bug#65572: Black screen in installer

[Iku-Tulo Vilutar]

Actually, just `nomodeset` seems to work. Sometimes booting to GUI can take
up to 10 minutes, so it might be I gave up just trying `nomodeset`
previously and added `video=uvesafb` and re-tried.

On Thu, 31 Aug 2023 at 23:56, pelzflorian (Florian Pelz) <
pelzflor...@pelzflorian.de> wrote:

> Hi Iku-Tulo, one more thing, could you confirm that `nomodeset` alone
> without video=uvesafb really is not enough?
>
> Regards,
> Florian
>

bug#65572: Black screen in installer

[pelzflorian (Florian Pelz)]

Hi Iku-Tulo, one more thing, could you confirm that `nomodeset` alone
without video=uvesafb really is not enough?

Regards,
Florian

bug#65572: Black screen in installer

[Iku-Tulo Vilutar]

Looks good to me. Thank you.

On Thu, 31 Aug 2023 at 13:52, pelzflorian (Florian Pelz) <
pelzflor...@pelzflorian.de> wrote:

> Hello Iku-Tulo, thank you for the report.
>
> Vilutar  writes:
> > intelfb: Version 0.9.6
> > intelfb: Cannot reserve FB region
>
> An unlikely guess: I have had problems with a black screen when using a
> television as a screen.  However this does not sound like it.
>
> > Then I tried `nomodeset video=uvesafb` Linux parameters and the GUI
> > now rendered. I don't know if these work as a global workaround for
> > other machines,
>
> No, there have been reports that uvesafb does not work on every machine.
>
> > should they be documented in the installation
> > instructions?
>
> Yes, if we can give proper instructions.  Perhaps the attached patch?
>
> Regards,
> Florian
>
>

bug#65572: Black screen in installer

[pelzflorian (Florian Pelz)]

Hello Iku-Tulo, thank you for the report.

Vilutar  writes:
> intelfb: Version 0.9.6
> intelfb: Cannot reserve FB region

An unlikely guess: I have had problems with a black screen when using a
television as a screen.  However this does not sound like it.

> Then I tried `nomodeset video=uvesafb` Linux parameters and the GUI
> now rendered. I don't know if these work as a global workaround for
> other machines,

No, there have been reports that uvesafb does not work on every machine.

> should they be documented in the installation
> instructions?

Yes, if we can give proper instructions.  Perhaps the attached patch?

Regards,
Florian

From: Florian Pelz 
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2023 12:44:55 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] doc: Describe black screen issue when booting the installer.

With suggestions by Iku-Tulo Vilutar .
Fixes .

* doc/guix.texi (System Installation): Add suggestion when
booting the installer fails with a black screen.
---
 doc/guix.texi | 10 ++
 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+)

diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 04e5875925..5aeed7851d 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -2402,6 +2402,16 @@ BIOS or UEFI boot menu, where you can choose to boot from the USB stick.
 In order to boot from Libreboot, switch to the command mode by pressing
 the @kbd{c} key and type @command{search_grub usb}.
 
+Sadly, on some machines, the installation medium cannot be properly
+booted and you only see a black screen after booting.  This may
+indicate that your machine cannot run Guix System; perhaps you instead
+want to install Guix on a foreign distro (@pxref{Binary
+Installation}).  If you are adventurous, a possible workaround is
+pressing the @kbd{e} key in the GRUB boot menu and appending
+@option{nomodeset video=uvesafb} to the Linux bootline.  Sometimes the
+black screen issue can also be resolved by connecting a different
+display.
+
 @xref{Installing Guix in a VM}, if, instead, you would like to install
 Guix System in a virtual machine (VM).
 

base-commit: 299d0463d54c97b237deb2fe9e464108544344c0
-- 
2.41.0

bug#65572: Black screen in installer

[Iku-Tulo Vilutar]

Hello,

I'm trying to install Guix system on an i386 laptop. When the installer
should reach the GUI, only a black screen is displayed.

I tried to boot by editing Linux boot parameters in GRUB and set
`nomodeset` and removed `quiet`. Now without `quiet` I saw the following
messages before the black screen:

```
intelfb: Version 0.9.6
intelfb: Cannot reserve FB region
```

Then I tried `nomodeset video=uvesafb` Linux parameters and the GUI now
rendered. I don't know if these work as a global workaround for other
machines, should they be documented in the installation instructions?