Bug#463487: Kernel 2.6.22 hangs at boot (hardware-software prob.)
Package: linux-image-2.6.22
Version: 2.6.22-3-486
After I installed a used suspect hard-drive which has a bad history, I
booted from another drive. It hung just after the line:
checking if image is initramfs... it is
It hung at the same place when I tried to boot from the suspect drive.
It did the same when I removed the suspect hard drive and tried
booting from the good drive. But after waiting for about an hour, it
booted OK under these same conditions. Before this it booted OK from
a floppy and a memory test (couldn't test all of it) showed all OK.
Now the suspect hard-drive was removed from my PC about a month ago to
fix a problem of the PC (an old Pentium I) shutting down by itself
once in a while (every several hours, etc.). This problem started
after I replaced the power supply with a "better" used one. Thus the
suspect HD may draw too much current, etc. and cause lower voltages as
well as trip the overload protection built into the power supply.
However, it's likely not just a hardware problem since others on the
Internet have reported a hang at the same place in the boot sequence.
See Ubuntu bug #155278. I think it's a race condition that happens if
the hardware is somewhat degraded in some way. Also, I've noticed a
long pause of a few seconds after this initramfs... message and think
that something wrong is going on at this point.
David Lawyer
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