Blank screen during installation of version 2.1

  • philippe.macaire
Posted: Fri, 12/19/2008 - 08:05
Hi, I'm not yet out of my video card problems (remember http://www.64studio.com/node/827 ?) so I'm trying to do a fresh 2.1 installation. The CD is in the tray, the Debian installation prompt appears, I press Return, some log messages, then a blank (black) screen... I can guess that the last log message is saying something like "unable to ..." but it is almost subliminal... ;-) What can I do to block the process and check the error message? The system is not writing anything to disk, so my guess is that everything is only in memory. Thanks for the help and time. Best regards, Philippe
‹ 64 Studio 3.0 Beta 3 and NdisWrapper problem 3.0beta3 installation starts automatically ›

Thanks again

  • Quentin Harley
  • 05/24/07
  • Thu, 08/06/2009 - 16:14
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Thanks again, Cheers, Q

kbuild (again)

  • Quentin Harley
  • 05/24/07
  • Fri, 03/27/2009 - 09:09
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Yes, kbuild is a dependency for the kernel header package. If you want headers now, you will have to compile the kernel yourself, which is a bit of a process, but doable. The kbuild package is almost available though, so I would wait just a tiny bit longer...

kbuild?

  • philippe.macaire
  • 05/12/08
  • Fri, 03/27/2009 - 07:41
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Does the last post of Daniel James on the list (about the kbuild packages for 2.6.29) relate to this question? Does it mean that these kernel headers can be made available? (I apologize if what I'm asking sounds weird: I really don't know what it means since I'm not acquainted with kernel development) Thanks, Phil

headers

  • Quentin Harley
  • 05/24/07
  • Fri, 03/06/2009 - 13:43
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We would probably have to wait until 2.6.29 is released for this to happen (we are running a release candidate kernel) In the mean time, it is possible to install the kernel source, and access the headers of the source. I am going to try it tonight, and let you know of my success, and steps.

Tried to install beta3: no success

  • philippe.macaire
  • 05/12/08
  • Fri, 03/06/2009 - 11:58
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Just to report that I tried to install with beta3, but (quite expectedly, since I've seen no mention of kernel headers in the release post) it didn't work. By the way, I managed to catch that the very last "subliminal" message before the blank screen says: "Trying to enable the frame buffer..." Should this ring a bell to anyone... Phil

Finally managed to install 3.0beta3!

  • philippe.macaire
  • 05/12/08
  • Thu, 08/06/2009 - 13:08
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As reported in [this post](http://www.64studio.com/node/1155) I managed to block the boot process and get a prompt. Then I typed install vga=791 and the installation procedure proceeded with a different (and working) resolution, so I have now a working 3.0beta3 partition! Hope this can be of help to anyone in the same situation. Cheers, Philippe

Is there an ETA for the kernel headers?

  • contractcooker
  • 02/23/09
  • Sat, 02/28/2009 - 16:45
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Hey all, Is there any way to know when kernel headers will become available. I have a feeling a lot of people using the beta will be having substantial driver issues until these headers are released. Is there any way to know when these are released? Or can anyone tell us from personal experience how long (after a kernel comes out) it takes for the kernel headers to appear.

Workaround

  • Quentin Harley
  • 05/24/07
  • Fri, 02/27/2009 - 11:19
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The problem at the moment is that the installers cannot install the driver if the kernel headers are not available. This is a release blocker for us at the moment, and will be sorted before the release. If we have some kind of solution, we will ask you to give it a shot, if you don't mind ;-) Quentin

Willing to help

  • philippe.macaire
  • 05/12/08
  • Fri, 02/27/2009 - 17:16
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I'll be happy to help if I can. Please let me know when these kernel headers are available (e.g. in the release mail). Staying tuned...

Installer problem

  • Quentin Harley
  • 05/24/07
  • Fri, 02/27/2009 - 09:28
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I saw your mail regarding 3.0beta2 still not giving you the required results. Quick question: If you install Ubuntu Hardy, do you have a working system afterwards? The main problem with 3.0beta2 at the moment is the unavailability of the kernel headers, which should be sorted out soon. It should then be possible to compile some 3rd party drivers for the hardware. Cheers, Quentin

Ubuntu Hardy OK

  • philippe.macaire
  • 05/12/08
  • Fri, 02/27/2009 - 11:05
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Yes Quentin, Ubuntu Hardy (8.04.1) did install correctly, with Compiz working, etc. (just as an evidence that the installation was full-blown "video-wise"). If it may be a video driver problem, is there a way to launch the installer in come kind of "character-based" console? Thanks.

blank screen...

  • Quentin Harley
  • 05/24/07
  • Fri, 12/19/2008 - 15:56
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I would reccomend you try the vesa driver until you find an updated fdriver for your device (intel if I am not mistaken?) Check out the troubleshooting section of the 64 Studio manual.

this is an installer problem

  • philippe.macaire
  • 05/12/08
  • Fri, 12/19/2008 - 22:45
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The VESA driver is what eventually allowed me to use my 64studio distro (to an unsatisfying resolution though, but it's better than nothing). The point of this thread is to check if there are some tricks to troubleshoot the installer itself: after less than 10 seconds after booting the installer I get a blank screen, which is a bit frustrating... I tried Ctrl-Alt-F2, 3, 4 etc. as suggested in the troubleshooting page, but either I'm in a too early stage, or the default video driver is really unable to show anything. It may be that I ought to wait for the next 64studio major release and put up with my current installation for now (which still works great, audio-wise). Thanks for your time.