Boot method: USB stick
Image version:
https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/trixie_di_rc1/amd64/iso-cd/debian-trixie-DI-rc1-amd64-netinst.iso
Date: 2025-06-06

Machine: Lenovo Thinkpad T400s (with preinstalled Libreboot from
Technoethical)
Processor: Intel SP9600 2.53 GHz
Memory: 8 GB
Partitions: <df -Tl will do; the raw partition table is preferred>
Filesystem              Type        1K-blocks      Used Available
Use% Mounted on
/dev/t400s-mim-vgt/root ext4        115249200   4780504 104568204
5% /
devtmpfs                devtmpfs      3922376         4   3922372
1% /dev
tmpfs                   tmpfs          787520       384    787136
1% /run
/dev/sda1               ext4           964900     98612    799936
11% /boot

Output of lspci -knn (or lspci -nn):
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset
Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a40] (rev 07)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20e0]
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4
Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 07)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:20e4]
	Kernel modules: i915
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series
Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a43] (rev 07)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:20e4]
00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82567LM Gigabit
Network Connection [8086:10f5] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20ee]
	Kernel driver in use: e1000e
	Kernel modules: e1000e
00:1a.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2937] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f0]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: uhci_hcd
00:1a.1 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2938] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f0]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: uhci_hcd
00:1a.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #6 [8086:2939] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f0]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: uhci_hcd
00:1a.7 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:293c] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f1]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
	Kernel modules: ehci_pci
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD
Audio Controller [8086:293e] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f2]
	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 1 [8086:2940] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:20f3]
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 2 [8086:2942] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:20f3]
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 3 [8086:2944] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:20f3]
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI
Express Port 4 [8086:2946] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:20f3]
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2934] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f0]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2935] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f0]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2936] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f0]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family)
USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:293a] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f1]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
	Kernel modules: ehci_pci
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
[8086:2448] (rev 93)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:20f4]
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation ICH9M-E LPC Interface
Controller [8086:2917] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f5]
	Kernel modules: lpc_ich
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 82801IBM/IEM
(ICH9M/ICH9M-E) 4 port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] [8086:2929] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f8]
	Kernel driver in use: ahci
	Kernel modules: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus
Controller [8086:2930] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T400 [17aa:20f9]
	Kernel modules: i2c_i801
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Qualcomm Atheros AR93xx Wireless
Network Adapter [168c:0030] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:4107]
	Kernel driver in use: ath9k
	Kernel modules: ath9k

Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it

Initial boot:           [O]
Detect network card:    [O]
Configure network:      [O]
Detect media:           [O]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives:     [O]
Partition hard drives:  [O]
Install base system:    [O]
Clock/timezone setup:   [O]
User/password setup:    [O]
Install tasks:          [O]
Install boot loader:    [O]
Overall install:        [O]

Comments/Problems:
I was able to use the USB netinstall stick successfully on my Asus
Pro7AJK laptop the day before. But even after 4 attempts I am unable to
boot into the arguably successfully installed Debian system. After
installation I can see the Libreboot menu and if I select the first
option to boot from the lokal disk the menu vanishes and the background
image with the Gnu and the penguin remains. Unfortunately even after
waiting for about 10 minutes nothing happens. I can't boot and I don't
know how to resolve the issue. I tried running the USB repair mode but
didn't find any solution this way either.

I have been using Debian stable on this device for many years.

I attached the logs from /var/log/installer (I pulled using the rescue
mode) as a zip file.

Hopefully, this provides the needed insight to understand what does go
wrong. Unfortunately, at the moment my main system is bricked because I
have overwritten my working Debain Bookworm and I was so far unable to
recover.

Cheers
Franz

Today I tried to overcome the problem by using the DVD image instead of
the netinstall version. Unfortunately I end up with the same behaviour.

At the moment it seems Trixie can not be started after being installed
(seemingly without issues) on a system using Libreboot.

