Can't boot: "error: out of memory." immediately after the grub menu

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. While running an Ubuntu kernel (not a mainline or third-party kernel) please enter the following command in a terminal window:

apport-collect 1842320

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

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Issue appears to be related to display resolution. Grub was booting into 3840x2160 mode, with the resulting tiny, near-unreadable font. So I set GFXMODE=800x600 and now - unexpectedly - kernel 5.2.0 is able to boot without the memory errors.

Not sure why the high resolution causes an out-of-memory error; a 3840x2160x32 framebuffer should only require ~32MB of RAM.

Same issue here.. workaround works..

Can you please perform a kernel bisection?

I have a similar issue. I upgraded to 19.10 from 19.04 today.

After grub, I get this message:

"error: out of memory.
Press any key to continue..."

Then kernel panic message (image attached).

I have been unable to successfully boot using the workaround above.

The kernel is shown in grub is 5.3.0-18.
My computer is an Intel NUC (Skull Canyon), 16GB RAM, Intel NVMe, 2 x 2560 x 1440 displays.

Update: My machine boots normally from the USB install media.

ProblemType: Bug
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu8.2
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse: Error: command ['fuser', '-v', '/dev/snd/seq', '/dev/snd/timer'] failed with exit code 1:
CRDA: Error: command ['iw', 'reg', 'get'] failed with exit code 1: nl80211 not found.
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 19.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=21a8b99d-8777-4e3e-8fd7-2ad7bb66b24e
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-01-24 (1068 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160719)
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 eno1 no wireless extensions.
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_AU:en
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB:

ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-4.4.0-131-generic root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root ro plymouth:debug
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-131.157-generic 4.4.134
PulseList: Error: command ['pacmd', 'list'] failed with exit code 1: No PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-131-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-131-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.183.3
RfKill:

Tags: eoan
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-131-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to eoan on 2019-12-28 (0 days ago)
UserGroups:

_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 08/17/2016
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: KYSKLi70.86A.0041.2016.0817.1130
dmi.board.name: NUC6i7KYB
dmi.board.vendor: Intel Corporation
dmi.board.version: H90766-406
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Intel Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrKYSKLi70.86A.0041.2016.0817.1130:bd08/17/2016:svn:pn:pvr:rvnIntelCorporation:rnNUC6i7KYB:rvrH90766-406:cvnIntelCorporation:ct3:cvr1.0:

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I'd like to echo Steven Mackenzie's report.

The workaround of explicitly configuring GFXMODE does mean that I can hit a key through the "Hit any key to continue" prompt, but the boot still fails. Without the workaround, grub is unresponsive at the "Hit any key.." prompt.

I've opened 1857786 indepdently for my boot issue.

Just noting that I had this same issue on my Dell XPS 9550 laptop, which has a 3840x2160 display. The workaround of setting GFXMODE=800x600 in the grub config worked for me too, thanks! And of course had the nice side effect of actually making the grub menu readable. :-)

Just had the problem again after upgrading 20.10 to 21.04.

Kernel 5.8.0-55 boots OK.

Kernel 5.11.0-18 fails with the memory error.

I'm just about to re-add the GFXMODE line to grub, which I hope will (again) work around the problem.

I had this issue as well, through ALL of the 5.x kernels. Tried everything mentioned in the thread here, but nothing worked other than going to 4.15 kernel.
This gave me suspicions it was related to something with the UEFI handoff to OS, so I looked for BIOS updates and sure enough there was one from earlier this year. Updated to the latest BIOS from Intel, and everything boots fine and working now.

I have this issue on my Dell XPS 9380. I can boot 5.13.0.35, but 0.37 and 0.39 simply show the error: out of memory.

I have tried changing my GFXMODE to 800x600x24, which hwinfo lists as a supported resolution, but grub.... just ignores it? Same with timeout? It just shows in the 4K native res every time, almost as if it's taunting me.

Eventually the 0.35 kernel will be deleted by a system update, and my system will be bricked. I guess I'm going to need to reinstall, aren't I?

