Score:1

LUKS password randomly not working on boot

in flag

I have an odd problem and I am not sure what the reason might be. Sometimes, randomly my encryption password is not accepted and I get the following error message while booting up my computer:

cryptsetup failed, bad password or options?

That means, sometimes and randomly I have to enter my password a few times, say 4-7 times and then eventually I see "successful". Other times it just works at the first try. In either case I am very sure that I don't enter the wrong password.

To narrow the problem down, I added a second password to a free LUKS slot. That password was: hello

Even with that password, I suffer the same situation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I can rule out caps lock because the problem happens on cold boot too. Also, the caps lock light is off so I am pretty sure caps lock is not the problem. But, what could be the problem? Or, how to narrow the problem down?

Setup:

-Ubuntu 21.10

-Samsung SSD

-LUKS full-disk-encryption as per Ubuntu's installation wizard

Thanks!

pLumo avatar
in flag
I don't have that issue, did you try with another keybord maybe?
in flag
No, I didn't try another keyboard. The computer is a laptop, so it's always the same keyboard.
ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
That's exactly why you should try another keyboard.
in flag
What would be the reasoning behind trying another keyboard? I am writing extensively with my current keyboard. It doesn't seem to be faulty.
jp flag
Trying a USB keyboard is a good suggestion. The rationale is that your laptop may have a key that sticks sometimes, and sends multiple keystrokes, but it may not happen consistently
Score:0
jp flag

Try to run a memory test (aka memtest86+) from the GRUB boot menu to confirm that your memory is working correctly. If you have memory that was faulty, it could lead to strange behavior like this, basically because bits are being flipped randomly while stored in there. If the memory test shows errors, replace your system's RAM.

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.