I also have an update here: Let me look into two things: 1. When I said that I changed DEFAULT_APPEND in sysconfig->bootloader and removed the "quiet" option - I did that, it is still gone. But it appears this did not actually affect the bootloader. The reason I think that is when you pointed out the 'e' option, I tried that removed "quiet", and the system did boot (one try only so this is not conclusive) but most importantly, the boot process looked different, it does show all the messages (which removing "quiet" from the DEFAULT_APPEND). Is there a way for me to remove the "quiet" permanently so I can test more? 2. I noticed my SECURE_BOOT is set to "yes" - I plan to experiment with setting it to "no". I will not have time to experiment more until my evening, but you should get more info by tomorrow. Thanks.