]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 04:25:58

Hi all. I'm pretty sure that this problem pertains to Archlinux. When booting up my computer (pressing the power button), all processes go as normal -- except nothing is displayed until the computer actually does go through GRUB automatically and boots the OS selected as the default, Windows.

The only pertaining information I can muster is that my Archlinux KDE screen went black, with only the cursor being displayed. A dialog popped up... can't remember what it said. Now my computer doesn't show either the BIOS or GRUB...

I can TRY to boot Archlinux if necessary. I can't guarantee that it will display anything, though.

I would greatly appreciate any help in this matter.

EDIT: After all the testing and such, it turns out that the problem was a faulty DVI cable. Nothing serious.

Last edited by partymteroid (2010-07-20 12:52:47)

karol · 2010-07-19 04:37:53

So what did you do? Did you eat your porridge? Took out the garbage? Damn, I really don't know what have you done wrong.
You may use a liveCD to switch the grub settings so that Arch will be the default OS.
Get the logs, if there are any errors / warnings - post them.

scarletxfi · 2010-07-19 04:52:37

did you buy a new screen lately? is this only with arch? have you tried turning the power on then quickly clicking the "del" button to get the bios menu up?

jasonwryan · 2010-07-19 04:54:29

What happens if you hold down the Shift key when booting?

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 06:18:11

scarletxfi wrote:

did you buy a new screen lately? is this only with arch? have you tried turning the power on then quickly clicking the "del" button to get the bios menu up?

No, this is the same screen that I have had for 2-3 years and have had no problem with it.

As for the BIOS menu, I had forgotten which button brings the BIOS menu up. I'll try that in a sec; will post again...

jasonwryan wrote:

What happens if you hold down the Shift key when booting?

Haven't tried that. I don't know as to what it is that's supposed to happen, anyway.

karol wrote:

So what did you do? Did you eat your porridge? Took out the garbage? Damn, I really don't know what have you done wrong.
You may use a liveCD to switch the grub settings so that Arch will be the default OS.
Get the logs, if there are any errors / warnings - post them.

I'll try these out after booting into the full Archlinux installation. I'll be back in a sec.

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 06:41:31

partymteroid wrote:

scarletxfi wrote:
did you buy a new screen lately? is this only with arch? have you tried turning the power on then quickly clicking the "del" button to get the bios menu up?
No, this is the same screen that I have had for 2-3 years and have had no problem with it.
As for the BIOS menu, I had forgotten which button brings the BIOS menu up. I'll try that in a sec; will post again...
jasonwryan wrote:
What happens if you hold down the Shift key when booting?
Haven't tried that. I don't know as to what it is that's supposed to happen, anyway.
karol wrote:
So what did you do? Did you eat your porridge? Took out the garbage? Damn, I really don't know what have you done wrong.
You may use a liveCD to switch the grub settings so that Arch will be the default OS.
Get the logs, if there are any errors / warnings - post them.
I'll try these out after booting into the full Archlinux installation. I'll be back in a sec.

scarletxfi: I think I got the BIOS menu to come up, but it didn't come up on the display. (That is to say, I pressed DEL after turning on the power, and lights on my keyboard stopped flashing; (usually an indication that something finished loading, right?) but nothing appeared on my display.)

karol: My DVD drive is not my primary boot device, thus I wouldn't be able to find my way though booting into a LiveCD.

I realized something that might help (you help me): I don't see the Windows logo while booting; the very first thing I can see after booting up my computer is the Windows login screen.

karol · 2010-07-19 06:56:34

Can you ssh into your computer?

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 07:19:08

karol wrote:

Can you ssh into your computer?

I can't boot Arch.

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 07:58:10

Alright, I am accessing my Arch files from Windows using Ext2read. Here is my Xorg.0.log, via PasteBin: CLICK IF YOU WANT TO SAVE THE PARTY-LOVING METROID!.

karol · 2010-07-19 08:03:32

Caps-lock is unnecessary, we already love you.

I'm not sure if fbdev is to blame for the early blackout, but "no screens found" - seems like you've misconfigured your drivers or sth.
Did you change the configs lately, when was the last time Arch was working, what did you update recently, what drivers are you using, please post xorg.conf & friends.

