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Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

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Coulomb
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Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#1 Post by Coulomb »

Hi, I really wanted to install Debian and I have run into a problem that I can't seem to fix. I still consider myself a Linux novice, so my troubleshooting skills are still quite limited.

Some quick hardware facts: 9700k, RTX 2080Ti, Asus z390 Prime

Here's the problem:

I downloaded debian-live-10.1.0-amd64-cinnamon . I was not able to manage to boot into the live session. No matter what I tried. I tried some boot parameters that helped with other distros:

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nouveau.modeset=0 nomodeset rdblacklist=nouveau modrobe.blacklist=nouveau xorg=safe xorg=all
.

I was preconfigured my disk and was able to install debian. the system boots but all I get is a blinking cursor. Pressing ALT+F1 brings up the command line screen where I can login. I ran sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade. I also ran

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sudo X -configure
I have a Mint-installation on the same machine that boots normally. I'm still trying to understand why some distros will just not boot no matter what I try.
Is there anything I could do?

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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#2 Post by Deb-fan »

Hey you did provide some info, so good deal on you. Try the unofficial hybrid iso with non-free included out-of-box and see what you get. Debian has always put a major emphasis on not shipping closed source (proprietary) software. Linux Mint aka: Ubuntu done better and it's base = Ubuntu go out of way to ship any/every proprietary thing they can. Thus are known for wide automagic hardware support. Also you need to determine what vid-card/graphics your hardware has and thus determine(google) to find the correct kernel module(s)=drivers/firmware your hardware needs to work properly.

Am not going to spend a bunch of time tracking down your system specs and step by stepping what you need to do to get Debian running on it. You will need to enable the contrib and non-free repositories in your Debian OS's sources.list file, then do the "sudo apt-get update" part and install what's missing, the software you need. Depending upon system specs, sometimes a newer kernel helps as well.

And now, for the actual reason I started typing this massive rambling post ! :) Learn ye da power of google search modifiers and USE THEM + RTFM. :D

Example: Say I want to search just this forum okay ? Well I could do something along these lines.

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site:http://forums.debian.net "z390 Prime"
Which turned up this.

Head_on definitely knows his tech and gnu/Nix(As does Stevep). Actually this took me several searches to even find the above thread. Sheesh anyway, hopefully helps you out. Debian is not world renown for being the easiest and newbist friendly distro. It's awesome for sure but folks need to be prepared to research, for learning, google butt-off and RTFM !!!!!! :D Knowing that one of the founding principle's behind it's awesomeness is open source/free software only out-of-box is definitely key. Good luck and sorry, I've had a crap-tonne of coffee tonight.
Oops 1 more edit, Debian stable is also certainly not renown for cutting edge hardware support. So if you've got the latest/greatest but not the experience and know-how to go with it ... yanno ? Use the right tool for the job, which would likely be Linux Mint or Ubuntu in this case. Arghhh, good luck again. :)
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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#3 Post by Dai_trying »

Forum guidelines point 5 wrote:Be polite. Remember that the skill level of the forum members ranges from the absolute beginner to the very seasoned Linux user and what might be obvious to you might be very hard to understand for others. It's OK to point someone to other resources or suggest means of learning but do so politely; 'RTFM' has no place on this board.

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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#4 Post by Deb-fan »

That absolutely was being polite. :) Also to me, RTFM or HLMGT4U = "here let me google that for you" are totally acceptable answers many a time. Sheesh if folks did read the guideline stickies (or exhaustive docs) and actually somewhat followed them people that have invested the time, effort and energy to earn their gnu/nix chops and build a tech skillset might not have to answer the same questions 10,000 times/month.

So apparently, anyone who wants to doesn't have to bother a whit for reading the forum stickies and guidelines, the manual or even show the slightest bit of common sense either. Though I'm supposed to be bound in iron by them ? Nope ... don't think so. By all means feel free to place me on your ignore list, kay ?
Note: This is not aimed at the OP (Coulomb), just sleep deprived, cranky etc.
PS, Lmao ... also have to point out that while you're pointing out forum rules and playing Mod, don't see a single thing on-topic or which could be the least bit helpful to the OP in solving their issue(s) in your post. Fairly sure there's a section in the rule book forbidding that too. :D
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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#5 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

Coulomb wrote:Some quick hardware facts: 9700k, RTX 2080Ti, Asus z390 Prime
9th generation Intel isn't going to work well with Debian buster. You need a newer kernel (and non-free firmware) at least, along with the rest of the graphics stack.
deadbang

Coulomb
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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#6 Post by Coulomb »

Ok, thanks so far. So I've found the unofficial debian server and downloaded 10.0.live+nonfree. I still only get a black screen.

From what I understand I need to add this non-free firmware, correct?

