Booting 24.04 from USB with UEFI fails with: "Initramfs unpacking failed" and "Kernel panic"

Question

I am currently running Ubuntu 20.04 on my UEFI Bios PC in dual boot with Windows. Everything works fine. Since the support for Ubuntu 20.04 is almost at the end of its life, I wanted to replace it with 24.04. However, as soon as I try to boot from USB stick (UEFI mode), I get the following error, and the booting stops: Initramfs unpacking failed: invalid magic at start of compressed archive

After this error, no interaction with the PC is possible, and I have to press the reset button. To get more information, I removed the "quiet splash" options in the grub boot menu, which resulted in the output shown in the following screenshot:

Error in 24.04:

Since the installation was working quite well for Ubuntu 20.04, I downloaded all subsequent versions of Ubuntu to figure out when the error started, which is the case for Ubuntu 23.10. When I boot Ubuntu 23.10 from USB, I get the output as shown here:

Error in 23.10:

In legacy mode, everything boots quite well from USB. It's only the UEFI mode that doesn't work, however I don't want to install it in legacy mode because my system is already set up in UEFI.

Installing Ubuntu 24.04 from the USB stick in UEFI mode worked quite well for my other two PCs, but not for this one.

I am still trying to figure out what I can do. Does anyone have a suggestion? Let me know if you need additional information.

What else have I tried so far?

• I tried different image sources while sha256 of the ISOs was always fine.
• I tried different tools to set up a bootable USB drive with 24.04 (the default one on Ubuntu as well as dd and balenaEtcher on 20.04 and 24.04, and Rufus on Windows)
• I tried three different USB sticks (I already used all of them for installing Ubuntu on PCs)
• I tried all my USB ports (they work fine for Ubuntu versions before 23.04)

I also tried other suggestions, as shown, for example, in the following posts:

Ubuntu Studio boot from live usb failed: "Initramfs unpacking failed" => However, I don't want to install in legacy mode because my system (including Windows and the currently installed version of Ubuntu 20.04) is already set up in UEFI.

USB installer: “ Initramfs unpacking failed: Decoding failed” => Every suggestion resulted in the same error.

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxquestions/comments/11j8io9/kernel_panic_not_syncing_no_working_init_found/?rdt=46856 => I started the live USB stick in legacy mode and tried to update the initramfs, but it is not possible for a Live-USB stick because it is read-only.

What works?

• works fine in legacy mode
• works fine (both UEFI and legacy) on my other two PCs
• I also tried different older Ubuntu versions, and I figured out that this problem started to occur with 23.10

My system:

Output from: lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82579V Gigabit Network Connection (rev 05)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev b5)
00:1c.6 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 7 (rev b5)
00:1c.7 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 8 (rev b5)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation P67 Express Chipset LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port Desktop SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation TU104 [GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation TU104 HD Audio Controller (rev a1)
01:00.2 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation TU104 USB 3.1 Host Controller (rev a1)
01:00.3 Serial bus controller [0c80]: NVIDIA Corporation TU104 USB Type-C UCSI Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX8112 x1 Lane PCI Express-to-PCI Bridge (rev aa)
03:04.0 Multimedia audio controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CMI8788 [Oxygen HD Audio]
04:00.0 USB controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04)
05:00.0 USB controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04)
06:00.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8608 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ba)
07:01.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8608 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ba)
07:04.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8608 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ba)
07:05.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8608 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ba)
07:06.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8608 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ba)
07:07.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8608 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ba)
07:08.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8608 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ba)
07:09.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8608 8-lane, 8-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ba)
08:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6315 Series Firewire Controller (rev 01)
0a:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB362 SATA Controller (rev 10)
0b:00.0 SATA controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88SE9128 PCIe SATA 6 Gb/s RAID controller with HyperDuo (rev 11)
0d:00.0 PCI bridge: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1083/1085 PCIe to PCI Bridge (rev 01)
0f:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 06)

