[NatemZ]

Total Linux noob here. Was gonna install it just to mess around. Not good with all the terminal crap so please bear with me.

I have tried both Ubuntu and now Mint and both give me black screens after the initial installation in through windows. After it says reboot to complete. Reboots into linux and screen goes black and never comes back up.

I have googled this problem but most of the answers are above my head. So I was wondering if RW could help a brotha out. In layman's terms.

 

[jellybellys]

Try to not use the installer in windows, but instead boot to the cd/usb drive and install through there. Both ubuntu and mint will give you an option to automatically dual-boot linux and windows.

 

[NatemZ]

Tried that. Always goes to a black screen. Even booted the OS off the CD. I hear the bootup sound but just a black screen. Seems like my video driver is failing to load.

 

[jellybellys]

Are you on an ATI video card?

 

[NatemZ]

AMD Radeon HD 6520G

 

[mbh87]

Maybe requires a driver? Google led me to this http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/linux/Pages/radeon_linux.aspx?type=2.4.1&product=2.4.1.3.42&lang=English

 

[NatemZ]

Maybe requires a driver? Google led me to this http://support.amd.c...42&lang=English

Yeah but how do i get in on there if I cant get it booted where I can see?

 

[Tahl]

You could boot into single user mode and install the ATI drivers from the Linux terminal..
http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/grub-boot-into-single-user-mode/ will tell you how to boot into it..

then from the terminal type the following commands:

<br />
wget [URL=http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64]http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64[/URL].run<br />
chmod +x amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64.run<br />
./amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64.run<br />

 

[NatemZ]

You could boot into single user mode and install the ATI drivers from the Linux terminal..
http://www.cyberciti...ngle-user-mode/ will tell you how to boot into it..

then from the terminal type the following commands:

<br />
wget [URL=http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64]http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64[/URL].run<br />
chmod +x amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64.run<br />
./amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64.run<br />

Awesome. Gonna give this a shot tomorrow.

 

[NatemZ]

OK I'm sure I'm just an idiot but I'm not understanding how to get into single user mode. It goes to a black screen right after rebooting

 

[jellybellys]

Can you even get into grub or is that black too?

 

[NatemZ]

Can you even get into grub or is that black too?

I guess not. I've never seen anything like that. Goes black pretty much immediately

 

[chessmaster W/nook]

I guess not. I've never seen anything like that. Goes black pretty much immediately

So you can get into Windows? Is there a boot chooser (GRUB?)?

 

[NatemZ]

So you can get into Windows? Is there a boot chooser (GRUB?)?

Oh yeah, I see the boot screen. I can choose windows or Linux. But as soon as I choose linux my screen is black.

 

[jellybellys]

Is there a recovery option for linux? Or are you not using GRUB?

 

[SkullOne]

I've been dealing with this with my own AMD A6 3400M based laptop over the last 3 days so I know how to fix it by heart now. This is an issue with the default Radeon drivers in Xorg.

Assuming GRUB is your bootloader:

Hold SHIFT as you turn the computer on. You should get a listing of the Linux kernels to boot from. Choose the one that is (Recovery Mode).
You will get a menu that has a number of options. Select REMOUNT. It will throw some text on the screen then tell you to hit return to continue. So hit Enter.
Then you get another list of options. Choose ROOT.
You will now be at a command prompt. Type this command:

apt-get remove xserver-xorg-video-radeon

You will get a message that says you are about to remove 3 items and if you are sure you want to do that. Click Y for Yes. When that is finished reboot the machine by the command reboot now or reboot -n. Again HOLD SHIFT while it is rebooting as you need the GRUB screen again.

This time select the Linux Kernel that is NOT (Recovery Mode) and click 'e'. This is so that you can edit the execution commands.

Most likely there should be a line (generally second line from the bottom) that has something in it that says "quiet splash" or something along those lines. Remove that "quiet splash" text and enter this text in its place: nomodereset

Now hit control-X. That reboots the system using those new commands.

You will now boot up normally. Connect to the Internet and visit AMD's website. Use their "Find a driver" option on the right side of the screen just below the top. Put in the Radeon information and download the driver for Linux.

Open a terminal session after the download is complete. navigate to the folder where you downloaded the driver. Type chmod a+x <file name> in order to make it executable.

Now type: sudo ./<file name>

Enter your password and let the drivers install. Once installation is complete go ahead and reboot. From now on you will be able to reboot into Linux without any issues.

Good luck!

 

[NatemZ]

I've been dealing with this with my own AMD A6 3400M based laptop over the last 3 days so I know how to fix it by heart now. This is an issue with the default Radeon drivers in Xorg.

Assuming GRUB is your bootloader:

Hold SHIFT as you turn the computer on. You should get a listing of the Linux kernels to boot from. Choose the one that is (Recovery Mode).
You will get a menu that has a number of options. Select REMOUNT. It will throw some text on the screen then tell you to hit return to continue. So hit Enter.
Then you get another list of options. Choose ROOT.
You will now be at a command prompt. Type this command:

apt-get remove xserver-xorg-video-radeon

You will get a message that says you are about to remove 3 items and if you are sure you want to do that. Click Y for Yes. When that is finished reboot the machine by the command reboot now or reboot -n. Again HOLD SHIFT while it is rebooting as you need the GRUB screen again.

This time select the Linux Kernel that is NOT (Recovery Mode) and click 'e'. This is so that you can edit the execution commands.

Most likely there should be a line (generally second line from the bottom) that has something in it that says "quiet splash" or something along those lines. Remove that "quiet splash" text and enter this text in its place: nomodereset

Now hit control-X. That reboots the system using those new commands.

You will now boot up normally. Connect to the Internet and visit AMD's website. Use their "Find a driver" option on the right side of the screen just below the top. Put in the Radeon information and download the driver for Linux.

Open a terminal session after the download is complete. navigate to the folder where you downloaded the driver. Type chmod a+x <file name> in order to make it executable.

Now type: sudo ./<file name>

Enter your password and let the drivers install. Once installation is complete go ahead and reboot. From now on you will be able to reboot into Linux without any issues.

Good luck!

After holding SHIFT I get:

Normal Mode
Safe Graphic mode
ACPI workarounds
Verbose mode
Demo mode

All of them still boot to black screen

 

[SkullOne]

After holding SHIFT I get:

Normal Mode
Safe Graphic mode
ACPI workarounds
Verbose mode
Demo mode

All of them still boot to black screen

Interesting. Judging by that I'm guessing the bootloader isn't GRUB.

While you hold SHIFT do you see any text at all like "GRUB loading..." or anything like that?

 

[Tahl]

When you boot up, do you see a screen that looks like this?

If so, scroll down to your Ubuntu option and hit 'e' and find the option that starts with kernel and hit 'e' again. At the very end make sure it says "ro nomodeset" and then hit enter and press "b" to boot. If that works you need to manually add it to the boot option in terminal with:

$ sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

If that doesn't solve the problem then edit the kernel line to say "ro single" and hit "b" to boot again and then try installing the ati drivers (also run sudo aticonfig --initial) and then add "ro nomodeset"

 

[NatemZ]

no ive never seen that. I think I'm just F&^%$ed. Damn HP laptop