HP EliteBook 840 G1 won’t boot without acpi=off

General Help
1

Hi everyone,

I’m having a serious boot issue with my HP EliteBook 840 G1 running Zorin OS. Until recently, everything worked fine, but after running sudo apt full-upgrade in late August, my system no longer boots unless I add acpi=off to the kernel boot parameters.

Without acpi=off, the boot process freezes around: ima allocated hash algorithm sha256 and doesn’t continue.

What I’ve tried so far :

Booted with different kernels:

  • 6.8.0-79-generic (current HWE kernel)
  • 6.8.0-65-generic (previous HWE kernel)
    → Both hang unless I use acpi=off.

Reinstalled microcode and related packages:

sudo apt install --reinstall linux-generic-hwe-22.04 intel-microcode thermald

Ran update-initramfs -u and update-grub successfully.

Tried alternative boot parameters:

  • acpi=noirq
  • pci=noacpi
    → Neither worked, only full acpi=off boots.

The current situation is :

  • System only boots with acpi=off.
  • Performance is degraded (lags a lot, thermal management is not working).
  • Battery no longer charges since several months due to her age (laptop is always on AC power).
  • Cannot enter BIOS to tweak ACPI settings because it asks for a password I don’t have.
  • Software Updater is also acting strangely since the upgrade

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance !

Maxime from France

1 Like
2

Do you have enabled secure boot in your BIOS? If yes, turn it off.
Also turn off fast boot and if you use Dualboot with Windows disable fast-startup there.

3

Thx for your answer but I cannot access to my BIOS I forgot the password :s

4

Oh man !!!!

I finally found out what was causing the issue: my laptop battery was swollen.

After I removed the battery, the system booted normally without needing acpi=off and all the ACPI/microcode issues disappeared.

So the root cause wasn’t the kernel or Secure Boot after all, but the defective battery interfering with ACPI and power management.

2 Likes
5

Make sure to dispose of that battery as soon as possible, since that's a warning sign that it might catch on fire.

Obviously, don't just dump it anywhere... take it to a recycling facility where they can dispose of batteries properly. If you don't have one near you, hold on to it until you can take it there. A ceramic jar filled with dirt or sand would be ideal to keep the battery safe given how those are poor conductors of electricity (as long as it doesn't get wet!) and heat. If you don't have one... get one, and when you're done with this you have the perfect excuse to grow something there (may I suggest basil?).

1 Like
6

If I was you, I would take action to try and set a new BIOS password, before you need to get in there to do things.
Removing the CMOS battery for a short time may reset it. There are other methods depending on what BIOS or UEFI your machine has.

7

ahah yes of course don't worry i will recycle it near from my home !

1 Like
8

I should yes but the cmos battery seems to be under the plastic and I juste want to use my laptop basically for the moment :slight_smile: thx !

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