[SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

TovenaarKlus · 2013-09-18 10:57:37

Hey all,

I just installed Arch on my laptop, but I'm failing at getting my Intel graphics to work.
From the very beginning - booting the install disk - I had to use the 'nomodeset' kernel parameter to prevent a blank screen coming up at boot. I tried the other fixes in the wiki, but they don't seem to help.
Now, when starting X it encounters an error, stating there were no devices detected. A fatal server error (no screens found) follows.
I have installed the intel driver, I also tried adding intel_agp and i915 to the modules array in mkinitcpio.conf.
I'm assuming this is some silly beginner mistake, but I have been trying to fix it for a full day now, and I'm quite puzzled.
My guess is that I'm disabling the i915 module by adding 'nomodeset' or 'i915.modeset=0' as a kernel parameter, and X won't run because of that. However, without these parameters the device is quite unuseable.

I'd really appreciate some help here.

Thank you for your time.

Last edited by TovenaarKlus (2013-09-21 16:08:34)

pks · 2013-09-18 11:18:14

Which Intel GPU is it you're having problems with? Do you happen to have two GPUs inside your laptop? Did you install xf86-video-intel?

Last edited by pks (2013-09-18 11:18:52)

TovenaarKlus · 2013-09-18 11:30:07

It's an ordinary integrated graphics unit, mentioned on the datasheet as 'intel HD graphics'. There is no dedicated graphics card, so it is the only one. I did indeed install the driver.

headkase · 2013-09-18 11:33:13

Execute this command at a prompt:

lspci | grep "VGA"

Post that output, that is your graphics solution. If you are unlucky enough to have a Poulsbo then things aren't going to be easy for you.

karol · 2013-09-18 11:34:55

What's the output of

lspci | grep VGA

Maybe you have on of these https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Poulsbo and https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel_GMA3600 strange beasts?

Edit: Sorry, headkase, I'll blame it on slow internet ;P

Last edited by karol (2013-09-18 11:35:57)

headkase · 2013-09-18 11:37:10

Ninja'd you by accident.

TovenaarKlus · 2013-09-18 11:52:21

The output is "00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)".

karol · 2013-09-18 11:54:46

Is this the only graphics card or do you have e.g. a dedicated nvidia card there too?

headkase · 2013-09-18 11:57:02

Have you tried to remove the nomodesetting option - everywhere you put them - now that you have your driver installed? You don't by chance have two graphics solutions? One integrated and one discrete? You'd know because there would have been two listed from the command.

Mode setting is required for xf86-video-intel, so without it you are going to run into problems. Double-check your grub configurations too if you made any changes there - make sure you remove all nomodesettings.

Please post back with the results.

Edit: the tables have turned..

Last edited by headkase (2013-09-18 11:57:31)

TovenaarKlus · 2013-09-18 12:08:24

There is only one graphics solution.
I did indeed find out about the mode settings.
I have already removed the nomodeset, instead I added 'i915.modeset=1' as a kernel parameter in the grub config. That is the only modeset I'm aware of. I have been manually changing it to =0 every time I boot to prevent the black screen.

headkase · 2013-09-18 12:11:27

See here:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … Setting.29

Kernel Mode Setting is required for the Intel driver. Must have it. So, the new issue is to find a way to boot your system with mode setting enabled. Then, once that way is found, you'll be ready to tackle the driver if it is still acting up.

Hopefully karol has a suggestion - I've always had Intel "just work."

karol · 2013-09-18 13:06:47

Yup, it should just work.
For the blank screen, have you tried https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … modules.22 ?
If it doesn't work - burn that computer with fire!
Kidding ;P

If it doesn't work, let's try again, from the beginning: post your mkinitcpio.conf and any info from the logs you find relevant.
Did you run 'mkinitcpio -p linux' after editing mkinitcpio.conf?
What's your kernel command line?
Which acceleration method are you using? https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … ion_method

TovenaarKlus · 2013-09-18 14:01:11

Yes, I have tried that. Also, I did indeed run mkinitcpio, I double-checked that.
The kernel command line is "linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=(...) rw quiet i915.modeset=1".
I did not change anything about the acceleration methods, so I assume I'm using the SNA one?
mkinitcpio.conf is here: http://pastebin.com/tYRnWnes .
About the log files, I did not see anything relevant in there. If you were fishing for something specific, please tell and I'll have a closer look.

headkase · 2013-09-18 14:20:33

Try to remove intel_agp from your modules and then regenerate your initial boot images:

# mkinitcpio -p linux

Also remove completely i915.modeset=1, take that out - nothing where it was.