Hi Franz,

Franz Gratzer <franz.gratzer@vgt.at> wrote (Tue, 10 Jun 2025 10:34:06 +0200):

Looking at your logs, it appears that you used encrypted LVM as partitioning
scheme.
So, when booting the machine, you need to unlock the encryption for the disk.
Did you entered the key during boot?
I guess you didn't, since you did not mention this.
So maybe it's just waiting for this?
Try to start the machine and when it seems to be stuck in boot process,
type in your encryption key - even if you don't see anything.
Probably the issue is, that for whatever reason the 'Unlock disk dialog'
is simply not shown?

I did a test installation here on a QEMU virtual machine, also with
encrypted LVM, and it boots fine (after typing the key).
And the logs looking very similar, so I guess the installation itself
worked correct.


Another thing for you to try is, to reinstall Debian, and choose LVM (without
encryption) in the partitioning step, just to test if this makes the
machine boot fine then.
If yes, that might a sign, that unlocking the encryption could be the issue.


Grüße nach Österreich
Holger

Thank you Holger, for looking into my problem.

Sorry, that I didn't mention using LVM with full disk encryption. I
tried several times to boot and type the unlock pass phrase without
seeing any output, but unfortunately, this didn't bear any fruit.

And I tried to install Debian with LVM but without encryption and ended
up with the same behaviour again. So not displaying the LUKS prompt
doesn't seem to be the problem. It sits deeper.

I will try to not use LVM in my next attempt.

This is expected.

The first screen that should be shown is GRUB menu. According to the
installer logs, GRUB was successfully installed on /dev/sda (SATA SSD).
Possible causes include:
- Libreboot fails to launch GRUB from the SSD
- GRUB hangs early, before displaying its menu
- GRUB hangs when switching to default graphic mode

You can try to disable GRUB graphic mode: boot the installer in rescue
mode, open the encrypted volume, select the root logical volume, start a
shell in that volume, edit /etc/default/grub to uncomment
GRUB_TERMINAL=console, run update-grub and reboot on the SSD.

If GRUB is embedded as a Coreboot payload, you can also try to use it to
boot Debian.

Please reply to the bug, not only me.

Does GRUB menu show up with Bookworm ?

Or the newer GRUB (2.12 vs 2.06), if GRUB menu shows up with Bookworm
but not with Trixie.

This is weird, it should be commented by default. Had you already
uncommented it ?

PS: Your initial bug report was not forwarded to the debian-boot mailing
list because of its attachment size and could have remained unnoticed if
you had not sent a follow-up. The size limit is around 500 kB.

Yes, it does.

Oh, sorry. I mixed this up. It was commented out. And I obviously
didn't read carefully enough to understand that I need to activate it
instead of deactivating it. I need to try this again. But I need to go
away now for a few hours now and will report the result back as soon as
possible.

Sorry, I did not know this. I only attached the whole content of the
folder because it seemed to be recommended in the email template for
reporting bugs.

Thank you very much,
Franz

I now re-installed Trixie as before and actually activated
"GRUB_TERMINAL=console" in the GRUB configuration when I rooted into
the new system but it unfortunately didn't alter the result. I still
get just the Libreboot background image when ever I attempt to boot
from my local SSD.

And I did check if my change did actually persist by rooting into the
system after my failed attempt to boot post change.

I found some information on updating Libreboot but so far I was not
successful in understanding how to do this without special purpose
hardware. It seems it should be possible but I didn't find a guide I
could actually follow yet.

/etc/default/grub ?
Also, what happens if you remove/rename /boot/grub/grub.cfg ? It should
display the grub> command line prompt.

What do you mean ?

What is the Libreboot version ? I may be able to have someone else test
Trixie's GRUB on a T400 with Libreboot.

Yes, I did.

It doesn't. I do again get the empty background image.

I wanted to check if the change in the GRUB configuration did actually
survive my reboot. And I could confirm that it did.

I checked with the command "lscoreboot" and it gave me the Coreboot
version 1c84243, which was build in September 7 2016.

In the mean time I downloaded the newest Libreboot version but I am
doubtful on how to actually use it since the documentation mentions a
lot of stuff which seems to be mostly useful for developers.