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tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

[SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

I have tried 6.1.1 from USB stick. - After a bit of strange behavior and a couple of writing attempts, which others have also reported, I booted a HP Probook 440 G6, and XFCE looked very nice. No problems with WIFI either. Mounting internal and external partitions went just fine, but I often got r/w error messages at ordinary administrative tasks.

Trying to run the squashfs image was worse. I can boot and run the Debian 13.3.0-Lxqt ISO just fine in kvm, that's the first check of such images for me. 
But doing the same with the Devuan ISO produced neither error messages nor display output. I think this should be possible.
Booting itself was likely not the issue. When setting up the squashfs image with kernel and initrd, and starting it with legacy grub, everything seems to go just fine with the init processes until X11 startup. The display goes black - looks like the same behavior as with kvm. All the Debian images back to 6 have worked with this procedure, and I'm writing this on a remastered 13.3.0-install.  So it simply can't be that troublesome to fix.

So, I would be extremely happy with a release where this works out of the box, and just out of greed, I also wish for an Lxqt live companion to the Xfce-ISO.
If I can help in any meaningful way, that would be very fine for me. I think the Trixie/Excalibur releases could be a point where several long time Debian users, like myself, start to phase in Devuan. Poor Man's Installs, like the ones I use, are a nice low-threshold approach to such conversions.

fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,863  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Some more detail about exactly what you tried with which iso would help. Also, if you can find any of these other relevant discussions that you mentioned and provide the links, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm doing 15 different things and couldn't find them.

I have no trouble booting the isos in qemu or virtualbox in bios mode, but I have mixed results booting them in uefi mode. I don't know the reason for that. Gathering all the evidence in once place would be a good start.

For example, this works:

qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 2048 devuan_excalibur_6.1.1_amd64_desktop-live.iso

But trying to boot that iso in qemu uefi fails.

Meanwhile, this one works in uefi even though it was made the same way as the excalibur iso.

qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 2048 -bios /usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd devuan_freia_7-preview-2026-01-12_amd64_desktop-live.iso

And this one works (excalibur):

qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 2048 -bios /usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd refracta-isos/13.2/refracta_13.2_xfce_amd64-20251205_1133.iso

Edit: This one that I made for a wifi test yesterday works in uefi, too. It's just the default devuan excalibur desktop install that was created with refractasnapshot instead of live-sdk. The uefi part of the build is the same for both methods, so I'm at a loss for an explanation.

https://get.refracta.org/files/experimental/excalibur_nonfree-20260224_2014.iso

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Thank you very much! From your advice, I have experimented some more,  and I have (partially) good news.
This simple use of kvm has always worked, and in recent years, I have only used kvm in a very primitive way, just checking the functionality of the ISO image. E.g. 12.7.0:

sudo kvm -m 2048 debian-live-12.7.0-amd64-lxde.iso &

So, i tried the same for 6.1.1:

sudo kvm -m 2048 devuan_excalibur_6.1.1_amd64_desktop-live.iso &

Opening screen comes up. No luck in ordinary graphics mode, BUT when I now tried failsafe and root login, everything seems to work! Even web browsing with Firefox (- a standard test with Debian images). And even smoother with image run from m2 disk than from USB flash. Very good.
So, next question is, how to fix this in the more general display case, and get it up and running in a Poor Man's Install (PMI)?
I'm happy to start with with Xfce, but Lxqt should be a choice, I think :-)

Last edited by tyder (2026-02-25 17:11:26)

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Small update:
I could even run

apt-get update 

and

apt install rxvt-unicode.

From ISO under kvm. Install went fine, wherever that landed...
Could I then run

urxvt &

and get a working terminal window? Yes.

fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,863  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Can you get different results using my qemu commands?

All the major desktops are available in the installer isos.

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Seemed to work exactly the same way. Using

sudo qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 2048 devuan_excalibur_6.1.1_amd64_desktop-live.iso &

did not help at all with the graphics problem. That has to be sorted out.
If I can get some tool use instructions, I might be able to make that Lxqt-live-ISO I wish for myself ;-)
I need a runnable setup than can be used almost everywhere, therefore squashfs'ing  an ordinary install won't do for me.

fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,863  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Ok, I'm curious to know if the excalibur-nonfree iso that I linked above works.

You could build an iso using live-sdk, but for a one-off, it's easier to install what you want in a VM and then run refractasnapshot to make the live iso. With live-sdk, if you list a package to be installed that doesn't exist, then the build fails and you have to start over again. If you're working in a VM and planning to use refractasnapshot, if you try to install a package that doesn't exist, that one apt command fails, and you still have whatever work you've done building up the system.

