Ubuntu
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Unable to install 11.04 amd64 on a ThinkPad L520

Bug #806434 reported by Stephen Rees-Carter on 2011-07-06

This bug report is a duplicate of: Bug #903558: [Lenovo ThinkPad L520] Unable to boot 12.04 without 'noapic' flag enabled in GRUB. Edit Remove

This bug affects 1 person

Affects		Status	Importance	Assigned to	Milestone
	linux (Ubuntu)	Confirmed	Undecided	Ubuntu Desktop Bugs

Bug Description

I have a new ThinkPad L520, Intel Core i7-2620M Processor w/ 6GB memory.

I am using the Ubuntu 11.04 amd64 Desktop and Alternate CD's but am unable to install Ubuntu. When the laptop boots, it gets to the initial options menu, but as soon as it tries to load into the Live CD it goes to a blank screen with the cursor flashing in the top corner.

What details do you need from me to help debug this?
I am unable to run commands on the laptop, since I have yet to get an OS installed successfully on it...
---
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.23.
Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices:
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC269VB Analog [ALC269VB Analog]
   Subdevices: 1/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
AudioDevicesInUse:
Cannot stat file /proc/18282/fd/3: Input/output error
                      USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0: valorin 2561 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
Card hw:0 'PCH'/'HDA Intel PCH at 0xf0900000 irq 44'
   Mixer name : 'Intel CougarPoint HDMI'
   Components : 'HDA:10ec0269,17aa21de,00100100 HDA:80862805,80860101,00100000'
   Controls : 23
   Simple ctrls : 10
Card29.Amixer.info:
Card hw:29 'ThinkPadEC'/'ThinkPad Console Audio Control at EC reg 0x30, fw 8GHT22WW-1.040000'
   Mixer name : 'ThinkPad EC 8GHT22WW-1.040000'
   Components : ''
   Controls : 1
   Simple ctrls : 1
Card29.Amixer.values:
Simple mixer control 'Console',0
   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined penum
   Playback channels: Mono
   Mono: Playback [on]
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release amd64 (20110427.1)
MachineType: LENOVO 7859CTO
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
LANGUAGE=en_AU:en
LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-10-generic root=UUID=b363dc62-7790-4745-b9a6-0a6117d8a4db ro quiet splash noapic vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-10.46-generic 2.6.38.7
RelatedPackageVersions:
linux-restricted-modules-2.6.38-10-generic N/A
linux-backports-modules-2.6.38-10-generic N/A
linux-firmware 1.52.1
StagingDrivers: rts_pstor
Tags: natty running-unity staging
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-10-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare
dmi.bios.date: 06/07/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 8GET33WW (1.10 )
dmi.board.name: 7859CTO
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr8GET33WW(1.10):bd06/07/2011:svnLENOVO:pn7859CTO:pvrThinkPadL520:rvnLENOVO:rn7859CTO:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 7859CTO
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad L520
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO

See original description

Tags:

Massimo Forti (slackwarelife) on 2011-07-06

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
assignee:	nobody → Massimo Forti (slackwarelife)

Revision history for this message

Massimo Forti (slackwarelife) wrote on 2011-07-06:

Hi, are you able to post the msg returned by the Live boot? Thanks.

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-06:

If I put the Desktop CD in and boot my machine, without pressing any keys in the process, all I see is this:

1. BIOS info screen (big ThinkPad logo)
2. Purple 'press a key for accessibility' screen
3. Black screen with cursor in top corner

What do I need to do during this process to see the messages you are after?

I have done further debugging:

I tried an Oneiric amd64 Daily build from Yesterday, it has the exact same problem.

I also tried a 10.04.2 LTS amd64 Desktop CD, which works fine (although it doesn't support my monitor resolution). So I was able to install 10.04.02 LTS on my laptop. I then went through Upgrade Manager to upgrade it to 10.10. After my system rebooted, it has the same problem as 11.04 - the blank screen.

BUT, at GRUB I have two Kernel options, so I selected the older one and it booted up into ttl1 console - no GUI, but at least I got a console. So I can now run commands on the box, under 10.10.
It is prompting me to upgrade to Natty, so I might give that a go later today and see how far that gets me.

The two Kernel options under 10.10 are:
BLANK SCREEN - 2.6.35-30-generic
CONSOLE ONLY - 2.6.32-28-generic

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-06:

Following some questions in an AskUbuntu Question I posted (http://askubuntu.com/questions/51983/unable-to-install-boot-11-04-on-a-thinkpad-l520), I have discovered that any of these boot options get the installer working: acpi=off, noapic & nolapic.