Can you connect your monitor to another computer for a second to check it out? I have no idea why the Windows splash is gone. Were you playing with grub?

Last edited by karol (2010-07-19 08:09:44)

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 08:09:37

karol wrote:

Caps-lock is unnecessary, we already love you.
I'm not sure if fbdev is to blame for the early blackout, but "no screens found" - seems like you've misconfigured your drivers or sth.

Where would I find my driver configuration, and how would that the whole BIOS? And pardon my ignorance, but what does "sth" stand for?

karol · 2010-07-19 08:14:09

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sth

I've edited my previous post, please read it again.

> Where would I find my driver configuration
It's your computer, you should know what drivers are you using or how to find if you forgot. You've got Xorg.0.log - that's a good start.

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 08:20:39

karol wrote:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sth
I've edited my previous post, please read it again.
> Where would I find my driver configuration
It's your computer, you should know what drivers are you using or how to find if you forgot. You've got Xorg.0.log - that's a good start.

I have no xorg.conf; I took the beginner's guide's semi-recommendation and chose to let Xorg configure itself on boot.

I did not change any configurations. Scratch that, I think I added this 50-wacom.conf file! Arch was working fine until the BIOS problem. I know I didn't update anything significant (at least none that I can remember.

WAIT WAIT WAIT

I remember using my Wacom tablet for the first time on Arch before this happened. Here is my /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-wacom.conf file contents:

Section "InputClass"
    Identifier "Wacom class"
# WALTOP needs a patched kernel driver, that isn't in mainline lk yet,
# so for now just let it fall through and be picked up by evdev instead.
#    MatchProduct "Wacom|WALTOP|WACOM"
    MatchProduct "Wacom|WACOM"
    MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
    Driver "wacom"
    Option "KeepShape" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputClass"
    Identifier "Wacom serial class"
    MatchProduct "Serial Wacom Tablet"
    Driver "wacom"
    Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"
EndSection

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "Wacom serial class identifiers"
        MatchProduct "WACf|FUJ02e5|FUJ02e7"
        Driver "wacom"
        Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"
EndSection


# N-Trig Duosense Electromagnetic Digitizer
Section "InputClass"
    Identifier "Wacom N-Trig class"
    MatchProduct "HID 1b96:0001"
    MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
    Driver "wacom"
EndSection

Jiminy Cricket, I can't believe I forgot that.

Oh, and I have no other computer to hook my monitor up to.

Last edited by partymteroid (2010-07-19 08:26:57)

karol · 2010-07-19 08:29:16

After you've used your tablet, you restarted youor computer and Arch was running OK or you got the black screen? If it's the latter, move /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-wacom.conf somewhere else, so it won't interfere for a moment.

Post the output of (PasteBin it)

dmesg
cat /var/log/pacman.log | tail -20

Edit:
Also paste here

pacman -Qs xf86-video
pacman -Qs xorg-input

Last edited by karol (2010-07-19 08:34:36)

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 08:36:45

karol wrote:

After you've used your tablet, you restarted youor computer and Arch was running OK or you got the black screen? If it's the latter, move /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-wacom.conf somewhere else, so it won't interfere for a moment.
Post the output of (PasteBin it)
dmesg
cat /var/log/pacman.log | tail -20

I'm pretty sure that Arch gave the black screen while shutting down and preparing to reboot.

I can't delete the file through Windows, and I still have no way of getting into Arch...

... wow this is qutie the pickle.

karol · 2010-07-19 08:40:14

Ooops, I forgot you can't get into Arch. Sorry.

Post /var/log/dmesg.log and the last ~30 lines of /var/log/pacman/log. I think you can do it from Windows.

Last edited by karol (2010-07-19 08:51:36)

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 09:09:53

karol wrote:

Ooops, I forgot you can't get into Arch. Sorry.
Post /var/log/dmesg.log and the last ~30 lines of /var/log/pacman/log. I think you can do it from Windows.

Sorry for being late: was caught up doing something else. Here they are!:

dmesg.log and pacman.log.

karol · 2010-07-19 09:34:17

Arrrgh! I'm standing here in the cold, freezing and you get "caught up doing something else" - how dare you! ;-)

From dmesg.log:
[drm:drm_edid_is_valid] *ERROR* EDID checksum is invalid, remainder is 135
[drm:drm_edid_is_valid] *ERROR* Raw EDID:
...