Here are instructions for live-sdk:
https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=551

Here are instructions for refractasnapshot:
https://git.devuan.org/devuan/refractas … apshot.txt

dzz

Member

From: Exmouth, South West England

Registered: 2016-12-01

Posts: 109  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Old toshiba laptop here, i3, 8gb ram.. 'devuan.iso' is a convenience relative symlink to devuan_excalibur_6.1.1_amd64_desktop-live.iso ..

Works:

qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 2048  devuan.iso

(efi basic options) Boots to a black screen only. Lots of whirring fan noise:

qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 2048 -bios /usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd  devuan.iso

Works:

$ qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 2048 -bios /usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd  -boot d -cdrom devuan.iso

Works even better:

/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 -k en-gb -machine accel=kvm -m 1924 -boot d -cdrom devuan.iso -bios /usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd -boot once=d,menu=off -nic user,hostfwd=tcp::8888-:22 -rtc base=localtime -smp cores=2,threads=1,sockets=1 -display gtk -name "devuan.iso"

Those options are lifted from my own script, created because I never remember all the options and just want to drop a ISO in a directory and run it. They evolved over time, some maybe irrelevant, redundant or long forgotten what they even do.

fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,863  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

This one (dzz's third example) shows me the boot menu and goes to black screen.

qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -m 2048 -bios /usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd  -boot d -cdrom devuan_excalibur_6.1.1_amd64_desktop-live.iso

I can get to serial console in qemu and log in. Slim is not running, xorg is running. I can kill xorg, then log into console as root and run startx. Desktop comes up. Alternatively, I can drop to console, install lightdm, start lightdm, get graphical login and desktop comes up.

This one (abbreviated fourth example - no network settings) works from boot menu to desktop.

qemu-system-x86_64 -machine accel=kvm -m 1924 -boot d -cdrom devuan_excalibur_6.1.1_amd64_desktop-live.iso -bios /usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd -boot once=d,menu=off

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Thanks a lot for the responses! Useful!
Still, no explanation why failsafe option and root login works like a charm in the simplest setup:

sudo kvm -m 2048 devuan_excalibur_6.1.1_amd64_desktop-live.iso &

Now I have tried it on two Probooks, 440/450 i5 24GB G5&G6, with Debian 11.2 LXDE and 13.3 Lxqt. Exactly the same results. And trying to run from RAM ends in kernel panic.
Is 'failsafe' kind of kernel parameter so I can use it in the GRUB kernel stanza?
The nonfree-ISO behaved the same way for me: Everything works in failsafe mode, otherwise black screen.

Last edited by tyder (2026-02-25 23:53:04)

fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,863  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

failsafe is just a name for a choice in the boot menu. Look at the boot command for that choice and you will see some kernel paramaters. One of them is 'nomodeset' which is sometimes useful when normal boot options result in a black screen.

What video cards are you using? I don't think you mentioned that.

dzz

Member

From: Exmouth, South West England

Registered: 2016-12-01

Posts: 109  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Here:

:~$ inxi -G
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Core Processor 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: 1366x768~60Hz
  API: OpenGL v: 2.1 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics (ILK)

What is yours?

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Mine: Much the same, it seems. On HP Probook 450 G5  Debian 11.2.0 LXDE

Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 driver: i915 v: kernel 
           Device-2: Lite-On HP HD Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo 
           Display: server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1: 1920x1080 
           2: 3440x1440~50Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.3.5 

Last edited by tyder (2026-02-26 08:32:30)

ralph.ronnquist

Administrator

From: Battery Point, Tasmania, AUS

Registered: 2016-11-30

Posts: 1,624  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

In which world are those two logs "much the same"??? Maybe in a world where you ignore differences...

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

In which world are those two logs "much the same"??? Maybe in a world where you ignore differences...

Please tell which of the differences are clearly relevant for the issue we are discussing.
The important context here, is that nobody seems to get the graphics on the ISO running under QEMU/KVM in any simple way, and we wonder why.
While failsafe mode works perfectly for me, as I have reported. I have also pointed out that two different pc's, with different displays, behave the same for me.

Last edited by tyder (2026-02-26 08:42:52)

ralph.ronnquist

Administrator

From: Battery Point, Tasmania, AUS

Registered: 2016-11-30

Posts: 1,624  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

So those where reports of the graphics setup of the virtual machines?

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

So those where reports of the graphics setup of the virtual machines?

Please tell me what makes you believe that. If you read what I have reported, you will see that I have used a Probook 450 i5/24 GB G5 and a Probook 440 i5/24G G6. The listing is from the G5, running Debian 11.2.0 LXDE. The G6 is running either  Debian 11.2.0 LXDE or Debian 13.3.0 Lxqt.
Identical results wrt the ISO, failsafe mode works perfectly everywhere. I also tested the nonfree image uploaded. Same results.

I can't see this questioning is getting anywhere.