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unoff ... r/current/

Then my next step would be to add the non-free nvidia repository to the sources.list, correct?
https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-install- ... ster-linux

Then I need to upgrade the kernel, as suggested. I thought I just follow this guide to do that https://wiki.debian.org/HowToUpgradeKernel

So my to do list would be:

update to latest stable kernel 5.3.7
add non-free firmware to sources.list
install non-free nvidia-driver

Thanks so much, I know this might seem kind of too advanced for a user on my level, but I really would like to learn and this seems like very good practice.

Coulomb
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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#7 Post by Coulomb »

Hey! Thanks for your tips and hints. (BTW, I never took offense by being told to rtfm, but thanks also for pointing out to be polite!)

So, I am writing this post on

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Linux debian 4.19.0-6-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.67-2+deb10u1 (2019-09-20) x86_64 GNU/Linux
What seemed to have worked was this:
Booted up, and pressed ALT+F1 at blinking cursor screen.
Logged in as root.

1. Added these two lines to sources.list:

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deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-backports main
2. Ran this command:

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echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevenpusser:/new-hardware-support-buster/Debian_10/ /' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:stevenpusser:new-hardware-support-buster.list

rm -f Release.key && wget -nv https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:stevenpusser:new-hardware-support-buster/Debian_10/Release.key -O Release.key && apt-key add - < Release.key && rm -f Release.key

apt update
3. Ran

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apt-get update
which gave me this error message:
Hit:1 http://security.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates InRelease
Hit:2 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster InRelease
Hit:3 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-backports InRelease
Ign:4 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease
Hit:5 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates InRelease
Hit:6 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable Release
Ign:7 http://download.opensuse.org/repositori ... /Debian_10 InRelease
Err:8 http://download.opensuse.org/repositori ... /Debian_10 Release
404 Not Found [IP: 195.135.221.134 80]
Hit:10 http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'http://download.opensuse.org/repositori ... /Debian_10 Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.

N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
4. Ran these commands:

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# apt-get install -t jessie-backports linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's/[^-]*-[^-]*-//')
# apt-get install -t jessie-backports nvidia-driver 
which are steps #2 and #3 of this guide I found : https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsD ... 2Jessie.22
I just replaced jessie with buster.

___

Now I achieved what I wanted, I guess.
Not gonna lie, I'm a little proud of myself.

Now the two questions I have are:

1. What should I do about the error message?
Err:8 http://download.opensuse.org/repositori ... /Debian_10 Release
404 Not Found [IP: 195.135.221.134 80]
Hit:10 http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'http://download.opensuse.org/repositori ... /Debian_10 Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
?

and

2. according to uname -a , I'm not running Kernel 5.3.2, should I update to it or will it break stuff?

And thanks again.

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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#8 Post by Deb-fan »

You google the error messages dude !!! Was going to say RTFM but nah, looks like you did a real good job of it. Am too mentally burnt out atm to really have much constructive to say but generally speaking trying different kernels should be no harm, no foul, in particular if someone sticks with what's in the backports for stable.

Common sense advice says, always keep a back up kernel onhand. If you do run into a problem one, boot the old one. There's also many ways with gnu/Nix to CYB = cover your booty, incremental backup's, someone can test junk out in kvm-etc or it's super easy to clone a bare-metal or etc install and use that puppy as a testing ground. Personally really fond of rsync now. Anyway good job. :)
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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#9 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

Coulomb wrote:

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rm -f Release.key && wget -nv https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:stevenpusser:new-hardware-support-buster/Debian_10/Release.key -O Release.key && apt-key add - < Release.key && rm -f Release.key
^ Did this part go through without error? The output you have posted suggests not.
deadbang

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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#10 Post by Coulomb »

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
Coulomb wrote:

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rm -f Release.key && wget -nv https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:stevenpusser:new-hardware-support-buster/Debian_10/Release.key -O Release.key && apt-key add - < Release.key && rm -f Release.key
^ Did this part go through without error? The output you have posted suggests not.
I should add that I did this part before the nvidia-driver was installed. I.e. in console mode. Ever since I received the error but successfully installed the driver, I did not repeat this in a terminal. However, running

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sudo apt-get update
yields the error. There is also nothing about that repository in the sources.list. I don't want to run the command again before I have worked out how backups work in linux/(debian) so I can prevent this fresh install from breaking. As you point out yourself for new users, that's simple :)

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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#11 Post by stevepusser »

The first command adds the repo in a new file:

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:stevenpusser:new-hardware-support-buster.list

not in the sources.list file itself.

