Black screen afte boot

Tweedlewise · 2025-01-20 17:14:26

After 3 attempts to install Daedulus -i386 from a DVD .iso, onto a 10 year old Dell tower, I keep ending up with a black screen shortly after it begins Init 2.
I say "black screen" because the monitor does not display a HDMI not connected message.
There is no mouse arrow either.

I am frustrated at this, as I was looking forward to installing Devuan after Linux Mint 17 no longer allowed me to update Brave or Firefox, and they were not allowing me to complete transactions,
Early in the ;process or installations, I lost my Win7 partition and all its data (yeah, I should've backed that up too before installing.)
So, is this a problem that is easily solved?
If not, I'm going back to Linux with systemd I feel the days spent trying to get a working install have been wasted.

Sincerely,
Tweedlewise

rolfie · 2025-01-20 18:49:26

Hi there, welcome to the dev1galaxy forum.

Well, some questions: is your computer really about ten years old? Then why do you want to install the 32bit version? Why not amd64? Any ten year old PC will be able to use that (except some very crude simple outdated stuff). And why use a DVD? Booting from an USB stick should also be fully supported from such kind of hardware.

A guess: NVidia graphics involved?

It would be perfect for support if we knew more about the involved components. Please can you add here the output from

inxi -Fzr

? It may be neccesary to install this package first.

Tweedlewise · 2025-01-20 20:37:44

>Hi there, welcome to the dev1galaxy forum.

Thank you, Rolfie!

>Well, some questions: is your computer really about ten years old?
Year of manufacture: 2014

>Then why do you want to install the 32bit version?
Huh?

> Why not amd64?
Because it is an Intel processor? And I didn't see a 64 bit Intel version listed.

> Any ten year old PC will be able to use that (except some very crude simple outdated stuff).
> And why use a DVD?
Because it has one.

> Booting from an USB stick should also be fully supported from such kind of hardware.
I think I tried that first, and when the install went sideways, I went with DVD .iso because that is what worked in the (not so distant) past.

> A guess: NVidia graphics involved?
I don't really know...

> It would be perfect for support if we knew more about the involved components. Please can you add here the output from

> inxi -Fzr
If I can run (and save the output) from boot single user (recovery?) mode, I'll do that.
BTW, I'm an old UNIX sysop, but never heard of that command before, I hope to get it posted for you.

Thanks again!

? It may be neccesary to install this package first.

Tweedlewise · 2025-01-20 20:46:07

inxi -Fzr : Command not found

dmesg worked, but that is quite large.
dmesg did list an nvidia in the final audit apparmor portion.

rolfie · 2025-01-20 20:49:01

Well amd64 is the 64bit Linux for AMD and Intel processors. It serves both brands. Download that version.

To inxi: that is no traditional command but a collection of scripts that collects information about the PC and prints it on the terminal. Very useful. I don't think it works in recovery mode, but give it a try. If it works you might be able to capture the output in a txt file.

To NVidia: these cards cause a lot of fun, and your black screen might be some of that ...

BTW: inxi output looks like this (cut off):

~$ inxi -Fzr
System:
  Kernel: 6.11.10+bpo-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Cinnamon v: 5.6.8
    Distro: Devuan GNU/Linux 5 (daedalus)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME X570-PRO v: Rev X.0x
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 5021
    date: 09/29/2024
CPU:
  Info: 12-core model: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X bits: 64 type: MT MCP cache:
    L2: 6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 677 min/max: 550/4951 cores: 1: 550 2: 550 3: 550 4: 550
    5: 550 6: 550 7: 550 8: 550 9: 3600 10: 550 11: 550 12: 550 13: 550 14: 550
    15: 550 16: 550 17: 550 18: 550 19: 550 20: 550 21: 550 22: 550 23: 550
    24: 550
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 14 [Radeon RX 5500/5500M / Pro 5500M] driver: amdgpu
    v: kernel
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu
    resolution: 2560x1440~60Hz
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (navi14
    LLVM 15.0.6 DRM 3.59 6.11.10+bpo-amd64)
....

You possibly need to run a live system to get that info.

Last edited by rolfie (2025-01-20 20:50:11)

fsmithred · 2025-01-20 22:55:07

Press 'e' at the boot menu and add the word nomodeset to the linux line then press ctrl-x to boot. If it's an nvidia problem, this might work. Then you can see what you're doing to install the drivers you need.

If that doesn't work, boot a live system as suggested and at least run lspci so you can see what hardware you have.

