[SOLVED] Kernel upgrade from 4.4.0-119 to 4.4.0-121 => grub prompt

[littlehuman]

Hi all,

Quite strange issue here (at least for the noob that I am)
When upgrading my Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia from 4.4.0-119 to 4.4.0-121 (4.4.0-121.145), all seems fine regarding the install's log, but when I reboot, I then face a grub prompt instead of the menu I usually have.

Hopefully I was able to restore my machine thanks to Timeshift and a live USB key.

I then retried the update, first the linux-libc-dev, then rebooted, then install the new kernel, carefully watching the install logs, no error, no warning, then even manually executed sudo update-grub before reboot, but same result, a cold grub prompt without any menu.

This is the first time having this issue, all previous kernel updates of 4.4 series were fine

What do you guys think ?

Below is my configuration

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System:    Host: spinoza Kernel: 4.4.0-119-generic x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.7
           Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: ASUSTeK (portable) product: UX51VZA v: 1.0
           Mobo: ASUSTeK model: UX51VZA v: 1.0 Bios: American Megatrends v: UX51VZA.204 date: 12/03/2012
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i7-3612QM (-HT-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB 
           clock speeds: max: 3100 MHz 1: 2023 MHz 2: 1328 MHz 3: 1901 MHz 4: 1202 MHz 5: 1294 MHz 6: 2057 MHz
           7: 1569 MHz 8: 1457 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller
           Card-2: NVIDIA GK107M [GeForce GT 650M]
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1920x1080@59.97hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Ivybridge Mobile GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.2.8
Audio:     Card Intel 7 Series/C210 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-119-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 driver: iwlwifi
           IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet driver: atl1c
           IF: enp4s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 256.1GB (18.1% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: SanDisk_SD5SE212 size: 128.0GB
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: SanDisk_SD5SE212 size: 128.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 227G used: 36G (17%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/md0p1
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 8.47GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
RAID:      Device-1: /dev/md0 - active raid: 0 components: online: sda2 sdb1
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 41.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 2600
Info:      Processes: 246 Uptime: 3 min Memory: 952.7/7868.7MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.2.35 

[Schultz]

The reason you got the grub screen is so you can choose which kernel to boot into. This is a useful thing if the newer kernel doesn't work well with your system. Why you're getting the grub screen at this kernel update, and not at any other kernel update you did, I have no answer for. In the few years I've been using Mint, I've never got the grub screen when updating the kernel.

BTW, restoring your system via Timeshift was a bit drastic for this "small" problem, I think.

[littlehuman]

Thanks for your answer.

Actually, I always have had the grub screen with a menu of kernels selection, and indeed, after upgrading the kernel in the past, there is a new entry and all previous kernels, which is perfect.

Now what I have is a grub prompt, no menu any more. That is the issue.

[Schultz]

That's interesting. I don't know what you mean by a "prompt." How about a screenshot of it?

EDIT: I guess you can't take a screenshot of it (wasn't thinking). Can you take a photo of it and post it here?

[littlehuman]

By a prompt I mean this (it's quite the same situation except I did not enter the ls command, but same screen with "Minimal BASH-like line..." text at the top of it)

EDIT: please note this is not my own screenshot but a generic one to show the "grub prompt" I face after kernel upgrade


Pardon my english. Maybe this not what the word prompt exactly means.

[Schultz]

I've never seen anything like that before. Looks like one for the experts here. Did you do anything else besides updating the kernel that could be causing this?

[littlehuman]

Nope.

My /etc/default/grub config file is tuned ( ipv6 disable) since install (approx. 5 months ago) and looks like this, kernel upgrade of the 4.4 series always went fine till today :

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# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in this file, see:
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=7
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=7
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=""
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="ipv6.disable=1"

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

[Cosmo.]

What is really astonishing and where I cannot think of an explanation is the stone-aged grub version. Even old Qiana (= LM 17) has 2.02-xxx.

[littlehuman]

The screenshot above is not mine but a generic one to show the grub prompt I have.

Here is the grub I have on my system :

Screenshot from 2018-04-23 20-36-31.png

[karlchen]

Hello, littlehuman.

Kernel 4.4.0-121(145) has just been installed here. The automatic "update-grub" operation has been executed at the end of the kernel installation, as designed.
The system has been rebooted. The Grub menu here holds all installed kernel entries, 4.4.0-121 on top of the list and therefore the default kernel to be booted.
The system has come up without any issues.

The empty Grub menu suggests that something must have gone wrong during the kernel upgrade installation or during the "update-grub" operation.
Relevant details about such errors would normally be found in the files
+ /var/log/syslog
+ /var/log/dpkg.log
+ /var/log/apt/term.log
+ /var/log/apt/history.log

I am not quote sure, but I suspect that reverting the system with the help of Timeshift may have nuked any piece of evidence of what had gone wrong.

~~~
About the Grub screenshot:
The Grub prompt itself is not particular helpful. Reason: The relevant information is not displayed in the Grub screenshot, but in the messages which have rolled out of the visible screen area.
In order to be able to inspect the boot messages which are normally not displayed during startup, what I do is this:
In the file /etc/default/grub I change the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" to read

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GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="splash"

and execute

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sudo update-grub

in order to enable the change.
At boot time, I can press the ESC key while the Mint splash screen is displayed thus making Grub display all the startup messages.
In case of boot problems these messages may be helpful in identifying the cause of trouble.

Best regards,
Karl

[littlehuman]

Hello, karlchen,

Thanks for all this information. I finally was able to upgrade without any issue.
This time, GRUB menu is as usual after a kernel upgrade, with new default entry for 4.4.0-121-generic and previous versions listed.

Only difference compared to the two first tries is that this time, in the BIOS, I re-enabled bluetooth that I disabled a few days ago as I never use it. I forget to mention that because I simply did not think at it.
Maybe this was due to this as this is the only difference ? Next time I do a fresh install of Mint I will do it with bluetooth disabled in BIOS instead of disabling it after as it may be disturbing for the OS I guess.

Also, I will be more cautious at collecting evidences of all the log files you mentioned before restoring a snapshot as this is quite interesting to improve knowledge and maybe also useful for others.

Thank you all for your help