Shutdown freezes; failed to initialize HAL

I've just come across some nasty problems: when I start up my AAO, I get an error "Internal error: failed to initialize HAL" and the wireless doesn't work. Also, my expansion SD card doesn't mounted and neither does my USB key. When I try to reboot, it goes into the reboot/shutdown process, but then freezes at a completely black screen indefinitely.

I don't know what caused this. The last things I remember doing involved upgrading the storage with a 16GB SD card. And just before the problem came up, I had just followed the "Improve read and write performance" section at http://jorge.ulver.no/2008/08/06/acer-aspire-one-tips-and-tricks/#Improvereadandwriteperformance. I undid the changes I had made, but I haven't been able to get my machine back to normal.

 

The first thing I'd try is running fsck on /dev/sda1. To do this however, you'll need to install some Linux distro on a USB flash key and boot from that. There are many available.

Cheers.

 

I finally managed to get a linux distro installed on my USB key, but strangely Pendrivelinux doesn't have fsck installed? I haven't even found a way to set/change the root password. Any recommendations on a USB distro, or suggestions on how to get this one working?

 

What is the outputs of:

Code:

ps aux | grep dbus

Code:

ps aux | grep hal

This has nothing to do with hal.

 

Code:

sudo passwd

 

For "ps aux | grep dbus":

/usr/bin/dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session
/bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 4 --print-adress 6 --session
dbus-daemon --system
grep dbus

For "ps aux | grep hal":

hald
hald-runner
hald-addon-acpi: listening on acpid socket /var/run/acpid.socket
grep hal

And when using Pendrive linux, "sudo passwd" gives "sudo: command not found".

 

I am confused, I thought you want to change the root password for your Linpus system. If you want to change the password on Pendrive Linux, and if you know the current root password, do:

Code:

su - root
<enter current root password>
passwd
<now follow the directions>

Can you elaborate as to what you are trying to do? Is hal not working in Linpus or Pendrive Linux?

 

The issue with the root password is with Pendrive linux. I don't know its root password. The reason I'm trying Pendrive linux is to do a fsck on the linpus install, as suggested in the first response. The real problem is with the HAL error on linpus. None of the USB or SD slots are recognized in linpus, and neither is the wireless, nor the battery management (it thinks i'm plugged in even when I'm not, etc). Also, the shutdown takes a very long time to complete.

EDIT: I found the passwords for Pendrive linux: user: guest password: guest; user: root password: root. This is displayed on the main login page. But I never saw it since it automatically logs into a guest account when booting.

EDIT2: Now I was able to run "fsck /dev/sda1" and it found many many errors. It reports that linpus was not cleanly unmounted and gave numerous "Deleted inode xxxxx has zero dtime" and "Free blocks count wrong for group #xx" error messages, to which I confirmed that it should fix them. I'll restart now and see what happens.

EDIT3: The HAL error is still there. I should perhaps mention that I had recently expanded the storage by adding an SDHC card in the 'storage expansion' slot. However I have removed the card since these problems began. I wonder if some of the errors could be due to this. I didn't want the expansion card to be merged with the internal SSD, but that was something I was going to look into next.

 

Next time use:

Code:

fsck -a /dev/sda1

instead.

Run:

Code:

lshal > ~/hal.log

(you might need to run it with sudo on your system), and

Code:

dmesg | grep hal > ~/dmesg.log

and post both hal.log and dmesg.log located in your home directory.

 

The forum isn't letting me upload files so I've pasted them in this post.

hal.log:

Code:

Dumping 3 device(s) from the Global Device List:
-------------------------------------------------
udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer'
  info.addons = {'hald-addon-cpufreq', 'hald-addon-acpi'} (string list)
  info.bus = 'unknown'  (string)
  info.callouts.add = {'hal-acl-tool --remove-all', 'hal-storage-cleanup-all-mountpoints'} (string list)
  info.callouts.session_active = {'hal-acl-tool --reconfigure'} (string list)
  info.callouts.session_add = {'hal-acl-tool --reconfigure'} (string list)
  info.callouts.session_inactive = {'hal-acl-tool --reconfigure'} (string list)
  info.callouts.session_remove = {'hal-acl-tool --reconfigure'} (string list)
  info.interfaces = {'org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.SystemPowerManagement'} (string list)
  info.product = 'Computer'  (string)
  info.subsystem = 'unknown'  (string)
  info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer'  (string)
  org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.SystemPowerManagement.method_argnames = {'num_seconds_to_sleep', 'num_seconds_to_sleep', '', '', '', 'enable_power_save'} (string list)
  org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.SystemPowerManagement.method_execpaths = {'hal-system-power-suspend', 'hal-system-power-suspend-hybrid', 'hal-system-power-hibernate', 'hal-system-power-shutdown', 'hal-system-power-reboot', 'hal-system-power-set-power-save'} (string list)
  org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.SystemPowerManagement.method_names = {'Suspend', 'SuspendHybrid', 'Hibernate', 'Shutdown', 'Reboot', 'SetPowerSave'} (string list)
  org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.SystemPowerManagement.method_signatures = {'i', 'i', '', '', '', 'b'} (string list)
  power_management.acpi.linux.version = '20070126'  (string)
  power_management.can_hibernate = false  (bool)
  power_management.can_suspend = false  (bool)
  power_management.can_suspend_hybrid = false  (bool)
  power_management.can_suspend_to_disk = false  (bool)
  power_management.can_suspend_to_ram = false  (bool)
  power_management.is_powersave_set = false  (bool)
  power_management.type = 'acpi'  (string)
  smbios.bios.release_date = '05/09/2008'  (string)
  smbios.bios.vendor = 'INSYDE'  (string)
  smbios.bios.version = 'v0.3109'  (string)
  smbios.chassis.manufacturer = 'Chassis Manufacturer'  (string)
  smbios.chassis.type = 'Other'  (string)
  smbios.system.manufacturer = 'Acer'  (string)
  smbios.system.product = 'AOA110'  (string)
  smbios.system.serial = 'LUS020A0118261711F2500'  (string)
  smbios.system.uuid = 'A03C0B61-A244-DD11-A1F3-001E6893EEE0'  (string)
  smbios.system.version = '1'  (string)
  system.chassis.manufacturer = 'Chassis Manufacturer'  (string)
  system.chassis.type = 'Other'  (string)
  system.firmware.release_date = '05/09/2008'  (string)
  system.firmware.vendor = 'INSYDE'  (string)
  system.firmware.version = 'v0.3109'  (string)
  system.formfactor = 'unknown'  (string)
  system.hardware.product = 'AOA110'  (string)
  system.hardware.serial = 'LUS020A0118261711F2500'  (string)
  system.hardware.uuid = 'A03C0B61-A244-DD11-A1F3-001E6893EEE0'  (string)
  system.hardware.vendor = 'Acer'  (string)
  system.hardware.version = '1'  (string)
  system.kernel.machine = 'i686'  (string)
  system.kernel.name = 'Linux'  (string)
  system.kernel.version = '2.6.23.9lw'  (string)
  system.product = 'AOA110 1'  (string)
  system.vendor = 'Acer'  (string)

udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/acpi_CPU0'
  info.capabilities = {'processor'} (string list)
  info.category = 'processor'  (string)
  info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer'  (string)
  info.product = 'Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270   @ 1.60GHz'  (string)
  info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/acpi_CPU0'  (string)
  linux.acpi_path = '/proc/acpi/processor/CPU0'  (string)
  linux.acpi_type = 1  (0x1)  (int)
  linux.hotplug_type = 4  (0x4)  (int)
  processor.can_throttle = true  (bool)
  processor.number = 0  (0x0)  (int)

udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/acpi_CPU1'
  info.capabilities = {'processor'} (string list)
  info.category = 'processor'  (string)
  info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer'  (string)
  info.product = 'Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270   @ 1.60GHz'  (string)
  info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/acpi_CPU1'  (string)
  linux.acpi_path = '/proc/acpi/processor/CPU1'  (string)
  linux.acpi_type = 1  (0x1)  (int)
  linux.hotplug_type = 4  (0x4)  (int)
  processor.can_throttle = true  (bool)
  processor.number = 1  (0x1)  (int)


Dumped 3 device(s) from the Global Device List.
------------------------------------------------

dmesg.log

Code:

ath_hal: module license 'Proprietary' taints kernel.
ath_hal: 0.9.17.1 (AR5212, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413)
Marking TSC unstable due to: possible TSC halt in C2.

 

I'm afraid I've run out of time. As I will need the use of my netbook, I will unfortunately have to resort to using the recovery disk. Nevertheless, thanks for the help.

 

fizikz: did restore help with your Aspire One? I'm getting the same error message, I'd be interested to know if you've succeeded.

 

tonyk, sorry to hear you got this annoying problem. A restore did solve it for me. Unfortunately, I couldn't isolate the cause, or find a more elegant solution to the problem that time. My best guess is that it could have been a forced shutdown (with the power button) that precipitated the issue, but I can't be sure. I have since completed the restore and have almost finished customizing linpus to my liking. Hope it works out for you.

 

Done a couple of restores now, but I'm still getting the same intermittant error. I have a nasty feeling my incarnation of the error is hardware related. Pretty annoying since these errors started only a week after purchasing the computer. I'm half tempted to try another distro, but I'm also thinking if things aren't working in the default distro something's gotta be wrong...

Anyone have any ideas before I log a problem with Acer??

 

Well after some communication with Acer I sent my Aspire One back to them. It returned very quickly and with a note saying things have been 'reseated' and the latest version of the OS has been installed. Well, so far so good, seems to be working a treat this evening! Kudos to Acer!

 

I noticed your problem same as mine. What I done was backup my documents to SD card and use recovery USB to get the Aspire one back. I know it is not the best move, you can take it as reference.

 

Read my previous posts... tried a recovery (three times in fact) but no luck. It seems there was some additional work to be done...