Output from: sudo dmidecode -t0 -t1

# dmidecode 3.2
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.6 present.
Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 24 bytes
BIOS Information
    Vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
    Version: 3602
    Release Date: 10/31/2012
    Address: 0xF0000
    Runtime Size: 64 kB
    ROM Size: 4096 kB
    Characteristics:
        PCI is supported
        BIOS is upgradeable
        BIOS shadowing is allowed
        Boot from CD is supported
        Selectable boot is supported
        BIOS ROM is socketed
        EDD is supported
        5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
        3.5"/720 kB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
        3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
        Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
        8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h)
        Serial services are supported (int 14h)
        Printer services are supported (int 17h)
        ACPI is supported
        USB legacy is supported
        BIOS boot specification is supported
        Targeted content distribution is supported
    BIOS Revision: 4.6
Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
    Manufacturer: System manufacturer
    Product Name: System Product Name
    Version: System Version
    Serial Number: System Serial Number
    UUID: 1e00c620-008c-4300-c51e-bcaec578734e
    Wake-up Type: Power Switch
    SKU Number: SKU
    Family: To be filled by O.E.M.

Answer 1

As suggested by @Jags, a solution is to use mkusb for the generation of the USB boot device (it can be found at Launchpad PPA: https://launchpad.net/~mkusb/+archive/ubuntu/ppa). At the set up of the boot device with mkusb, take care to set it up in persistent mode, which probably uses a different GRUB setup and, thus, avoids the error.

Answer 2

I had this exact problem on a pc and it was making me angry. A friend suggested that my drive was bad and although I had never had issues with it before, I swapped out the drive and it ended up installing just fine after the drive swap.

Answer 3

I had the same issue.

The solution by @Jags (https://askubuntu.com/users/928088/jags) worked and I'll later explain which options I used and why (as well as how and why I believe this solution works).

I then tried the solution by @oldfred (https://askubuntu.com/users/126395/oldfred) - I updated the BIOS firmware - and it fixed the issue completely, so, now, I can install in UEFI mode cleanly out of the box, without the work-around by @Jags.

In case it helps someone, my motherboard is Intel DH77EB. A thread on the Intel support forum about how to update the BIOS firmware on this motherboard. Unfortunately, at this point, Intel have removed all info and downloads for this motherboard from their website, but it can all still be accessed via the Wayback Machine (https://web.archive.org/): the BIOS firmware update download page for this motherboard.

How and why I believe the solution by @Jags works

Background info:

1. As far as I understand, UEFI bootable devices are supposed to use the GPT schema, whereas CSM (i.e. legacy) bootable devices are supposed to use the MBR schema. (You'll have to Google for more info.)
2. It seems that all Linux distros - and certainly Ubuntu - are making their USB installer ISOs 2-in-1: they use the MBR schema to support the CSM mode, but are also including an EFI partition to make them bootable in UEFI mode, which, according to strict specification of the UEFI standard, may or may not be a hack - I'm not sure.

If you're as confused as I was about mkusb's UI and terminology, then here are a few explanations:

1. "dus" stands for "do USB stuff".
2. The app seems to be a 2-in-1 of its "new, easy to use" version - the "dus" version - and its old version - "mkusb version 11". And, on the very first screen, it's basically confirming with you that you'd like to use the new version.
3. 'Live-only' or linux installer from the iso file means that you'll be able to use the resulting USB drive live as well as to install, but any changes you make as you work on the live system would NOT get saved.
4. 'Persistent live' means that you'll be able to use the resulting USB drive live AND that any changes you make as you work on the live system would actually get saved.
5. On the screen where it's offering you to tick 3 checkboxes (e.g. MSDOS partition table (default GPT)), what is meant is that, if you leave the box unticked, you'll use GPT, whereas if you do tick it, you'll use MSDOS - presumably MBR. You want to leave all 3 of these checkboxes unticked.

I went with the 'Live-only' or linux installer from the iso file option, because, as @David-DE (https://askubuntu.com/users/1134215/david-de) said, to install, you don't need the USB drive to be persistent, whereas live-only seems to be a more simple setup, i.e. less likely to have problems with it.

After inspecting the resulting USB drive, I can see that, unlike the original Ubuntu ISO that uses MBR and whose partitions are all over the place, this modified USB drive uses GPT and its partitions look like the most vanilla UEFI setup without any CSM support. So I believe it works because it's easier to "digest" for old buggy UEFI implementations (like on my 2012 motherboard).