Alta requires key press to boot

Start Boot
1

I have two Altas w/ eMMC in which I had Debian w/ Gnome installed without issue. I wanted to install as a headless setup so I wiped the eMMC and reinstalled with base Debian 12. Also, I have flashed both with the guide: How to Flash Firmware or Recover Firmware on Libre Computer AML Boards

However, I get stuck when booting in two locations. Obviously, for a headless set up, I need the device to just boot up so I can SSH into them. The device will boot on its own, but it takes like 30 minutes.

First hang is before I get to the UEFI OS menu page. This hang doesn’t last too long (like 2 minutes) or I can press a key and it’ll go to the menu.

The second hang is after I choose the OS in UEFI. The screen goes black. This will hang for 20 minutes or so before moving forward unless I press any key. If I press a key, then I see logs for EFI Stub.

I’ve tried multiple grub configurations but nothing seems to fix. I’ve also reflashed the boot firmware. I’ve tried other OSes including fedora. The issue also occurs when booting from SD card or eMMC.

Any assistance is appreciated. I’m happy to provide logs or screenshots.

Thanks!

2

What keyboard do you have? Some low cost keyboard controllers will send random keys on enumeration causing GRUB to stall. You can disable keypresses in GRUB to mitigate this hardware bug from the keyboard. Also see Guide for fixing boot issues from u-boot USB stack causing boot delays or hangs

3

Wow. You won’t believe what I’ve went through on this lol. Yes, removing the keyboard resolved the issue. It’s not a cheap keyboard (keychron V1), but this worked. Thanks!

4

The keyboard might not be cheap but the controller in the keyboard is cheap/poorly tested. A lot of new off-brand keyboards save pennies and cause issues.

5

I have Fedora on both SD and eMMC. I have found that if I press the delete key at boot up, the menu comes up. I can then select which device I want to boot up.

If not it take a while for it to boot up. It seems to default to eMMC if there is an OS on the device.