Arch Linux

xmeehan

Member

Registered: 2016-01-09

Posts: 11

[Solved] Reinstalling over fully encrypted disk

Hi all,

A few years ago I did a full disk encryption installation on a laptop, mostly as a learning project as opposed to out of a need for full disk encryption. I haven't used the laptop in a few years but I'd like to do a fresh install of Arch (without full disk encryption this time).

I can still log in and access the data on the laptop, but when I try to boot from the installation medium I either get a blank screen or a screen that is about 2/3 blank with the bottom 1/3 of the screen filling with seemingly random pixels. The installation medium works as expected on other devices.

I am not exactly sure how to proceed so any pointers would be great. Here is the output of lsblk on the laptop:

NAME           MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINT
sda              8:0    0 238.5G  0 disk  
└─enc          254:0    0 238.5G  0 crypt 
  ├─store-root 254:1    0    40G  0 lvm   /
  ├─store-swap 254:2    0    10G  0 lvm   [SWAP]
  └─store-home 254:3    0 188.5G  0 lvm   /home
sdb              8:16   1  14.9G  0 disk  
├─sdb1           8:17   1   512M  0 part  
├─sdb2           8:18   1    32M  0 part  
└─sdb3           8:19   1  14.4G  0 part  /run/media/michael/3e743042-afb8-4850-9f0e-cdd4aeedb5f5

Last edited by xmeehan (2021-05-29 01:57:55)

Wild Penguin

Member

Registered: 2015-03-19

Posts: 406

Re: [Solved] Reinstalling over fully encrypted disk

I doubt the screen corruption has anything to do with your encrypted partition or any of your block devices.

Which laptop (exact model) are you trying to install on? Which GPU does it have, perhaps it has dual GPUs? Post the output of lspci here.

I would go forward searching for issues with similar laptops and/or GPUs. Perhaps a nomodeset parameter for Kernel, or force it to another graphics mode.

Last edited by Wild Penguin (2021-05-28 22:43:10)

xmeehan

Member

Registered: 2016-01-09

Posts: 11

Re: [Solved] Reinstalling over fully encrypted disk

I doubt the screen corruption has anything to do with your encrypted partition or any of your block devices.

Which laptop (exact model) are you trying to install on? Which GPU does it have, perhaps it has dual GPUs? Post the output of lspci here.

I would go forward searching for issues with similar laptops and/or GPUs. Perhaps a nomodeset parameter for Kernel, or force it to another graphics mode.

I am using a Lenovo X1 Carbon (3rd Gen).

 ~> lspci                                     Fri 28 May 2021 07:22:02 PM MDT
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Host Bridge -OPI (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 5500 (rev 09)
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Audio Controller (rev 09)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP USB xHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP MEI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (3) I218-LM (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #2 (rev e3)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #3 (rev e3)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP USB EHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP LPC Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP SATA Controller [AHCI Mode] (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP SMBus Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP Thermal Management Controller (rev 03)
04:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 7265 (rev 59)

edit: nomodeset did stop the screen corruption but left me with a blank screen. I changed the BIOS to only do UEFI and removed the USB with the encryption key and everything worked normally.

Last edited by xmeehan (2021-05-29 01:57:43)