# Getting started, flashed Ubuntu 24.04, now won't boot

**URL:** https://forums.sifive.com/t/getting-started-flashed-ubuntu-24-04-now-wont-boot/7744
**Category:** HiFive Premier P550
**Created:** [May 1, 2026, 6:00am UTC](https://forums.sifive.com/t/getting-started-flashed-ubuntu-24-04-now-wont-boot/7744 "2026-05-01T06:00:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![bmenrigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@bmenrigh](https://forums.sifive.com/u/bmenrigh)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2026, 6:00am UTC](https://forums.sifive.com/t/getting-started-flashed-ubuntu-24-04-now-wont-boot/7744/1 "2026-05-01T06:00:38Z")

</div>

Hi, I just got a HiFive Premier P550 board. It booted fine into the Ubuntu login screen. I didn’t know the password. I tried blank, “ubuntu”, “sifive”, nothing worked. I figured I could reset the password via the Ubuntu Recovery Mode from GRUB. Unfortunately my USB keyboard wouldn’t work with GRUB (perhaps grub is missing USB 3 support?).

So I figured I should just update the whole thing.

I got the serial console connected. I could type but not see anything. I had to see what I was typing by using the HDMI output to a monitor.

I downloaded the latest release copy of `bootloader_ddr5_secboot.bin` from [https://github.com/sifiveinc/freedom-u-sdk/releases/](https://github.com/sifiveinc/freedom-u-sdk/releases/) (043a47a2516ea0cd1314c7d0f0788b8e86837db9335cd570addb2e27b1398250). I downloaded `ubuntu-24.04-preinstalled-server-riscv64.img.xz` and decompressed it (05ac95ac214292d3db8d406fa9a22e1b400765b32957ee8095290eacc6a795e5 after decompression), storing both on an EXT4 USB stick.

Using the guide at [https://www.sifive.com/document-file/hifive-premier-p550-image-update-procedure](https://www.sifive.com/document-file/hifive-premier-p550-image-update-procedure) I was able to run

```auto
ext4load usb 0 0x90000000 bootloader_ddr5_secboot.bin
es_burn write 0x90000000 flash
es_fs write usb 0 ubuntu-24.04-preinstalled-server-riscv64.img mmc 0

```

The output of these commands looked correct and roughly matched whats in the guide.

After resetting the device, I now get serial terminal output but no HDMI output, and the machine doesn’t appear to boot. This is what I see from the serial terminal on reset:

```auto
pll config ok
die_num:0,die_ordinal:0
Firmware version:1.5;disable ECC
PHY0 training process:100%
PHY1 training process:100%
DDR type:LPDDR5;Size:32GB,Data Rate:6400MT/s
DDR self test OK
LPCPU Load FW Start
LPCPU Reset
LPCPU Release
LPCPU Notify
lmbox lpcpu <- u84: 0x0000000000000000 (wdt_handle_disable) (GENERIC_NOTIFY)
LPCPU Firmware Version: 2.34

```

I don’t know what to do from here. I have no HDMI video out and the terminal doesn’t seem to respond to anything typed in it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![pinkesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b782af/32.png) [@pinkesh](https://forums.sifive.com/u/pinkesh)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2026, 11:51am UTC](https://forums.sifive.com/t/getting-started-flashed-ubuntu-24-04-now-wont-boot/7744/3 "2026-08-12T11:51:29Z")

</div>

Hi,

Apologies for the delayed response.

From your serial terminal output, it looks like it stuck at bootloader stage.  
Could you please let us know if you are still experiencing this issue? If yes, could you please follow steps from section 5.2 from [https://www.sifive.com/document-file/hifive-premier-p550-image-update-procedure](https://www.sifive.com/document-file/hifive-premier-p550-image-update-procedure) to flash bootloader image.