Something may be wrong w/ your monitor or connectors.
pacman.log looks fine.

Last edited by karol (2010-07-19 09:40:16)

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 09:49:05

karol wrote:

Arrrgh! I'm standing here in the cold, freezing and you get "caught up doing something else" - how dare you! ;-)
From dmesg.log:
[drm:drm_edid_is_valid] *ERROR* EDID checksum is invalid, remainder is 135
[drm:drm_edid_is_valid] *ERROR* Raw EDID:
...
Something may be wrong w/ your monitor or connectors.
pacman.log looks fine.

I plugged my DVI cable into different DVI ports this time. I plugged one end into a different port on my video card, and the other to the other DVI port on my monitor. (Yes my monitor has two, wanna fight about it?) Gonna try restarting.

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 09:55:56

partymteroid wrote:

karol wrote:
Arrrgh! I'm standing here in the cold, freezing and you get "caught up doing something else" - how dare you! ;-)
From dmesg.log:
[drm:drm_edid_is_valid] *ERROR* EDID checksum is invalid, remainder is 135
[drm:drm_edid_is_valid] *ERROR* Raw EDID:
...
Something may be wrong w/ your monitor or connectors.
pacman.log looks fine.
I plugged my DVI cable into different DVI ports this time. I plugged one end into a different port on my video card, and the other to the other DVI port on my monitor. (Yes my monitor has two, wanna fight about it?) Gonna try restarting.

That did it! Maybe I didn't have it plugged in all the way... or maybe the port has gone bad... ?

karol · 2010-07-19 10:05:49

That ain't fair, you've got two DVI outputs and I've got just one crappy VGA <sniff>

Glad you got it working, please mark thread as [solved].

partymteroid · 2010-07-19 10:15:20

karol wrote:

That ain't fair, you've got two DVI outputs and I've got just one crappy VGA <sniff>
Glad you got it working, please mark thread as [solved].

Done and doner.

partymteroid · 2010-07-20 11:14:38

partymteroid wrote:

karol wrote:
That ain't fair, you've got two DVI outputs and I've got just one crappy VGA <sniff>
Glad you got it working, please mark thread as [solved].
Done and doner.

Nevermind, it's doing it again...

karol · 2010-07-20 11:16:35

Maybe you can borrow a monitor from your friends / neighbors and / or hook-up your monitor to another computer.
Paste your dmesg.log again.

partymteroid · 2010-07-20 11:24:03

karol wrote:

Maybe you can borrow a monitor from your friends / neighbors and / or hook-up your monitor to another computer.
Paste your dmesg.log again.

dmesg.log, Xorg.0.log.

I have no other monitor that uses DVI, and no other computer that uses DVI.

My brother, however, has a laptop with an HDMI port. Should I try that?

Last edited by partymteroid (2010-07-20 11:25:00)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-07-19 04:25:58

]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#2 2010-07-19 04:37:53

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#3 2010-07-19 04:52:37

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#4 2010-07-19 04:54:29

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#5 2010-07-19 06:18:11

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#6 2010-07-19 06:41:31

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#7 2010-07-19 06:56:34

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#8 2010-07-19 07:19:08

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#9 2010-07-19 07:58:10

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#10 2010-07-19 08:03:32

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#11 2010-07-19 08:09:37

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#12 2010-07-19 08:14:09

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#13 2010-07-19 08:20:39

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#14 2010-07-19 08:29:16

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#15 2010-07-19 08:36:45

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#16 2010-07-19 08:40:14

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#17 2010-07-19 09:09:53

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#18 2010-07-19 09:34:17

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#19 2010-07-19 09:49:05

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#20 2010-07-19 09:55:56

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#21 2010-07-19 10:05:49

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#22 2010-07-19 10:15:20

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#23 2010-07-20 11:14:38

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#24 2010-07-20 11:16:35

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

#25 2010-07-20 11:24:03

Re: ]SOLVED] BIOS is not displayed on screen during bootup but...

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