Ubuntu
ubiquity package

12.04 installation failures, including black screen with blinking cursor

Asked by Jesper Sisask

I want to install the 32 bit version of Ubuntu Desktop 12.04 LTS. I've downloaded the ISO, verified its integrity with md5sum, burnt it to a CD, and verified the integrity of all the files on the CD. When I boot from the CD, the purple boot screen appears briefly, and is then replaced by a black screen with a blinking cursor. Eventually the cursor stops blinking, and the DVD drive goes quiet. From this point onward, nothing happens.

I've tried pressing F6 on boot and toggling the 'nomodeset' option - it results in a black screen with a cursor that keeps blinking. I've also tried the alternate install CD (again, having verified the ISO and files on the burnt CD) - after selecting a language and the 'Install Ubuntu' option, the screen goes (and stays) black, this time with no blinking cursor.

I left a memory test running for about an hour, it seemed fine.

Hardware/OS:

Processor: Intel Core i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770K
Graphics: Integrated Intel HD 4000 Graphics (HDMI, DVI, 1920x1200)
RAM: 16GB Kingston HyperX Genesis Dual-DDR3 2133MHz
Storage: 240GB Intel 520 Series SSD
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO
Monitor: Asus PA246Q
OS: Windows 7 Premium (trial version)

The monitor is connected with a DVI cable. I want to create a dual-boot system, but I haven't created a partition for Ubuntu yet (I want the installer to run properly first).

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Try the boot option:

nouveau.blacklist=1

You may have issues as you have that switching GPU nonsense. It causes a lot of issues

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Jesper Sisask (jespersisask) said : 		#2

I've now tried the nouveau.blacklist=1 option, together with removal of the "quiet splash" option. The installation proceeds for a short while but halts to a grind when preconfiguring networking, with the following output:

Begin: Preconfiguring networking... ... [ 73.004468] ata7.00: exception Emask 0x52 SAct 0x0 Serr 0xffffffff action 0xe frozen
[ 73.004501] ata7: SError: { RecovData RecovComm UnrecovData Persist Proto HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt CommWake 10B8B Dispar BadCRC Handshk LinkSeq TrStaTrns UnrecFIS DevExch }
[ 73.004543] ata 7.00: failed command: IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE
[ 73.004543] ata 7.00: cmd a1/00:01:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 0 pio 512 in
[ 73.004561] ata 7.00: res 40/00:02:00:00:02/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x56 (ATA bus error)
[ 73.004600] ata 7.00: status: { DRDY }
[ 73.004613] ata 7: hard resetting link

After the last line above, nothing happens.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

If you install with USB, is it ok. Sounds like a bad device, either HDD or CD drive

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Jesper Sisask (jespersisask) said : 		#4

Booting from USB fails for me as well. I've tried it with two different USB sticks (one being a Kingston DataTraveler 101 Gen 2 16GB USB Drive, the other a SanDisk Cruzer), and I get a similar issue in both cases. Here's the output I get when trying to boot from the Kingston DataTraveler:

"Unknown keyword in configuration file: (junk characters)
Unknown keyword in configuration file: (junk characters)
Unknown keyword in configuration file: (junk characters)
Unknown keyword in configuration file: (junk characters)
Unknown keyword in configuration file: (junk characters)
vesamenu.c32: not a COM32R image
boot:"

The last two lines above then repeat indefinitely. The output when using the SanDisk one is similar, except that the output above is preceeded by two lines saying "No child node, aborting". I've tried typing both "live" and "help" at the boot prompt above, in each case the reply is "Could not find kernel image: [live|help]". I wrote the installer to each USB as per the instructions at http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows.

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Jesper Sisask (jespersisask) said : 		#5

Also, the SSD and the DVD drive have worked fine under Windows.

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Launchpad Janitor (janitor) said : 		#6

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.

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Matt Feeley (mattrfeeley) said : 		#7

Having a very similar problem.
Just installed Ubuntu 12.04 x64 on a fresh built box with an asus p8V77-V motherboard, 2700K intel i7, and have a monitor hooked up via hdmi to the onboard video.
All I get is a blinking cursor now...

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Matt Feeley (mattrfeeley) said : 		#8

Ah, nevermind, had to set it to boot from the fourth option in the list (three letters, started with a p, wasn't the hard drive, disk drive, or flash).

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Matt Feeley (mattrfeeley) said : 		#9

Ok, so the problem was that the standard settings for partitioning and installing ubuntu 12.04 from a flash drive install grub to the flash drive, instead of the hard drive.
Here's the fix:
Boot from the flash drive
run: sudo grub-install /dev/sda
(and by sda, i mean whatever drive you want to have grub)

I feel like this shouldn't be the default option?