Also, remove quiet from your kernel line so if there are any messages you will see them.

Last edited by headkase (2013-09-18 14:22:45)

TovenaarKlus · 2013-09-18 18:48:08

As expected, this resulted in a blank screen when booting.
Any other ideas?

headkase · 2013-09-19 07:53:17

Let's try a different assumption. Perhaps your screen is there but you just can't see it. Try the following kernel parameters while having kernel modesetting enabled:

acpi_osi=Linux

and/or

acpi_backlight=vendor

Both of these parameters govern the backlight on your laptop screen.

Please post the results.

Last edited by headkase (2013-09-19 07:54:38)

TovenaarKlus · 2013-09-19 09:26:35

I tried both of them, together and one at a time, they don't seem to change anything.
Thank you for your suggestion anyways.

headkase · 2013-09-19 09:33:18

Ok, I'm sorry TovenaarKlus - I don't know what to suggest from here.

Lone_Wolf · 2013-09-19 09:45:26

Tovenaarplus, please post the output of dmesg on your system.

It will be big, probably best to put it on pastebin.com or another pastebin site. use something like wgetpaste to get it on the pastebin site.

TovenaarKlus · 2013-09-19 10:21:55

Here is the output: http://pastebin.com/BaCi2gff .
I booted with 'nomodeset' to get this, in case that matters.

Lone_Wolf · 2013-09-19 12:20:23

[    0.378083] [drm:drm_pci_agp_init] *ERROR* Cannot initialize the agpgart module.

This message stands out, but you mentioned above that you had tried adding intel_agp and i915 to the initramfs.

if you boot without nomodeset , what is the last message you see ?
Note : you may have to remove quiet from your kernel loading line to see anything.

skanky · 2013-09-19 12:28:11

Is this thread recent enough to be of relevance?

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 1#p1029411

TovenaarKlus · 2013-09-19 13:21:24

Thank you for your replies.
The last message is one line, and it flashes really fast so it is hard to read. It is something in the lines of 'loading early hook'.
I tried the solution in the thread Skanky linked, but it did not help. It did not solve the 'cannot initialize the agpgart module' either.

Edit: I just encountered something weird: After trying to boot again, I closed the laptop lid, putting it in standby. When I opened the lid again and got the laptop out of standby mode, my login screen was waiting for me in native resolution. I assume the driver was working here, since when I boot with 'nomodeset', the resolution is way too small. After a second it blinked away to the blank screen again.

Last edited by TovenaarKlus (2013-09-19 14:00:51)

arcon · 2013-09-19 17:50:13

TovenaarKlus wrote:

so I assume I'm using the SNA one?

i ) You just can't assume something here on "Arch", and you must be aware of your system.
ii ) I think default is UXA not SNA, so i think you need to look for that first ( you can simply look in xorg log, open it and search for UXA or SNA )

TovenaarKlus wrote:

my login screen was waiting for me in native resolution.

Does this means that you are using some kinda DE ( please don't say GNOME ), if yes then why not give a try to some light weight window managers and see if problem still remains.

TovenaarKlus wrote:

Now, when starting X it encounters an error

Wait for a minute, and tell us how you are starting X.

Last edited by arcon (2013-09-19 17:52:34)

karol · 2013-09-19 17:54:14

SNA is the default in Arch now https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/36466
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf is the config file, no need to search the logs.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-09-18 10:57:37

[SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#2 2013-09-18 11:18:14

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#3 2013-09-18 11:30:07

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#4 2013-09-18 11:33:13

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#5 2013-09-18 11:34:55

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#6 2013-09-18 11:37:10

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#7 2013-09-18 11:52:21

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#8 2013-09-18 11:54:46

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#9 2013-09-18 11:57:02

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#10 2013-09-18 12:08:24

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#11 2013-09-18 12:11:27

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#12 2013-09-18 13:06:47

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#13 2013-09-18 14:01:11

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#14 2013-09-18 14:20:33

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#15 2013-09-18 18:48:08

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#16 2013-09-19 07:53:17

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#17 2013-09-19 09:26:35

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#18 2013-09-19 09:33:18

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#19 2013-09-19 09:45:26

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#20 2013-09-19 10:21:55

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#21 2013-09-19 12:20:23

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#22 2013-09-19 12:28:11

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#23 2013-09-19 13:21:24

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#24 2013-09-19 17:50:13

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

#25 2013-09-19 17:54:14

Re: [SOLVED] Trouble with intel integrated graphics.

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