[SOLVED] Either black screen on boot or no xserver with NVIDIA Optimus

7SLEVIN · 2014-02-12 10:19:23

Hi folks,

I have just bought a Asus Zenbook UX302LG and, without me having heard of this before, it comes with NVIDIA Optimus. It has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M graphics card.

When i initially tried to boot my USB, I got a blank screen. After I added the `nomodeset` kernel option, I could boot without problems. After installing a basic arch setup, rebooting and selecting entry from GRUB, I get the same black screen. I append the same `nomodeset` to the kernel in GRUB - et voila. Only problem though, is that I can't seem to get xserver running. I have tried all the different methods in the NVIDIA Optimus wiki page, with no joy.

BUT, if I connect an external monitor and remove the `nomodeset` kernel option, I get a login prompt on the external monitor (black laptop screen). Here I can login and startx! If I try to start my laptop screen with xrandr, I can see the backlight going off and on again, but with no other change.

I currently have the intel (xf86-video-intel) og nouveau (xf86-video-nouveau) drivers installed.

Here comes some data:

boot loader entry:

title   Arch Linux (nomodeset)
linux   /vmlinuz-linux
initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
options root=PARTUUID=9785a2e5-ad84-496d-b254-aa710c3fe107 rw nomodeset i915.modeset=0 nouveau.modeset=0

`lspci`: (notice only one VGA controller)

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 13ad
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 56
        Memory at f7400000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
        Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        I/O ports at f000 [size=64]
        Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
        Capabilities: <access denied>
        Kernel driver in use: i915
        Kernel modules: i915

04:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK208M [GeForce GT 730M] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. GeForce GT 730M
        Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 16
        Memory at f6000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
        Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        Memory at f0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
        I/O ports at e000 [size=128]
        Expansion ROM at f7000000 [disabled] [size=512K]
        Capabilities: <access denied>
        Kernel modules: nouveau

`xrandr` (booted without `nomodeset`, but with external monitor):

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 32767 x 32767
eDP1 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 294mm x 165mm
   1920x1080      60.0*+
   1400x1050      60.0
   1280x1024      60.0
   1280x960       60.0
   1024x768       60.0
   800x600        60.3     56.2
   640x480        59.9
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI1 connected 1920x1200+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 518mm x 324mm
   1920x1200      60.0*+
   1920x1080      60.0     50.0     59.9
   1600x1200      60.0
   1680x1050      59.9
   1280x1024      60.0
   1440x900       59.9
   1280x960       60.0
   1280x800       59.9
   1280x720       60.0     50.0     59.9
   1024x768       60.0
   800x600        60.3     56.2
   720x576        50.0
   720x480        60.0     59.9
   640x480        60.0     59.9
DP2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VIRTUAL1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

`xrandr --listproviders` (booted without `nomodeset`, but with external monitor):

Providers: number : 1
Provider 0: id: 0x49 cap: 0xb, Source Output, Sink Output, Sink Offload crtcs: 4 outputs: 6 associated providers: 0 name:Intel

Xorg.0.log: (`startx`, booted with nomodeset):

