Struck at "Booting a command list" when booting kernel 6.0.12+

Ask Fedora
1

Explanation/Intro

I can’t get Fedora 41 to boot, even from USB, it never goes anywhere. Eventually I installed Fedora 35 and then updated my way to Fedora 41.

However I cannot boot with the updated kernels for any Fedora version over 35. So basically I am booting Fedora 41 on the 6.0.12 kernel, and it kind of works but doesn’t seem good in the long term.

I can’t get nvidia drivers (from dnf) to install either, don’t know if that has to do with kernel version or something else but havn’t gotten them to work.

What I’ve tried

  • Removing quiet and rhgb (still no error message only now it freezes at “Booting a command list” instead of black screen.
  • Pressing ESC directly after grub2 (no change)
  • Setting maxcpus=1 on the linux vmliniz command line (no change)
  • Rebuilding initramfs images using dracut –regenerate-all –force (no change)
  • Countless tries of reinstalling dnf nvidia drivers, and dnf nvidia 470 drivers
  • Disable fast-boot
  • Disable secure-boot
  • Setting several flags on the linux kernel command to gain more error messages but to no avail.
  • Setting module_blacklist=ucsi_acpi (no change)

System info

All commands here are run on the 6.0.12 kernel since it’s the only one I can get to boot.

Laptop specs:
ASUS B5604CVF with an intel i7 and gtx2050, specs: ExpertBook B5 (B5604) | AI PC for Work | ASUS Global - Tech Specs . `

Output from uname -a
Linux fedora 6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Dec 8 16:53:55 UTC 2022 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Output from inxi -Fzx

System:
  Kernel: 6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
    v: 2.37-25.fc35
  Desktop: GNOME v: 47.2 Distro: Fedora Linux 41 (Workstation Edition)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: ASUS EXPERTBOOK B5604CVF_B5604CVF
    v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: B5604CVF v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: ASUSTeK (Licensed by AMI LLC.) v: B5604CVF.301 date: 07/05/2024
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 22.5 Wh (34.0%) condition: 66.2/63.0 Wh (105.0%)
    volts: 11.0 min: 12.0 model: C340152 status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: 10-core model: 13th Gen Intel Core i7-1355U bits: 64 type: MCP
    smt: disabled arch: Raptor Lake rev: 3 cache: L1: 928 KiB L2: 6.5 MiB
    L3: 12 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1397 min/max: 400/5000:3700 cores: 1: 1397 2: 1397
    3: 1397 4: 1397 5: 1397 6: 1397 7: 1397 8: 1397 9: 1397 10: 1397
    bogomips: 52224
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Raptor Lake-P [UHD Graphics] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-13 bus-ID: 00:02.0
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA107M [GeForce RTX 2050] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nouveau
    v: kernel arch: Turing bus-ID: 01:00.0
  Device-3: BillionPixels USB2.0 FHD UVC WebCam driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    bus-ID: 3-7:3
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.14 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.4 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting dri: iris gpu: i915 resolution: 1280x800
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.2.8 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Graphics (RPL-U)
  API: EGL Message: EGL data requires eglinfo. Check --recommends.
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Raptor Lake-P/U/H cAVS vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl bus-ID: 00:1f.3
  API: ALSA v: k6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64 status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.7 status: active
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Raptor Lake PCH CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:14.3
  IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Ethernet I219-LM driver: e1000e v: kernel port: N/A
    bus-ID: 00:1f.6
  IF: eno2 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX211 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
    bus-ID: 3-10:4
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.3
    lmp-v: 12
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 9.54 GiB (2.0%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Micron model: MTFDKBA512QFM-1BD1AABGB
    size: 476.94 GiB temp: 31.9 C
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 475.35 GiB used: 9.26 GiB (1.9%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3
  ID-2: /boot size: 973.4 MiB used: 263.2 MiB (27.0%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-3: /boot/efi size: 598.8 MiB used: 19.3 MiB (3.2%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
  ID-4: /home size: 475.35 GiB used: 9.26 GiB (1.9%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 50.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB note: est. available: 30.83 GiB used: 2.53 GiB (8.2%)
  Processes: 347 Uptime: 3m Init: systemd target: graphical (5)
  Packages: N/A note: see --rpm Compilers: gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.32
    inxi: 3.3.36

Getting this to work will be my number one priority for the next hours, so I will try anything you suggest as fast as I can and update the post directly.

Thanks
Oskar

2

Please do not update the original post, but add new replies so all comments are kept in sequence

When pasting text please use the </> (preformatted text) button instead of the block quote button so the display is formatted the same as seen on-screen.

You have an nvidia RTX 2050 gpu so it would be better overall to use the nvidia drivers instead of the default nouveau drivers.

Please post the output of the following.
cat /etc/fedora-release
dnf repolist
dnf list --installed kernel

3

Answer to Jeff:
Hello Jeff,

Okay I will not update the original post with things tried and rater do it in comments. I will just update post with preformatted text.

I have tried without success to install nvidia drivers as mentioned in the beginning:

I can’t get nvidia drivers (from dnf) to install either, don’t know if that has to do with kernel version or something else but havn’t gotten them to work.

Commands you asked for:
cat /etc/fedora-release

Fedora release 41 (Forty One)

dnf repolist

repo id                                        repo name                               
copr:copr.fedorainfracloud.org:phracek:PyCharm Copr repo for PyCharm owned by phracek  
fedora                                         Fedora 41 - x86_64                      
fedora-cisco-openh264                          Fedora 41 openh264 (From Cisco) - x86_64
google-chrome                                  google-chrome                           
rpmfusion-free                                 RPM Fusion for Fedora 41 - Free         
rpmfusion-free-updates                         RPM Fusion for Fedora 41 - Free - Update
rpmfusion-nonfree                              RPM Fusion for Fedora 41 - Nonfree      
rpmfusion-nonfree-nvidia-driver                RPM Fusion for Fedora 41 - Nonfree - NVI
rpmfusion-nonfree-steam                        RPM Fusion for Fedora 41 - Nonfree - Ste
rpmfusion-nonfree-updates                      RPM Fusion for Fedora 41 - Nonfree - Upd
updates                                        Fedora 41 - x86_64 - Updates

dnf list --installed kernel

Installed packages
kernel.x86_64 6.0.12-100.fc35 updates

Continuing regarding nvidia and kernels:
At some point I got a suspision that akmods tried to install nvidia drivers for the newer kernel (which were installed but not booted) so I tried removing the newer kernals and useddnf versionlock to lock the kernel to 6.0.12 and then install nvidia drivers. But then dnf does not seem to be able to even fetch the drivers.

sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia

Updating and loading repositories:
 Copr repo for PyCharm owned by phracek                               100% |   3.8 KiB/s |   1.8 KiB |  00m00s
 RPM Fusion for Fedora 41 - Free - Updates                            100% |  14.1 KiB/s |   7.2 KiB |  00m01s
 google-chrome                                                        100% |  47.3 KiB/s |   1.3 KiB |  00m00s
 RPM Fusion for Fedora 41 - Nonfree - NVIDIA Driver                   100% |  20.8 KiB/s |   8.1 KiB |  00m00s
 RPM Fusion for Fedora 41 - Nonfree - Steam                           100% |  78.3 KiB/s |   7.8 KiB |  00m00s
 RPM Fusion for Fedora 41 - Nonfree - Updates                         100% |  15.6 KiB/s |   7.8 KiB |  00m01s
 Fedora 41 - x86_64 - Updates                                         100% |  35.1 KiB/s |  25.3 KiB |  00m01s
 google-chrome                                                        100% |  48.0 KiB/s |   3.3 KiB |  00m00s
 Fedora 41 - x86_64 - Updates                                         100% |   2.1 MiB/s |   3.0 MiB |  00m01s
Repositories loaded.
Failed to resolve the transaction:
Problem: conflicting requests
  - package akmod-nvidia-3:560.35.03-1.fc41.x86_64 from rpmfusion-nonfree requires akmods, but none of the providers can be installed
  - package akmod-nvidia-3:565.77-1.fc41.x86_64 from rpmfusion-nonfree-nvidia-driver requires akmods, but none of the providers can be installed
  - package akmod-nvidia-3:565.77-1.fc41.x86_64 from rpmfusion-nonfree-updates requires akmods, but none of the providers can be installed
  - package akmods-0.6.0-4.fc41.noarch from fedora requires (kernel-devel-matched if kernel-core), but none of the providers can be installed
  - package akmods-0.6.0-6.fc41.noarch from updates requires (kernel-devel-matched if kernel-core), but none of the providers can be installed
  - package kernel-devel-matched-6.11.4-301.fc41.x86_64 from fedora requires kernel-core = 6.11.4-301.fc41, but none of the providers can be installed
  - package kernel-devel-matched-6.12.4-200.fc41.x86_64 from updates requires kernel-core = 6.12.4-200.fc41, but none of the providers can be installed
  - problem with installed package
  - package kernel-core-6.11.4-301.fc41.x86_64 from fedora is filtered out by exclude filtering
  - package kernel-core-6.12.4-200.fc41.x86_64 from updates is filtered out by exclude filtering
You can try to add to command line:
  --skip-broken to skip uninstallable packages

So I think my Nvidia driver problems seem to be because I use an older kernel than Fedora 41 expects.

4

:100:
fedora 41 expects to use the 6.11 kernels.
Rpmfusion has disabled repos for all versions f39 and older so it seems unlikely that you will be able to install the nvidia drivers from rpmfusion as long as you have it locked to use only the 6.0 kernel.

I would suggest solving the issue with why only the 6.0 kernel from f35 is booting and get your system booting properly with a modern kernel before even considering to attempt using the nvidia drivers.

What you are attempting is to use a driver intended for the 6.11 kernel on a 6.0 kernel and that is putting the cart before the horse.

Have you been able to boot successfully with a fedora 41 install media on USB?

That system has an i7-1355U processor the firmware is from July 2024 so there is no apparent reason it should not boot with f41 and the later kernels.

It is possible that, since you apparently started with f35 and have upgraded, there is some config from that older version of fedora that may interfere with booting the newer kernels. (It may be that the simplest solution would be to do a new clean install, which could be done without wiping out your user data.)

Please also show the output of cat /proc/cmdline and cat /etc/default/grub as well as sudo ls -R /boot

5

Yes I agree that focusing on the Nvidia drivers before solving the outdated kernel is a waste of time, which is why my post barely mentions nvdida drivers, I only brought it up since you spoke about nouveau drivers.

No, this was the first thing I tried, but it just boots to black screen. (Probably same “Booting a command list” if I could remove the rhgb and quiet flags on the usb install launch command, but I never tried it)

This was a clean install in the beginning. The only reason I started with f35 and upgraded to f41 was that I couldn’t get the f41 usb to boot at all.

I will install f41 on usb again and give it another try. I havn’t been able to start using the computer yet so I don’t care about any data on it.

Commands
cat /proc/cmdline

BOOT_IMAGE=(hd0,gpt2)/vmlinuz-6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64 root=UUID=80c3724f-42d0-47bd-91ab-b35bf33b80a6 ro rootflags=subvol=root

cat /etc/default/grup

GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="$(sed 's, release .*$,,g' /etc/system-release)"
GRUB_DEFAULT=2
GRUB_DISABLE_SUBMENU=true
GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT="console"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nvidia-drm.modeset=1"
GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"
GRUB_ENABLE_BLSCFG=true

(I set GRUB_DEFAULT=2 here so I wouldn’t have to select the f35 kernel all the time, I also removed quiet and rhgb flags on GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX. But I havn’t touch any thing else)

sudo ls -R /boot

/boot:
config-6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64				 loader
efi							 lost+found
extlinux						 symvers-6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64.gz
grub2							 System.map-6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64
initramfs-0-rescue-67bc16f7f8c245f0a8724dbe92d6b278.img  vmlinuz-0-rescue-67bc16f7f8c245f0a8724dbe92d6b278
initramfs-6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64.img			 vmlinuz-6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64

/boot/efi:
EFI  mach_kernel  System

/boot/efi/EFI:
BOOT  fedora

/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT:
BOOTIA32.EFI  BOOTX64.EFI  fbia32.efi  fbx64.efi

/boot/efi/EFI/fedora:
BOOTIA32.CSV  gcdia32.efi  grub.cfg	 grubx64.efi  mmx64.efi  shimia32.efi
BOOTX64.CSV   gcdx64.efi   grubia32.efi  mmia32.efi   shim.efi	 shimx64.efi

/boot/efi/System:
Library

/boot/efi/System/Library:
CoreServices

/boot/efi/System/Library/CoreServices:
SystemVersion.plist

/boot/extlinux:
cat.c32        debug.c32     gpxecmd.c32   kontron_wdt.c32  ls.c32	 poweroff.c32  syslinux.c32
chain.c32      dhcp.c32      hdt.c32	   ldlinux.c32	    lua.c32	 prdhcp.c32    vesa.c32
cmd.c32        dir.c32	     hexdump.c32   lfs.c32	    mboot.c32	 pwd.c32       vesainfo.c32
cmenu.c32      disk.c32      host.c32	   libcom32.c32     memdisk	 pxechn.c32    vesamenu.c32
config.c32     dmi.c32	     ifcpu64.c32   libgpl.c32	    meminfo.c32  reboot.c32    vpdtest.c32
cptime.c32     dmitest.c32   ifcpu.c32	   liblua.c32	    menu.c32	 rosh.c32      whichsys.c32
cpu.c32        elf.c32	     ifmemdsk.c32  libmenu.c32	    pci.c32	 sanboot.c32   zzjson.c32
cpuid.c32      ethersel.c32  ifplop.c32    libutil.c32	    pcitest.c32  sdi.c32
cpuidtest.c32  gfxboot.c32   kbdmap.c32    linux.c32	    pmload.c32	 sysdump.c32

/boot/grub2:
fonts  grub.cfg  grubenv

/boot/grub2/fonts:
unicode.pf2

/boot/loader:
entries

/boot/loader/entries:
67bc16f7f8c245f0a8724dbe92d6b278-0-rescue.conf	67bc16f7f8c245f0a8724dbe92d6b278-6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64.conf

/boot/lost+found:
6

I reinstalled f41 on a usb stick and ran “Test this media & start Fedora-Workstation 41”, I removed the quiet flag beforehand. And the result is basicly the same, stuck at a black screen with the text"Booting `Test this media & start Fedora-Workstation-Live 41`.

I remember that when running the Test this media" command the first time, it would actually get past the test media part and say the media was okay before freezing but now it seems to freeze before the check.

Starting in “basic graphical mode” has basically the same result, just freezes at “Booting a command list”.

7

I believe there were some machines that would not boot with the f40 install image, but for them the workaround was to use the f39 image to install then perform the system-upgrade to f40.

I guess that may be worth a try to install f39 instead and upgrade from there. There were significant changes across time between f35 and today.

Your listing from the ls /boot command shows a directory /boot/extlinux which is abnormal for a new install with f39 and newer. (I believe f35 still supported installation in 32 bit mode but 32 bit support was removed in the next release or so.)

You have not said whether you are installing in legacy boot mode or uefi mode, which also may make a significant difference.

If you open the bios setup screen you can check the boot mode configured. If it allows boot with either csm or uefi it seems quite possible that installation may be using legacy boot. Have you tried setting the bios to boot uefi only then doing a new clean install? Doing this would ensure the system is installed using uefi mode.

Have you also ensured a full clean removal of the nvidia drivers?
sudo dnf remove \*nvidia\* --exclude nvidia-gpu-firmware
The /etc/default/grub file shows that modesetting for nvidia-drm is enabled and if the drivers are not installed the entry there is moot.

