Arch Linux

jmauss

Member

Registered: 2016-06-10

Posts: 8

Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

I had installed Arch a few days ago on my desktop and everything ran fine. There was something I wanted to change, so I went to do a fresh install last night, and everything went normally except for after I rebooted. I got the message "starting version 230" and then the screen goes blank (but the machine keeps running). Reboots did not help and trying to switch to a new TTY did nothing.

I have a i5 3570k, GTX 970, and 8GB of RAM using the plain Arch ISO from the site off a USB. Any help?

Last edited by jmauss (2016-06-10 13:05:02)

positronik

Member

Registered: 2016-02-08

Posts: 94

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

My crystal ball is not working today so I'll probably need to ask if you set up any kind of graphical environment on your system.

jmauss

Member

Registered: 2016-06-10

Posts: 8

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

No graphical environment set up, I just followed the beginners guide. This is on the first reboot.

Steef435

Member

Registered: 2013-08-29

Posts: 577

Website

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

Did you configure your video drivers properly?

I think a good start would be to boot an arch installation medium, arch-chroot into your system and to have a look at the systemd journal logs. You can also install video drivers there if you forgot.

Just to be sure: what graphics card and what drivers are you using?

jmauss

Member

Registered: 2016-06-10

Posts: 8

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

I am not using any graphics drivers as I usually install them after my first login. Graphics drivers aren't mentioned anywhere in the beginners guide, so I always reboot after the initial install and install them at that point. The issue I am having is after the initial install, I reboot, and I can't even get to the login.

Steef435

Member

Registered: 2013-08-29

Posts: 577

Website

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

Okay, the generic driver just works almost always as far as I know so maybe we shouldn't be looking in that direction. Hopefully there will be something to work with in the journal.

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 11,589

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

Try adding "nomodeset" the the kernel command line.

jmauss

Member

Registered: 2016-06-10

Posts: 8

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

I am not at home, but I will be in a few hours and I can check then. How do I get the logs from the journal (or what is the best way to tell you what it says/how to find the info)?

The generic installer worked on the machine just fine this past Monday, not sure why it wouldn't work on the same machine with the same ISO last night.

jmauss

Member

Registered: 2016-06-10

Posts: 8

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

Try adding "nomodeset" the the kernel command line.

I will also try this. Can you explain why this would work and why it is needed as of yesterday but not before?

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 11,589

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

It disables Kernel Mode Setting and can help work around buggy drivers. The 4.6 kernel was just moved to Core, if there was a regression in your driver, this can at least get the system going. It's not a permanent fix; if it works, I would install the -lts kernel and see if that works better.

Last edited by Scimmia (2016-06-10 15:01:41)

alphaniner

Member

From: Ancapistan

Registered: 2010-07-12

Posts: 2,810

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

To get the logs from the installed system, you can boot to the iso and do this.

Because you get the latest packages from the repos, using the same iso for two temporally disparate installs can have very different outcomes.

---

But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.
-Lysander Spooner

JohnBobSmith

Member

From: Canada

Registered: 2014-11-29

Posts: 804

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

It disables Kernel Mode Setting and can help work around buggy drivers. The 4.6 kernel was just moved to Core, if there was a regression in your driver, this can at least get the system going. It's not a permanent fix; if it works, I would install the -lts kernel and see if that works better.

If you disable KMS there could be some minor setbacks/other problems but usually those aren't serious. Also, the nomodeset change can be made to be a permanent (though not preferred) solution if you set it directly in your bootloader's config.

---

I am diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As it turns out, what I thought was my greatest weakness is now my greatest strength.

Everyday, I make a conscious choice to overcome my challenges and my problems. It's not easy, but its better than the alternative...

jmauss

Member

Registered: 2016-06-10

Posts: 8

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

To get the logs from the installed system, you can boot to the iso and do this.

Because you get the latest packages from the repos, using the same iso for two temporally disparate installs can have very different outcomes.

Thank you for the link, I guess I meant what changed in the repos the last 2 days to make that happen. I suppose if I knew that I wouldn't be here though...

I will see what I can find from the journal when I get home. Otherwise, I will try the modeset to see if that fixes anything.

alphaniner

Member

From: Ancapistan

Registered: 2010-07-12

Posts: 2,810

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

I guess I meant what changed in the repos the last 2 days to make that happen.

But you now have a potential answer to that question (from Scimmia), right?

