Arch Linux

Voxol

Member

Registered: 2015-03-04

Posts: 27

[Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

I've decided to install Arch on my home pc, but as soon as I start the live USB both screens go "no signal".
I've tried disconnecting both screens (one at a time), but still nothing; my guess is that the live does not recognize the graphics card, but I don't know what to do.

Below the specs of the pc:
Motherboard: Asus ROG MAximus IV Extreme-Z (such a silly name...)
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
GPU: Nvidia Geforce GTX 970
(Tat's it, I don't think anithing else matters for this)

One screen is connected via HDMI and the other via DVI, neither the GPU nor the motherboard has a VGA connector, so I couldn't make the test.

I tested the live on my laptop and it works as intended, so it shouldn't be that.

Last edited by Voxol (2016-08-11 18:24:12)

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,418

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

try adding "nomodeset" on the kernel command line.

Voxol

Member

Registered: 2015-03-04

Posts: 27

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

I can't access a command line (the screens shut as soon as the live starts), can I do this on another pc, like my laptop? Will the changes remain?(like I said, newbie )

I don't know exactly how a live works and how it differs from the normal arch os, so I don't know what I can do on the USB and what not.

I also tried to install the nvidia driver on the live but it didn't change anything

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,418

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

You should be able to see the bootloader, that's where you would edit this.

Voxol

Member

Registered: 2015-03-04

Posts: 27

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

I never installed a bootloader (like GRUB, right?), I used to use this pc with Windows and the only thing that starts before the os is the BIOS

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,418

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

The Live USB has a bootloader

Voxol

Member

Registered: 2015-03-04

Posts: 27

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

Oh, right, the screens shut down before that one too

atomicbeef

Member

Registered: 2015-09-30

Posts: 98

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

Your monitors go into powersave mode before you have the option to select which kernel you want to boot? If not, just hit the "e" key to edit the kernel parameters and add

nomodeset

to disable kernel modesetting, which should fix the issue (happened on my GTX 970 as well).

Voxol

Member

Registered: 2015-03-04

Posts: 27

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

Your monitors go into powersave mode before you have the option to select which kernel you want to boot?

This

EDIT: This is a crudely made smartphone video of what happens
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3j732nccvfkg1 … 2.mp4?dl=0

Last edited by Voxol (2016-08-10 13:06:14)

atomicbeef

Member

Registered: 2015-09-30

Posts: 98

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

No, your monitors go into powersave mode after you select the kernel. The menu that has the options for booting Arch and the UEFI shells is where you should be hitting the "e" key instead of enter to edit the kernel parameters.

ukhippo

Member

From: Non-paged pool

Registered: 2014-02-21

Posts: 366

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

The timeout on the boot menu is only 3s (way too short IMO).
So hold the spacebar down whilst booting - that will stop the timeout.

Voxol

Member

Registered: 2015-03-04

Posts: 27

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

No, your monitors go into powersave mode after you select the kernel. The menu that has the options for booting Arch and the UEFI shells is where you should be hitting the "e" key instead of enter to edit the kernel parameters.

Thanks, that solved it (3 seconds was plenty enough, btw).
Did you need to add nomodeset as a standard kernel parameter in the bootloader or did it fix itself? Was additional configuration required?

atomicbeef

Member

Registered: 2015-09-30

Posts: 98

Re: [Solved] Live image does not recognise screens

Glad to hear that worked! I did not add

nomodeset

as a kernel parameter on the installed system or do any additional configuration. Everything worked out of the box once I booted into it.

Last edited by atomicbeef (2016-08-11 17:04:14)