[SOLVED] Mint 19, installation and booting issues

[Wizard!]

Hi all,

I relatively new to Linux, however I managed to install Mint 19 in 3 of my home computers already.
Forth one is my media pc, running Windows 10 32bit till yesterday, without issues.

I created a bootable USB with Mint 19 Cinnamon 32bit and tried to boot from it and start the installation.
Didn't go well, as I was getting lots of black screens flashing (like trying to change modes?) and after a long time, I got the user/pass prompt, where I entered and then that box, got corrupted graphics and system was unresponsive.

Next I tried to boot in compatibility mode, where the installation finished without a glitch. However, when I clicked "Restart now", after the reboot and the Mint logo with the dots, I am getting a black screen with a tiny dash/cursor on top left corner and that's it.

I tried to leave it there for like 30 minutes. Nothing changed.
I did another restart. Same.
I shat down and start again. Same.

Did the installation all over again, same behavior.

PC specs:
Chipset Manufacturer: Intel
Brand Name: Soyo
Ports: VGA,HDMI,USB 2.0,USB 3.0,Fiber,Ethernet
CPU Type: Intel
CPU Model Number: N3150
Integrated CPU: 1.6GHz
Chipset: Intel NM10
Form Factor: Mini-ITX
Memory Type: DDR3
Memory channel: Double
FSB / HT: 1600
Ram Capacity: 4 GB
Graphics Card Type: Integrated
Expansion Slots: WIFI
Socket Type: LGA 1155
Interface Type: S/PDIF Coaxial
Hard Drive Interface: SATA3 MSATA
Hard Drive: Intel SSD X25-M 80GB
Soyo: MINI N3150
Video output: vga hdmi lvds
More info here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SOYO-SY ... 64545.html

Any ideas?

[pablok]

I seem to remember you can change the booting options. The ones I would have a look at are the resolution ones.
(I am no expert). Just a wild guess.

[Wizard!]

There are 3 boot options in BIOS:
Win8/10
Linux
Default

I tried all three, but didn't make a difference.

[JoeFootball]

CPU Type: Intel
CPU Model Number: N3150
Integrated CPU: 1.6GHz

I'd try Linux Mint 18.3 (supported until April 2021), going down the desktop overhead scale from Cinnamon, MATE, to Xfce.

That processor leverages a 64-bit instruction set, so presuming your architecture is also 64-bit, you can try the 64-bit version of Linux Mint too.

Joe

[Wizard!]

I'd try Linux Mint 18.3 (supported until April 2021), going down the desktop overhead scale from Cinnamon, MATE, to Xfce.

That processor leverages a 64-bit instruction set, so presuming your architecture is also 64-bit, you can try the 64-bit version of Linux Mint too.

Joe

Downloading as we speak. Any benefits to use the 64bit over the 32bit, since I only have 4GB of RAM ?
What are the main differences between 18.3 and 19 ?

[pablok]

I seem to remember you can change the booting options. The ones I would have a look at are the resolution ones.
(I am no expert). Just a wild guess.

I meant the booting of mint: chapter Boot Linux Mint in the documentation (https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... a=default#).

[JoeFootball]

Any benefits to use the 64bit over the 32bit, since I only have 4GB of RAM ?

Yes, if you have 64-bit hardware, you should be using a 64-bit OS. A 32-bit OS will run on a 64-bit infrastructure, but you will not be able to achieve the performance that a 64-bit system provides. If you had woefully low-grade 64-bit hardware, which I do not think you do, then perhaps a 32-bit OS might be a better idea, but I don't think so in this case.

4 GBs RAM is fine. If you have the room, I would create an 8 GB swap partition, but opinions vary widely on that. I'm old school, and I don't use a lot of primary disk for storage, so I'd be a "double the RAM swap" guy with a 4 GB system. Again, that's my personal preference, to which others theirs.

What are the main differences between 18.3 and 19 ?

