Arch Linux

ccarrow

Member

Registered: 2014-08-20

Posts: 4

Black screen after grub unless using nomodeset

Hey, I'm a new Arch user! Been using Fedora since version 12, but as of late I've decided I need both the latest and greatest and the most power over my system customization, which is where Arch fits in perfectly.

On my current setup, I have a laptop (ASUS K55N) with the following specs:

AMD A8-4500m 1.9GHz Quad-Core (Bulldozer cores, bleh)
6GB DDR3 RAM
750 GB HD
No screen (removed it when it broke), with external monitor hooked up with an HDMI to DVI cable
External keyboard and mouse.

I have UEFI BIOs, but I'm booting with legacy BIOs mode.

Here's where the problem lies:

Using Fedora 20, with kernel 3.9, everything boots and runs perfectly. However, upon upgrading kernel to 3.11 or later, I get a black screen after GRUB 95% of the time (after many reboots, 10+, it will eventually boot up.)

This can be resolved by using "nomodeset:" in the grub config.

This prompted me to start trying different distros. Downloading the Arch iso, 2014.08.01, kernel 3.15.7, I come across the same issue booting from my usb drive. Just a black screen after it says "Booting Kernel." This can be circumvented with "nomodeset." Researching around these forums, and just googling in general, it appears to be problem with the radeon module. Although, something odd that I've noticed is that I can use Ubuntu with any kernel (tried up to 3.16) and Oibaf's PPA for updated modules and it works flawlessly. However, I'm not big on Debian and apt-get based distros, so it's definitely not a preference.

I would love to add Arch to my current setup, but I'm worried that I won't be able to boot without "nomodeset," which gives me very sluggish performance.

The reason I would like a more bleeding edge distro is mainly for radeon module improvements with newer versions, as fglrx does not provide me with a smooth desktop.

Do you have any suggestions? I can get any information that may be needed.

I'm in the process of installing Arch onto this system as a dual-boot with CentOS 7 (Kernel 3.10 with fglrx, which works alright.). So if you need me to run any commands or get logs once I have installed, I'll be happy to do so.

Thank you.
Cameron Carrow

EDIT: I've tested the usb media on all my other computers, and it works perfectly, so I know it's not a problem with the usb media.

Last edited by ccarrow (2014-08-20 21:32:59)

Pse

Member

Registered: 2008-03-15

Posts: 415

Re: Black screen after grub unless using nomodeset

Welcome to Arch.

Have you looked at which patches are being added to Ubuntu's kernel? Arch uses pretty much a vanilla kernel, so I guess there is a kernel patch that Ubuntu devs have added themselves to their kernel.

ccarrow

Member

Registered: 2014-08-20

Posts: 4

Re: Black screen after grub unless using nomodeset

I have not. That's a good idea, although where would I start finding that information?

I've been using Linux for a while, but I've never looked into such a thing. Does Ubuntu have any sort of a list of patches?

Pse

Member

Registered: 2008-03-15

Posts: 415

Re: Black screen after grub unless using nomodeset

Actually, to simplify things, you may go the other way around: if you don't mind installing Ubuntu temporarily, you can compile a vanilla kernel for it and check if that triggers the problem.

Here's the Ubuntu wiki entry for that: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds

If you would prefer to look at the differences between the Ubuntu kernel and the mainline version, you may download the latest Ubuntu kernel source using git from here:

git://kernel.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-trusty.git

You will need to use git to compare the differences between the mainline kernel and Ubuntu's patched version. There may be an easier way of doing this, but as I am not well versed in how the Ubuntu kernel team works, you may need to ask them directly for assistance. They may keep a list of patches somewhere out of git, but I am not aware of that.

Last edited by Pse (2014-08-21 04:29:09)

arunvragh

Member

Registered: 2007-04-17

Posts: 111

Re: Black screen after grub unless using nomodeset

It could be a backlight problem...have you tried adding acpi_backlight=vendor to the kernel line instead of nomodeset? Had this problem some months ago and overcame it this way.

ccarrow

Member

Registered: 2014-08-20

Posts: 4

Re: Black screen after grub unless using nomodeset

Actually, to simplify things, you may go the other way around: if you don't mind installing Ubuntu temporarily, you can compile a vanilla kernel for it and check if that triggers the problem.

Here's the Ubuntu wiki entry for that: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds

If you would prefer to look at the differences between the Ubuntu kernel and the mainline version, you may download the latest Ubuntu kernel source using git from here:

git://kernel.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-trusty.git

You will need to use git to compare the differences between the mainline kernel and Ubuntu's patched version. There may be an easier way of doing this, but as I am not well versed in how the Ubuntu kernel team works, you may need to ask them directly for assistance. They may keep a list of patches somewhere out of git, but I am not aware of that.

Thanks for the tips. Can't say that I can get around to doing that anytime in the next couple days, but I may do so soon.

Also tried "acpi_backlight=vendor"

Still the same black screen.

I've also noticed that when I boot up without nomodeset, I can't press the caps lock key and turn it on and off, as given by the light. Which gives me an idea that it's not actually booting up all the way.

Are there any boot logs I can use to see if I can nail down where the issue occurs?

Pse

Member

Registered: 2008-03-15

Posts: 415

Re: Black screen after grub unless using nomodeset

Are there any boot logs I can use to see if I can nail down where the issue occurs?

If root gets mounted as read/write, you might be able to read the logs using journalctl. If you don't reach that point, you may need to use netconsole. See here:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ne … ng_at_Boot

Last edited by Pse (2014-08-21 14:39:10)

ccarrow

Member

Registered: 2014-08-20

Posts: 4

Re: Black screen after grub unless using nomodeset

Are there any boot logs I can use to see if I can nail down where the issue occurs?

If root gets mounted as read/write, you might be able to read the logs using journalctl. If you don't reach that point, you may need to use netconsole. See here:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ne … ng_at_Boot

Alright, all of this is a bit of unfamiliar territory for me, but there's always the opportunity to learn. Thank you all for suggestions.

Pse

Member

Registered: 2008-03-15

Posts: 415

Re: Black screen after grub unless using nomodeset

Alright, all of this is a bit of unfamiliar territory for me, but there's always the opportunity to learn. Thank you all for suggestions.

Don't worry about being unfamiliar with any of this, if you need help following some of the advice above, just ask