This is still valid and the issue is more pernicious because with the latest livecd one cannot change the GFXMODE to 800x600. Re-imaging a new ISO with new grub settings is outside most people's abilities nor is it the intention. This means that Ubuntu's livecd lead to a panic in a very popular laptop model.

Had the same issue with Ubuntu 22.04 install ISO flashed onto a USB.

Even tried booting "manually" (press "c" to enter GRUB command prompt)

grub> ls
(proc) (hd0) (hd0,gpt1) (hd0,gpt2) (hd0,gpt3) (hd1) . . .
grub> ls (hd0,gpt1)
        Partition hd0,gpt1: Filesystem type ... - Label 'UBUNTU 22_0' ...
grub> set root=(hd0,gpt1)
grub> linux /casper/vmlinuz
grub> initrd /casper/initrd
error: out of memory.
grub>

Couldn't find any way out of this condition (is there?).

Fortunately I already had GRUB installed on the machine so I could proceed from that one.

Hello Gordon, or anyone else affected,

Accepted grub2-signed into focal-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2-signed/1.187.3~20.04.1 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-focal to verification-done-focal. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-focal. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

Hello Gordon, or anyone else affected,

Accepted grub2-unsigned into bionic-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2-unsigned/2.06-2ubuntu14.1 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-bionic to verification-done-bionic. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-bionic. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

Hello Gordon, or anyone else affected,

Accepted grub2-signed into bionic-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2-signed/1.187.3~18.04.1 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-bionic to verification-done-bionic. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-bionic. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

Hello,

I'm affected by this problem but on my side, it's when I try to install Ubuntu (tested with 22.04 and 23.04dev) with a USB stick. How can I test the resolution with an ISO?

I can confirm that the jammy-proposed package fixes the bug for me on our one affected system at 22.04.1. After installing nvidia-525 drivers, the system would not boot - grub out of memory error and kernel panic.

Updated to grub-efi-amd64_2.06-2ubuntu14.1, grub-efi-amd64-bin_2.06-2ubuntu14.1 and grub-efi-amd64-signed_1.187.3~22.04.1+2.06-2ubuntu14.1 and the system boots normally.

I will change the tag from verification-needed-jammy to verification-done-jammy.

Thanks to everyone for their work on this bug!

TESTED
• Reinstalled initramfs-tools-core to undo changes of compression on /sbin/mkinitramfs .
• Confirmed compression set to default values.
• Restored /etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf to default values, with "MODULES=most" .
• Installed grub-efi-amd64/kinetic,now 2.06-2ubuntu14.1 amd64 and related versions of packages.
• Ran the following
  sudo update-initramfs -v -u
  sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
  sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grub.cfg
  sudo update-grub2
• Rebooted

VERIFICATION DONE
• Confirmed fix on MSI GS63VR 6RF laptop. No "out of memory" error on grub boot.
• (For some who mentioned nvidia drivers, I have 525.78.01-0ubuntu0.22.10.1 amd64 installed.)
• My current initrd.img size is larger of course, so if you have multiple versions and your /boot partition is small you may have to remove older versions so you don't run out of room---not in any way meaning the "out of memory" error.

I also confirm that the proposed update fixed the out of memory error when booting on my computer. The packages I installed and tested:

grub-efi-amd64-bin/jammy-proposed,now 2.06-2ubuntu14.1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
grub-efi-amd64-signed/jammy-proposed,now 1.187.3~22.04.1+2.06-2ubuntu14.1 amd64 [installed]
grub-efi-amd64/jammy-proposed,now 2.06-2ubuntu14.1 amd64 [installed]

The kernel and Nvidia driver installed on the system are:

linux-image-5.15.0-58-generic/jammy-updates,jammy-security,now 5.15.0-58.64 amd64 [installed,automatic]
nvidia-driver-525/jammy-updates,jammy-security,now 525.78.01-0ubuntu0.22.04.1 amd64 [installed]

Since my system hadn't been working because of the error, I had to boot up my computer with a Live CD, mount the filesystem, chroot, add the jammy-proposed repository, and install those proposed packages. My system booted up successfully afterward.

My sincere thanks for the speedy fix.

