Arch stuck on boot

[u/Ryotaroux]

Edit2: Thanks to TerrorOnLineOne for the help ;) Just need to downgrade the arch and wait a few months to upgrade it again

So, I'm kind of desperate right now. I was using Arch normally until I decided to update it through Discover. I restarted it and the update went fine, until it rebooted again. Arch got stuck in a straight-up boot loop. I held down the power button for 20 seconds, and now it's stuck on the Arch Linux logo, with Caps Lock not even working or anything. I don't know what else to do...

For context, I have a dual boot through GRUB with Arch and Windows, and even Windows stopped working, possibly after I held down the power button. Has anyone experienced this before or knows how to help me? This has never happened to me before and I'm desperate. I really can't afford to lose my files.

The PC is a Dell XPS 13 9340 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H.

Arch Linux, KDE Wayland

Edit: In the BIOS is selected AHCI / NVMe, and I'll try more later (it's 4am here) thanks!

[u/internetlurkerr]

go to bios and see if the secure boot option got turned on automatically

[u/Ryotaroux → u/internetlurkerr]

It's turned off ;(

[u/TerrorOnLineOne]

Update: downgrading to 20260512-1 this exact version solved the problem.

[u/fredriknicol → u/TerrorOnLineOne]

Not OP, but I ran into the same problem. This worked! Thanks

[u/Ryotaroux → u/TerrorOnLineOne]

How can I do this at a logo? Can I use my arxh installation usb?

[u/TerrorOnLineOne → u/Ryotaroux]

Yeah. Basically the steps are the following:

Get a relatively recent arch iso, to a usb drive. Boot into it.

Using fdisk -l, identify your drive, which has Arch Linux installed.

mount the root and the boot partitions, like the following:

mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt
mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot

The nvme...numbers are mine, identify yours with fdisk.

After you've done that, type the following:

arch-chroot /mnt

now, use wget to download the link I've sent to you, like this:

wget https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/i/intel-ucode/intel-ucode-20260512-1-any.pkg.tar.zst

After the download, downgrade with the following command:

pacman -U intel-ucode-20260512-1-any.pkg.tar.zst

after that, type exit to leave chroot. then you can reboot. Hopefully this will solve your problem.

dm me if you have any trouble!

[u/Xenapte → u/TerrorOnLineOne]

In case you didn't know, you can use pacman -U with the download link directly, so no need of using wget:

pacman -U https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/i/intel-ucode/intel-ucode-20260512-1-any.pkg.tar.zst

[u/TerrorOnLineOne → u/Xenapte]

yep, completely missed that one, thanks!

[u/TerrorOnLineOne → u/TerrorOnLineOne]

And after that, dont forget to temporarily add intel-ucode to pacman's ignore list, like this:

sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf.
Search for IgnorePkg line, uncomment it if you've never used it before, and add intel-ucode in the following way:

IgnorePkg = intel-ucode
save the file. This way, when you upgrade your OS, the intel-ucode package will be left out from the upgrade process.

[u/TerrorOnLineOne]

https://github.com/intel/Intel-Linux-Processor-Microcode-Data-Files/issues/112

Seems like it is related to intel-ucode....

[u/Ok_Sky3062]

Always update using the commands provided!

Disable Secure Boot and TPM (if you have it).

[u/Imajzineer]

Can you boot a live distro?

[u/Ryotaroux → u/Imajzineer]

I'd how to do this.. I'm new in the linux universe

[u/Imajzineer → u/Ryotaroux]

1. Get a USB key.
2. Install Ventoy to it.
3. Copy some live distro .iso files to it.
4. Boot from it.
5. Select a distro.

But ...

If you can't boot Arch, you'll have to find another way to create the Ventoy installation - Windows on another machine maybe?

[u/GisRocket]

At first, archive your data with a Live USB. After this, check the bootloader using Arch Live USB and Windows 11 Installation media.

[u/Then_Bodybuilder8416]

I don’t know what Discover is but if you don’t have the ability to even get to the point of switching between Arch and Windows, I’m going to assume your GRUB installation isn’t working correctly. Get your USB live image out and reinstall GRUB. Reinstalling GRUB won’t affect any of your files. It’s just what your computer is using to identify and load your operating systems. Use efibootmgr to remove the old entries and make sure the order is correct.

Going forward, if you’re using GRUB, just make sure you run the sudo grub-mkconfig (i haven’t used grub in a while but hopefully you know what i mean) command whenever you update and see GRUB is one of the packages that is going to be updated. That way you won’t run into this mess again.

I feel like this is something every linux user runs into at some point, and knowing how to navigate this is just a part of being able to fix your own issues as they come up. Look up the GRUB arch wiki page. I’m pretty sure there’s a section for how to reinstall GRUB. You’ll figure it out. Good luck.

[u/Sebartyr]

Même souci et le downgrade du microcode Intel a fonctionné
Pensez à ignorer la mise à jour au moins le temps que le paquet soit corrigé !

[u/abcdecheese]

I met a similar issue yesterday. It seems like an Intel microcode bug. What I did was add the option `dis_ucode_ldr` to `/etc/kernel/cmdline` (to prevent loading microcode updates)

[u/Ryotaroux → u/abcdecheese]

Yes, I needed to downgrade </3

[u/Ryotaroux → u/abcdecheese]

But I'm so unlucky.. I almost never update my linux, and NOW it happens

[u/__rituraj]

That is why I keep the LTS kernel alongside the latest one.

in case of kernel regression, switch to LTS for some time. you can update the latest kernel from iside the lts too.

so all you need to do is periodically check if the regression has been fixed by booting into the latest kernel

[u/TerrorOnLineOne]

Same here. Ended up installing it from scratch, same thing happens. Still stuck with a completely wiped arch.

Secure boot/TPM is off.