Ubuntu 16.04.7 boot failure with Linux 4.4.0-204 -- fixed with -206 update
by flshope from LinuxQuestions.org on (#5FPVJ)
On 03/19/21 I did a routine weekly software update on my HP-2133 laptop running Ubuntu 16.04.7 LTS. The update included Linux 4.4.0-204. On reboot the machine crashed (i.e., frozen screen, keyboard, mouse, etc.). Only a forced power-off had any effect. Over the following several days, I tried lots of stuff, booting many times, to understand what happened, mostly without success (I am not a good admin type). I looked at the /var/log logs where the crashes occurred but didn't see anything I recognized as relevant. I did learn the machine would still boot with the with the previous, -203, kernel and would run normally. Under -204, the machine always crashed, but at different times during the boot: during the splash, after the log-on greeter appeared, after log-on to Xfce (my default desktop environment). Once or twice I managed to log into IceWM and run normally until I was ready to log off.
Yesterday (03/22/21), I tried another routine update (sudo aptitude update, apt list -a --upgradable, sudo aptitude safe-upgrade) after booting into the -203 kernel from Grub. I didn't want to try to run under -204 because I was afraid of a crash during the update, which I have learned can really create a mess. The update step listed the 4.4.0-204 kernel as still available for update. Despite not understanding that, I went ahead with the safe-upgrade step. During the update, the output indicated that 4.4.0-206 was being installed. After the update, the machine rebooted normally with -206 and has booted successfully several times since, no crashes.
I guess my problem is solved, but I have no insight into what was wrong.
Anybody else run into this problem?
Machine summary
===============
HP 2133 Mini-note PC
Purchase date: 2008
CPU: VIA C7-M Processor (1200MHz, 32 bit, 1200 MHz)
RAM: 2 GiB
Display: VIA Technologies VGA CN896/VN896/P4M900, 9-inch diagonal
Wifi: Broadcom BCM4311 802.11a/b/g
Ethernet: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5788 Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbit/s)
Audio: VIA Technologies VT8237A/VT8251 HDA Controller
Hard disk: TOSHIBA MK1246GS (120 GB)
OS: Ubuntu 16.04.7 LTS
Desktop environment: Xfce 4.12
Hostname: HP2008
Yesterday (03/22/21), I tried another routine update (sudo aptitude update, apt list -a --upgradable, sudo aptitude safe-upgrade) after booting into the -203 kernel from Grub. I didn't want to try to run under -204 because I was afraid of a crash during the update, which I have learned can really create a mess. The update step listed the 4.4.0-204 kernel as still available for update. Despite not understanding that, I went ahead with the safe-upgrade step. During the update, the output indicated that 4.4.0-206 was being installed. After the update, the machine rebooted normally with -206 and has booted successfully several times since, no crashes.
I guess my problem is solved, but I have no insight into what was wrong.
Anybody else run into this problem?
Machine summary
===============
HP 2133 Mini-note PC
Purchase date: 2008
CPU: VIA C7-M Processor (1200MHz, 32 bit, 1200 MHz)
RAM: 2 GiB
Display: VIA Technologies VGA CN896/VN896/P4M900, 9-inch diagonal
Wifi: Broadcom BCM4311 802.11a/b/g
Ethernet: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5788 Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbit/s)
Audio: VIA Technologies VT8237A/VT8251 HDA Controller
Hard disk: TOSHIBA MK1246GS (120 GB)
OS: Ubuntu 16.04.7 LTS
Desktop environment: Xfce 4.12
Hostname: HP2008