[Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-22 23:38:25

Hi,

I've recently installed Arch on my Inspirion 5575. After following the steps on the wiki (or so I think), I can't get the X server started. I'm running an AMD Ryzen 5 2500U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx (integrated graphics, I believe). Here's the log for `startx` (`/var/log/Xorg.0.log`): http://ix.io/2f2T. My .xinitrc contains the command `exec bspwm`, which I have indeed installed. A line from the log I came to believe is relevant:

[  6528.291] (EE) open /dev/dri/card0: No such file or directory

I've been searching the forums for three days. I must have read all of the top results for DuckDuckGo using all of the combinations of the keywords `arch`, `Xorg`, `amd`, `radeon` and the likes. My sanity is slowly fading away.

I'm posting this on the Newbie Corner because 1) I'm a newbie, as far as I'm aware, and most importantly 2) because I have no idea what logs, files or listings I need to provide.

Please, help me get it working.

Thanks.

[EDIT]: Original title read “Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575 with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx”, but it was to long to fit with the “[Solved]” tag.

Last edited by juanmeleiro (2020-04-01 18:18:55)

Lone_Wolf · 2020-03-23 14:27:43

Yup, that line is a big clue something is wrong.

[  6528.273] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=b1200630-7bb1-49c2-b015-4b7feb287c21 rw loglevel=3 quiet nomodeset

booting with nomodeset blocks all modern drivers, but I guess you didn't get any screen output without it ?

[  6528.288] (==) Matched ati as autoconfigured driver 0
[  6528.288] (==) Matched modesetting as autoconfigured driver 1
[  6528.288] (==) Matched fbdev as autoconfigured driver 2
[  6528.288] (==) Matched vesa as autoconfigured driver 3
[  6528.288] (==) Assigned the driver to the xf86ConfigLayout

The amd RX Vega cards are normally supported by the amdgpu kernel module and xf86-video-amdgpu .

All things combined suggest the problem originates long before X is started.

Please post full outputs of lspci -knn , dmesg and/or journalctl -b

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2020-03-23 14:28:00)

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-23 15:30:38

booting with nomodeset blocks all modern drivers

I'd figured something like that was going on. Somewhere in the logs there was mention of "modesetting disabled". I tried to boot without it, but the system just hangs during boot. Note that, I believe, that loglevel means I'm just getting two lines of output during boot.

The outputs:
- lspci -knn: http://ix.io/2f3j
- dmesg: http://ix.io/2f3l
- journalctl: http://ix.io/2f3m

loqs · 2020-03-23 15:33:09

Please post the kernel messages from a boot without nomodeset.

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-23 16:29:06

I rebooted, edited the Grub entry to remove the nomodeset keyword, and booted. As I said, the system hangs (it seems), so I had to kill it. I waited about thrice the time it normally takes to boot (a few seconds). If I should let it run for longer, let me know.

The logs: http://ix.io/2f3y

loqs · 2020-03-23 16:34:40

Have you installed the linux-firmware package?

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-23 17:51:48

Yes.

$ pacman -Q linux-firmware
linux-firmware 20200224.efcfa03-1

loqs · 2020-03-23 18:01:26

Please try the solution from https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=237818

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-23 18:15:10

Doesn't look like it works. In the boot menu,

- If I set Boot > Boot List Option to UEFI, the Windows Boot Manager kicks in and hangs.
- If I set Boot > Boot List Option to Legacy but Boot > Attempt Legacy Boot to Disabled, and then remove the Grub nomodeset option, the system hangs during boot.

[EDIT]: Should I do a UEFI install?

[EDIT]: I don't understand how could I switch from Legacy to UEFI. Aren't those two completely separate ways of booting?

Last edited by juanmeleiro (2020-03-23 18:42:46)

Lone_Wolf · 2020-03-24 12:43:14

Let's verify what you're booting now.

$ ls -l /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

What does that output when booting with nomodeset and when you boot archlinux installation iso ?

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-24 12:58:13

“No such file or directory”. There's no efi directory either.

Lone_Wolf · 2020-03-24 13:37:23

That indicates your efi firmware automatically switched to legacy mode when you booted the archlinux iso .
Many efi firmwares do that without asking the user.

You'll probably have to disable legacy / CSM mode completely in the firmware settings.
Unfortunately doing that may break your windows install also.

Is this your only system or do you have another working one ?