[    17.269]
X.Org X Server 1.15.0
Release Date: 2013-12-27
[    17.269] X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
[    17.269] Build Operating System: Linux 3.12.5-1-ARCH x86_64
[    17.269] Current Operating System: Linux zen 3.12.9-2-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jan 31 10:22:54 CET 2014 x86_64
[    17.269] Kernel command line: initrd=\initramfs-linux.img root=PARTUUID=9785a2e5-ad84-496d-b254-aa710c3fe107 rw nomodeset i915.modeset=0 nouveau.modeset=0
[    17.270] Build Date: 09 January 2014  08:47:24AM
[    17.270]
[    17.270] Current version of pixman: 0.32.4
[    17.270]    Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
        to make sure that you have the latest version.
[    17.270] Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[    17.270] (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Wed Feb 12 12:11:39 2014
[    17.271] (==) Using config directory: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
[    17.271] (==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
[    17.272] (==) No Layout section.  Using the first Screen section.
[    17.272] (==) No screen section available. Using defaults.
[    17.272] (**) |-->Screen "Default Screen Section" (0)
[    17.272] (**) |   |-->Monitor "<default monitor>"
[    17.272] (==) No device specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
        Using the first device section listed.
[    17.272] (**) |   |-->Device "Intel Graphics"
[    17.272] (==) No monitor specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
        Using a default monitor configuration.
[    17.272] (==) Automatically adding devices
[    17.272] (==) Automatically enabling devices
[    17.272] (==) Automatically adding GPU devices
[    17.273] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/TTF/" does not exist.
[    17.273]    Entry deleted from font path.
[    17.273] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/OTF/" does not exist.
[    17.273]    Entry deleted from font path.
[    17.273] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/Type1/" does not exist.
[    17.273]    Entry deleted from font path.
[    17.273] (WW) `fonts.dir' not found (or not valid) in "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/".
[    17.273]    Entry deleted from font path.
[    17.273]    (Run 'mkfontdir' on "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/").
[    17.273] (WW) `fonts.dir' not found (or not valid) in "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/".
[    17.273]    Entry deleted from font path.
[    17.273]    (Run 'mkfontdir' on "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/").
[    17.273] (==) FontPath set to:
        /usr/share/fonts/misc/
[    17.273] (==) ModulePath set to "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
[    17.273] (II) The server relies on udev to provide the list of input devices.
        If no devices become available, reconfigure udev or disable AutoAddDevices.
[    17.273] (II) Loader magic: 0x804c80
[    17.273] (II) Module ABI versions:
[    17.273]    X.Org ANSI C Emulation: 0.4
[    17.273]    X.Org Video Driver: 15.0
[    17.273]    X.Org XInput driver : 20.0
[    17.273]    X.Org Server Extension : 8.0
[    17.274] (--) PCI:*(0:0:2:0) 8086:0a16:1043:13ad rev 9, Mem @ 0xf7400000/4194304, 0xd0000000/268435456, I/O @ 0x0000f000/64
[    17.274] (--) PCI: (0:4:0:0) 10de:1290:1043:13ad rev 161, Mem @ 0xf6000000/16777216, 0xe0000000/268435456, 0xf0000000/33554432, I/O @ 0x0000e000/128, BIOS @ 0x????????/524288
[    17.274] (WW) Open ACPI failed (/var/run/acpid.socket) (No such file or directory)
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension Generic Event Extension
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension SHAPE
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension MIT-SHM
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XInputExtension
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XTEST
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension BIG-REQUESTS
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension SYNC
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XKEYBOARD
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XC-MISC
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension SECURITY
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XINERAMA
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XFIXES
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension RENDER
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension RANDR
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension COMPOSITE
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension DAMAGE
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension DOUBLE-BUFFER
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension RECORD
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension DPMS
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension Present
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension DRI3
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension X-Resource
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XVideo
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XVideo-MotionCompensation
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XFree86-VidModeExtension
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XFree86-DGA
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension XFree86-DRI
[    17.275] Initializing built-in extension DRI2
[    17.275] (II) "glx" will be loaded by default.
[    17.275] (II) LoadModule: "dri2"
[    17.275] (II) Module "dri2" already built-in
[    17.275] (II) LoadModule: "glamoregl"
[    17.276] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libglamoregl.so
[    17.283] (II) Module glamoregl: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    17.283]    compiled for 1.15.0, module version = 0.6.0
[    17.283]    ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.4
[    17.283] (II) LoadModule: "glx"
[    17.283] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so
[    17.284] (II) Module glx: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    17.284]    compiled for 1.15.0, module version = 1.0.0
[    17.284]    ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 8.0
[    17.284] (==) AIGLX enabled
[    17.284] Loading extension GLX
[    17.284] (II) LoadModule: "intel"
[    17.284] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/intel_drv.so
[    17.287] (II) Module intel: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    17.287]    compiled for 1.15.0, module version = 2.99.910
[    17.287]    Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    17.287]    ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 15.0
[    17.287] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Integrated Graphics Chipsets:
        i810, i810-dc100, i810e, i815, i830M, 845G, 854, 852GM/855GM, 865G,
        915G, E7221 (i915), 915GM, 945G, 945GM, 945GME, Pineview GM,
        Pineview G, 965G, G35, 965Q, 946GZ, 965GM, 965GME/GLE, G33, Q35, Q33,
        GM45, 4 Series, G45/G43, Q45/Q43, G41, B43
[    17.287] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) HD Graphics: 2000-5000
[    17.287] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Iris(TM) Graphics: 5100
[    17.287] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Iris(TM) Pro Graphics: 5200
[    17.287] (++) using VT number 1
[    17.289] (EE) No devices detected.
[    17.289] (EE)
Fatal server error:
[    17.289] (EE) no screens found(EE)
[    17.289] (EE)
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
         at http://wiki.x.org
 for help.
[    17.289] (EE) Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
[    17.289] (EE)

Anybody know how I can get this to work? Is there a better method?