I get the same error. Is there any ISO image already built that includes the latest fix?

Grub update for images is tracked in

[Bug 2004164] 2022v1 signed cd-boot-images

The updates for bionic and focal still need verification, though I guess they're the same binary (just different signature due to time of signing) so it's a bit pointless.

I have added blocked tags for those uploads as the changes are a bit larger and we know there are issues with it (three more patches have been posted upstream to avoid OOM and performance regressions), so let's do release jammy and kinetic for now only.

We have decided last week that while we know there are these bugs we tested the existing updates for a while now, and don't want to introduce regression potential by picking up those fixes before the point release.

Is there an expected release date for Kinetic?
And will there be a new version of Kinetic live CD with this patch? since current version just won't boot.

No there won't be an updated image for kinetic.

I had a server that suffered from the same problem when netbooting a live system (which has a fairly large initrd).

I tried with the file "grubnetx64.efi.signed" of "grub-efi-amd64-signed 1.187.3~22.04.1+2.06-2ubuntu14.1" from jammy-proposed/main, and the problem was gone.

However I would need this version for focal (our automatic deployment of grub is based on focal at the moment).

Hello to everyone. I'm using kinetic and I have this problem. At the very top of this page I read that there is a workaround here :

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1842320/comments/125

but that link does not work. So,I would like to ask what should I do to fix this bug. Thanks.

@ Marietto,

Try this link:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/oem-priority/+bug/1842320/comments/125

Sorry,my mistake,I have two ubuntu installations. The first one runs kinetic,the second one jammy. I see the error on both the installations,but kinetic is able to ignore it,jammy can't. I gave a look at the link that you have provided,but the solutions proposed aren't detailed. It's not explained well what should I do technically to fix the error. Sorry If I'm a newbie and that's because I'm looking for the easiest method. For example,is there an alternative to grub to boot jammy ? Maybe if I install rEFIt,will it be able to boot my jammy ? thanks.

For focal and bionic I started lxd vms with 4-8GB each (the allocate over 4GB parts I don't think are actually needed, lol), rebuilt initrd with the initrams tools hook, upgraded grub to the ubuntu14.1 and made sure it booted.

Then I downgraded grubs again to ubuntu14 and made sure it failed with out of memory again.

I just updated the the following packages:
firmware-sof-signed:amd64 (2.0-1ubuntu4, 2.0-1ubuntu4.1),
grub-efi-amd64-signed:amd64 (1.182~22.04.1+2.06-2ubuntu10, 1.187.2+2.06-2ubuntu14),
grub-efi-amd64-bin:amd64 (2.06-2ubuntu10, 2.06-2ubuntu14)
and after the restart I get the same message
For what it's worth, I0m on kubuntu 22.04 and have a nvidia-driver-525 installed

I just updated the the following packages:
firmware-sof-signed:amd64 (2.0-1ubuntu4, 2.0-1ubuntu4.1),
grub-efi-amd64-signed:amd64 (1.182~22.04.1+2.06-2ubuntu10, 1.187.2+2.06-2ubuntu14),
grub-efi-amd64-bin:amd64 (2.06-2ubuntu10, 2.06-2ubuntu14)
I'm on kubuntu 22.04, have a 5.15-60-generic kernel, nvidia-driver-525 installed and after the restart I get the same message: "out of memory"

@fantaz yes, the version with the fix is the one after that.

This bug was fixed in the package grub2-unsigned - 2.06-2ubuntu14.1

---------------
grub2-unsigned (2.06-2ubuntu14.1) kinetic; urgency=medium

  * Cherry-pick all memory patches from rhboot
    - Allocate initrd > 4 GB (LP: #1842320)
    - Allocate kernels as code, not data (needed for newer firmware)
  * ubuntu: Fix casts on i386-efi target
  * Cherry-pick all the 2.12 memory management changes (LP: #1842320)
  * Allocate executables as CODE, not DATA in chainloader and arm64
  * Source package generated from src:grub2 using make -f ./debian/rules
    generate-grub2-unsigned

