjaro misolabel=MANJARO_KDEM_2003 quiet systemd.show_status=1 
  apparmor=1 security=apparmor 
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5 tk: Qt 5.15.0 wm: kwin_x11 dm: N/A 
  Distro: Manjaro Linux 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Apple product: MacBook5,1 v: 1.0 serial: <filter> 
  Chassis: type: 10 v: Mac-F42D89C8 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Apple model: Mac-F42D89C8 v: Proto serial: N/A UEFI: Apple 
  v: MB51.88Z.007D.B03.0904271443 date: 04/27/09 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 36.9 Wh condition: 37.0/58.3 Wh (63%) volts: 12.5/10.8 
  model: Newer Tech ASMB013 type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: Full cycles: 57 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core2 Duo P7350 socket: U2E1 bits: 64 
  type: MCP arch: Penryn family: 6 model-id: 17 (23) stepping: 6 
  microcode: 60F L1 cache: 128 KiB L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 7963 
  Speed: 1895 MHz min/max: 1596/1995 MHz base/boost: 2000/2000 volts: 1.6 V 
  ext-clock: 266 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1747 2: 1671 
  Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages 
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: EPT disabled 
  Type: mds 
  status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT disabled 
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable 
  Type: spectre_v1 
  mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
  Type: spectre_v2 
  mitigation: Full generic retpoline, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA C79 [GeForce 9400M] vendor: Apple MacBook5 1 
  driver: nouveau v: kernel bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 10de:0863 
  Device-2: Apple Built-in iSight type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus ID: 1-4:3 
  chip ID: 05ac:8507 serial: <filter> 
  Display: x11 server: X.org 1.20.8 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: nouveau 
  note: display driver n/a 
  Message: Advanced graphics data unavailable for root. 
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA MCP79 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:08.0 chip ID: 10de:0ac0 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.6.15-1-MANJARO 
Network:
  Device-1: NVIDIA MCP79 Ethernet driver: forcedeth v: kernel port: 21e0 
  bus ID: 00:0a.0 chip ID: 10de:0ab0 
  IF: enp0s10 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Broadcom and subsidiaries BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN 
  vendor: Apple AirPort Extreme driver: b43-pci-bridge v: N/A port: 1000 
  bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 14e4:432b 
  IF-ID-1: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 261.77 GiB used: 14.69 GiB (5.6%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda model: Mercury Electra 6G SSD size: 232.89 GiB block size: 
  physical: 512 B logical: 512 B sata: 3.2 speed: 3.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> 
  rev: 5A0 temp: 31 C 
  SMART: yes state: enabled health: PASSED on: 29d 8h cycles: 875 
  read: 7.4 MiB written: 7.0 MiB 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB model: USB DISK 3.0 size: 28.88 GiB block size: 
  physical: 512 B logical: 512 B serial: <filter> rev: PMAP 
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure? 
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw size: 230.69 GiB size: 226.07 GiB (98.00%) 
  used: 14.48 GiB (6.4%) fs: ext4 block size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda2 
Swap:
  Alert: No Swap data was found. 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 74.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 73 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 179 Uptime: 35m Memory: 7.53 GiB used: 1.62 GiB (21.5%) 
  Init: systemd v: 246 Compilers: gcc: 10.2.0 Packages: pacman: 1263 lib: 350 
  flatpak: 0 Shell: Unknown Client: systemd inxi: 3.1.05 
sh-5.0# sudo pacdiff -o
/etc/fonts/fonts.conf.pacnew
/etc/locale.gen.pacnew

OK, got a strange message when downgrading to 5.4, it told me this when I downgraded to 5.7.

Generating grub configuration file ...
Found theme: /usr/share/grub/themes/manjaro/theme.txt
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.8-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.7-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.4-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64-fallback.img
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1.  Check your device.map.
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1.  Check your device.map.
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+/memtest.bin
done 

/dev/sdb1 is the thumb drive for the liveboot. I am manjaro-chrooted into the /dev/sda2 and in the proper install. I don’t know much about the update-grub command but it looks like grub found all 3 kernels on the proper drive, so it should work without the live boot drive.

