[SOLVED] Ubuntu Mate install problems

Operating Systems & Open Source Linux
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1

I've recently decided I wanted to switch to a different distro of Ubuntu. I decided I wanted to try Ubuntu Mate.

I downloaded the live ISO and put it on a USB stick that is 16GB.

I select it from boot menu in bios and it starts up like I expect, but then it gets to the logo screen and then switches to a text screen momentarily, then a garbled gui, then back to the logo screen for a second, then back to the text. 3 or so lines of code and just sits there. After about a minute I hear the familiar logon jingle, and the screen just sits there. Does absolutely nothing.

I got curious and tried ctrl-alt-f2 to see if I can get to terminal view. This brings me to another text screen of one line of code, and a blinking _ .

But still nothing happens.

Here are pictures that I had an opportunity to take in order.

IMG_20170109_070608173.jpg4274x2404 1.32 MB

Then this happens.

IMG_20170109_070937524.jpg3419x1923 1.3 MB

Any help would be appreciated.

2

Looks like a problem with the open driver for the Nvidia card...Maybe its a nomodeset issue?

3

In the third through fourth lines, it's saying link training failed. I've experienced this with DisplayPort on Nouveau. Try using DVI or HDMI if you've got the ability.

The proprietary drivers don't have this problem to my knowledge, so once you get those installed, you can go back to DP.

4

My main monitor isn't using display port. So are you saying just unplug my other two monitors?

5

If the other monitors are using DisplayPort, give it a try.

It looks like X is crashing because it can't configure all the monitors.

6

Ok, that makes a ton of sense. Haha. I should have thought of that and actually READ what was on that screen. Damn it! I turn in my geek card!

7

Eh, I only know about this issue because I encountered it and dug through the nouveau source code to figure out the problem. Not everyone is expected to understand it.

link training messages will usually be related to DP for future reference.

8

Ok got a new screen after install and was about to restart?

1483982325011-68734519.jpg3419x1923 1.23 MB

Looks like a nouveau problem again? I have yet to restart but before I clicked restart it said install was successful. Should I remove the USB and try a hard restart?

9

Couldn't wait and physically reset the system. Now it's in grub rescue mode... Damn it. What did I do now?

1483983034470-168220939.jpg3419x1923 1.17 MB

I tried to reinstall, and it is still doing it. Please help. I am such a noob at this

10

Based on the numerous issues you may have a corrupt USB. Try making it again.

Having the other screens disconnected may very well help to get things running.

And a loose tip, if you intend to game in linux you will want the proprietary driver. It gave me an 20x fps boost when I changed.

1 Like
11

I'm assuming you've got access to a windows machine.

Okay, let's try recreating the USB disk. First though, let's make sure the image you downloaded is correct. To do this, download the sha checksum as well as the file. guide for windows here.

If the image doesn't match, redownload it and checksum it again. Repeat this step using different mirrors until you have a good image.

Next, assuming you've got a good image, install the ISO to the USB drive with Rufus.

Give the install another go and report back.

12

Install worked fine I'm assuming. The install appears to not have set grub to grab the right drive or something. I can get into the Ubuntu mate install now, but every time I restart I come back to grub rescue.

I followed this guide: https://www.linux.com/learn/how-rescue-non-booting-grub-2-linux

And when I got to the part where you type normal, I get the grub menu where I choose operating systems

13

Ok, let me be more clear about this.

I have gotten into the OS. I'm typing on it as I speak. But if I restart, or shut down for any reason. I'm back to the grub rescue screen.

I followed this part of the guide I posted

grub rescue> set prefix=(hd0,1)/boot/grub
grub rescue> set root=(hd0,1)
grub rescue> insmod normal
grub rescue> normal
grub rescue> insmod linux
grub rescue> linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-29-generic root=/dev/sda1
grub rescue> initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.13.0-29-generic
grub rescue> boot

Only, I never made it past the part where it tells you to type ''normal''. It took me straight away to the grub os choice menu.

Just to preface, I'm running windows 10 and Linux. Should have said this earlier. I'm sorry, I was panicking and not thinking.

So I am now in the OS. So is there somewhere I can go from here, or do you want me to install all this over again with a different USB?

14

Well, I tried it the other way. I re-installed Ubuntu mate and I pressed restart at the end and it did this again. And it's just sitting there...

1483994852895-56073225.jpg3419x1923 1.47 MB

With just a blinking cursor...
And this was a matching hash iso...

Now what?

15

Figured it out!

It was a combination of problems that was plaguing me that were just stacked on top of each other.

Ok, so here's what I figured out step by step.

I figured there was an Nvidia problem, because every damned time I installed there were those lines of code that said something in nouveau failed to load. So I did some reading, and hemmed and hawed on that for a minute. Then I remembered that I was constantly clicking on install the third party stuff during OS install. So I got rid of that. Redid the install, and lo-and-behold when the Install restarted it didn't freeze giving me those stupid lines of code.

There, that problem solved.

Second problem was that every time I installed with fresh media, or fresh USB (I tried a DVD and CD too. Had spare media lying around) it would fail. I would click restart and when it did restart Grub would simply say that it couldn't find anything and I'd be right back at the Grub recovery screen. This pissed me off to no end. It's been a few hours since this all started and I was damned near tempted to get a beer, after quitting for a year. I was angry.

Then something hit me from a few other posts i've read on those errors. The Tocblock thing I remembered in one post was due to some sort of Windows partition having issues with Linux, and the other post said Linux doesn't like sometimes playing with Windows partitions.

So I shut everything down, yanked out my Windows drives and went solely on the drive I was trying to install Ubuntu Mate on. Started the install again after nuking the entire drive, partitions and all, with the Gparted USB I made.

Install once again went flawlessly to the end. Then the restart button popped up again. To say the least I was nervous. But I clicked it anyway. And it worked! The machine started the restart process, stopped at the warning to pull the install media and then restarted after I hit enter!

Good, Ubuntu was working. Restarted like a dream! Went through, installed all of the drivers I needed now after the fact, and then shut it down again. Hooked up my windows drives, restarted the machine, it booted into Ubuntu, grabbed terminal, did "update-grub" and restarted.

Both Linux, and Windows showed up. I'm happy now! They both work!

Phew!

I've never had such a hard time dual booting an OS before. I've done plenty of dual-booting with Windows and other Windows OS's. And plain old Ubuntu worked fine right out of the gate.

I guess I just found a distro that wanted to be very picky about how it was set up!

Thank you to all who helped me! I hope this helps others!

2 Likes
16

Sometimes you have bad luck regarding bugs (evidently). Ubuntu is usually kind in its setup, when you don't combine multiple major bugs