[Bug 565535] [NEW] Kernel 2.6.32-21-generic freezes Dell Inspiration 1150 on boot; 2.6.32-20 is fine

[Grondr]

Public bug reported:

On a Dell Inspiration 1150 running Lucid, I took the update of 4/16/10
and discovered that the machine froze reproduceably on boot with kernel
2.6.32-21.  Only dropping back to the kernel just before the update
(kernel 2.6.32-20) enabled the machine to boot.  The machine is
otherwise a completely stock 32-bit desktop install, fully up-to-date
via update-manager, and it does -not- have any encrypted filesystems.
It is partitioned using the installer defaults on a 10G IDE disk.

Specifically, under -21, the machine clears the screen, displays the new
Ubuntu logo with the five dots under it (though, I -think-, about twice
as large for both as under -20), clears the screen again, and hard-locks
---no keyboard input at all works (including both C-A-DEL and attempts
to switch to a different VT), screen is blank, network won't respond to
pings.  The machine cannot be recovered without holding down the power
buttun until it turns itself off.  I note that the machine -can- be
pinged for 5 to 10 seconds immediately after boot, and then drops off
the network when everything else freezes.

Booting in recovery mode does work in -21, though of course that's
unsuitable for production use since it asks a question and the machine
is used unattended.

Getting to the grub menu and altering the boot line to read noquiet
nosplash (instead of quiet splash) does -not- allow the machine to boot;
it freezes as before.

Because the machine freezes before it can write any logs, I don't have
anything useful to attach, unless you'd like logs or lshw or whatever
from the working state in  -20.

I have recovered by forcing "GRUB_DEFAULT='Ubuntu, with Linux
2.6.32-20-generic'" in /etc/default/grub, but this means I cannot take
any newer kernels until this bug is fixed.

I cannot easily debug because this machine is in an area that is
difficult to access and a 20-minute drive away, but if there is a
proposed fix that is quite likely to work, I can go there and try it.

[Note that I couldn't file this bug using ubuntu-bug because it claims
that neither kernel nor linux were valid packages, despite the bug HowTo
that claims that's what I should use.]

** Affects: linux (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

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Kernel 2.6.32-21-generic freezes Dell Inspiration 1150 on boot; 2.6.32-20 is fine
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/565535
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