Thanks in advance!
Much appreciated

Last edited by 7SLEVIN (2014-02-17 16:13:59)

7SLEVIN · 2014-02-15 16:43:10

It seemed like nomodeset stopped the i915 module being loaded all together. By removing that from the kernel line and keeping i915.modeset=0, I was able to startx.

Though, I'm not completely out of the woods. Since I couldn't get any xorg.conf file working with my graphics, I let xorg make it up as it goes. This breaks xrandr, resuming from suspend/hibernation (i think) and makes xserver crash on some display calls.

I have tried the following xorg.conf:

Section "Device"
   Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
   Driver      "intel"
   BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"
   # Option      "DRI"       "False"
   # Option      "NoAccel" "True"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier             "Monitor0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier             "Screen0"
    Device                 "Intel Graphics"
    Monitor                "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth           16 #Choose the depth (16||24)
    SubSection             "Display"
        Depth              16
        Modes              "1920x1080_75.00"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

I have also tried with sna/uxa acceleration and NoAccel.
I dont get a specific error, just

...
[   172.131] (EE) No devices detected.
[   172.131] (EE) 
Fatal server error:
[   172.131] (EE) no screens found(EE) 
[   172.131] (EE) 
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support 
	 at http://wiki.x.org
 for help. 
[   172.131] (EE) Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.8.log" for additional information.
[   172.131] (EE)

xrandr:

xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 1920 x 1080, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 1920 x 1080
default connected 1920x1080+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   1920x1080      77.0*

Any tips to how I get set this up?

Last edited by 7SLEVIN (2014-02-15 16:50:14)

motley · 2014-02-17 03:10:48

Hi, I recently bought the Zenbook UX302LA with only the Intel 4400 graphics. Using kernel 3.12.9-2, I had to use i915.modeset=0 to see anything at boot, even to be able to see a command line. 800x600 and no brightness control once into X...I was stuck. I researched tried many kernel params to no avail and then after studying all the Intel i915\DRM kernel mainline changes, I decided to throw on 3.14 rc2...bingo! 1920x1080 and brightness control is working without any extra kernel params.

Install linux-mainline from AUR, it might fix your problems as well. I have since added i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 to get better battery time. It seems to be working, but I just did this today.

My only issue left is suspend. I haven't had much time to research, but I get the same issue on resume as I had with booting originally. Seems like a backlight/video issue. The computer resumes, but I can't see anything. Monitor power is on (I can see light bleed through infamous on the Asus), but it is not displaying anything. I have to CTL+ALT+F2 and then CTL+ALT+DEL to reboot. If anybody has ideas, let me know!

Cheers

Last edited by motley (2014-02-17 03:12:11)

7SLEVIN · 2014-02-17 16:13:28

motley wrote:

Hi, I recently bought the Zenbook UX302LA with only the Intel 4400 graphics. Using kernel 3.12.9-2, I had to use i915.modeset=0 to see anything at boot, even to be able to see a command line. 800x600 and no brightness control once into X...I was stuck. I researched tried many kernel params to no avail and then after studying all the Intel i915\DRM kernel mainline changes, I decided to throw on 3.14 rc2...bingo! 1920x1080 and brightness control is working without any extra kernel params.
Install linux-mainline from AUR, it might fix your problems as well. I have since added i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 to get better battery time. It seems to be working, but I just did this today.
My only issue left is suspend. I haven't had much time to research, but I get the same issue on resume as I had with booting originally. Seems like a backlight/video issue. The computer resumes, but I can't see anything. Monitor power is on (I can see light bleed through infamous on the Asus), but it is not displaying anything. I have to CTL+ALT+F2 and then CTL+ALT+DEL to reboot. If anybody has ideas, let me know!
Cheers

Bingo! Fired up the linux-mainline kernel without options et voila! Thank you, sir :-)

BTW:

I have neither gotten resume to work yet. I have tried the resume kernel option with no joy, but havent tried much else yet. How are you going with it?

Also, have you set up you sound card?

Cheers

motley · 2014-02-17 18:48:09

7SLEVIN wrote:

motley wrote:
Hi, I recently bought the Zenbook UX302LA with only the Intel 4400 graphics. Using kernel 3.12.9-2, I had to use i915.modeset=0 to see anything at boot, even to be able to see a command line. 800x600 and no brightness control once into X...I was stuck. I researched tried many kernel params to no avail and then after studying all the Intel i915\DRM kernel mainline changes, I decided to throw on 3.14 rc2...bingo! 1920x1080 and brightness control is working without any extra kernel params.
Install linux-mainline from AUR, it might fix your problems as well. I have since added i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 to get better battery time. It seems to be working, but I just did this today.
My only issue left is suspend. I haven't had much time to research, but I get the same issue on resume as I had with booting originally. Seems like a backlight/video issue. The computer resumes, but I can't see anything. Monitor power is on (I can see light bleed through infamous on the Asus), but it is not displaying anything. I have to CTL+ALT+F2 and then CTL+ALT+DEL to reboot. If anybody has ideas, let me know!
Cheers
Bingo! Fired up the linux-mainline kernel without options et voila! Thank you, sir :-)
BTW:
I have neither gotten resume to work yet. I have tried the resume kernel option with no joy, but havent tried much else yet. How are you going with it?
Also, have you set up you sound card?

