Arch Linux

tirithen

Member

Registered: 2014-02-18

Posts: 22

[SOLVED]ThinkPad W530 black screen on regular linux kernel & gummiboot

I cannot boot my laptop (ThinkPad W530) using the kernel package "linux" and gummiboot, the only output I managed to get is a black screen. After installing the kernel package "linux-lts" I am able to boot with that kernel.

I have tried building and installing "linux-git" and "linux-mainline" from AUR but the build crached in both cases.

How can I get the regular linux kernel package up and running? How can I see what is wrong more than a black screen?

Last edited by tirithen (2014-02-19 16:36:11)

Hspasta

Member

Registered: 2011-12-24

Posts: 189

Website

Re: [SOLVED]ThinkPad W530 black screen on regular linux kernel & gummiboot

I started getting this too on my Thinkpad T420 on all kernel updates after 3.12.6. There's a discussion here, but I don't think there's been much progress. It seems to be a common thing with Thinkpads. There's a longer discussion here.

Seems like the solution is to not use gummiboot.

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: [SOLVED]ThinkPad W530 black screen on regular linux kernel & gummiboot

Presumably it has something to do with the efistub functionality.  So I keep grub efi installed as a backup in case this ever happens to me.  I haven't experienced it since about 3.7 or 3.8, but I know how frustrating it can be when it does since it is also rather impossible to debug.

tirithen

Member

Registered: 2014-02-18

Posts: 22

Re: [SOLVED]ThinkPad W530 black screen on regular linux kernel & gummiboot

Thanks for the help, I got it woking by uninstalling gummiboot and by following the steps for installing grub with efi from the beginners guide.

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: [SOLVED]ThinkPad W530 black screen on regular linux kernel & gummiboot

With UEFI you are not limited to one boot loader or boot manager.  As long as you have space on the ESP you can add as many as you want.  I really like gummiboot for its simplicity both in its interface and its configuration, so ideally that is what I use all the time.  But I have been in the position where efistub wouldn't work for whatever reason, so I also keep grub-efi and syslinux-efi as backups.  Syslinux-efi is also super easy to configure, but it is still in its infancy in terms of development, so it probably isn't the best to rely on that.