Arch Linux

I'm having the same issue described in the forum post ever since upgrading to systemd 248-1.

On my Dell Precision 5530 I'm using systemd-boot and I have menu options to boot different kernels. The menu does not work with the laptop's internal keyboard anymore. If I press the arrow keys I get weird characters that appear on the screen, the type that you see when a unicode character doesn't render correctly (the box with the unicode number in it) and the selection doesn't change. If I press Enter the system will refuse to boot and error with a message similar to "failed loading (null)". I can press the number keys, 1, 2, 3, to select the different menu options, but pressing Enter always gives me an error. The system will boot correctly otherwise, I have a default menu option with a timer and when the countdown hits zero it boots correctly. It seems like something's wrong with systemd-boot and the internal keyboard.

I did try plugging in a USB keyboard to the laptop and that works correctly. So the issue only seems to happen with the internal keyboard.

Also, I have a Dell Insprion 3195, also running systemd-boot on version 248-1 with multiple entries and the internal keyboard works correctly on that one. So whatever the issue is, it does not appear to be happening with all computers.

An update on my comment above. The characters I see on the screen aren't the unicode number, but two sets of question marks in a box with inverting colors. Downgrading systemd (248-1 -> 247.4-2) corrects the issue only if I do "bootctl remove" and "bootctl install" as noted in the forum post.

archlinux-2021.04.01-x86_64.iso uses systemd 247.4-2, so the ISO not booting is unrelated to this issue.

I'm experiencing similar symptoms. I notice upstream issue https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/19191 has now appeared, and I have added my experience report there.

Hello,

i fact of the hint of nl6720 i completely reset the laptop today (including the bios) and reconfigured it. I could boot from the install CD and made a fresh install of Arch Linux. I don't figured out what exactly cause the problem, but it is solved for now

regards
Kai

Upstream issue: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/19191

This workaround seems to work, it might help before an official fix is ​​released: https://github.com/ErnyTech/systemd/commit/9021729667e019defea0d4c1bdf563d629d7d837

Added the workaround in systemd 248-5.
But let's keep this open for a real fix...

I found that this is a problem with GCC 10. When I use GCC 11 to compile systemd v248, everything is ok.

https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/19191#issuecomment-853368643

It doesn't seem to completely solve the issue https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/19191#issuecomment-854792120

systemd-boot 250 had some extensive changes to input handling that should fix this. This patch should not be needed in v250 anymore: "0003-PARTIAL-REVERT-commit-tree-wide-replace-strverscmp-and-str_verscmp-with-strverscmp_improved.patch".

Also, please open a new upstream issue in case v250 does not work for you.

Dropped the patch in svn, will be in systemd >= 250-2.

Anybody suffering this please test systemd 250-2...