[Sussex] ACPI problem, Debian Wheezy [Fixed]

Sat Aug 11 23:08:06 UTC 2012

Hi Jan,

I am typing this e-mail on the PC that had the ACPI problem. I noted
that Puppy Linux had worked fine when I ran it from CD so I concluded
that the problem wasn't the machine itself. I couldn't find a way of
fixing it with Debian Wheezy installed as the ACPI problem prevented
any method of successful booting into Debian.

I have installed Squeeze & everything is running well - I even went
straight back into my old Gnome 2 desktop with everything as it used to
be before Wheezy went over to Gnome 3 (at which point I abandoned
Gnome).

Many thanks for your help & consideration of the problem. I'm pleased
that this PC is up & running again & I can organise immediate backup
of personal data files!

Gavin.

On Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:51:10 +0100
Jan Henkins <jan at henkins.za.net> wrote:

> Hello Gavin,
> 
> On 2012-08-07 00:56, Gavin Stevens wrote:
> > Hi Jan,
> >
> > Sorry, I should have mentioned that I'd already tried "acpi=off". I
> > tried it again just now & it made a few differences: It produced a
> > "pnpbios" message suggesting that I turn off pnpbios (already 
> > disabled
> > in BIOS); it still appears to try to start ACPI & returns a message
> > saying that there was an "error talking to the kernel via
> > RNETLINK1" &
> > it then goes to a blank screen (before typing "acpi=off" it had the
> > "INVALID _PCT DATA" message).
> >
> > If the machine tries to boot normally (without "acpi=off") it 
> > produces
> > a message "waiting for /dev to be fully populated ACPI: INVALID _PCT
> > DATA" but it carries on booting past that before coming to a halt as
> > mentioned.
> 
> 
> That seems to be a rather specific ACPI-style bug. Unfortunately I'm 
> not a C developer, so even though I managed to get to the part of the 
> kernel source that spits out that specific error [1], I'm at a loss
> as to what to do about it right now.
> 
> 
> > I tried booting in recovery mode (with "acpi=off" for good measure)
> > & I
> > got the command line & was able to log in as root, which is a start.
> 
> OK, this is quite hopeful then. Have you tried to replicate the same 
> kernel parameters used in recovery mode (minus the single user bit of 
> course) for your normal kernel?
> 
> If the problem persists after that test, here are a few things to try 
> (at least that would be what I would do since this clearly seems like
> a kernel/hardware mismatch):
> 
> * Try out a few of the latest live CD's (Fedora 17, Ubuntu 12.04 an 
> 12.10, System Rescue CD, etc.) just to test the kernel/hardware theory
> * Try to roll back to the previously known "good version" of the
> kernel 
> - it should still be installed and available with a few grub config 
> changes
> * Research BIOS updates for your board - it could be that there was a 
> few long-standing ACPI bugs with work-arounds in the kernel, and the 
> latest kernel updates took out the old cruft because of various
> reasons.
> * Try out a few new kernels, or simply roll your own (a bit
> technically involved, but not overly difficult).
> 
> By the way, I cannot remember whether you stated the version of your 
> distro and kernel, so please update us with that.
> 
> > I hope this may assist you in identifying the problem.
> 
> I hope you are aware that I'm doing a lot of straw-clutching here! :-D
> 
> Anyhow, I hope that one of the above activities could help you out.
> 
> 
> >
> > Many thanks,
> > Gavin.
> >
> > On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:25:36 +0100
> > Jan Henkins <jan at henkins.za.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Hello Gavin,
> >>
> >> Have you tried to disable ACPI yet?
> >>
> >> Here is a thread with some tips on how to do it:
> >>
> >> http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2006/08/msg01606.html
> >>
> >> Before you make any lasting changes, you can try it by temporarily
> >> adding the "acpi=off" in GRUB. If that works, you can go and add it
> >> to your GRUB defaults.
> >>
> >> During bootup, press <Ctrl>+<E> in your boot screen. Move the
> >> highlight to the "kernel" entry, and add "acpi-off" at the end.
> >> Once you have done that, hit <Ctrl>+<B> to boot the kernel with
> >> those options.
> >>
> >> Let's see if it works! :-)
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >> Jan Henkins
> >>
> >> On 2012-08-06 17:16, Gavin Stevens wrote:
> >> > After a routine update my main PC will no longer boot 
> >> successfully.
> >> > Everything appears normal in the beginning, but then appears the
> >> > following message: "22.290745 ACPI: INVALID _PCT DATA". The 
> >> numbers
> >> > at
> >> > the beginning vary every time but the rest of the message is the
> >> > same.
> >> > The machine then sits there until I do CTRL+ALT+DEL whereupon the
> >> > machine restarts & does the same thing, or I press the on switch 
> >> of
> >> > the tower & the system shuts down.
> >> >
> >> > I tried a Puppy CD this morning & it booted successfully but I am
> >> > very keen, nay, desperate to learn the possible causes for this
> >> > error message. Searches on the web have not been helpful.
> >> >
> >> > The system is a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, 1GB RAM dual channel 80GB +
> >> > 40 
> >> GB
> >> > HDD capacity. Intel D875PBZ board. This machine has been running
> >> > Debian all its life since June 2004 when I built it.
> >> >
> >> > Any help much appreciated.
> >> >
> >> > Gavin.
> >>
> >>
> >> --
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> >> Sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk
> >> E-mail Address: sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk
> >> Sussex LUG Website: http://www.sussex.lug.org.uk/
> >> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sussex
> >
> >
> > --
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> > Sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > E-mail Address: sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > Sussex LUG Website: http://www.sussex.lug.org.uk/
> > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sussex
> 