What to do after Failed to start Load Kernel Modules

boot command-line kernel services

219,171

Solution 1

I found exactly what I needed in a discussion in ubuntuforums.org. Specifically, I was looking for the command:

dpkg --configure -a

The linked article above mentions four commands that may help resolve this problem and notes that they may need to be repeated "in no specific order":

apt-get update
dpkg --configure -a
apt-get dist-upgrade
apt-get -f install

Solution 2

I had the impression something went wrong on an update / kernel update:

Booted into recovery mode.

menu "root": manually revoked network

ifconfig ethx <ip> netmask <mask> up
echo "nameserver 8.8.8.8" > /etc/resolv.conf
apt-get update

menu "dpkg": Repaired installation
back to menu "root": repair kernel initramfs
```
update-initramfs -k all -u
update-grub
```

Solution 3

Try this:

sudo apt-get remove nvidia-*
sudo apt-get autoremove
sudo nvidia-uninstall

and reboot.

Solution 4

In my case this might have happen when an update to the installation was going on and the system switched off without fully updated.

Press Ctrl+Alt+F1 (for command line interface)

After that,

sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade 
sudo apt-get -f install  (this command is optional, because the `dist-upgrade` command should have everything)

And lastly,

sudo init 6

(restart the system)

Now you will see Ubuntu 16.04 LTS without any error.

NOTE: It could take some time to update. In my case it took 45-60 min.

Solution 5

I just had this problem with an ubuntu 16.04 installation. When I looked into journalctl | grep modules from the recovery root shell, I saw that it was trying to load modules from the 16.10 (newer) kernel. It was left over data on my USB stick because I did not format it in-between writing images to it (from a mac using unetbootin).

So a format of the USB stick, remake the bootable stick, and it was as good as gold.

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219,171

Francisco

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Francisco almost 2 years
I tried to upgrade my system from Ubuntu 14.04. My laptop froze for a few hours. Not even the pointer did anything. So I switched off by pressing the power button for a few seconds. This uncompleted installation is the origin of my problem. When I reboot the system, grub appears and then, the following message:
```
[FAILED] Failed to start Load Kernel Modules
See 'systemctl status systemd-modules-load.service' for details
```
Plus some other lines that end with a final:
```
Failed to start Load Kernel Modules
```
When I open a command line by pressing CTRL+ALT+F1 I'm able to enter
```
sudo systemctl status systemd-modules-load.service
```
and I get the following output:
```
status systemd-modules-load.service
```
If I repeat the systemctl command, I get sometimes other process instead of 179, for example, 183.

Just in case it's needed,
```
sudo ls /lib/systemd/system/systemd-modules-load.service
```
gives me
```
/lib/system/systemd-modules-load

(written in green)

journalctl
```
outputs a lot of data. The red lines are the following ones:

First red line:

Second and third red line:

Fourth red line:

I really appreciate a little bit of help here. I don't know what to do next and I've searched the web finding nothing.
Steve over 7 years

The linked article threw me off a bit, because its first command (apt-get update) didn't help. But your pointer to the article's second command (dpkg --configure -a) did the job. Now that my machine is back in action (and I'm not stuck on my phone), I see that the article advises that the commands may need to be repeated "in no specific order". In case that article disappears, the other two commands are apt-get dist-upgrade and apt-get -f install.
Joshua Detwiler over 6 years

I'd just like to add that I'm working with Gem 5, and I'm trying to boot a disk image of Ubuntu 16.04.1/3 (server), and while it boots fine in QEMU, it gives me this error when running in full system mode in Gem 5. I'm sure that this solution has worked for others, but I wanted to add that it didn't fix it in my case.
Tom about 6 years

+1 for the 'echo "nameserver 8.8.8.8" > /etc/resolv.conf' line :)
virtualxtc almost 6 years

the apt-get update` only really needs to come before the apt-get dist-upgrade. You should avoid running a dist-upgrade if you don't know what you are doing, especially if dpkg --configure -a already works for you. Similarly, use apt-get -f install as a last resort as it can severely break your system.
virtualxtc almost 6 years

if your system is up to date, it won't take 45-60 min