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Here are instructions for live-sdk:
https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=551

I wonder if recreating Debian 13.3.0 live with the SDK version they have used, and then adapting the procedure to the Devuan 6.X context could be a viable way to proceed? From the end products, there does not seem to be large differences from 11.X to 13.X. The same kernel parameter setup works, for example.

ralph.ronnquist

Administrator

From: Battery Point, Tasmania, AUS

Registered: 2016-11-30

Posts: 1,624  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

If you want to boot the ISO in a VM, then obviously it is the VMs (emulated) hardware that is interesting, and not at all the host hardware.

So what does the "failsafe" boot use that is different from other boot options?

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Update:
Adding the kernel parameters for the failsafe alternative to legacy grub's booting menu for a similar Debian entry, running the squashfs copied from the ISO to disk goes very well. Even persistent store, Debian-style, worked on the first attempt. So, now I seem to have a working Poor Man's Install, using legacy Grub.
The failsafe problem is still not sorted out, but at least there is a good workaround for now.
After a slew of complaints about wrong image sizes, wxmaxima seems to work. Not bad!

fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,863  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

@tyder, see if you can narrow down which kernel parameters make a difference. TAB or e to edit the boot entry on the fly.

Here's mine.
Booted from usb on hardware. It works here.

 inxi -G
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5500 driver: i915 v: kernel
  Device-2: Chicony Integrated Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
  Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.16 driver: X: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa
    dri: iris gpu: i915 tty: 121x24 resolution: 1600x900
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: iris,swrast platforms: gbm,surfaceless,device
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 25.0.7-2 note: console (EGL sourced)
    renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 5500 (BDW GT2), llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7 256 bits)
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo,glxinfo de: xfce4-display-settings x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop,
    xrandr

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

If you want to boot the ISO in a VM, then obviously it is the VMs (emulated) hardware that is interesting, and not at all the host hardware.

No, that's not at all obvious, because any emulation has to be output through the host hardware. It may be important in some situations, but through nearly 30 years of running OS in emulators, I have never needed to dig deeply into the emulated hardware to solve problems.
The VM's emulated hardware may not even be that well defined.

Furthermore, I responded to a posted native inxi-G listing with my own.  You can obtain the corresponding listing from the VM by installing and running inxi there. To me, the information is of little help, as the real problem seems to lie elsewhere:
Behavior problems under kvm and running natively were identical, as far as I could see.
When failsafe mode worked perfectly both under emulation and - when tried - running natively, what is the probable relevance of digging into the emulated hardware?

So what does the "failsafe" boot use that is different from other boot options?

Quite a lot. You may check it in the grub.cfg on the ISO.  Maybe vga=normal is an important parameter.

fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,863  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

The failsafe option in the boot menu has these:

noapic noapm nodma nomce nolapic nosmp nomodeset vga=normal

And I noticed that in the grub menu created by live-sdk, the failsafe entry is missing 'nomodeset'. It's only in the syslinux menu. In refractasnapshot, 'nomodeset' is in the failsafe entries in both menus.

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

Here is the output from my 'failsafe' PMI on a Probook 440 G6 i5/24G:

root@devuan:~# inxi -G
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel WhiskeyLake-U GT2 [UHD Graphics 620] driver: i915 v: kernel
  Device-2: Quanta HP HD Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.16 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 resolution: 1: 1920x1080~60Hz
    2: 1920x1080~60Hz
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: iris,swrast platforms: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.0.7-2
    renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (WHL GT2)
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo,glxinfo de: xfce4-display-settings x11: xdriinfo,
    xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr

It does not tell me much, so I would be happy to be informed about anything interesting here! :-)

I don't use legacy Grub interactively on startup, partly because the same can be done reproducibly by a set of different stanzas.
Here is the basic 'failsafe' version. Apparmor is omitted,

title Devuan 6.1.1 64 bits Xfce live sda3 v0  persistence sda6 
      root(hd0,0) 
      kernel  (hd0,1)/boot/dev611/vmlinuz boot=live config quiet splash initrd=(hd0,1)/boot/dev611/initrd.img  bootfrom=/dev/sda3 live-media-path=dev611/live0 persistence persistence-path=dev611s/pers0 keyboard-layouts=no noapic noapm nodma nomce nolapic nosmp vga=normal noautologin 
      initrd (hd0,1)/boot/dev611/initrd.img
 

Any other 'no'-parameters that seem superfluous?

tyder

Member

From: Oslo, Norway

Registered: 2016-12-19

Posts: 34  

Re: [SOLVED] Display problems with 6.1.1 live

And I noticed that in the grub menu created by live-sdk, the failsafe entry is missing 'nomodeset'. It's only in the syslinux menu. In refractasnapshot, 'nomodeset' is in the failsafe entries in both menus.

I tried first with that, no luck.
And now I'm happily running 'failsafe' without nomodeset ;-)