sh-5.0# pacman-mirrors -f 5 && pacman -Syy linux54 
::INFO Downloading mirrors from repo.manjaro.org
::INFO Using default mirror file
::INFO Querying mirrors - This may take some time
  1.179 New_Zealand    : http://manjaro.mirrors.theom.nz/
  2.027 Belgium        : https://mirror.futureweb.be/manjaro/
  0.968 Belgium        : http://mirror.futureweb.be/manjaro/
  ..... South_Africa   : http://mirror.is.co.za/mirrors/manjaro.org/
  ..... Germany        : http://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/manjaro/
  ..... Germany        : ftp://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/manjaro/
  1.759 Taiwan         : http://free.nchc.org.tw/manjaro/
::INFO Writing mirror list
::Belgium         : https://mirror.futureweb.be/manjaro/stable
::New_Zealand     : http://manjaro.mirrors.theom.nz/stable
::Taiwan          : http://free.nchc.org.tw/manjaro/stable
::South_Africa    : http://mirror.is.co.za/mirrors/manjaro.org/stable
::Germany         : http://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/manjaro/stable
::INFO Mirror list generated and saved to: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core                  169.2 KiB   292 KiB/s 00:01 [###################] 100%
 extra                2013.0 KiB  1716 KiB/s 00:01 [###################] 100%
 community               6.2 MiB  1771 KiB/s 00:04 [###################] 100%
 multilib              194.3 KiB  2.26 MiB/s 00:00 [###################] 100%
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Packages (1) linux54-5.4.64-1

Total Download Size:    82.29 MiB
Total Installed Size:  140.14 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] y
:: Retrieving packages...
 linux54-5.4.64-1...    82.3 MiB  1630 KiB/s 00:52 [###################] 100%
(1/1) checking keys in keyring                     [###################] 100%
(1/1) checking package integrity                   [###################] 100%
(1/1) loading package files                        [###################] 100%
(1/1) checking for file conflicts                  [###################] 100%
(1/1) checking available disk space                [###################] 100%
:: Processing package changes...
(1/1) installing linux54                           [###################] 100%
Optional dependencies for linux54
    crda: to set the correct wireless channels of your country [installed]
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/4) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/4) Updating module dependencies...
(3/4) Updating linux initcpios...
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux54.preset: 'default'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-5.4-x86_64 -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64.img
==> Starting build: 5.4.64-1-MANJARO
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [autodetect]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [block]
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
  -> Running build hook: [keymap]
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64.img
==> Image generation successful
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux54.preset: 'fallback'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-5.4-x86_64 -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64-fallback.img -S autodetect
==> Starting build: 5.4.64-1-MANJARO
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [block]
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
  -> Running build hook: [keymap]
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64-fallback.img
==> Image generation successful
(4/4) Updating Grub-Bootmenu
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found theme: /usr/share/grub/themes/manjaro/theme.txt
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.8-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-5.8-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.7-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-5.7-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.4-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64-fallback.img
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1.  Check your device.map.
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1.  Check your device.map.
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+/memtest.bin
done

That’s no downgrade - it’s simply installation of the current LTS kernel.

Best not to install kernel packages directly but using Manjaro tools:

$ sudo mhwd-kernel -i linux54

This will take care of additional (needed!) accompanying packages such as graphics drivers.

2 Likes

Thanks for the advice. I like that perspective on kernel’s I didn’t know about LTS kernels until I had this problem and I think I’ll be sticking with one once I get this sorted out!

I tried the mhwd-kernal command and had this output.

sh-5.0# sudo mhwd-kernel -i  linux54
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core                  169.2 KiB   234 KiB/s 00:01 [###################] 100%
 extra                2013.0 KiB   264 KiB/s 00:08 [###################] 100%
 community               6.2 MiB   303 KiB/s 00:21 [###################] 100%
 multilib              194.3 KiB   270 KiB/s 00:01 [###################] 100%
error: no targets specified (use -h for help)

I found a couple posts with similar messages one said the error occurred when booting up with a non-manjaro kernel, which is not applicable. The second post said they found a typo between their grub.cfg and the kernel name.

Considering running grub-mkconfig but worried about messing things up more.

While my quote here seems to automatically fix it … your command above has multiple spaces in between the -i and linux54.

PS - if you want to check available kernels you could do mhwd-kernel -l

1 Like

Nice catch! You could be a book editor. Sadly, it still won’t run even with the single space. Thanks though! I tried with a bunch of the different available kernels too, not just the LTS.

sh-5.0# sudo mhwd-kernel -i linux59
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core                                                 169.2 KiB   298 KiB/s 00:01 [###############################################] 100%
 extra                                               2013.0 KiB  1208 KiB/s 00:02 [###############################################] 100%
 community                                              6.2 MiB  1358 KiB/s 00:05 [###############################################] 100%
 multilib                                             194.3 KiB  2003 KiB/s 00:00 [###############################################] 100%
error: no targets specified (use -h for help)

Huh.
Maybe we should make sure mirrors are sorted and you are up to date?

sudo pacman-mirrors -f && sudo pacman -Syyu

Thanks, double checked and still get the same error message. Went down the solution path for other posts with that error message and no dice. I removed one of the kernels not being used, and tried to reinstall it and same error message. I ran update-grub. I double checked my fstab. Can’t find anything wrong. Thinking I might need to copy my dot files and reinstall.