Last edited by alphaniner (2016-06-10 15:32:04)

---

But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.
-Lysander Spooner

jmauss

Member

Registered: 2016-06-10

Posts: 8

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

So the only thing that stood out (in red text) was errors about nouveau. Specifically lines like this:
nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fifo: DROPPED_MMU_FAULT 80000000
nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fifo: read fault at 00ffb90000 engine 1f [] client 03 [DNISO] reason 0d [REGION_VIOLATION] on channel -1 [0000000000 unknown]

So I am guessing graphic drivers. Should I just install the proprietary ones like I do typically after install, but install them during the beginners guide instead?

EDIT: I can see the nouveau drivers haven't been updated in a while, why would this suddenly not work?

Last edited by jmauss (2016-06-10 17:36:23)

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 11,589

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

EDIT: I can see the nouveau drivers haven't been updated in a while, why would this suddenly not work?

The kernel drivers are updated constantly. The term "driver" refers to a lot of things in the linux graphics stack.

jmauss

Member

Registered: 2016-06-10

Posts: 8

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

Where can I report this issue or see if people have already reported it?

And like I asked, should I just install the proprietary drivers during the beginners guide?

dockland

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2015-06-06

Posts: 861

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

Where can I report this issue or see if people have already reported it?

And like I asked, should I just install the proprietary drivers during the beginners guide?

I did a clean install yesterday, i do have a Nvidia GTX 960. I didn't have to use nomodeset or any parameters during install. Did a EFI-boot and systemd-boot. Everything went smooth as butter. I did an install of the whole system, including intel-microcode, rebooted to see if EFI was set up properly, worked like charm and then i installed xorg packages, and nvidia packages (including -utils and -settings pure x86_64) and rebooted again using the proprietary drivers and installed lightdm and xfce4. The only issue i ran in to was my dchpcd@"device".service, it took approx 6 seconds to initialize the IP, so i switched to network manager instead, solved that issue right away. But over all it worked as expected.

---

I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.
I use it to look at funny pictures of cats and to argue with strangers.

Planet-X

Member

Registered: 2016-06-11

Posts: 3

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

I've had exactly the same problem with my portable arch installation after upgrading it - just after the system began booting, the screen got no signal anymore. This only happened on my PC, which notably also has a GTX 970 graphics card. On my notebook the installation worked just fine - using intel hd graphics. In my case the problem was the nouveau driver: in conjunction with mesa 11.2 and Linux 4.6 it recently got 3D acceleration support for GM20x graphics chips, including the GTX 970 (GM204). With the update of the "linux" package to Linux 4.6 some days ago, this hardware acceleration got enabled. There seems to be a bug: the screen just gets turned off. To prevent this from happening, you have to prevent the kernel from loading the nouveau module:

- Boot from the arch install medium and arch-chroot into your system.
- Now create/edit the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf to add the line "blacklist nouveau":
   

echo "blacklist nouveau" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

This prevents the kernel from initially loading the module.

Your system should boot properly now, but the resolution will be terrible. To use xorg, you have to use the proprietary nvidia driver (install the package "nvidia"). The desktop will work with the proper resolution, using the proprietary driver.
With your card you should stick with the proprietary driver a little longer  - the open source alternative is still pretty early.

I hope this can solve your problem - at least it worked for me!

dockland

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2015-06-06

Posts: 861

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

I've had exactly the same problem with my portable arch installation after upgrading it - just after the system began booting, the screen got no signal anymore. This only happened on my PC, which notably also has a GTX 970 graphics card. On my notebook the installation worked just fine - using intel hd graphics. In my case the problem was the nouveau driver: in conjunction with mesa 11.2 and Linux 4.6 it recently got 3D acceleration support for GM20x graphics chips, including the GTX 970 (GM204). With the update of the "linux" package to Linux 4.6 some days ago, this hardware acceleration got enabled. There seems to be a bug: the screen just gets turned off. To prevent this from happening, you have to prevent the kernel from loading the nouveau module:

- Boot from the arch install medium and arch-chroot into your system.
- Now create/edit the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf to add the line "blacklist nouveau":
   

echo "blacklist nouveau" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

This prevents the kernel from initially loading the module.

Your system should boot properly now, but the resolution will be terrible. To use xorg, you have to use the proprietary nvidia driver (install the package "nvidia"). The desktop will work with the proper resolution, using the proprietary driver.
With your card you should stick with the proprietary driver a little longer  - the open source alternative is still pretty early.

I hope this can solve your problem - at least it worked for me!