I can't speak too well on that, as I've chosen to stay with 18.3 for now, as it's still supported until April 2021. On my production systems, I very rarely migrate to a new major version immediately, so I'm going to wait for the 19.x branch to mature some before I venture forth, though I have played around with it just out of curiosity.

That said, here's the New Features of Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon page for some ideas. MATE and Xfce have similar pages. Speaking for myself, there's nothing compelling me to leap there now.

Joe

[Wizard!]

I meant the booting of mint: chapter Boot Linux Mint in the documentation (https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... a=default#).

Hmmm... ok... I am not sure what to change there. I will try some options.
However, from my point of view, looks like the VGA driver.
I also tried 18.3, 18.0, but I am having exact the same behavior.
I am downloading 17 now and we will see.

[JoeFootball]

... looks like the VGA driver.

Agreed. Not so sure LM 17.3 (supported until April 2019) will work either, but you can certainly try.

Your issue looks similar to this thread. Have look there for ideas.

Also, if feasible, boot to a live session, and from the terminal, post the output of the following command (note the capital F). It will give others a better idea of your hardware.

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

Joe

[Wizard!]

Agreed. Not so sure LM 17.3 (supported until April 2019) will work either, but you can certainly try.

Your issue looks similar to this thread. Have look there for ideas.

Also, if feasible, boot to a live session, and from the terminal, post the output of the following command (note the capital F). It will give others a better idea of your hardware.

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

Joe

I also tried 17 Cinnamon & KDE, but neither worked, although KDE loaded the Live environment without using the "Compatibility mode".

Not the best picture, I hope it does the job.

IMG_2386.jpg

[JoeFootball]

I also tried 17 Cinnamon & KDE, but neither worked, although KDE loaded the Live environment without using the "Compatibility mode".

I'm thinking it's a video driver issue, so not related to LM versions, and you've been thorough on checking them.

Not the best picture, I hope it does the job.

For those that can't read it, the Graphics card is listed as Intel Device 22b1.

Joe

[Wizard!]

We had some progress today...
I managed to install "19-mate-64bit-v2" without using the compatibility mode, however I had to make some changes in UEFi/BIOS according to Intel's guide (yes, this is a NUC compatible pc)
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... i-pcs.html

But now, I am having a 1024x768 resolution, on a system that is capable of 1080p.
I tried to install Intel's drivers using "apt install xserver-xorg-video-intel", but I got a message that I already have the latest version.

Any ideas? How can I find a compatible driver?

[JoeFootball]

... on a system that is capable of 1080p.

Just to confirm, the monitor's display supports 1920 x 1080 as well, correct?

If you go into Driver Manager (I think it's in the Administration menu on MATE, or just use the search box in the menu), does it give you any video device options? If you do change anything there, you may need to reboot to make any changes evident.

Joe

[Wizard!]

Just to confirm, the monitor's display supports 1920 x 1080 as well, correct?

If you go into Driver Manager (I think it's in the Administration menu on MATE, or just use the search box in the menu), does it give you any video device options? If you do change anything there, you may need to reboot to make any changes evident.

Yes Jo, I am using a Full HD capable TV, as this is my media player. While on Windows 10, it was working on 1920x1080@60Hz

Driver Manager shows an empty list.

I tried installing the drivers from this page (via package manager), but still no other options in resolution. And since it's an HDMI connection, I don't have sound either.
https://01.org/linuxgraphics/downloads/ ... ack-recipe

[JoeFootball]

Driver Manager shows an empty list.

Frustrating indeed. Sorry for not being able to identify definitive leads for you.

If you've not already tried this, on this Intel NUC Mini PC with Intel Celeron Processors page, there's a "Automatically detect and update drivers and software" link. See if that yields anything interesting for you (it doesn't do much with my PC).

Also, update the previous inxi -Fxz output with the current LM 19 MATE (or whatever you have working now) output. It will help others to see the current software options you have in place.