Tweedlewise · Yesterday 00:08:41

Okay, downloaded Daedalus amd and installed it to a USB drive.
It has installed on the PC (I'm writing from it now-Yay!)
Much quicker than DVD!

During install I gave it separate passwords for the disk, partitions, root, and user/self.
I am currently transferring files from my backup to my home partition.

A couple of problems.
I made 3 partitions root, swap, home
I set the 2nd as linux-swap, but is not being used as swap, just sits there, showing up as a partition that I cannot access,
1. How can I get the system to recognize it as swap when booting?

2. Also when I try to access the root partition (or swap as it is listed in Thunar) , it pops up an "Authentication Required" dialog box, but the passwords I've attempted (the ones I made during install) do not work.

3. How do I install additional programs?
Is that what RefractaInstaller is for?
I have never heard of Refracta before going to Devuan.
[edit]
NEVER MIND #3 I figured it out as Synaptic Package Manager

Sincerely,
Tweedlewise

Last edited by Tweedlewise (Yesterday 00:19:58)

fsmithred · Yesterday 10:21:01

To avoid entering a password for both home and root partitions, you could make a keyfile that automatically opens the home partition during boot. This post has a couple of useful links for that: https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=38078#p38078

The desktop-live has firmware-amd-graphics installed. If you have amd video, that might explain why it works.

Tweedlewise · Yesterday 18:02:33

Thanks smithred!

rolfie · Yesterday 18:30:52

@Tweedlewise: your post #7 is confusing me. I carefully try to give some answers, maybe they help.

Obviously you have managed to install Devuan, congratulations. Did you use netinstall, CD, DVD or the live version? Makes slight differences here and there in what you need to do and what you get.

$Tweedlewise wrote:

How do I install additional programs?

Third question answered first: you found the graphical tool Synaptics yourself. On the console the most commonly use tools are apt, apt-get or aptitude. Look into the man pages. What also is a good source of information is the Ubuntu wiki. Most of what is written there is also valid for Debian/Devuan. I assumne that you are not afraid of working with the terminal as former sysop.

$Tweedlewise wrote:

During install I gave it separate passwords for the disk, partitions, root, and user/self.

The installer asks you very early in the installtion if you want a root password. If you deny you have to use the Ubuntu way with sudo for administrative tasks. I guess you have said yes, so root has a password and you must also have generated at least one user and password.

What are passwords for disks and partitions? I think the terminology is wrong. Maybe you have encrypted your system, then you need a key (and not a password) to decrypt the drive during booting. If you haven't encrypted your system: What are passwords for disks and partitions?

It would help a lot if you could try to use the correct terms and sort of same language. Avoids guessing for the supporter, and false advice for the poster who is seeking advice.

$Tweedlewise wrote:

I made 3 partitions root, swap, home
I set the 2nd as linux-swap, but is not being used as swap, just sits there, showing up as a partition that I cannot access,
1. How can I get the system to recognize it as swap when booting?

How did you create these 3 partitions? And how did you use the partitioner inside the installer? Did you use manual or guided partitioning?

Guided partitioning sets up the disks sort of automatically, no matter if encrypted or not. Swap is automatically included. You have no choice and cannot make a mistake (but using guided which is fine for the unexperienced user, but for me that sets partition size too small often for nowadays disk sizes). I only use manual partitioning because I want to have control. But to successfully practise manual partitioning requires knowledge and experience, especially when we are talking about encryption.

To be able to answer the question how to add swap, you owe us some information about which kind of boundary condition we are facing in your case. How does the installation look alike currently?

A good start would be the output from

~$ inxi -Fzr

and

# fdisk -l

Note: the first command is run on the user account, the second one as root, indicated by the prompt before the command.

PS: I do set up my system with the traditional so called full disk encryption with luks, having an unencrypted /boot, and I am decrypting the computer with hidden keys sitting on USB sticks. When the stick is removed the PC does not boot.

Last edited by rolfie (Yesterday 18:33:01)

Tweedlewise · Yesterday 21:45:46

> To be able to answer the question how to add swap, you owe us some information about which kind of boundary condition we are facing in your case. How does the installation look alike currently?
> # fdisk -l

> Note: the first command is run on the user account, the second one as root, indicated by the prompt before the command.