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-24 14:10:55

I don't have a Windows install (I killed it as soon as I managed to). I do have another system working. As for the legacy settings: when I do disable that, the system hangs with a single line on the screen saying

Checking media_

that keeps blinking. Then, a “Dell SupportAssist” screen pops-up and starts “scanning the hardware”.

loqs · 2020-03-24 15:06:04

Is secure boot disabled?

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-24 16:33:03

Yes. These are the options:

Secure Boot: Disabled
Legacy Option ROMs: Disabled
Boot List Option: UEFI
Attempt Legacy Boot: Disabled

I also tried

Secure Boot: Disabled
Legacy Option ROMs: Enabled
Boot List Option: UEFI
Attempt Legacy Boot: Disabled

And that gives the same result. The options

Secure Boot: Disabled
Legacy Option ROMs: Enabled
Boot List Option: UEFI
Attempt Legacy Boot: Enabled

show that string I mentioned, but eventually boot into Arch. No graphics.

And, finally,

Secure Boot: Disabled
Legacy Option ROMs: Enabled
Boot List Option: Legacy
Attempt Legacy Boot: Enabled

Just directly boots into Arch, without the message.

Last edited by juanmeleiro (2020-03-24 17:31:09)

Lone_Wolf · 2020-03-25 13:55:00

I felt that's not many options, but according to https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/inspiro … _en-us.pdf , those are indeed the possibilities .

It does seem some users managed to get archlinux running on it, as the inspiron 5575 has a wiki-entry :
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dell_Inspiron_5575

Did you try booting archlinux installation iso with the 2 first options (secure boot and legacy boot disabled ) ?

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2020-03-25 13:55:19)

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-25 15:57:27

Well, I did now. The options were

Secure Boot: Disabled
Legacy Option ROMs: Disabled
Boot List Option: UEFI
Attempt Legacy Boot: Disabled

(though I suspect the last option has no effect if a UEFI boots succeds)

Anyway, the Windows Boot Manager (so I think) kicks in and shows the message

Checking media_

. A menu pops-up and I'm able to boot into the ISO. Note that the menu is not graphical.

When booted from the ISO, I do

# mount /dev/sda3 /mnt # the root partition
# cd /mnt
# mount /dev/sda4 home # the... home partition
# mount /dev/sda1 boot # well, the boot partition
# arch-chroot /mnt
# startx

And... it fails. Here's the log: https://ix.io/2feY

loqs · 2020-03-25 16:31:31

[   123.491] (II) Server terminated successfully (0). Closing log file.

Did the X server exit because there was an issue with xinitrc?

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-25 20:24:35

Ok. Sorry. I ran that as root. If after the

 arch-chroot

I do

su <user>; cd

and try to start X I get this log: https://ix.io/2fh4

loqs · 2020-03-25 20:26:10

Shows the same result

[   146.191] (II) Server terminated successfully (0). Closing log file.

Edit:
Have you tried GRUB#Default/fallback_boot_path to resolve the EFI boot issue?

Last edited by loqs (2020-03-25 20:31:10)

juanmeleiro · 2020-03-25 20:34:44

So, I dug around the log and figured I'd check if xterm is installed. It wasn't. So I installed it and X started successfuly when run as root. It looked weird (several windows scattered around), but it did.

I guess that means I should do a UEFI install, right?

loqs · 2020-03-25 20:38:32

Yes it appears to be a compatibility issue between EFI CSM and the amdgpu module.

juanmeleiro · 2020-04-01 18:17:24

Ok. So, this many days later, I finaly reinstalled Arch. Now, I did a UEFI install. After some hiccups, I got everything (related to X) working. So that's it.

Thanks!

Arch Linux

#1 2020-03-22 23:38:25

[Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#2 2020-03-23 14:27:43

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#3 2020-03-23 15:30:38

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#4 2020-03-23 15:33:09

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#5 2020-03-23 16:29:06

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#6 2020-03-23 16:34:40

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#7 2020-03-23 17:51:48

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#8 2020-03-23 18:01:26

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#9 2020-03-23 18:15:10

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#10 2020-03-24 12:43:14

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#11 2020-03-24 12:58:13

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#12 2020-03-24 13:37:23

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#13 2020-03-24 14:10:55

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#14 2020-03-24 15:06:04

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#15 2020-03-24 16:33:03

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#16 2020-03-25 13:55:00

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#17 2020-03-25 15:57:27

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#18 2020-03-25 16:31:31

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#19 2020-03-25 20:24:35

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#20 2020-03-25 20:26:10

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#21 2020-03-25 20:34:44

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#22 2020-03-25 20:38:32

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

#23 2020-04-01 18:17:24

Re: [Solved] Issues starting X server on Inspirion 5575

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