Ubuntu

Installation Problem with iMac 24" 7600GT card

Asked by Juan Vinton

I am newb when it comes to installing ubuntu( or linux for that matter), but I have read the documentation and can follow directions well enough.

My problem is this. I am installing linux on a White iMac rev 6,1 model #MA456LL. I installed rEFIt so I could access the HD partition where I wanted to install linux. The problem is when I insert the disk for the Ubuntu install (9.04), I get a black screen. There is some noise made by the DVD drive for a few minutes, but nothing after that.

It remains like this for some time until I restart. I have left it running for 30 minutes to verify if there is a really slow load time to introduce the install. However, this is not the case.

My initial diagnosis is that the video card installed is not supported (Geforce 7600 GT 256mb DDR3). I read the install instructions and it only seems to support the 7300GT, intel graphics, or the X1600. I assume that there is not video support for my card. If this is the case, I am not sure how to find my way around this problem.

Does anyone have any experience with this problem? If so, any tips or guidance would be appreciated. If there is pertinent information that I have not provided, please let me know.

Thanks

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
Ubuntu Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
Juan Vinton
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-fix-ubuntu-10-04-lts-lucid-blank-screen-at-startup.html

Revision history for this message
Juan Vinton (juvinton) said : 		#2

Thank you for the post. However, I am still having the problem. The situation is that when I insert the disk and boot from the install disk(using either 9.04 or 9.10), I get a black screen. Therefore, I cannot even get the options that your link suggests.

I will keep evaluating, but if there are any more suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Revision history for this message
Greg Beam (ki7mt) said : 		#3

Juan,

Try downloading the Alternate Version of the Distribution you want to install (Desktop, Server etc).

For Example:

Ubuntu-Alternate-ISO-x86: http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-alternate-i386.iso

Ubuntu-Alternate-ISO-AMD64: http://releases.ubuntu.com/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-alternate-amd64.iso

You can do the same for Kubuntu, Xubuntu or EDubuntu.

Let us know how things go.

KE1HA

Revision history for this message
Juan Vinton (juvinton) said : 		#4

@ KE1HA

Thanks for the suggestion. I downloaded the iso-x86 and gave it a go. The same thing happened which is strange to me since this installation should not rely on the Video Card.

I tried this a couple of times, but I still get a black(not blank) screen. I let it sit for about 7 minutes to see if the boot screen needed time to load, but nothing happened.

I will keep trying. I would like to get ubuntu going on this machine, but if worse comes to worse, OS X is not that bad to live with.

Thanks again for your replies. I will leave this thread "unanswered" to see if anyone else offers a suggestion.

Revision history for this message
Juan Vinton (juvinton) said : 		#5

To close this matter up, I went ahead and installed linux mint 9. For some reason, of which I have no idea, this installed just fine. The problem that I am running into with this is that when upgrading the graphics drivers, I get a blank screen on restart. But at this point, I will not worry about it. I am glad it installed and I will play with ubuntu once 10.10 is up and running for a couple of months.

Thanks again for those who replied. Your responses were helpful and appreciated.