Arch Linux

microchip

Member

Registered: 2010-05-08

Posts: 3

[SOLVED] Black screen during boot (KMS) with Intel 915GM

Hello!

I have been using ArchLinux on a HP Pavilion dv1000 Laptop for almost 2 years now and it's all in all a great experience... but with the arrival of KMS into the picture, things are getting a bit messy.

Since yesterday (no idea why, I haven't run any package update or remember doing anything special since the last boot), screen gets black as soon as kernel switch to high resolution. It seems the boot process continues and the laptop is working normally since for instance, Wifi gets connected, I can login blindly and play some sounds, etc.  It's just black

I tried to move KMS to earlier in the boot process by adding "intel_agp i915" to the modules in modprobe.conf, and the only change is that the screen gets black earlier. I also tried to change the boot command with i915.modeset=0 and this allows me to get a command line in low resolution, but obviously, I cannot start X ("fatal error: no screens found").

Other than that, so far, I have only tried to do a whole system update, reinstall xfree86-intel drivers and that's about it.

Any idea on what's going on?

Thanks for your help!

Regards,

Guillaume

Last edited by microchip (2010-05-08 12:21:26)

microchip

Member

Registered: 2010-05-08

Posts: 3

Re: [SOLVED] Black screen during boot (KMS) with Intel 915GM

I have removed the battery and now switch to high res is working.

...

I got the idea of doing that after feeling the familiar tingling sensation of "hey! there is a shortcut somewhere!" and the fact that my battery life was now close to 5 mins... Is that just a coincidence? What do you think?

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: [SOLVED] Black screen during boot (KMS) with Intel 915GM

Is it solved?

> Any idea on what's going on?
Did you change your consolefonts?

microchip

Member

Registered: 2010-05-08

Posts: 3

Re: [SOLVED] Black screen during boot (KMS) with Intel 915GM

I have updated the title, considering that it's now 'fine' after a few reboots... but still, since when removing the battery is considering fixing ?

I didn't change the console fonts as far as I know.

Thanks!

FreakGuard

Member

Registered: 2008-04-27

Posts: 103

Re: [SOLVED] Black screen during boot (KMS) with Intel 915GM

Did I miss a "we're now using windows beneath" sign?

Doesn't really work here that way... But if I connect an external monitor, perfect. Just the LVDS1 (1024x600 or something like that) is black.

Last edited by FreakGuard (2010-06-21 21:15:42)

CPUnltd

Member

From: Milwaukee, WI

Registered: 2009-12-05

Posts: 483

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Black screen during boot (KMS) with Intel 915GM

Not bringing this post from the grave (intentionally) but the actual fix for this issue (as I just experienced it with a Dell Latitude D630 and Inspiron 6400) is to boot back into a livecd, mount /boot (or / if you didn't make boot a separate partition) and add [vga=773] to the end of your kernel line in menu.lst...

I'm sure this can be taken away later after other things are done, but that is an immediate, functional, and official fix...

---

Help grow the dev population... have your tech trained and certified!