Can't Login On Any TTY Fresh Install Debian 12 - Intel Compute Stick

[u_fantasticfish_u]

I have been using Debian on an Intel Compute Stick (model STK1A32SC) to host a website. It always has this problem: when I plug it into a display I can't login to the system through any TTY. In the past I installed a gui and then could log in. SSH always worked with no issues. I don't want to install the gui again, I want to login through the TTY.

I erased the drive a week ago and installed Debian 12 with the netinstall ISO that I burned to a usb stick. The ISO checksum is correct.

This is what happens when I boot the computer: Debian boots up and it shows the user login prompt on TTY 1. I try to type in my username and when I touch the keyboard the prompt disappears and there is just a blinking dash in the top left corner of the screen. If I take my hands off the keyboard and wait, then the prompt shows again. When I touch the keyboard, it disappears again. This happens on every TTY. Even if I blindly type in my login credentials and password it doesn't work.

Using chroot I have tried adding "nomodeset" to /etc/default/grub and running update-grub. I also tried changing the default grub resolution in that file, and setting grub to boot to console mode.
I also tried using different monitors and keyboards. The compute stick is connected to the monitors through HDMI.
None of this has fixed the problem. Are there more troubleshooting steps I am missing? Thanks.

[ruwolf]

There is no record of this disappearing in the systemd journal, no errors?

[Aki]

Hello,
What happens when you boot into recovery mode (see attached video) ?

[u_fantasticfish_u]

I checked the log with journalctl and I found this:

Code: Select all

Feb 27 15:52:01 ccmwebserver agetty[585]: tty1: invalid character 0x1b in login name
Feb 27 15:52:11 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: getty@tty1.service: Deactivated successfully.
Feb 27 15:52:12 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: getty@tty1.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1.
Feb 27 15:52:12 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: Stopped getty@tty1.service - Getty on tty1.
Feb 27 15:52:12 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: Started getty@tty1.service - Getty on tty1.
Feb 27 16:04:36 ccmwebserver agetty[652]: tty1: invalid character 0x1b in login name
Feb 27 16:04:46 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: getty@tty1.service: Deactivated successfully.
Feb 27 16:04:47 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: getty@tty1.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 2.
Feb 27 16:04:47 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: Stopped getty@tty1.service - Getty on tty1.
Feb 27 16:04:47 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: Started getty@tty1.service - Getty on tty1.
Feb 27 16:04:48 ccmwebserver agetty[659]: tty1: invalid character 0x1b in login name
Feb 27 16:04:58 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: getty@tty1.service: Deactivated successfully.
Feb 27 16:04:58 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: getty@tty1.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
Feb 27 16:04:58 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: Stopped getty@tty1.service - Getty on tty1.
Feb 27 16:04:58 ccmwebserver systemd[1]: Started getty@tty1.service - Getty on tty1.

The character 0x1b is the escape key, which is weird because my login name is just "ccm", no special characters. Now I remember that when I had tried to install ubuntu server on this computer I couldn't even start the installation process because every key I pressed showed as garbage in the tty (like [[[A' or something like that). I used the graphical install on Debian and never had that issue.

If I boot into recovery mode it's the same problem and I can't log in. Is it a driver or firmware? I don't know the term, but maybe it isn't loaded before the desktop environment?

[u_fantasticfish_u]

I also saw these messages:

Feb 27 15:32:12 ccmwebserver kernel: cherryview-pinctrl: probe of INT33FF:04 failed with error -61
Feb 27 15:32:12 ccmwebserver kernel: Expanded resource Reserved due to conflict with PCI Bus 0000:00
Feb 27 15:32:13 ccmwebserver kernel: intel_sst_acpi 808622A8:00: No matching machine driver found

Googling the cherryview-pinctrl message leads to this Arch Linux forum discussion where the built in keyboard and trackpad on a laptop aren't working at all. If I Google the intel_sst_acpi error I just see people having problems with sound output.

[Aki]

Hello,

How is the keyboard connected to the computer stick ?

Can you test a replacement keyboard ?

—
note: this is the manual of you computer stick:

• User Guide for Intel® Compute Stick STK1A32SC

[u_fantasticfish_u]

Thank you for the manual. I am using an apple aluminum wired keyboard with an attached usb cable and I plug it directly into the usb port on the machine. I also tested a different keyboard, an alienware keyboard, also wired with a usb cable and plugged into the computer's usb port. Both had the same problem. My keyboard layout is QWERTY US.

[u_fantasticfish_u]

New Information!
I changed the file /etc/default/keyboard in chroot. I set the options to: XKBMODEL="applealu_ansi" XKBLAYOUT="us" XKBVARIANT="mac"
I booted up Debian and nothing had changed. I still couldn't log in. I did notice this time that these are the only characters I can type: /*-+= and tab and my arrow keys work.
So I tried recovery mode again. I should have said exactly what happens instead of saying it's just the same problem. Recovery mode actually says "login incorrect enter root password for maintenance or press control-D" on anything I type in. Control-D doesn't work. Today I tried it again and I held down control and pressed random keys on my keyboard until it let me into tty1. In this recovery mode tty, I was able to type in and see my login perfectly and enter my password. I logged into the server! But when I reboot into the normal startup mode I can't login again.

[Aki]

According to the user manual, you have two USB ports: one 3.0, one 2.0. The USB 3.0 port could be problematic.

Have you tried booting with the keyboard directly connected to both (without using a hub) ?

Can you send a full system log (connecting via ssh) after you tried logging in using the keyboard / tty ? The log could be generated with the command:

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script log.txt
su -l -c "journalctl -b --no-pager"
exit

The log will the in the file named log.txt. You can report it in one the following ways:

• paste them into the Debian Pastezone service (https://paste.debian.net) and report the URL/link of the paste in a follow-up message

• attaching the logs to a follow-up forum message as a compressed zip or gz file

• paste logs into the body of a follow-up message between code tags (if they fit the size of a forum message)