 -- Julian Andres Klode <email address hidden> Mon, 30 Jan 2023 11:51:57 +0100

This bug was fixed in the package grub2-signed - 1.187.3

---------------
grub2-signed (1.187.3) kinetic; urgency=medium

  * Build against grub2 2.06-2ubuntu14.1 (LP: #1842320)
  * Add check that we are not signed with a revoked key
  * Incorporate changes from the bionic branch:
    - Bump grub2-common dependency to 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.33 in xenial and
      2.02-2ubuntu8.25 in bionic to fix LP #1995751

 -- Julian Andres Klode <email address hidden> Mon, 30 Jan 2023 12:09:44 +0100

The verification of the Stable Release Update for grub2-unsigned has completed successfully and the package is now being released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regressions.

This bug was fixed in the package grub2-unsigned - 2.06-2ubuntu14.1

---------------
grub2-unsigned (2.06-2ubuntu14.1) kinetic; urgency=medium

  * Cherry-pick all memory patches from rhboot
    - Allocate initrd > 4 GB (LP: #1842320)
    - Allocate kernels as code, not data (needed for newer firmware)
  * ubuntu: Fix casts on i386-efi target
  * Cherry-pick all the 2.12 memory management changes (LP: #1842320)
  * Allocate executables as CODE, not DATA in chainloader and arm64
  * Source package generated from src:grub2 using make -f ./debian/rules
    generate-grub2-unsigned

 -- Julian Andres Klode <email address hidden> Mon, 30 Jan 2023 11:51:57 +0100

This bug was fixed in the package grub2-signed - 1.187.3~22.04.1

---------------
grub2-signed (1.187.3~22.04.1) jammy; urgency=medium

  * Build against grub2 2.06-2ubuntu14.1 (LP: #1842320)
  * Add check that we are not signed with a revoked key
  * Incorporate changes from the bionic branch:
    - Bump grub2-common dependency to 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.33 in xenial and
      2.02-2ubuntu8.25 in bionic to fix LP #1995751

 -- Julian Andres Klode <email address hidden> Mon, 30 Jan 2023 12:09:44 +0100

This bug was fixed in the package grub2-unsigned - 2.06-2ubuntu14.1

---------------
grub2-unsigned (2.06-2ubuntu14.1) kinetic; urgency=medium

  * Cherry-pick all memory patches from rhboot
    - Allocate initrd > 4 GB (LP: #1842320)
    - Allocate kernels as code, not data (needed for newer firmware)
  * ubuntu: Fix casts on i386-efi target
  * Cherry-pick all the 2.12 memory management changes (LP: #1842320)
  * Allocate executables as CODE, not DATA in chainloader and arm64
  * Source package generated from src:grub2 using make -f ./debian/rules
    generate-grub2-unsigned

 -- Julian Andres Klode <email address hidden> Mon, 30 Jan 2023 11:51:57 +0100

This bug was fixed in the package grub2-signed - 1.187.3~20.04.1

---------------
grub2-signed (1.187.3~20.04.1) focal; urgency=medium

  * Build against grub2 2.06-2ubuntu14.1 (LP: #1842320)
  * Add check that we are not signed with a revoked key
  * Incorporate changes from the bionic branch:
    - Bump grub2-common dependency to 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.33 in xenial and
      2.02-2ubuntu8.25 in bionic to fix LP #1995751

 -- Julian Andres Klode <email address hidden> Mon, 30 Jan 2023 12:09:44 +0100

This bug was fixed in the package grub2-unsigned - 2.06-2ubuntu14.1

---------------
grub2-unsigned (2.06-2ubuntu14.1) kinetic; urgency=medium

  * Cherry-pick all memory patches from rhboot
    - Allocate initrd > 4 GB (LP: #1842320)
    - Allocate kernels as code, not data (needed for newer firmware)
  * ubuntu: Fix casts on i386-efi target
  * Cherry-pick all the 2.12 memory management changes (LP: #1842320)
  * Allocate executables as CODE, not DATA in chainloader and arm64
  * Source package generated from src:grub2 using make -f ./debian/rules
    generate-grub2-unsigned