I don't have an issue at all, but am a bit curious, i only installer xorg- packages and proprietary nvidia drivers. Is it recommended to blacklist even thou i never installed "xf86-video-nouveau" during install?

---

I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.
I use it to look at funny pictures of cats and to argue with strangers.

Planet-X

Member

Registered: 2016-06-11

Posts: 3

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

I don't have an issue at all, but am a bit curious, i only installer xorg- packages and proprietary nvidia drivers. Is it recommended to blacklist even thou i never installed "xf86-video-nouveau" during install?

As far as i know "xf86-video-nouveau" is only the xorg-driver which provides 2D-acceleration to xorg. The "nouveau" module itself is included in the kernel, therefore automatically installed with the kernel itself.
The problem most likely originates from this: The installation of the Linux 4.6 kernel also pulled in a new version of the "linux-firmware" package. This newer version of the firmware package contains the lately released signed firmware images from nvidia (installed to "/lib/firmware/nvidia/", look for folders called "gm204" and "gm206"). For more information on those firmware images you can read this article at Phoronix.

In short: These firmware-images finally enabled the "nouveau" kernel module to properly access the GPU - Sadly resulting in this terrible bug for at least some cards. Before the release of those firmware-images, "nouveau" didn't activate the gpu. Instead it just set up a simple framebuffer device, more or less bypassing the gpu using software-rendering (damn slow..., but working).

In theory, deleting the folders "/lib/firmware/nvidia/gm204" and "/lib/firmware/nvidia/gm206" should also solve the problem, as nouveau will fall back to its framebuffer method, if no proper firmware is found. (not confirmed)

As you already installed the "nvidia" package, "nouveau" won't be loaded on your system. You don't have to blacklist the "nouveau" module, but if you uninstall the "nvidia" package, your screen will most likely also turn black after rebooting. Blacklisting "nouveau" should prevent this. In addition it is pretty safe: If anything goes wrong afterwards, just comment out or remove the previously added line from "/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.

Finally, I don't know whether this bug also appears on a GTX 960. Maybe the "nouveau" module works well with your card - I don't think the linux kernel would accept code that generally doesn't work or hasn't been tested.

dockland

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2015-06-06

Posts: 861

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

I don't have an issue at all, but am a bit curious, i only installer xorg- packages and proprietary nvidia drivers. Is it recommended to blacklist even thou i never installed "xf86-video-nouveau" during install?

As far as i know "xf86-video-nouveau" is only the xorg-driver which provides 2D-acceleration to xorg. The "nouveau" module itself is included in the kernel, therefore automatically installed with the kernel itself.
The problem most likely originates from this: The installation of the Linux 4.6 kernel also pulled in a new version of the "linux-firmware" package. This newer version of the firmware package contains the lately released signed firmware images from nvidia (installed to "/lib/firmware/nvidia/", look for folders called "gm204" and "gm206"). For more information on those firmware images you can read this article at Phoronix.

In short: These firmware-images finally enabled the "nouveau" kernel module to properly access the GPU - Sadly resulting in this terrible bug for at least some cards. Before the release of those firmware-images, "nouveau" didn't activate the gpu. Instead it just set up a simple framebuffer device, more or less bypassing the gpu using software-rendering (damn slow..., but working).

In theory, deleting the folders "/lib/firmware/nvidia/gm204" and "/lib/firmware/nvidia/gm206" should also solve the problem, as nouveau will fall back to its framebuffer method, if no proper firmware is found. (not confirmed)

As you already installed the "nvidia" package, "nouveau" won't be loaded on your system. You don't have to blacklist the "nouveau" module, but if you uninstall the "nvidia" package, your screen will most likely also turn black after rebooting. Blacklisting "nouveau" should prevent this. In addition it is pretty safe: If anything goes wrong afterwards, just comment out or remove the previously added line from "/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.

Finally, I don't know whether this bug also appears on a GTX 960. Maybe the "nouveau" module works well with your card - I don't think the linux kernel would accept code that generally doesn't work or hasn't been tested.

Thank you for your answer. Informative.
I'd just leave it as it is, thou it's running great and everything runs just smooth as butter.

---

I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.
I use it to look at funny pictures of cats and to argue with strangers.

Planet-X

Member

Registered: 2016-06-11

Posts: 3

Re: Fresh Install Boots To Blank Screen

Thank you for your answer. Informative.
I'd just leave it as it is, thou it's running great and everything runs just smooth as butter.

You're welcome!
Never change a running system