> PS: I do set up my system with the traditional so called full disk encryption with luks, having an unencrypted /boot, and I am decrypting the computer with hidden >keys sitting on USB sticks. When the stick is removed the PC does not boot.

fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 931.51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: ST1000DM003-1CH1
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xcc603bdc

Device     Boot     Start        End    Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *         2048  269588479  269586432 128.5G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2       269588480  424511487  154923008  73.9G 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3       424511488 1953523711 1529012224 729.1G 83 Linux

I set up sda1 /, and sda3 /home to have the same encryption "key" but separately during Install

> How did you create these 3 partitions? And how did you use the partitioner inside the installer? Did you use manual or guided partitioning?

During installation I used 2 different programs to partition, one was gparted, and the other (I don't remember the name of) was also in the Live installation.
(SunOS was so much easier to partition!)

$ inxi -Fzr
System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-30-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1
    Distro: Devuan GNU/Linux 5 (daedalus)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Dell product: Inspiron 3847 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 088DT1 v: A01 serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Dell
    v: A04 date: 04/03/2014
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: Intel Core i3-4150 bits: 64 type: MT MCP cache:
    L2: 512 KiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2146 min/max: 800/3500 cores: 1: 3491 2: 800 3: 3493
    4: 800
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 4th Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
    driver: i915 v: kernel
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915 resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4400 (HSW
    GT2)
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel
  Device-2: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-30-amd64 status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    driver: r8169
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9565 / AR9565 Wireless Network Adapter
    driver: ath9k
  IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.73 TiB used: 70.83 GiB (2.5%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST1000DM003-1CH162 size: 931.51 GiB
  ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Toshiba model: MQ01UBB200 size: 1.82 TiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 125.47 GiB used: 6.03 GiB (4.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0
  ID-2: /home size: 716.57 GiB used: 64.8 GiB (9.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 256 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 28.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 518 mobo: 855
Repos:
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
    1: deb [url]http://deb.devuan.org/merged[/url] daedalus main non-free-firmware
    2: deb [url]http://deb.devuan.org/merged[/url] daedalus-updates main non-free-firmware
    3: deb [url]http://deb.devuan.org/merged[/url] daedalus-security main non-free-firmware
Info:
  Processes: 222 Uptime: 1h 48m Memory: 7.67 GiB used: 1.99 GiB (25.9%)
  Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.26

> If you deny you have to use the Ubuntu way with sudo for administrative tasks.

Actually, I have used "sudo" in the past, Your comment explains why "su" would only give an "Authentication Failure" when I tried to run commands as "root"!
(As you can see above "sudo" allowed me to run "fdisk -l" above.

Thanks again for your responses!

Sincerely,
Tweedlewise

golinux · Yesterday 22:10:33

I added code tags to the above. That and other options are found immediately above the text input box.

For root access try su -.

Tweedlewise · Yesterday 22:18:51

Thank you administrator!

golinux · Yesterday 22:29:20

Thanks and welcome to the forum!

fsmithred · Today 01:18:02

The live installer won't make a swap partition for you, but it will let you use an existing swap partition. If you still want to use a swap partition, you can run mkswap on it and edit /etc/fstab to use that partition instead of the swapfile. Note that it will be outside your encrypted partitions and insecure.

It also won't set up lvm for you, but it's possible to do it manually using the cli installer instead of the graphical. (run 'refractainstaller' in a terminal for that one.) https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=2323

That other partitioner you used was cfdisk (for mbr) or gdisk (for gpt).

I didn't expect to see intel graphics. I'm not sure why you got a black screen with the first install.

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#1 2025-01-20 17:14:26

Black screen afte boot

#2 2025-01-20 18:49:26

Re: Black screen afte boot

#3 2025-01-20 20:37:44

Re: Black screen afte boot

#4 2025-01-20 20:46:07

Re: Black screen afte boot

#5 2025-01-20 20:49:01

Re: Black screen afte boot

#6 2025-01-20 22:55:07

Re: Black screen afte boot

#7 Yesterday 00:08:41

Re: Black screen afte boot

#8 Yesterday 10:21:01

Re: Black screen afte boot

#9 Yesterday 18:02:33

Re: Black screen afte boot

#10 Yesterday 18:30:52

Re: Black screen afte boot

#11 Yesterday 21:45:46

Re: Black screen afte boot

#12 Yesterday 22:10:33

Re: Black screen afte boot

#13 Yesterday 22:18:51

Re: Black screen afte boot

#14 Yesterday 22:29:20

Re: Black screen afte boot

#15 Today 01:18:02

Re: Black screen afte boot

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