Black screen on linux bootup

Deuteronomy · 23 Aug 2015 at 18:54

Is there some knack to getting a UEFI/NVIDIA setup working with Linux.

I've been using Linux for years but on my latest desktop build, any distro i boot just ends in a blank screen. I've tried ubuntu/mint/centos/fedora.

Is it something to do with the GTX970? I never had this issue with a Radeon 280x.

The VGA of the i5 4690 is disabled (tried with it on) and the H97 chipset mobo I have tried in UEFI and legacy mode, I can get ubuntu to boot in software rendering mode but that is no good. Secureboot always disabled.

All boots end in a black screen, i can still ctrl-alt-del so something is running but I cannot get any terminal screen to appear. I tried MBR and GPT partitioning of pendrives and usb2/3 versions but all the same.

Am I going to have to pull the GTX970 and isntall via the intel graphics?

Earth[Tera].bin · 23 Aug 2015 at 19:21

Quick Google shows it's a known issue. Luckily there seems to be a work around but will probably vary depending on your distro.

On Holiday · 23 Aug 2015 at 19:23

Press CTRL ALT F1 to F6, see if any of those wake it up.

Otherwise you'll need to change boot parameters in grub, as above really, depends on the distro.

Deuteronomy · 23 Aug 2015 at 22:07

ok progress, editing the boot parameters in grub and adding

nomodeset xforcevesa

results in an X server error on boot.

However just nomodeset results in a successful boot and at 1080p (mint 17.2) it says running in software mode, so the next step will be to install the nvidia drivers or use the driver manager in mint. Time to clonezilla the win10 install first before I blow it away

matja · 24 Aug 2015 at 15:02

Its probably using the nouveau kernel module which is a bit hit-and-miss especially with newer Nvidia cards and high-res screens. I have little experience with Ubuntu/Mint, but using the nvidia kernel module instead of nouveau fixed my problems on Centos 7, Arch, and Gentoo.

The fact it is UEFI-booted shouldn't make a difference.

Try booting with "nomodeset" like you did, and also "nouveau.modeset=0"

Prevent the nouveau driver from loading :
echo "blacklist nouveau" > /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf

Reboot, to make sure no nouveau is loaded, and reset the display adapter.

Install official nvidia driver.

That usually works for me

If there's problems after that, it could be the monitor reporting incorrect EDID information.

Deuteronomy · 27 Aug 2015 at 17:59

Hi I booted with jsut the nomodeset fine, then used mints driver manager to install the nvidia drivers, then last night installed the latest nvidia drivers from a PPA, all good, been playing the swapper from my steam library which is good.