Linux Mint 15 blank screen after GRUB loader

[salami90210]

EDIT TLDR version: What would cause a blank screen problem on laptop primary display to be solved by plugging in a secondary monitor to VGA port? Keep reading to share my headache...


I installed Linux Mint 15 as the sole OS on a Toshiba U305-S5077 laptop that uses an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 graphics engine. Booting from the install CD works flawlessly, but after the install completes I consistently reboot to a blank black screen with some symptoms and a work around that I'm hoping will give a clue as to what I can do to fix this problem.

The workaround that I am having some success with is pressing cursor keys to force the GRUB loader screen to show and after selecting the boot HD option, it usually allows me to start Linux with the display properly working. I have edited the grub file to disable the hidden timeout to force the grub menu to show on every boot and manually selecting the normal boot option works about half of the time. I am not sure as to why I am not getting consistant results with this and at this point can only guess that it has something to do with how long I spend in the grub menu and what buttons I push in the menu navigation that determines if the display will work properly or just show a blank screen.

But before I got to that point and while everything was still at default settings and I was always getting the blank screen, I noticed that if I plugged an external monitor in the VGA port while the system is on with a blank screen, it would fix the laptop display as if everything was working fine except for some type of display incompatibility and using the external VGA port forces a change that fixes the problem. And when I remove the VGA cable, the laptop display remains working until the next reboot where I get the blank screen again. If I leave the monitor plugged in, it will stay working on all reboots until the cable is removed.

I also noticed that when I have the blank screen, it responds to the display brighten and dim hotkeys. The screen still stays blank but I can see it brighten and dim on adjustment. This leads me to believe that the problem is not an incompatible resolution or refresh rate, and something else is responsible. But that is pure speculation and I could be completely wrong.

I have less than 24 hours experience with Linux and I'm working off of 4 hours sleep but I am determined to try my best to get this working in time to be ready for my sister to take with her when she leaves tomorrow. I hope someone can interpret these clues and give me a better solution than forcing the GRUB menu to show that seems to work about half of the time. Thanks in advance.

[salami90210]

****EDIT**** NOT WORKING YET! I thought I had this fixed after seeing it work a few times in a row but I saw the same problem again after more reboots. I still need help with this. If anyone has information, it will be appreciated.

[Mark Phelps]

Don't know if either of these will actually fix the problem, but you could try them ...

The boot parms "nomodeset" and "xforcevesa" can sometimes help with display issues. I had to use both and found the first solved my "no display" problem but forced low res on me. The second worked better as I was then able to see both screens and use full res on each.

When booting, press the TAB key, which will open an editor for the boot line, using the arrow keys, back over the boot line, replace "quiet" with one parm, then press Enter to continue the boot.

I would try each part separately and then both of them together.

Good Luck

[salami90210]

I was able to fix my problem by removing the line

gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode

from grub.cfg

Thanks to the developers and community for the assistance and making this all possible.

[M4570D0N]

I'm having some trouble after upgrading from Mint 14 to Mint 15, and so far this is the only thread that gave me some useful info but does not really provide a solution. I have a Lenovo Y580 notebook with integrated Intel HD graphics and Nvidia GTX 660 GPU. I had no display issues with Mint 14 (either with or without bumblebee and nvidia drivers), but I'm getting the blank screen after the grub menu (both with and without nvidia drivers/bumblebee installed). However, after reading this thread, I found out that it will in fact boot if I have my external monitor plugged in and the display works on both the embedded and external monitor. However, it's very flaky, and if I ever click on Cinnamon Settings it almost always causes the laptop display to cut off. Going to the display settings and changing and toggling the mirrored display option or changing some other option and hitting apply will occasionally bring the laptop display back, but not always.

I've done all the usual suggestions regarding the "blank screen after boot" and none have worked so far. Secure Boot is disabled. Deleting

Code: Select all

gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode

in grub.cfg mentioned above works in that I can boot with the external display attached but does not work when it is not attached, and that file is regenerated often which reverts this change. If I edit the boot parameters in grub to add nomodeset, it will boot, but then I am brought to a screen stating that the X server failed to load, and in the Xorg.0.log it says that it is is not finding any screens. Here's the last part of that log when nomodeset is added to the grub boot parameters:

