3

I'm running Ubuntu 14.04 on an Intel NUC and it won't boot! The last successful boot was earlier today but now each time I try it gets stuck on the Grub menu where it prompts for memory check etc. This is not a dual boot system, so this screen shouldn't ever appear, and it never has before.

It's GRUB version 2.02~beta2-9, which is a little disconcerting, as I'm on the stable sources.

Unfortunately the keyboard (I've tried 2 keyboards just in case) is not responding at this point in the boot process, so I can't select the "Ubuntu" menu option in Grub. The keyboard works during the bios stage, so I can configure it to boot from USB, and I tried a flash drive with 14.04 on it. The flash drive works in my laptop but is completely ignored by the NUC (I tried all 3 USB ports!).

It seems that I have no way of getting into the machine at all! The Intel support site was my first option, but the site is down. I expect it's a long shot, but if anyone has any ideas I'd be very grateful.

Improve this question

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
1

If grub somehow got corrupted, reinstalling it should help. Try re-installing grub via a live USB. I found some instructions here.

Improve this answer
6
  • That looks like a useful resource but unfortunately I can't even boot a live USB at the moment.
    – Pudica
    Jun 1, 2014 at 8:54
  • If you are able to enter the BIOS (as you stated in your question), you should be able to boot off of a USB.
    – Moose
    Jun 1, 2014 at 8:55
  • The NUC has a very intuitive "Visual BIOS", which can be used with a mouse and has tooltips. It should be really hard to get it set up wrong, and I had no problem booting from USB when I originally installed Ubuntu. I usually have it set to ignore USB etc to boot faster, so would not have noticed if the USB issue is a result of a hardware fault or BIOS corruption had happened in the last few months. I'm not sure if there is anything which could cause the BIOS and Grub issues simultaneously.
    – Pudica
    Jun 1, 2014 at 9:11
  • If you can get into your BIOS, can you make sure USB is on the top of your boot preferences list, so that it will look for USB before booting off of the HDD. Also disable the ignore USB option.
    – Moose
    Jun 1, 2014 at 9:15
  • In the BIOS I have "Boot USB devices first" and "USB Boot" checked. USB does not show up in the Boot Priority list (only the SSD is listed there), and when I press f10 to get the Boot Menu, the only option is the SSD. I found a Puppy Linux live CD, so tried booting from an external DVD player. It powers up, but is not recognised during boot or in the f10 boot menu.
    – Pudica
    Jun 1, 2014 at 9:41
1

In addition to DevGeek's submission, here is a potential solution you could look into:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/initramfs-tools/+bug/1238194

Issue symptoms similar to your description, if not identical. Worth a shot.

Excerpt from source:

Bug Description [Justification] With the kernel in 13.10, some systems use a different USB host driver than previously. Failing to include this driver in the initramfs causes regressions for users who need to interact with the system in early boot using a USB keyboard, such as users with an encrypted root filesystem. Such systems are not bootable with this host driver missing. [Test case] 1. On an affected system, reboot to a kernel from 13.04. 2. Install the initramfs-tools package from -proposed. 3. Reboot to the kernel from 13.10. 4. Verify that you are able to type your passphrase at the prompt in the initramfs. [Regression potential] Minimal. The update-initramfs script will ignore missing modules (such as the many other modules in the list which are built-ins), and the only change made is to copy the module into the initramfs: it will only be loaded in the initramfs if udev determines it's needed, just as it would load it after switching to the root filesystem.
Improve this answer
3
  • Would you mind summarising the solution in your answer? That way, if the link goes down the answer will remain useful.
    – daviewales
    Jun 1, 2014 at 9:33
  • Thanks, I've bookmarked that one. Unfortunately I don't have enough reputation to Vote Up answers.
    – Pudica
    Jun 1, 2014 at 9:33
  • If the solution works for you, you can come back and accept the answer. This will actually give @SonOfEntropy more reputation than upvoting would give. Accepting gives +15, and upvoting gives +10. Accepting also gives you +2 reputation. See this link and this link
    – daviewales
    Jun 1, 2014 at 9:43
1

The Intel support site came back online and one of the "troubleshooting tips" was to restore BIOS defaults. Naturally I thought "well that won't help!"...but it did. Even though the option to "Boot USB devices first" is unchecked, it does boot from my flash drive, and can boot normally to the installed Ubuntu as well. How confusing!

This was obviously a difficult issue to advise on remotely, so I thank everyone for their time.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .