Desktop Environment (if applicable):
Example: GNOME, KDE Plasma, XFCE, Budgie, etc.
Problem Description:
Desktop computer is only about a year old. Since a recent update to 24.04, several lines of text appear on the BIOS screen during boot. The text is too small and comes and goes to quickly to read. It did not appear after the initial upgrade from 22.04 to 24.04, only after a recent update. Journalctl -b, which Google AI suggests, returns thousands of lines of log entries, and I have no idea how to narrow it down to what Iâm seeing on the initial screen. Is there a different way to find out this text? Is it pointing out a problem, and do I need to take action? (Frankly, this whole 24.04 experience has been less than optimal. There are omissions, which I regard as bugs, that were not present in 22.04 and makes me wish I could go back to that.)
Example:
Open Settings â Displays
Try to change resolution
Screen goes black
Relevant System Information:
Include any details that might help (e.g., hardware, drivers, or special configurations).
Screenshots or Error Messages:
If applicable, paste error messages or screenshots.
We prefer copy-pasted text and screenshots instead of photos of screens.
For multi-line text or logs, wrap them in triple backticks like this or highlight the text and use </> in the composer:
sudo dmesg | tail -20
What Iâve Tried:
ournalctl -b
Before Posting: Please check if similar issues have already been reported and resolved.
@patches23, very early boot messages might not be in the journal, because they may come from some UEFI component that runs before the journal is up and running. Can you record a short video of the screen, if thatâs the case? That way you can step through it frame by frame and make a screenshot of the exact moment they appear.
Talking about omissions there is something that you have omitted to tell us. Does Ubuntu 24.04.4 actually load to a login screen and then on to a desktop environment?
What we call Ubuntu is built on the Linux operating system. It does not have a Graphical User Interface (GUI). The boot loader (Grub) first loads Linux. What you are seeing are Linux messages being printed to the screen. Linux is a larger operating system than it was when Ubuntu 22.04 was based on it. Takes longer to load.
As you see these messages flash on the screen do you notice a change come over the text? That is what happens when Linux loads the video drivers.
Are you using a proprietary or open source video driver? It may make a difference. Not much of a difference, I admit.
Then there is the Gnome Desktop Environment that has to be loaded before it loads the login screen.
How long does it take to go from the Grub menu to the login screen? I find those messages re-assuring. It is when I see error messages in red that I start to worry. But when I get to the desktop and everything worked as it should then I stop worrying.
One shouldnât usually see any text when booting into the Graphical Desktop. Such messages may indicate some kernel warnings. But they could also be from the UEFI, before grub or the kernel is up. That part was a bit vague in the OP.
The text is in white, no red. I have written the output to a text file, but reading that file in gedit loses any colors. The text at boot is visible for only a second or less. (I will attempt to take a video.) I didnât notice a change come over the screen. It only takes a few seconds for the login screen to appear (fastest computer Iâve ever had for that - ssd?). I can login successfully. Cinnamon DE. There are no drivers that are not standard. Computer is relatively new, and I donât use it for gaming or anything like that.
A problem happened today that had never happened before. The keyboard and mouse froze. I had already logged on, so I had been able to press enter and type the password. Cinnamon loads, my autostart apps appeared. Keyboard and mouse were frozen. I powered down, restarted, and everything was fine.
Here is the system info output (It says laptop but it is a desktop):
(hint: you can copy the whole block with that little clipboard icon, top right, then paste it into a terminal)
That will create a file on your Desktop, which you can open, then mark the whole text (Ctrl-A) and copy and paste it here on a single line. Essentially, thatâs what the aforementioned helper script automates.
Copied the script using clipboard icon, and pasted into Terminal. The script doesnât work for me. (Is it that my terminal is Fish?
Error: Fish: Expected a string, but found a redirection
cat >~/Desktop/journal.warnings.txt <<EOF
The file is there in ~/Desktop. I ran the journalctl command as you have it in the code. At the top of the output is something that caught my eye. As I mentioned, these messages have only been occurring since a recent update to Ubuntu. :
Apr 17 16:50:57 kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.UBTC.RUCC], AE_NOT_FOUND (20230628/psargs-332) ```
Followed a few lines later by:
Apr 17 16:50:57 kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS01._PLD due to previous error (AE_NOT_FOUND) (20230628/psparse-529)
These errors repeat 4 times. There are other errors or warnings having to do with Gnome and Wayland (Iâm using Cinnamon and X11). I can edit the file to remove everything but the errors and warnings, but that will take some time. Thanks for everything.
Yes, that code snippet, when pasted into a terminal, requires a POSIX compatible shell, which Fish isnât. But you can temporarily start Bash:
> bash
$ <paste snippet>
$ exit
Or you can do the install procedure of the helper script and can just run cmd2bb ..., because itâs a self-contained shell script; you need to sudo apt install wl-clipboard first, though.
Those are already filtered to only include priority warning and higher; journalctl ... -p warning
Successful login indicates that your system is sound.
I would suspect that these are warning messages (rather than error messages) based on ACPI Error from post no. 10.
Iâll hazard a guess that this text output is a harmless warning.
Open a search engine and enter bios not acpi compliant
This should give you a wealth of info about ACPI implementations within UEFI firmware.
Is this similar to your situation?
Just to reassure you, I have witnessed ACPI warnings during boot on my PC without any detrimental effect.
If you wish, these warnings can be prevented from appearing with a grub edit:-
Well, they clearly say âErrorâ, so they are ACPI errors. What kernel log level they are is secondary. Itâs also interesting for them to appear after a release upgrade.
Itâs better to leave that file alone, as to not get asked what to do when it gets upgraded. Use /etc/default/grub.d/*.cfg drop-ins, instead:
Peterâs bash script worked fine, and I have the output. 1885 lines, if anyone would like to dig into it. Beyond that, I guess I give up. I appreciate everyoneâs help. If you choose to consider this issue of text at boot time any further, please keep in mind that there were no problems under 22.04 and with the initial couple of releases of 24.04. It has only been since a recent update that this machine is somehow not ACPI compliant. Also please note that the first journal entry about ACPI has the word Bug in parenthesis. I donât know what that means, if it is bug supposedly fixed or a bug identified in Ubuntu which has not yet been fixed. I understand ACPI has something to do with power management? And, sure enough, the power off display after a timeout does not work. It worked fine under 22 but has not worked under 24. I joke that my new power management is to put a postit note on the monitor that says remember to turn it off. Frankly, sometimes it feels like weâre going backward. It has been suggested that this is a known bug where services are taking priority over what my settings are. Just like the old days in another OS. Can I go back to 22? That worked for me.
That wasnât around February, per chance? Because thatâs when the Linux kernel 6.17 was enabled for Ubuntu 24.04. And that might explain the new messages. The kernel might now be trying to communicate with devices it didnât even know existed before.
After running the cmd2bb ... command just come back here and paste the data, which has been put into the paste buffer by cmd2bb, on a new line in the message editor.
Please check if similar issues have already been reported and resolved.