8

I made a Fedora 39 boot usb and tried, no success, same issues as with Fedora 41.

I can’t for the life of me find any legacy boot/uefi or CSM options in my BIOS. From some googling it seems Legacy is actually being phased out and not even available on never laptops (which this is). When starting USB-sticks it explicitly says “UEFI:” (See image)

Bios_boot_menu_image
Bios_boot_menu_image1536×2048 217 KB

I have actually, several times.

New install
I did a full clean wipe reinstall of Fedora 35 again and is currently trying to get the drivers to work on there before trying to upgrade versions. The drivers built on Fedora 35 but nvidia-smi reveals No devices were found.

dmesg -T | grep -i nvidia

[Wed Dec 18 07:52:37 2024] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=(hd0,gpt2)/vmlinuz-6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64 root=UUID=7fd5c84e-2805-44be-875e-bc68cd0bbfd5 ro rootflags=subvol=root rhgb quiet rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau modprobe.blacklist=nouveau nvidia-drm.modeset=1
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:37 2024] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=(hd0,gpt2)/vmlinuz-6.0.12-100.fc35.x86_64 root=UUID=7fd5c84e-2805-44be-875e-bc68cd0bbfd5 ro rootflags=subvol=root rhgb quiet rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau modprobe.blacklist=nouveau nvidia-drm.modeset=1
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:44 2024] nvidia: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:44 2024] nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:44 2024] nvidia: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:44 2024] nvidia-nvlink: Nvlink Core is being initialized, major device number 508
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:44 2024] nvidia 0000:01:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0003)
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:44 2024] NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module  520.56.06  Thu Oct  6 21:38:55 UTC 2022
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:44 2024] nvidia_uvm: module uses symbols nvUvmInterfaceDisableAccessCntr from proprietary module nvidia, inheriting taint.
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:44 2024] nvidia-uvm: Loaded the UVM driver, major device number 506.
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:44 2024] nvidia-modeset: Loading NVIDIA Kernel Mode Setting Driver for UNIX platforms  520.56.06  Thu Oct  6 21:22:53 UTC 2022
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:44 2024] [drm] [nvidia-drm] [GPU ID 0x00000100] Loading driver
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:45 2024] [drm:nv_drm_load [nvidia_drm]] *ERROR* [nvidia-drm] [GPU ID 0x00000100] Failed to allocate NvKmsKapiDevice
[Wed Dec 18 07:52:45 2024] [drm:nv_drm_probe_devices [nvidia_drm]] *ERROR* [nvidia-drm] [GPU ID 0x00000100] Failed to register device

I don’t know if it’s even worth spending time trying to get the drivers working on f35 when I really want to run f41 but at this point I’m kind of out of ideas to try.

9

It is not.

Focus on upgrades and booting with the newer kernel.
Once the newer kernel is able to boot then installing the drivers will be easy. Nouveau should handle the graphics until the newer kernel is functional.

One very simple step that may solve the issue could be a slight edit to the kernel command line for the 6.11 or 6.12 kernel.
From the grub menu press ‘e’ to edit the commands then on the line that begins with ‘linux=’ add into that line nomodeset. If that allows booting then proceeding from there to fix it permanently should be relatively simple.

This cannot be done as long as you have the kernel version locked to your current 6.0 kernel.

You should also be aware that the system will not replace the kernel that is currently booted so it is relatively simple to leave the default config in /etc/dnf/dnf.conf so up to 3 kernels are installed. A kernel upgrade removes the oldest kernel that is not currently booted but does not remove the one in use at the time the upgrade is performed.

10

No change when adding nomodeset.

Yes, I noticed that before. I only did the versionlock because I akmods kept building for the newest kernel and I wanted to force it’s hand.

In any case I formatted the drive and installed f35 from scratch again so any versionlocks are gone. I tried nomodeset on both the bootable f39 and f41 usb and I upgraded my clean f35 to f37 and tried it on the kernel I got from that and all had the same result as before.