Speaking of which, did you try updating the kernel to the latest recommend version for your OS in Update Manager? I believe they're not selected for update by default. And you'll need to reboot afterwards.

Joe

[Wizard!]

If you've not already tried this, on this Intel NUC Mini PC with Intel Celeron Processors page, there's a "Automatically detect and update drivers and software" link. See if that yields anything interesting for you (it doesn't do much with my PC).

They are a joke... I landed to that page by following links regarding drivers for Linux and they have only for Windows 10 x64. Not even other Windows...
That "Auto detect" tool, is also only for Windows...

Also, update the previous inxi -Fxz output with the current LM 19 MATE (or whatever you have working now) output. It will help others to see the current software options you have in place.

Here you are.

system.jpg

Speaking of which, did you try updating the kernel to the latest recommend version for your OS in Update Manager? I believe they're not selected for update by default. And you'll need to reboot afterwards.

Yeap, searched and there are no more updates. It even downloaded an update for the supposedly Intel Mesa driver, but didn't change a bit.

Joe

Thank you for your efforts!

[Wizard!]

Still no solution here...
It can't be that hard to find the correct drivers. And I have already made so many changes, I won't remember all of them when I need to reinstall
Should I try a clean install again?

Edit: I found this one: https://detail.en.china.cn/provide/p107025841.html
This is my media PC. They are selling it with Linux preinstalled (mine came without a disk).
So, there is a way to get it work...

[JoeFootball]

It can't be that hard to find the correct drivers.

I've heard these NUC systems can be a challenge, but you'd think it shouldn't be this difficult. The intent is that your graphics card should have been detected and the proper driver installed during the installation process.

Observation: In your latest inxi output, it shows the graphics card listed differently than the previous one, and running at a lower resolution as you noted. Doing a search on that lead me to discover that the graphics "card" is actually a component of the CPU (Intel Celeron N3150) itself.

Digging into that, I see that Intel provides graphics drivers for the CPU, but of the Windows variety. Keep that in your back pocket for now.

Also there is microcode allegedly for that CPU for Linux, but when you go to that page, your processor is curiously not listed. And the directions look somewhat ominous, so review if you'd like, but I'm not sold on that route just yet.

There's also a "processor diagnostic tool" there, which is allegedly OS independent, but I'm not sure if that would lead anywhere.

What I would recommend is another go at your system info, but this time with inxi -x -G, which should detail more about your graphics card. If possible, copy & paste that output here, and put it between code tags (paste the text here, highlight it, and hit the code button (fifth from the left)).

So, there is a way to get it work...

Agreed! Hoping that someone with The Knowledge sees this and can assist.

Joe

[Wizard!]

I've heard these NUC systems can be a challenge, but you'd think it shouldn't be this difficult. The intent is that your graphics card should have been detected and the proper driver installed during the installation process.

Well... it did...
After reading a lot, and searching a lot, and after finding that retailer, with pre-installed systems, but no drivers, I thought, that somehow, is should be installed without ones.

So, the only thing i could change was the BIOS settings. And that solved the issue!

IMG_2399.jpg

With these settings, I managed to install 18.3 Cinnamon, without using the compatibility mode, and having both 1080p and sound via the HDMI output.

One more note:
When it finished the installation and reboot, I had a desktop without taskbar or icons... I was searching for my mouse and by doing random movements, it appeared on my screen. I left-clicked, opened "Desktop settings", clicked on the left arrow, top left corner and then went to "Display settings".

I noticed there that is had 2 dispays, one name "Laptop Qxxx" and another one "HDMI" which was the secondary (media pc has also a VGA output).
I had to disable the "Laptop Qxxx" (VGA) and make "HDMI" primary monitor, and all stared to look as it should be.

Also sound is working after I went to Sound settings and changed output to HDMI.

Thanks all for your help and suggestions! Took a bit but we got there

[JoeFootball]

Thanks all for your help and suggestions! Took a bit but we got there

Excellent! Great detective work!

Joe