unable to boot after manjaro update

[gega]

Hi!

I have a similar problem which was described in the topic "PBP booting but stops at flashing power led".

1. history

1.1. PBP worked fine after arrival, Manjaro booted.
1.2. Installed a nvm ssd (with x86 linux boot image from my other laptop, planned to format) I could read the files from it from the booted Manjaro
1.3. Shortly after I started up the ~3rd time I tried to update the OS with the official update tool
1.4. From this point the machine looked dead. I read forums and blogposts and I was able to install Tow-boot to SPI
1.5. Tow-boot works reliably but unable to boot anymore to any OS not from emmc nor SD

2. symptoms

2.1. tow-boot boots every time, reliably
2.2. when booting from emmc it's always start booting but rarely boot up
2.3. newest images (2022 summer) never worked since the update attempt
2.4. void linux console only image sometimes booting up and I can log in and machine looks good but wifi/bt never found
2.5. when switching to SD boot in tow-boot (or disabling/removing emmc) it starts booting exactly every second time
2.6. when it "starts booting" (regardless of success) there's a digital noise image flashing up (will attach it if I can figure out how, but similar than the lower part of the image attached to the PBP booting but stops at flashing power led topic)
2.7. I was able to boot up a Manjaro release from 2021 once (tried ~20 times one was successful)

3. recovery attempts

3.1 ordered second emmc (same size 64) -- no luck
3.2 ordered serial cable, not much help, when it starts booting and the garbage screen flashes, it is in "starting kernel" state
3.3 tried to remove ssd (read about potential power issues) -- no luck
3.4 ordered usb emmc and tried to flash images to that with rpi Images -- no luck that way either
3.5 tried to "hard reset" with the button inside, no effect
3.6 tried various images manjaro/ubuntu/void/etc on SD and on emmc
3.7 tested two SD cards, sandisk 16 (which I learned that not supported) and an other one

What should I try next?

[gega]

this is how the garbage image looks like: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=...fnozzRxOcy

[steeb]

this is how the garbage image looks like: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=...fnozzRxOcy

This is a pretty standard boot screen for these machines. You'll need to give a bit more info before anyone can help.

[gega]

this is how the garbage image looks like: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=...fnozzRxOcy

This is a pretty standard boot screen for these machines. You'll need to give a bit more info before anyone can help.

Thanks, for the input, actually that's helpful! I shared all the info I can in the first post where I collected all symptoms I could recall different than what happened during the first few successful boots.

[cypresstwist]

Try a Ctrl+Alt+F2 after that screen appears. Should drop you in command line mode and you could maybe login that way. Then run dmesg to see what it might say.

[gega]

UPDATE:

With the newest Manjaro image (Manjaro-ARM-kde-plasma-generic-22.10.img), I could boot with mixed success rate.

Usually it's booting in every 3-4th attempt, not sure what it is depends on, maybe battery charge state? It never booted (so far) when USB-C power was connected. (When it's not booting, it's the same behavior I described above)

When it is booting up the SSD sometimes missing (SSD is just an ext4 data partition) and most of the time there is no sound. Some boot is successful and there are sound and SSD both working fine. Last time I could play a local video file but the internal player stopped the playback at five minutes sharp (5:00) and shortly but not immediately the machine crashed (frozen, no reboot without long press on the power button)

I couldn't see anything strange on the dmesg when the boot is successful.
When no ssd is recognized, I see the

nvme nvme0: Device not ready; aborting initialization, CSTS=0x0

message in dmesg.

It would be a great machine if it could boot every time. I am suspecting something power related because it looks so random, but no idea what it could be.

Should I try to buy a replacement battery?

[wdt]

Well, you could try an experiment,,,
unplug nvme and see if it boots all the time
OR set the nvme power as low as possible (but it still works, maybe 2)
IDK the commands, see wiki