Ubuntu 14.10 x64 very slow boot. Nouveau / nVidia: broken pipe?

Question

(EDITED 2x) Recently installed Ubuntu 14.10 x64 takes over 4 minutes to boot on the system below. I don't understand the 'dmesg' output; at first I thought a USB MS Mouse was a problem; replaced that with a Logitech mouse and still 4+ minutes. So is the delay here from the Nouveau driver trying to work with my nVidia card? Where is this "broken pipe" coming from? EDIT 2: I guess it is this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-graphics-drivers-304/+bug/1364630

One portion of dmesg output:

...trimmed...
[   14.948030] nouveau  [  PTHERM][0000:01:00.0] FAN control: none / external
[   14.948041] nouveau  [  PTHERM][0000:01:00.0] fan management: automatic
[   14.948044] nouveau  [  PTHERM][0000:01:00.0] internal sensor: yes
[   14.948057] nouveau  [     CLK][0000:01:00.0] 0f: core 650 MHz shader 1625 MHz memory 400 MHz
[   14.948104] nouveau  [     CLK][0000:01:00.0] --: core 566 MHz shader 1400 MHz memory 499 MHz
[   14.948261] [TTM] Zone  kernel: Available graphics memory: 2023128 kiB
[   14.948263] [TTM] Initializing pool allocator
[   14.948269] [TTM] Initializing DMA pool allocator
[   14.948279] nouveau  [     DRM] VRAM: 512 MiB
[   14.948281] nouveau  [     DRM] GART: 1048576 MiB
[   14.948284] nouveau  [     DRM] TMDS table version 2.0
[   14.948286] nouveau  [     DRM] DCB version 4.0
[   14.948288] nouveau  [     DRM] DCB outp 00: 02000300 00000028
[   14.948290] nouveau  [     DRM] DCB outp 01: 01000302 00020030
[   14.948291] nouveau  [     DRM] DCB outp 02: 04011310 00000028
[   14.948293] nouveau  [     DRM] DCB outp 03: 010223f1 00c0c080
[   14.948295] nouveau  [     DRM] DCB conn 00: 00001030
[   14.948297] nouveau  [     DRM] DCB conn 01: 00000200
[   14.948298] nouveau  [     DRM] DCB conn 02: 00000110
[   14.948299] nouveau  [     DRM] DCB conn 03: 00000111
[   14.948301] nouveau  [     DRM] DCB conn 04: 00000113
[   14.956768] nouveau W[     DRM] failed to create encoder 0/1/0: -19
[   14.956770] nouveau W[     DRM] TV-1 has no encoders, removing
[   14.956834] [drm] Supports vblank timestamp caching Rev 2 (21.10.2013).
[   14.956836] [drm] Driver supports precise vblank timestamp query.
[   14.969193] nouveau  [     DRM] MM: using M2MF for buffer copies
[   15.030623] nouveau  [     DRM] allocated 1280x1024 fb: 0x70000, bo ffff88012915d800
[   15.030731] fbcon: nouveaufb (fb0) is primary device
[   15.092134] EXT4-fs (sdc7): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro
[   15.097810] Console: switching to colour frame buffer device 160x64
[   15.098667] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fb0: nouveaufb frame buffer device
[   15.098669] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: registered panic notifier
[   15.112037] [drm] Initialized nouveau 1.1.2 20120801 for 0000:01:00.0 on minor 0
[   18.115446] WARNING! power/level is deprecated; use power/control instead
[  167.149871] init: Error while reading from descriptor: Broken pipe
[  167.154588] init: failsafe main process (688) killed by TERM signal
[  167.786696] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194421.420:11): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/lib/cups/backend/cups-pdf" pid=834 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  167.786703] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194421.420:12): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/sbin/cupsd" pid=834 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  167.786707] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194421.420:13): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" profile="unconfined" name="third_party" pid=834 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  167.843884] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194421.476:14): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm-guest-session" pid=836 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  167.843891] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194421.476:15): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" profile="unconfined" name="chromium" pid=836 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  