The second command to add the key for the repo should just say "OK" if successful. Did you run those as root and not with sudo? The "OK" is also easy to miss:

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root@msi-gp63:~# rm -f Release.key && wget -nv https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:stevenpusser:new-hardware-support-buster/Debian_10/Release.key -O Release.key && apt-key add - < Release.key && rm -f Release.key
2019-10-28 16:37:53 URL:https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevenpusser:/new-hardware-support-buster/Debian_10/Release.key [1109/1109] -> "Release.key" [1]
OK
I can't reproduce the error after running the two commands and updating

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...
Get:13 http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates/main Translation-en [65.0 kB]
Get:15 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevenpusser:/new-hardware-support-buster/Debian_10  InRelease [1,636 B]
Get:16 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevenpusser:/new-hardware-support-buster/Debian_10  Packages [104 kB]
Fetched 474 kB in 1s (363 kB/s)    
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
56 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
If you want to get rid of my repo, you can either disable it in a GUI tool like Synaptic, or just get rid of the file and update apt again:

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root@msi-gp63:~# rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:stevenpusser:new-hardware-support-buster.list
By the way, I updated the kernel in that repo to 5.3.7 from Sid. :D

You can also now get 5.3 Liquorix kernels from their Buster repo, based on 5.3.7 and 5.3.8 release candidate. I don't know if the Nvidia driver in backports builds on 5.3 kernels, but the 435.21 driver in my repo will.
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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#12 Post by Deb-fan »

This is still the method I've mostly settled on for backing up (or moving) gnu/Nix Os's. BLizgreat! is me over on that forum. Are enhancements and refinements someone can also use, such as compressing/tarring the backups or whatever else and of course is just one method, plenty of others. Tend to do it while the OS is running and haven't had issues but if someone is overly anal, could always do so from a live session or using another OS on the system(s.)

Mount source and destination-target and let rsync do it's thing. Rsync is friggin cool.
Last edited by Deb-fan on 2019-11-01 03:17, edited 1 time in total.
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Coulomb
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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#13 Post by Coulomb »

I have now successfully installed nvidia-driver version 435.21.

I did a bit of research about how kernel upgrades work. If I remember correctly, Linux Mint has a kernel upgrader, which is a app that lets the user upgrade the kernel in a gui.

I hopped on windows and installed MX Linux on a virtual machine to try kernel upgading by compiling the kernel. I did read a bit about it on kernel.org and then followed this guide: https://www.cyberciti.biz/linux-news/li ... nstall-it/ - on the virtual machine, it woked.

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uname -a
shows 5.3. But when it comes to this step: make menuconfig I can't be expected (as a beginner, but maybe not even as an advanced user) to know what settings/configurations I should select/deselect. On the virtual machine, I just left everything as-is and proceeded with the next step.

So the actual question is this: Does one upgrade the kernel only by this method, i.e. compiling it ?
stevepusser wrote:
By the way, I updated the kernel in that repo to 5.3.7 from Sid. :D

You can also now get 5.3 Liquorix kernels from their Buster repo, based on 5.3.7 and 5.3.8 release candidate. I don't know if the Nvidia driver in backports builds on 5.3 kernels, but the 435.21 driver in my repo will.
I tried to google what you meant by 5.3.7 from Sid and 5.3 Liquorix, but I couldn't make sense of it. I found this: https://packages.debian.org/de/sid/ -- and this https://liquorix.net/

So are Sid and Liquirix repos that I would add, like

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deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevenpusser:/new-hardware-support-buster/Debian_10/ /
your repo?

I don't feel comfortable enough to compile my own kernel on the actual machine, not until I've fully read up on how to do backups and emergency-grub-stuff

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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#14 Post by Deb-fan »

Man the saying trying to run before you can crawl comes to mind reading that above post. Sheesh dude, where to start. Am not really up on Nvidia as I haven't had the pleasure as yet. Doubt it'll be much of a problem but still. Your researcher seems to be broken and ya may want to put that baby in the shop. :D

Absolutely not ... compiling is by no means the way the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of nixers, even very competent ones upgrade their kernel. Many folks who've been using gnu/Nix forever likely never compile a kernel. That's what all the binary goodness in the Debian repositories is for, already compiled for you. You install them with whichever package management tools tickle your fancy, everything from apt, to dpkg to Synaptic for gui'ey fans.

Learning what the hades is going on in a kernel .config file, which config options matter in "make menuconfig" is by no means an easy or 10min task. Been compiling kernels for years and yep, as a result of a TON of study, can now do a fairly decent job of compiling my own but it was more for the sake of learning about it and being able to fiddle with key config's or those not readily available otherwise that prompted me to invest the massive amount of time involved.

Performance-wise the stock kernel is going to do as well as a custom one(mostly and depending upon use case). Thus the main reason nobody usually bothers with learning to compile one. The liquorix kernel is a friggin supposedly "high performance" kernel meant for desktop gnu/Linux users, which the guy who maintains it puts out for people who want to use it. Not going into that further, take it up with google.