From a brief googling, I am worried about using acpi=off as it apparently stops the fan from turning on?

What do these options do, and what downsides/issues will I encounter if I use them?

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Massimo Forti (slackwarelife) wrote on 2011-07-08:

Hi, by passing ACPI = OFF parameters to the kernel you are in effect turning off those functions.

ACPI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance...ower_Interface

APIC: http://osdev.berlios.de/pic.html

But this option can help you to install Ubuntu. These are the steps:

http://stephen.rees-carter.net/2011/07/installing-ubuntu-11-04-on-a-thinkpad-l520/

let me know, thanks.

Revision history for this message

Massimo Forti (slackwarelife) wrote on 2011-07-08:

Some people have problem to install Ubuntu 11.04 64bit on AMD64 ThinkPad L520. On web are present many post and faq about this problems.

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
assignee:	Massimo Forti (maxforti) → Ubuntu Desktop Bugs (desktop-bugs)
status:	New → Confirmed

Revision history for this message

Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-08:

Massimo Forti,

Thanks for those links about ACPI and APIC, it's still pretty confusing but I'm happy I have a working system now with noapic turned on.

The funny thing is, that blog post you linked is actually my blog, I posted the steps I used for any others who might have the same problem :) I've turned it into a static troubleshooting page: http://stephen.rees-carter.net/thinkpad-l520-ubuntu-11-04/

Now that I have a working system, what information should I provide? What commands should I run and post output of?
I know there is a list of "provide these" for Kernel bugs, I'll try and find it now...

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-08: AcpiTables.txt

AcpiTables.txt Edit (276.4 KiB, text/plain)

apport information

tags:	added: apport-collected natty running-unity staging
description:	updated

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-08: AlsaDevices.txt

AlsaDevices.txt Edit (705 bytes, text/plain)

apport information

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-08: AplayDevices.txt

AplayDevices.txt Edit (469 bytes, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-08: BootDmesg.txt

#10

BootDmesg.txt Edit (58.0 KiB, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-08: Card0.Amixer.values.txt

#11

Card0.Amixer.values.txt Edit (2.0 KiB, text/plain)

apport information

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-08: Card0.Codecs.codec.0.txt

#12

Card0.Codecs.codec.0.txt Edit (8.5 KiB, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-08: Card0.Codecs.codec.3.txt

#13

Card0.Codecs.codec.3.txt Edit (3.6 KiB, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-08: CurrentDmesg.txt

#14

CurrentDmesg.txt Edit (23.8 KiB, text/plain)

apport information

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-08: IwConfig.txt

#15

IwConfig.txt Edit (561 bytes, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: Lspci.txt

#16

Lspci.txt Edit (11.9 KiB, text/plain)

apport information

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: Lsusb.txt

#17

Lsusb.txt Edit (386 bytes, text/plain)

apport information

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: PciMultimedia.txt

#18

PciMultimedia.txt Edit (604 bytes, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: ProcCpuinfo.txt

#19

ProcCpuinfo.txt Edit (3.4 KiB, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: ProcCpuinfo_.txt

#20

ProcCpuinfo_.txt Edit (3.4 KiB, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: ProcInterrupts.txt

#21

ProcInterrupts.txt Edit (1.9 KiB, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: ProcModules.txt

#22

ProcModules.txt Edit (3.1 KiB, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: RfKill.txt

#23

RfKill.txt Edit (182 bytes, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: UdevDb.txt

#24

UdevDb.txt Edit (117.1 KiB, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: UdevLog.txt

#25

UdevLog.txt Edit (263.4 KiB, text/plain)

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-09: WifiSyslog.txt

#26

WifiSyslog.txt Edit (1.3 KiB, text/plain)

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Massimo Forti (slackwarelife) wrote on 2011-07-12:

#27

Hi, thanks for your information on your blog, I used it a lot. According to lenovo web site, you must to update your bios to solve the problem. The link is: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-77080.

Let me know. Thanks.

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Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin) wrote on 2011-07-13:

#28

Unfortunately, my laptop is running a newer version of BIOS than is available on the Lenovo website...

I've got:
dmi.bios.date: 06/07/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 8GET33WW (1.10)

I'm reluctant to downgrade the BIOS if the version I have isn't available - in case it breaks the system completely.

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