167.845445] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194421.480:16): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" profile="unconfined" name="/sbin/dhclient" pid=836 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  167.845451] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194421.480:17): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dhcp-client.action" pid=836 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  167.845456] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194421.480:18): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/lib/connman/scripts/dhclient-script" pid=836 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  167.854293] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194421.488:19): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/bin/evince" pid=836 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  167.854300] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194421.488:20): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" profile="unconfined" name="sanitized_helper" pid=836 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  168.015337] Bluetooth: Core ver 2.19
[  168.015350] NET: Registered protocol family 31
[  168.015351] Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized
[  168.015357] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized
[  168.015359] Bluetooth: L2CAP socket layer initialized
[  168.015367] Bluetooth: SCO socket layer initialized
[  168.062156] Bluetooth: RFCOMM TTY layer initialized
[  168.062166] Bluetooth: RFCOMM socket layer initialized
[  168.062175] Bluetooth: RFCOMM ver 1.11
[  168.076354] Bluetooth: BNEP (Ethernet Emulation) ver 1.3
[  168.076357] Bluetooth: BNEP filters: protocol multicast
[  168.076365] Bluetooth: BNEP socket layer initialized
[  168.133543] init: cups main process (835) killed by HUP signal
[  168.133553] init: cups main process ended, respawning
[  169.256440] systemd-logind[1022]: New seat seat0.
[  169.269854] systemd-logind[1022]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event1 (Power Button)
[  169.269914] systemd-logind[1022]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event0 (Power Button)
[  169.409480] r8169 0000:04:00.0 eth0: link down
[  169.409704] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[  169.425476] r8169 0000:05:00.0 eth1: link down
[  169.425489] r8169 0000:05:00.0 eth1: link down
[  169.425615] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth1: link is not ready
[  169.528376] init: nvidia-prime main process (1083) terminated with status 127
[  171.473061] r8169 0000:05:00.0 eth1: link up
[  171.473071] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth1: link becomes ready
[  175.175873] init: plymouth-upstart-bridge main process ended, respawning
[  175.187370] init: plymouth-upstart-bridge main process ended, respawning
[  175.230395] systemd-logind[1022]: Failed to start unit user@112.service: Unknown unit: user@112.service
[  175.230400] systemd-logind[1022]: Failed to start user service: Unknown unit: user@112.service
[  175.234194] systemd-logind[1022]: New session c1 of user lightdm.
[  175.234210] systemd-logind[1022]: Linked /tmp/.X11-unix/X0 to /run/user/112/X11-display.
[  198.029026] audit_printk_skb: 45 callbacks suppressed
[  198.029029] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194451.664:36): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/lib/cups/backend/cups-pdf" pid=1789 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  198.029036] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194451.664:37): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/sbin/cupsd" pid=1789 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  198.040134] audit: type=1400 audit(1419194451.676:38): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" profile="unconfined" name="third_party" pid=1789 comm="apparmor_parser"
[  244.836062] systemd-logind[1022]: Failed to start unit user@1000.service: Unknown unit: user@1000.service
[  244.836070] systemd-logind[1022]: Failed to start user service: Unknown unit: user@1000.service
[  244.845657] systemd-logind[1022]: New session c2 of user john.
[  244.845680] systemd-logind[1022]: Linked /tmp/.X11-unix/X0 to /run/user/1000/X11-display.

