[SOLVED] Save an old HP Pavilion G6 Laptop from the Landfill – Legacy BIOS BOOT issue

[SD Noob]

Apologies for all the detail here, but on many posts I've seen the experts ask for more info, so I'm trying to get it all out there the first go. I know this may already be online somewhere but I'm pretty exasperated and have spent way too many hours on this as it is. I've got a circa 2012 HP Pavilion G6 Laptop.

Intel Pentium B490 @ 2GHZ
Original 4 GB RAM (upgraded to 8 GB, tested, working fine)
64 bit OS
512 GB SDD is brand new, just installed, BIOS tested, working fine.

Full system deets at bottom from Linux system / system summary screen.

I've tried 21.3 Mint Cinnamon, XFCE, Lubuntu, most recently trying Linux Mint 20 Ulyana XFCE. All versions do the same thing: Install fine, reboot after initial install perfectly, run perfectly and smoothly for a day or two, then between 1-6 boots later, all come back with the dreaded “error attempt to read or write outside of hd0”. Then when I try to boot into rescue mode it often (but not always) does a kernal panic: “linux mint 21.3 kernel panic not syncing unable to mount root”. I power off (hard boot as everything is frozen) and try this several times, until I am often eventually rewarded with a recovery “safe” boot menu. Grub repair as described on several forums hasn't worked, or worked for a boot or 2, then back to the hd0 thing.

One example - I found & tried:
sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt (Yes I confirmed Mint was on SDA5)
then
sudo grub-install /dev/sda –root-directory=/mnt
then
sudo reboot – No grub errors displayed. Worked for a day, then broke again.

Running the most “demanding” 20.3 Cinnamon actually is smooth as butter, so I don't get what is causing the system to work perfectly for a few days/boots, then just decide to not work any more, and for grub to be corrupted or whatever.

My HP Laptop shipped with Windows 7 originally. My ancient boot menu doesn't offer the option in Security to “disable secure boot”. I also have no option to choose UEFI, which I've seen elsewhere is preferred (or even mandatory, depending upon the forum.) So I was guessing I'm stuck with Legacy BIOS, however - per the system info below, the BIOS is just called:”Hewlett Packard”. (?) I've searched this forum and others to see if there are any specific tricks to use when it's HP's (proprietary?) boot format, but I've not found anything, which has prompted this inquiry. BTW I did download a BIOS/Firmware update app/tool from HP back when it was running on Windows 7 (around 2-3 weeks ago) before installing Linux and there were no BIOS Updates available for this system.

I've followed following detailed instructions below to partition the hard drive. (I'm not trying to run Windows alongside Linux. I'm trying to run AWAY from Windows!

https://youtu.be/Wc4GjV_Ahb8?si=Nm4g1ui6BCE0Zvfg

I've also just installed letting Mint erase the SSD and install based on it's own intelligence without partitioning on my own. I also had thought that during partitioning since I can't use UEFI boot, instead of selecting EFI System Partition as the Primary boot partition, (assuming the “EFI” referred to UEFI booting, which this laptop can't do.) I also installed one time selecting “Reserved BIOS boot area” for the first partition, got a scary message saying the system probably won't boot if I do this, then of course it booted fine and behaved the same as everything else I've tried. In all cases, EVERY time this old system boots perfectly the first go, after install is complete and I remove the ISO installation USB.


Via Recovery Menu I got into system summary screen and 2nd page had a section looking like:

==== LVM State ====
Physical Volumes: not OK (Bad)
Volume Groups: OK (good)

got it to boot in recovery mode and went into system / summary from the Linux Mint menu – System Reports section shows a check mark and “no problems were detected”. Same section nothing comes up in “crash reports”.

When attempting to boot I've seen several screens of information that I can't page up to read, but did get:

/dev/sda5 contains a file system with errors, check forced
deleted inode 14942395 has zero dtime. FIXED.
Inodes that were part of an orphaned linked list found

/dev/sda5: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY: Run fsck MANUALLY. (don't know what flags to use here). Then it says: “ fsck exited with status code 4”
then:
“Failure: file system check of the root filesystem failed”


If the suggested solution is to really dive into the Linux Kernel with a zillion terminal commands, I just don't have that in me. I'm less than a novice and am already too far down the rabbit hole. Frustrating because other than not being able to print wirelesly on my Epson Printer, this would be perfect for my needs and I could brag to everyone how I resurrected a goner laptop and am saving the planet with my ecological thrift. Thanks in advance, and it's perfectly fine if you just tell me to junk this old puppy. But the planet may be angry! Best -