Code: Select all

...
[    33.965] Initializing built-in extension DRI2
[    33.965] (II) LoadModule: "glx"
[    33.965] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so
[    33.965] (II) Module glx: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    33.965] 	compiled for 1.13.3, module version = 1.0.0
[    33.965] 	ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 7.0
[    33.965] (==) AIGLX enabled
[    33.965] Loading extension GLX
[    33.965] (==) Matched intel as autoconfigured driver 0
[    33.965] (==) Matched vesa as autoconfigured driver 1
[    33.965] (==) Matched modesetting as autoconfigured driver 2
[    33.965] (==) Matched fbdev as autoconfigured driver 3
[    33.965] (==) Assigned the driver to the xf86ConfigLayout
[    33.965] (II) LoadModule: "intel"
[    33.965] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/intel_drv.so
[    33.965] (II) Module intel: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    33.965] 	compiled for 1.13.3, module version = 2.21.6
[    33.965] 	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    33.965] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 13.1
[    33.965] (II) LoadModule: "vesa"
[    33.965] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
[    33.965] (II) Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    33.965] 	compiled for 1.12.99.902, module version = 2.3.2
[    33.965] 	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    33.965] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 13.0
[    33.965] (II) LoadModule: "modesetting"
[    33.965] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/modesetting_drv.so
[    33.966] (II) Module modesetting: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    33.966] 	compiled for 1.13.3, module version = 0.7.0
[    33.966] 	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    33.966] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 13.1
[    33.966] (II) LoadModule: "fbdev"
[    33.966] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/fbdev_drv.so
[    33.966] (II) Module fbdev: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    33.966] 	compiled for 1.12.99.902, module version = 0.4.3
[    33.966] 	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    33.966] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 13.0
[    33.966] (II) intel: Driver for Intel Integrated Graphics Chipsets: i810,
	i810-dc100, i810e, i815, i830M, 845G, 854, 852GM/855GM, 865G, 915G,
	E7221 (i915), 915GM, 945G, 945GM, 945GME, Pineview GM, Pineview G,
	965G, G35, 965Q, 946GZ, 965GM, 965GME/GLE, G33, Q35, Q33, GM45,
	4 Series, G45/G43, Q45/Q43, G41, B43, B43, Clarkdale, Arrandale,
	Sandybridge Desktop (GT1), Sandybridge Desktop (GT2),
	Sandybridge Desktop (GT2+), Sandybridge Mobile (GT1),
	Sandybridge Mobile (GT2), Sandybridge Mobile (GT2+),
	Sandybridge Server, Ivybridge Mobile (GT1), Ivybridge Mobile (GT2),
	Ivybridge Desktop (GT1), Ivybridge Desktop (GT2), Ivybridge Server,
	Ivybridge Server (GT2), Haswell Desktop (GT1), Haswell Desktop (GT2),
	Haswell Desktop (GT2+), Haswell Mobile (GT1), Haswell Mobile (GT2),
	Haswell Mobile (GT2+), Haswell Server (GT1), Haswell Server (GT2),
	Haswell Server (GT2+), Haswell SDV Desktop (GT1),
	Haswell SDV Desktop (GT2), Haswell SDV Desktop (GT2+),
	Haswell SDV Mobile (GT1), Haswell SDV Mobile (GT2),
	Haswell SDV Mobile (GT2+), Haswell SDV Server (GT1),
	Haswell SDV Server (GT2), Haswell SDV Server (GT2+),
	Haswell ULT Desktop (GT1), Haswell ULT Desktop (GT2),
	Haswell ULT Desktop (GT2+), Haswell ULT Mobile (GT1),
	Haswell ULT Mobile (GT2), Haswell ULT Mobile (GT2+),
	Haswell ULT Server (GT1), Haswell ULT Server (GT2),
	Haswell ULT Server (GT2+), Haswell CRW Desktop (GT1),
	Haswell CRW Desktop (GT2), Haswell CRW Desktop (GT2+),
	Haswell CRW Mobile (GT1), Haswell CRW Mobile (GT2),
	Haswell CRW Mobile (GT2+), Haswell CRW Server (GT1),
	Haswell CRW Server (GT2), Haswell CRW Server (GT2+),
	ValleyView PO board
[    33.966] (II) VESA: driver for VESA chipsets: vesa
[    33.966] (II) modesetting: Driver for Modesetting Kernel Drivers: kms
[    33.966] (II) FBDEV: driver for framebuffer: fbdev
[    33.966] (++) using VT number 7

[    33.972] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for modesetting
[    33.972] (EE) open /dev/dri/card0: No such file or directory
[    33.972] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbdev
[    33.972] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
[    33.972] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
[    33.972] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfbdevhw.so
[    33.972] (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    33.972] 	compiled for 1.13.3, module version = 0.0.2
[    33.972] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 13.1
[    33.972] (II) Loading sub module "vbe"
[    33.972] (II) LoadModule: "vbe"
[    33.972] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libvbe.so
[    33.972] (II) Module vbe: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    33.972] 	compiled for 1.13.3, module version = 1.1.0
[    33.972] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 13.1
[    33.972] (II) Loading sub module "int10"
[    33.972] (II) LoadModule: "int10"
[    33.972] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libint10.so
[    33.972] (II) Module int10: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    33.972] 	compiled for 1.13.3, module version = 1.0.0
[    33.972] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 13.1
[    33.972] (II) VESA(0): initializing int10
[    33.972] (EE) VESA(0): V_BIOS address 0x0 out of range
[    33.972] (II) UnloadModule: "vesa"
[    33.972] (II) UnloadSubModule: "int10"
[    33.972] (II) Unloading int10
[    33.972] (II) UnloadSubModule: "vbe"
[    33.972] (II) Unloading vbe
[b][    33.972] (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
[    33.972] 
Fatal server error:
[    33.972] no screens found
[    33.972] (EE) [/b]
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support 
	 at http://wiki.x.org
 for help. 
[    33.972] (EE) Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
[    33.973] (EE) 
[    33.980] Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.

additionally, if I also add xforcevesa, I get the same x server failure, but in addition, the display is only shown in the top 1/3 of the monitor and within that top 1/3, it's split into 3 sections as though it is 3 tiled copies of the display (so the display is really about 1/9 of the actual monitor). This makes the display essentially unreadable, but it doesn't really matter anyways, since the x server failed.

Anyone have any idea about how I might troubleshoot this?

[DanielTA]

I have a Lenovo Y580. The screen would go black after grub. Try adding "acpi_backlight=vendor" (without quotes) to the end of the linux command in grub. It worked for me.


Source: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Le ... eaPad_Y580