System Description (when I still had the MS mouse connected, but otherwise same):

Processor      : 4x Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU    Q9550  @ 2.83GHz
Memory      : 4046MB (1194MB used)
Operating System        : Ubuntu 14.10
Date/Time       : Sun 21 Dec 2014 11:58:51 AM PST
-Display-
Resolution      : 1280x1024 pixels
OpenGL Renderer     : Unknown
X11 Vendor      : The X.Org Foundation
-Multimedia-
Audio Adapter       : HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
-Input Devices-
 Power Button
 Power Button
 Logitech Logitech USB Keyboard
 Logitech Logitech USB Keyboard
 HDA Intel Front Mic
 HDA Intel Rear Mic
 HDA Intel Line
 HDA Intel Line Out Front
 HDA Intel Line Out Surround
 HDA Intel Line Out CLFE
 HDA Intel Line Out Side
 HDA Intel Front Headphone
 Microsoft  Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse v2.0
-SCSI Disks-
SAMSUNG DVDWBD SH-B083L
ATA MAXTOR STM350032
ATA MAXTOR STM350063
PLEXTOR DVDR   PX-712A
ATA Maxtor 6Y120P0
Generic USB SD Reader
Generic USB MS Reader

Operating System
----------------
Kernel      : Linux 3.16.0-28-generic (x86_64)
Compiled        : #38-Ubuntu SMP Fri Dec 12 17:37:40 UTC 2014
C Library       : Unknown
Default C Compiler      : GNU C Compiler version 4.9.1 (Ubuntu 4.9.1-16ubuntu6) 
Distribution        : Ubuntu 14.10

Günther Bayler · Answer 1 · 2019-02-10T22:44:00.387

Problem-solving approach

I had a similar problem: booting on a system upgraded to Ubuntu 14.10 x64 took longer than 3 minutes, and I also got the error message

init: Error while reading from descriptor: Broken pipe

in my dmesg-output, but I didn't have a Nvidia card installed and thus also didn't use the Nouveau-driver. From the mentioned Bug #1364630 I got the idea that upstart could be the actual source of the problem. To test that hypothesis, I replaced upstart temporarily with systemd (as described here). Using systemd didn't change the duration of the boot process, but while upstart just hung for 2-3 minutes before the Broken pipe-error was displayed, systemd hung and displayed:

A start job is running for Create Volatile Files and Directories

Googling for that message brought me to the blog-posting Debian hangs during boot by Mattia Migliorini ‘deshack’, where a similar problem is described for Debian. The root cause of deshack's problem was a bloated /tmp-directory, which he simply removed and recreated to solve the problem. By trying out his solution successfully, I got to know that this was also the cause of my problem.

Solution (based on deshack's solution for Debian)

In Grub, press e to edit Ubuntu's entry. Locate the line linux /boot/vmlinuz... and edit it to end with rw init=/bin/bash, for example from:

linux     /boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-4-amd64 root=UUID=e67195b3-8\
639-40ff-a0e3-476894ff42ce ro  quiet splash $vt_handoff

to:

linux     /boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-4-amd64 root=UUID=e67195b3-8\
639-40ff-a0e3-476894ff42ce rw init=/bin/bash

Press Ctrl+X to boot. A shell with root-permissions will be loaded.

Check the /tmp-directory for bloatedness:
```
ls -la /tmp
```
In my case, . was larger than 112 MB; according to deshack's blog-posting, it can also be that /tmp contains millions of symlinks. Anyways, if it looks strange in some way, it's worth trying to recreate /tmp from scratch (step 3).
Remove and recreate the /tmp-directory:
```
rm -rf /tmp
mkdir /tmp
chmod 1777 /tmp
```
Close the shell with exit, ignore the Kernel panic, and reboot the computer.

Hope that helps!

I found that at step one you need to append rw init=/bin/bash to linux /boot/vmlinuz... rather than adding after the line. Also, --add is not part of what should be appended and if you have ro already in the line, you'll need to remove. — James, Feb 07 '19 at 23:45
@James Thank you for the hints! I have corrected and extended the explanation regarding step 1 of the solution accordingly. — Günther Bayler, Feb 10 '19 at 22:53

Ubuntu 14.10 x64 very slow boot. Nouveau / nVidia: broken pipe?

1 Answers1

Problem-solving approach

Solution (based on deshack's solution for Debian)