Incompatible with Intel integrated graphics

[alison60s]

Hello. I thought I'd give Linux a try so I put 'live' Debian on a stick (rather than a full install since I just wanted to try it). A boot-like screen appeared then disappeared without any kind of error message leaving me to 'reset' back into Windows. My googling of the problem gave lots of results about Tails and how people trying to use it couldn't due to graphics card problems.

Out of curiosity, I put Tails on a stick and it wouldn't boot but I did get a message saying: "Error starting GDM with your graphic card. Intel Corp [8086...] device". I don't have a dedicated graphics card so it must be that Debian/Tails aren't on speaking terms with my CPU's integrated graphics card. I'm not at all expert in matters like this so my questions are simplistic:

Why are they incompatible - Intel, Tails, Linux are all in the business of computers so why make something that not everyone can use...
My CPU has only just been purchased (Intel Core i5 10400 10th gen - will it eventually work i.e. with future versions of Debian/Tails?

Thank you for any insight you can give.

[/tmp]

Firstly, thanks for joining the forums!

Secondly, processors contain what is called microcode (sort of a hybrid between software and hardware). This is used for certain functionality and may not be available in the "free as in 'freedom'" repositories on Debian GNU/Linux.

Thirdly, your processor should work out of the box in future versions of Debian/Tails. It just takes time and the hard work of engineers working on such issues to figure out how to make all of these parts work together (preferably without non-free as in freedom software).

If you're on a desktop you may be in luck; you can obtain a physical discrete graphics card which should work around the issue until the microcode for the processor is available. I will need to check my supplies to see if I have any older graphics cards but if I do I will let you know!

[alison60s]

Thank you for the reply /tmp. Tails has just gone from 4.25 to 4.26 so I tried it but with no luck. Is there any kind of timescale for when integrated graphics cards are 'cracked' (if that's the correct word in this case)?

If I were to get an actual graphics card, it would be a cheap one as I'm not a 'gamer'. Even then, it seems (from threads I've seen on reddit etc) that some discrete cards also have issues with Debian. I'm not sure what to make of your final sentence - are you a retailer?

[mm3100]

Sadly I doubt microcode will be open sourced any time soon. Your processor was released in May of 2020, so it should be supported by current Debian stable kernel. Quite possibly in order to run you are required to have non-free intel microcode.
https://packages.debian.org/bullseye/intel-microcode

Maybe there is a solution for it without microcode, but I don't know of.

[FreewheelinFrank]

Out of curiosity, I put Tails on a stick and it wouldn't boot but I did get a message saying: "Error starting GDM with your graphic card. Intel Corp [8086...] device". I don't have a dedicated graphics card so it must be that Debian/Tails aren't on speaking terms with my CPU's integrated graphics card. I'm not at all expert in matters like this so my questions are simplistic:

The full message is:

Error starting GDM with your graphics card: name of your graphics card [id] (rev number). Please take note of this error and visit https://tails.boum.org/gdm for troubleshooting.

So why didn't you go there and check the troubleshooting? The error message would also give you a full ID and rev number, and the web site gives workarounds for some cards.

https://tails.boum.org/support/known_is ... ex.en.html

For Debian the full card ID and rev number would help too.

Various hardware set ups have quirks and don't work straight off on Linux. At a minimum, finding the answer involves following any links you are given.

[alison60s]

Hello FreewheelinFrank. With Tails, there was initially no error message but I did get myself to their troubleshooting page. It was only after adding 'nomodeset' to the boot instruction that I got the 'Error starting GDM' message which,in full was 'Error starting GDM with your graphics card. Intel Corp [8086:9bc8] device. Visit etc etc' (no rev number).

Hello mm3100 and thank you for that. All a bit above my paygrade, unfortunately. If I download that microcode, what do I do with it? And is it in any way dangerous e.g. is there a risk of damaging the CPU?

[canci]

processors contain what is called microcode (sort of a hybrid between software and hardware). This is used for certain functionality and may not be available in the "free as in 'freedom'" repositories on Debian GNU/Linux.

What are you talking about? It's literally available as a package in the non-free section of the Debian repos.

Code: Select all

Package: intel-microcode
Version: 3.20210608.2
[...]
Description: Processor microcode firmware for Intel CPUs
 This package contains updated system processor microcode for
 Intel i686 and Intel X86-64 processors.  Intel releases microcode
 updates to correct processor behavior as documented in the
 respective processor specification updates.

[FreewheelinFrank]

Hello FreewheelinFrank. With Tails, there was initially no error message but I did get myself to their troubleshooting page. It was only after adding 'nomodeset' to the boot instruction that I got the 'Error starting GDM' message which,in full was 'Error starting GDM with your graphics card. Intel Corp [8086:9bc8] device. Visit etc etc' (no rev number).

Hello mm3100 and thank you for that. All a bit above my paygrade, unfortunately. If I download that microcode, what do I do with it? And is it in any way dangerous e.g. is there a risk of damaging the CPU?

That is more useful, thanks.

I don't think it is the GPU that is causing the problem, as it works OK with Debian 10. See here:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=151127

The issue is more likely to be a motherboard quirk, as here:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-1 ... art-0.html

You could try booting with nomodeset in Debian. If this gets you a command line, you can install missing firmware and if that doesn't help, read the logs which should give you a clearer indication of the problem.

[mm3100]

Hello mm3100 and thank you for that. All a bit above my paygrade, unfortunately. If I download that microcode, what do I do with it? And is it in any way dangerous e.g. is there a risk of damaging the CPU?

Intel-microcode is in Debian non-free repository, you would need to enable non-free in your apt sources, then you could just install it with apt normally. Microcode are aggregated processor instruction sets that can improve functionality or add additional ones that might not work correctly on its own. It is made by intel it self for its processors so I trust it should be safe for use. Microcode is normally used on windows, as it is kind of required in some cases for normal functionality. With such wide use it can be considered safe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcode

[/tmp]

processors contain what is called microcode (sort of a hybrid between software and hardware). This is used for certain functionality and may not be available in the "free as in 'freedom'" repositories on Debian GNU/Linux.

What are you talking about? It's literally available as a package in the non-free section of the Debian repos.

Code: Select all

Package: intel-microcode
Version: 3.20210608.2
[...]
Description: Processor microcode firmware for Intel CPUs
 This package contains updated system processor microcode for
 Intel i686 and Intel X86-64 processors.  Intel releases microcode
 updates to correct processor behavior as documented in the
 respective processor specification updates.

That was a mistake on my part. I meant to say it's not in the free repository.