On 17 December 2022 9:00:49 pm UTC, Gary Dale <g...@extremeground.com> wrote:
>>On 2022-12-17 14:39, David Christensen wrote:
>>> On 12/17/22 04:44, Gary Dale wrote:
>>>> On 2022-12-16 21:29, Gary Dale wrote:
>>>>> My laptop no longer boots thanks to the latest update. It stops after I
>>>>> select a normal boot - it goes to the text mode console and displays an
>>>>> error message about: [ 0.717939] ACPI BIOS Error (bug).
>>>>>
>>>>> If I go into recovery mode, I don't get that error but then it stops
>>>>> after a message about the nouveau driver. I never get to a command prompt.
>>>>>
>>>>> I can boot from System Rescus CD. I get the same BIOS error message but
>>>>> then it continues on as if it wasn't important.
>>>>>
>>>>> I tried updating the BIOS but that did nothing to resolve the problem. I
>>>>> did a reinstall and the problem survives.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The problem actually started earlier in the day, when I did the apt
>>>>> full-upgrade. It updated the nvidia drivers so it wanted a reboot. When I
>>>>> rebooted, it refused to start sddm. It just sat there. I rebooted into
>>>>> recovery mode and changed to lightdm, which did the same thing. Gdm3
>>>>> actually switched into a graphics mode before hanging.
>>>>>
>>>>> I purged the nvidia drivers and that was when the message cropped up. I
>>>>> tried booting from system rescue cd then switching into a bash shell on
>>>>> my / partition but lost my DNS so I couldn't (re) install the nouveau
>>>>> drivers (didn't want to touch the nvidia ones again). I did try updating
>>>>> initramfs, in case there was some nvidia stuff hanging around but it
>>>>> didn't help.
>>>>>
>>>>> That led to me reinstalling. I copied the Bookworm netinst to my Ventoy
>>>>> USB stick, but it wouldn't boot so I went back to Bullseye - which
>>>>> installed but wouldn't bring up a GUI. Booted to recovery mode, brought
>>>>> up the network and upgraded to Bookworm. That is where I am now - with
>>>>> the error message appearing after I leave the boot menu.
>>>>>
>>>>> This is basically clean install - just done in two parts. My laptop had
>>>>> been running fine since I got it and installed Debian.
>>>>>
>>>> I couldn't get the Bookworm alpha install to work even when dd'd directly
>>>> to a USB stick. However I was able to get to a recovery mode from the
>>>> Bullseye install on Ventoy. From there I added the nVidia drivers and that
>>>> got me past the error message. I was able to eventually get to a recovery
>>>> session from the installation on the laptop. Sddm simply refused to work
>>>> while gdm3 only seems to give me a Gnome desktop. After installing
>>>> lightdm, I was able to get back to a Plasma desktop.
>>>>
>>>> Along the way, I found that my (Debian/Bookworm) workstation wont read USB
>>>> sticks formatted with FAT32! I'm hoping a reboot later will fix that.
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, sddm seems to have some real problems with nVidia drivers. My
>>>> laptop on the other hand seems to need them even though non-Bookworm
>>>> distros don't.
>>>
>>>
>>> If you want a GNU/Linux distribution that "just works", one possibility is
>>> Debian Stable and "supported hardware". The former is easy -- download a
>>> d-i ISO. The latter can be anywhere from trivial to impossible to
>>> determine a priori; the practical answer is install and find out.
>>>
>>>
>>> What is the manufacturer, model, and part number of your computer? What
>>> options does it have? What components have you added, changed, or removed?
>>> What external hardware is connected? Do you have a broadband Internet
>>> connection?
>>>
>>>
>>> What d-i media did you use? Where did you get it? Did you verify the
>>> checksum of the download and/or media?
>>>
>>>
>>> David
>>>
>>Thanks David, but as I explained, Debian/Stable doesn't "just work". You need
>>the second part of your condition, but it's hard to know if hardware is
>>supported until you try it. And what doesn't work one week may work the next.
>>
>>I don't blame Debian in this case. It's clearly an nVidia problem. Normally I
>>stay away from them when getting something for Linux, but I got a great Black
>>Friday deal. That's why I even got a new laptop to begin with. Apart from the
>>nVidia components, it seems to work fine.
>>
>>Added nothing - just removed the Windows partitions and installed Linux.
>>
>>As I explained, I used Debian netinst copied to a Ventoy USB. What was
>>strange is that Stable has no problem installing (just problems running) but
>>Testing seems to get hung up with the networking (when I tried a graphical
>>install, it at least showed that was what it was doing. The text based
>>installer flashed something on the screen but never got around to doing more
>>than the background colours - no text or progress bar - so I wasn't sure what
>>it was doing). Also the current testing alpha netinst iso doesn't seem work
>>with Ventoy, which meant I had to dd it to its own usb stick. And yes, I only
>>download the files from debian.org.
>>
>>Have you tried finding the Debian Testing netinst checksums? You can find
>>them for the weekly builds if you look hard enough but not the ones for the
>>Alpha release. I thought maybe the alpha release would be a little more
>>stable than a weekly build....
>>
>>I can confirm that the problem with FAT32 was fixed by a reboot. I don't
>>reboot every day normally,
>>
>>The laptop is an ASUS FA506ICB. I'll be filing a bug report or three later.
>>Yesterday I just needed to get it working again, but I wanted to document the
>>pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth - I suspect I may have to do this
>>again...
>>
>>
OK, try this
https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=297
Linux Mint Debian addition is Debian stable with some mint improvements. It
has worked better for me than Debian stable.
I converted to deb testing several months ago, and disabled the mint repo line
from sources shortly after. I update and upgrade almost daily. The only issue
I've had has been a long standing niggle (long before this lmde installation)
where I find the laptop totally unresponsive when I open the lid some mornings
- about fortnightly.
If that .iso doesn't work, try the Ubuntu based mint .iso at
https://linuxmint.com/download.php
Seriously, I suspect that simply deleting the windows partitions removed some
part of the boot process that you need. What not try a clean install that
totally wipes the drive when you find a system that works
--
Keith Bainbridge
keith.bainbridge.3...@mail.com
0447 667 468
Sent from aPad