 -- Julian Andres Klode <email address hidden> Mon, 30 Jan 2023 11:51:57 +0100

This bug was fixed in the package grub2-signed - 1.187.3~18.04.1

---------------
grub2-signed (1.187.3~18.04.1) bionic; urgency=medium

  * Build against grub2 2.06-2ubuntu14.1 (LP: #1842320)
  * Add check that we are not signed with a revoked key
  * Incorporate changes from the bionic branch:
    - Bump grub2-common dependency to 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.33 in xenial and
      2.02-2ubuntu8.25 in bionic to fix LP #1995751

 -- Julian Andres Klode <email address hidden> Mon, 30 Jan 2023 12:09:44 +0100

Excuse me for my ignorance. I see that the bug has been fixed. Do you confirm that,to fix it,I just need to install the package "grub-efi-amd64_2.06-2ubuntu14.1_amd64.deb" with the command "dpkg -i grub-efi-amd64_2.06-2ubuntu14.1_amd64.deb" or I just need to do something else ? And installing this version of grub is supposed to work with what version of ubuntu ? And it should work even on Debian 11 ? yes,because even on Debian I see the same bug.

@marietto: The bug has a fix released for Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, 22.04, and 22.10. No user intervention should be needed - the update should be installed in the course of normal system updates. You should be able to make it install with "sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade".

This bug fix does not affect Debian, so no, it won't work on Debian 11 or any other version. You'll have to wait for Debian to release a fix for it, as Debian and Ubuntu are different operating systems despite the fact that Ubuntu is based on Debian.

Unfortunately doing "sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade" didn't solve the problem. So I have installed the package "grub-efi-amd64_2.06-2ubuntu14.1_amd64.deb" individually. Now I'm going to check if the bug has been fixed.

unfortunately grub-efi-amd64 2.06-2ubuntu14.1 does *not* fix the issue.

as soon if we set more than 32GB of RAM for the IGFX in BIOS-Setup, grub errors out with OOM.

unfortunately at least firefox run into OOM if we only set 32GB with two 4K-monitors attached, so the system is not really usable (it's not a OOM of normal Memory because there's 100GB available while firefox runs for a moment)

please tell us, if there're suggested patches to try. we're able to patch and compile the package by ourselves

@sh you want to file a new issue for your issue, this one has been resolved.

You may also be hit by the regression that is fixed in git and the ubuntu-uefi-team PPA (without signed packages obviously), but those regression fixes also cause regressions in other distros, so they were held back too.

I want to inform you that your fix for me does not work. The problem disappear when the grub menu is populated with a small number of entries. But when the entries are more,I don't know how many they should be,the error "out of memory" comes back again. I'm sure it is like this for ubuntu 22.10,but probably even for ubuntu 22.04. If you want to help me to troubleshot the error,I'm available to help.

Marrietto please do not make fraudulent changes to the bug title. The number of entries is not relevant to the bug. The testing setup did not even have a menu.

If you experience issues, again, file a separate bug. This bug has been resolved.

BTW, based on discussion[1].

The grub2@upstream introduce Loadfile2[2] for x86 which may related to this issue, FYI.

[1] https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/grub-devel/2022-12/msg00135.html
[2] https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/grub-devel/2023-05/msg00112.html

I see the same when booting on Ubuntu 23.04 on LG Gram 17Z90R (32 GB RAM).

Loading initial ramdisk
error: out of memory

Then, it complains something about zstd image being corrupted.

However, after a few seconds, booting continues and everything seems to work correctly.

I'm seeing this crash on 22.04 with the latest nVidia driver stack installed from nVidia (535). This system has the updated grub.

Relevant packages:
grub-efi-amd64-bin 2.06-2ubuntu14.1
nvidia-driver-535 535.54.03-0ubuntu1
linux-image-5.19.0-50-generic

My solution was to rebuild initramfs after changing /etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf to have:
MODULES=dep

This reduces the size of the initrd by almost 1/3.

If anyone wants more details on this system, please let me know.

@Tobin It's likely fixed now with the latest ubuntu14.2 update.