System Snapshot from Linux:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-26-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 
           tk: Gtk 3.24.13 wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Pavilion g6 Notebook PC 
           v: 068A130014204710000620100 serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 1695 v: KBC Version 15.1F serial: <filter> 
           BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: F.32 date: 12/01/2011 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 46.4 Wh condition: 48.8/48.8 Wh (100%) volts: 12.0/11.1 
           model: Hewlett-Packard Primary serial: <filter> status: Discharging 
           Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech M510 serial: <filter> 
           charge: 55% (should be ignored) status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Pentium B940 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Sandy Bridge 
           rev: 7 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 bogomips: 7982 
           Speed: 1996 MHz min/max: 800/2000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1996 2: 1996 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics 
           vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: N/A bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:0106 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: vesa unloaded: fbdev,modesetting 
           resolution: 1024x768~N/A 
           OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 9.0.1 128 bits) v: 3.3 Mesa 20.0.4 compat-v: 3.1 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio 
           vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
           chip ID: 8086:1c20 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-26-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
           driver: rtl8192ce v: kernel port: 4000 bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8176 
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
           driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8136 
           IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 11.57 GiB (2.4%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: Fanxiang S101Q 512GB size: 476.94 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 467.96 GiB used: 11.57 GiB (2.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 8087:0024 
           Device-1: 2-1.1:3 info: Logitech Unifying Receiver type: Keyboard,Mouse,HID 
           driver: logitech-djreceiver,usbhid rev: 2.0 chip ID: 046d:c52b 
           Device-2: 2-1.6:4 info: Microdia type: Video driver: uvcvideo rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 0c45:6321 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 44.0 C mobo: 0.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com ulyana main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:      Processes: 168 Uptime: 3m Memory: 7.72 GiB used: 613.9 MiB (7.8%) Init: systemd v: 245 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client inxi: 3.0.38 

[Pjotr]

Looks like you've got yourself a defective SSD.... Personally, I only trust, and buy, SSDs from well-known manufacturers.

[SD Noob]

Thanks, I'll swap the SSD with the HDD that worked a long time. Are there specific aspects of the issue that make you suspect the SSD? If so, please let me know what they are as I've run other diagnostics and they come up clear for this SSD...

[linux-rox]

Not as confident it's the SSD, but hardware problem seems likely. Works when installed says OS arrived at destination. Flaky thereafter usually means hardware. Same problem with multiple versions of Linux points the same direction.

Could be lots of things, though. Yes, the SSD, but also RAM, the CPU, the power supply, or a flaky connector or almost-broken wire.

[MiZoG]

@linux-rox
OP clearly received filesystem error messages. We should for now narrow down our hypotheses to storage drive errors.

@SD Noob
Your system told you this:

/dev/sda5: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY: Run fsck MANUALLY. (don't know what flags to use here). Then it says: “ fsck exited with status code 4”

You have to repair your filesystem + check attempted while in recovery mode failed presumably because your root partition was in use.

Easiest imho way to run fsck is on a live session. Boot with an installation media, open "Disks", mount the local partition and check/repair from there.
Otherwise you can schedule checks with tune2fs. Sometimes you can force fsck in recovery mode. You can add a boot argument to grub to force fsck or edit fstab etc (things you obviously want to avoid).

Now if you after repairing the filesystem with success problem keeps returning, without you doing anything wrong (like forcing your laptop to power off by pressing the power button when your system freezes for some reason), then you will have valid reasons to look for a drive replacement.

[linux-rox]

We should for now narrow down our hypotheses to storage drive errors.

I've not run into it myself, but rene used to post often (example) that other hardware problems can manifest as file system errors. Basically, the processing error gets saved to disk and noticed there. Nothing wrong with checking the SSD first, though.

[SD Noob]

Many thanks to everyone for reviewing my long message. Thanks so much, Pjotr, as you led me directly to the solution. I'd tested the SSD in Windows, CrystalDiskMark, and using GSmart Control in Linux. All clear from these sources. I realized the only thing I hadn't tried was just swapping the SSD back to an HDD. I did this and have had no issues at all. Running Mint 21.3 Virginia, and it's been fantastic! For my needs I'm delighted, and the system has been very stable. There must be some type of basic compatibility issue, given that back in 2011 when my old HP was made, an SSD probably wasn't even a gleam in an engineer's eye yet! Thanks again everyone!