nVidia-related Black Screen of Death [solved]
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:25 pm
I've been using Ubuntu since v6.06 and try to stick with the LTS versions. Like many, v10.04 was fine, but the abandonment of the gnome interface for Unity in v12.04 was too far overboard. So, I downloaded and burned the four Mint 13 desktop options to DVD, and after going back and forth, decided to install Cinnamon on my A8N-VM CSM machine (built-in nVidia C51PV video, a GeForce 6150) connected to a ViewSonic VG910b (1280x1024) monitor.
After zeroing the boot and root partitions, I did a clean install, which appeared to go well (after working through the "nomodeset" glitch/feature on the installation DVD). Now, upon re-boot, the screen goes black (no blinking cursor, nothing), and I cannot even switch to the CLI via cntl-alt-f(anything).
Since this was my first mint installation, needless to say I'm not too impressed that making this work seamlessly using a fairly common graphics set was missed in the development and testing phases of the project. Any ideas from the community on how to resolve this?
10-Dec update: Since my original post, I was able to boot from a LiveCD, mount the hard drive, temporarily change the default in /boot/grub/grub.cfg to boot into recovery mode, exit recovery to boot into the Mint 13 OS, and then login successfully. I then used apt to update packages, but that didn't resolve the black screen problem. I was able to find some suggestions in the forums, but all were for older versions of the OS, and suggested changing parameters which no longer exist. After updating all the packages, I tried the nvidia drivers shown in Synaptic Package Manager, but upon reboot find that those trashed my GUI to the point where I cannot do anything except reinstall. So, do I keep trying Mint, or should I switch to something else?
11-Dec update: Spent most of the day yesterday wiping the partitions, installing Ubuntu v12.04.1 LTS, and trying various nvidia driver options and tricks suggested in other forums ... but without success. Both Mint 13 and Ubuntu v12.04.1 boot to a black screen of death after installation on this machine. If recovery mode can boot into a viewable screen, why can't regular mode? Is there a simple boot parameter I can add/change/delete in one of the files in the /etc/grub.d directory?
After zeroing the boot and root partitions, I did a clean install, which appeared to go well (after working through the "nomodeset" glitch/feature on the installation DVD). Now, upon re-boot, the screen goes black (no blinking cursor, nothing), and I cannot even switch to the CLI via cntl-alt-f(anything).
Since this was my first mint installation, needless to say I'm not too impressed that making this work seamlessly using a fairly common graphics set was missed in the development and testing phases of the project. Any ideas from the community on how to resolve this?
10-Dec update: Since my original post, I was able to boot from a LiveCD, mount the hard drive, temporarily change the default in /boot/grub/grub.cfg to boot into recovery mode, exit recovery to boot into the Mint 13 OS, and then login successfully. I then used apt to update packages, but that didn't resolve the black screen problem. I was able to find some suggestions in the forums, but all were for older versions of the OS, and suggested changing parameters which no longer exist. After updating all the packages, I tried the nvidia drivers shown in Synaptic Package Manager, but upon reboot find that those trashed my GUI to the point where I cannot do anything except reinstall. So, do I keep trying Mint, or should I switch to something else?
11-Dec update: Spent most of the day yesterday wiping the partitions, installing Ubuntu v12.04.1 LTS, and trying various nvidia driver options and tricks suggested in other forums ... but without success. Both Mint 13 and Ubuntu v12.04.1 boot to a black screen of death after installation on this machine. If recovery mode can boot into a viewable screen, why can't regular mode? Is there a simple boot parameter I can add/change/delete in one of the files in the /etc/grub.d directory?