Systemd[1]: Failed to start Journal Service

Support
1

Hello,

I’ve been encountering an issue with Manjaro since installation. Often, on startup, I encounter an error after selecting to boot Manjaro in the grub menu that states Failed to start Journal Service.

This error is something that occurs frequently, but intermittently the error does not occur and I am able to boot successfully. When this error occurs, I cannot open a console using CTRL+ALT+F2. I’ve set up my PC to dual boot Manjaro and Windows by following the guide on these forums. Looking for advice on how to resolve this issue.

Additional information, I have run journalctl -p 3 -xb and see the failed to start journal service error, but I am not able to see more details on the error when I try running sudo systemctl list-units --failed.

2

I would like to add that I had reviewed several posts on this forums and others regarding this issue, but nowhere does the issue seem to be resolved. Would downgrading my kernel potentially be a solution? To be honest, I’m afraid to even try since I can at least get into Manjaro if I restart my computer several times. Not sure if downgrading the kernel would exasperate the issues I am having.

3

Why?
Manjaro allowes for multiple kernels to be installed, just choose at boot which one to use.

4

I was tracking this topic with interest. The OP doesn’t contain much to go on (ie: hardware, current kernel version, new installation from what source, etc). Might want to checkout:

5

Maybe this will help provide some information for further assistance:

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.78-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.15-x86_64
    root=UUID=b4399aaa-6477-4385-b6ff-ac03feb5335e rw quiet
    udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.26.3 tk: Qt v: 5.15.7 info: latte-dock
    wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Micro product: B747 v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME Z590-P WIFI v: Rev 1.xx
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 1601
    date: 05/07/2022
Battery:
  Message: No system battery data found. Is one present?
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.48 GiB used: 2.58 GiB (16.7%)
  RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-10700K bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Comet Lake
    gen: core 10 level: v3 note: check built: 2020 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
    model-id: 0xA5 (165) stepping: 5 microcode: 0xF4
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 8 tpc: 2 threads: 16 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 512 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 2 MiB desc: 8x256 KiB L3: 16 MiB
    desc: 1x16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2135 high: 4410 min/max: 800/5100 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 1300 2: 1388 3: 3427
    4: 3095 5: 4410 6: 3197 7: 2457 8: 1266 9: 808 10: 800 11: 1336 12: 3667
    13: 2834 14: 2011 15: 840 16: 1330 bogomips: 121639
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat
    arch_capabilities arch_perfmon art avx avx2 bmi1 bmi2 bts clflush
    clflushopt cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64
    dtherm dts epb erms est f16c flush_l1d fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr ht hwp
    hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_notify ibpb ibrs ibrs_enhanced ida intel_pt
    invpcid invpcid_single lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe mpx
    msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx ospke pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pdpe1gb
    pebs pge pku pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pts rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good
    sdbg sep smap smep smx ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall
    tm tm2 tsc tsc_adjust tsc_deadline_timer vme x2apic xgetbv1 xsave xsavec
    xsaveopt xsaves xtopology xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: retbleed mitigation: Enhanced IBRS
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl and seccomp
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 status: Vulnerable: eIBRS with unprivileged eBPF
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 23 [Radeon RX 6600/6600 XT/6600M] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: RDNA-2 code: Navi-2x process: TSMC n7 (7nm)
    built: 2020-22 pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports:
    active: DP-2,DP-3 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:73ff
    class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.4 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.5
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu unloaded: modesetting,radeon
    alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 5120x1440 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1353x380mm (53.27x14.96")
    s-diag: 1405mm (55.33")
  Monitor-1: DP-2 mapped: DisplayPort-1 pos: right model: Lenovo LEN L28u-30
    serial: <filter> built: 2020 res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 105 gamma: 1.2
    size: 621x341mm (24.45x13.43") diag: 708mm (27.9") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 3840x2160 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: DP-3 mapped: DisplayPort-2 pos: primary,left
    model: Lenovo LEN L28u-30 serial: <filter> built: 2020 res: 2560x1440 hz: 60
    dpi: 105 gamma: 1.2 size: 621x341mm (24.45x13.43") diag: 708mm (27.9")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 3840x2160 min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.2.3 renderer: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (navi23
    LLVM 14.0.6 DRM 3.42 5.15.78-1-MANJARO) direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 1-9:3
    chip-ID: 0d8c:0005 bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:f0c8 class-ID: 0300
    class-ID: 0403 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: AMD Navi 21/23 HDMI/DP Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 03:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:ab28
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: C-Media Blue Snowball type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
  Sound API: ALSA v: k5.15.78-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.21 running: no
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.59 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 2
    speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:2723 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp6s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Message: No bluetooth data found.
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.82 TiB used: 30.91 GiB (1.7%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 211210WD temp: 26.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:6 vendor: Crucial model: CT1000P3SSD8
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: P9CR30A temp: 29.9 C scheme: GPT
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 915.53 GiB (98.32%) used: 30.91 GiB (3.4%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme1n1p2 maj-min: 259:8 label: N/A
    uuid: b4399aaa-6477-4385-b6ff-ac03feb5335e
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 316 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme1n1p1 maj-min: 259:7
    label: NO_LABEL uuid: DDA0-3D14
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1 size: 256 MiB fs: vfat label: SYSTEM
    uuid: 386C-F31B
  ID-2: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 size: 128 MiB fs: <superuser required>
    label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-3: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3 size: 930.2 GiB fs: ntfs label: Windows
    uuid: 0A366DF0366DDCE7
  ID-4: /dev/nvme0n1p4 maj-min: 259:4 size: 560 MiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
    uuid: 1276C01E76C00487
  ID-5: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5 size: 400 MiB fs: ntfs
    label: Windows RE tools uuid: A6386E80386E4EFD
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 16 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 1-2:2 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    power: 100mA chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-9:3 info: C-Media Blue Snowball type: Audio,HID
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 0d8c:0005 class-ID: 0300
    serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 1-11:4 info: Elan Micro Optical Mouse type: Mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s
    power: 100mA chip-ID: 04f3:0235 class-ID: 0301
  Device-3: 1-12:5 info: Megawin Defender Gaming Keyboard type: Keyboard
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s
    power: 100mA chip-ID: 0e6a:02c0 class-ID: 0301
  Device-4: 1-13:6 info: ASUSTek AURA LED Controller type: HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 16mA
    chip-ID: 0b05:19af class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Hub-3: 2-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 9 rev: 3.1 speed: 20 Gb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 26.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 30.0 C
    mem: 26.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 0
Info:
  Processes: 355 Uptime: 24m wakeups: 0 Init: systemd v: 251 default: graphical
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 clang: 14.0.6 Packages: pm: pacman
  pkgs: 1312 libs: 335 tools: pamac,yay pm: flatpak pkgs: 0 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9
  running-in: kitty inxi: 3.3.23
6

I’ll explain what I meant. If I install a new kernel and then I no longer am able to bypass the Failed to start Journal Service and boot into my OS, I would be in a much worse situation. At the moment, I am able to boot after several system restarts.

7

Oh wait, I understand now what you mean. Yes, you’re right then. I will try this. I was not aware that I would be able to select the kernel at boot

8

For documentation purposes, I will list out what I have done. I installed and tried the following kernels:

  • linux419
  • linux510
  • linux515
  • linux60

Originally, I was using linux515. None of the new kernels fixed the issue.

9

Trying to bump this thread. I still haven’t been able to resolve my issue.