Sid = Debian's unstable software branch (repositories), if you don't know that or what it means ... you should probably stay away from using packages out of it. Arghhhh, sorry coffeenated and irritable at the moment but sheesh dude, there's no substitute for learning, experimenting, research and experience. You seem to be wanting to fly before you can crawl and it just doesn't work that way.

Might reread some of what I'd already posted in this thread and reconsider using Linux Mint or Ubuntu, while you learn and pay your dues. Debian (ESP stable) is not meant for latest hardware, not even remotely though it can be done by someone with the know how. If your system is working well enough as you have it though, great. If it's running Debian stable quirky and crapily in whatever state you've put it in, then LM/buntu perhaps ? :D
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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#15 Post by Coulomb »

Deb-fan wrote: Learning what the hades is going on in a kernel .config file, which config options matter in "make menuconfig" is by no means an easy or 10min task.
Well, thanks and this is exactly what I wrote in my post and you kindly confirmed what I already suspected. Look, I've learned a little about programming in grad school but never dove deeper into it. I've been using my machine for gaming and the Adobe Creative Suite (After Effects, so lots of ram and horsepower needed). For these reasons I've used Windows all my life. And I obviously don't know you, so I cannot assume you know Windows, but you seem smart so I guess you have knowledge. But in any case, if a Windows user encounters a problem, the first thing people always, unequivocally advice is to update your drivers, update to the latest version. It's kind of set in my mind that the first thing I do is update everything to the latest version. Since I began my linux journey, I have come to understand that updating to the latest version is not necessarily desirable. https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian ... f_Syndrome .

And I have tried many distros, it just so happens that I liked MX Linux the most. Since I wasn't able to install it on my machine, I tried Debian. And you helped me to set it up so at least it runs now. I even installed Latex on it and it works like a charm.
Deb-fan wrote: You seem to be wanting to fly before you can crawl and it just doesn't work that way.
I am actually following steps in a educational book about linux (yes, it is one for dummies :) ), so I'm at the chapter where the user has chosen their distro of choice and has installed it. And as I explained, I suffer(ed) from shiny new stuff syndrome :o The fact that upgrading a kernel requires such advanced knowledge has been a good lesson for me.

I kind of feel like this thread is going off topic now, the issue about the black screen has been resolved. Yay. I will now proceed with the next chapter. And thanks

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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#16 Post by Deb-fan »

^ No worries, I came off as overly harsh, at least harsher than was truly intended. Think many of those questions could've been self answered with a minimum of time spent on a search engine. Of course am also sleep deprived and have a few of my own tech aggravations on-going. Decided to upgrade to Buster and it's a bit involved to get it set up as I prefer the thing to be.

Wasn't of much help to you, that's Hoas and Stevep, definitely 2 very knowledgeable and experienced nixers. Have seen them many places (at other forums) throughout the years. They really seem to be good guys. Just to be anal ....

It doesn't take "advanced knowledge" to upgrade a kernel, add buster-backports to your OS's sources.list file, "apt update", "apt search linux-image*" and tons of them will pop up, install the one you want + any depends for it will automatically be installed along with it too and possibly it's headers for it if you wish (such as for dkms type junk) ie: "apt install -t buster-backports linux-image-5.2.0-0.bpo.3-amd64" using the 5.2 etc 64bit kernel kept in backports as an example. For that matter it doesn't take any real know how to compile a kernel. Oops: Edit ... you need to install the packages needed to compile stuff as step one, next. Snag one of the installed kernels .config files from /boot on your OS, in the top level build directory of whatever kernels source someone wants to build, pop open a terminal .. run "make clean && make mrproper", rename the file you got from boot to be .config, put it in the build directory and then go through one of any number of how-to's which show how to compile.

Could very well end up with a kernel that works just fine, with all the same config options as the one that was in the .config file for the stock kernel. It definitely does take some advanced kernel knowledge to know what the hell all of those in the maze of config options mean, which are significant or key one's etc blahblah. Again ... though have been doing it for years, have yet to manage a finished custom kernel that's much (if any) better in terms of performance over one I could install in 2mins from the repos.

Also again ... sorry for the harshness of my former post. Frustrated and taking it out on you somewhat, though personally have little patience for those who ask questions they could answer themselves with very little effort. Good luck in your gnu/Nix journey fellow nixer. It's definitely worth doing imo. :)
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Re: Debian 10 Buster _ Black screen help

#17 Post by Deb-fan »

Gotta do it ... more sorries folks. :D

Geez I wonder what the weathers like today ? OPEN THE DAMN FRONT DOOR YOU MORON !!! Or google weather +my-zipcode !!! Lol :P
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