Cheers

Great, glad to hear it worked for you as well. I do have sound working, but I cheated on this machine and used Antergos to do the install. Once installed, it is pretty much Arch using the same repoo, but it does save some time. UEFI doesn't work well in their stable ISO download, so beware of that if you ever try it. They are fixing this in their testing branch and have made good progress. The testing ISO's are updated each Sunday and are likely a better bet if you want to install alongside Windows 8 like I did. I ended up using the Arch wiki to get my UEFI grub2 install working. As far as sound config, I believe it just has the standard ALSA setup (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ALSA) as I haven't done anything special to get it working.

As far as suspend/resume, I hope to get back to looking at this soon. I'll post back and let you know what I find (or what I have tried). I haven't tried HDMI out or Ethernet/VGA using the dongles...not sure if these things work or not. The joys of new hardware on Linux ;-) Let me know if you make any progress and we can trade notes. I wonder if you can change the subject of this thread to UX302Lx? If not, perhaps we can start a new thread to track our progress.

Last edited by motley (2014-02-17 21:18:14)

7SLEVIN · 2014-02-17 22:37:03

Ah, thanks for the tip! Good idea starting an own Asus UX302LG thread. I took the liberty and created one here.
Agreed! Would be great to have a place to share notes. As your saying, the joys of new hardware :-D I just got the sound going, so I added that to the thread as well. Thought I could edit the eventual good stuff that comes up in the thread into the first post, so people wont have to dig through the whole thing.

We'll be in touch :-)

acampbell · 2014-03-27 07:44:58

Unfortunately linux-mainline didn't fix the problem for me. This is on a Thinkpad-T42 which needs the radeon driver. I still get the black screen on boot, although if I type blindly I can get a terminal and then run X, as confirmed by ssh from another machine. Just occasionally it starts working after 5-10 min, though I don't know why.

mcloaked · 2014-03-27 11:11:59

acampbell wrote:

Unfortunately linux-mainline didn't fix the problem for me. This is on a Thinkpad-T42 which needs the radeon driver. I still get the black screen on boot, although if I type blindly I can get a terminal and then run X, as confirmed by ssh from another machine. Just occasionally it starts working after 5-10 min, though I don't know why.

I have a Thinkpad S540 with hybrid Intel/ATI graphics, and initially had the blank screen at boot issue for graphical boot (arch stock kernel). Adding both i915 and radeon to the MODULES line in mkinitcpio.conf and regenerating the initial ramdisk fixed the issue for me, so it might be worth trying that if you have not already done so?

Last edited by mcloaked (2014-03-27 11:12:16)

acampbell · 2014-03-28 09:41:51

This isn't a hybrid - (incidentally, my mistake - this is a T60, not a T42).
BUT - good news! - the problem has gone away today after an uograde of systemd to 212-1.

Last edited by acampbell (2014-03-28 13:09:45)

Arch Linux

#1 2014-02-12 10:19:23

[SOLVED] Either black screen on boot or no xserver with NVIDIA Optimus

#2 2014-02-15 16:43:10

Re: [SOLVED] Either black screen on boot or no xserver with NVIDIA Optimus

#3 2014-02-17 03:10:48

Re: [SOLVED] Either black screen on boot or no xserver with NVIDIA Optimus

#4 2014-02-17 16:13:28

Re: [SOLVED] Either black screen on boot or no xserver with NVIDIA Optimus

#5 2014-02-17 18:48:09

Re: [SOLVED] Either black screen on boot or no xserver with NVIDIA Optimus

#6 2014-02-17 22:37:03

Re: [SOLVED] Either black screen on boot or no xserver with NVIDIA Optimus

#7 2014-03-27 07:44:58

Re: [SOLVED] Either black screen on boot or no xserver with NVIDIA Optimus

#8 2014-03-27 11:11:59

Re: [SOLVED] Either black screen on boot or no xserver with NVIDIA Optimus

#9 2014-03-28 09:41:51

Re: [SOLVED] Either black screen on boot or no xserver with NVIDIA Optimus

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