Ubuntu
xserver-xorg-video-intel package

laptop hangs after natty install

Asked by Jean-Paul Berroir

I have a Packard Bell laptop (Easynote TH) which was running almost perfectly under kubuntu 10.10: I only had some weird behaviors with graphics, eg cannot play a video fullscreen. This decided me to upgrade to natty.

I first used the update manager: everything went normally until I was asked to reboot. Then, I saw a blue screen for a couple of seconds, the screen turned black and the computer was totally hung. I couldn't even get a console login through CTRL ALT F* . This seems like a problem with the graphic card: when booting, I see the HD lights flashing, so maybe it is booting but doesn't have any graphical output (which, you admit, is not so handy...)

Ok, I assumed something went wrong with the update manager and tried a fresh install from a USB stick. Installation was not even possible: after the first screen where you choose 'start kubuntu' or 'perform memory test', the screen turns black and the computer hangs.

I could manage to get back to lucid (fresh install from USB stick); there it works ... but the wireless network is not available. Aaaaaaaaaa. Ok I could get back to maverick but I would prefer having a least a LTS running, or the latest version.

In case this helps, I include below the result of lshw (performed after fresh install of lucid).

BTW: I tried both x86 and amd64 distributions: same behavior. I also checked the MD5SUM of the cd image: ok.

thanks for your help, this drives me mad!

output of lshw:

    description: Computer
    width: 32 bits
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       physical id: 0
     *-memory
          description: System memory
          physical id: 0
          size: 2955MiB
     *-cpu
          product: Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU T4500 @ 2.30GHz
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: 1
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: 6.7.10
          serial: 0001-067A-0000-0000-0000-0000
          size: 1200MHz
          capacity: 1200MHz
          width: 64 bits
          capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm xsave lahf_lm cpufreq
          configuration: id=1
        *-logicalcpu:0
             description: Logical CPU
             physical id: 1.1
             width: 64 bits
             capabilities: logical
        *-logicalcpu:1
             description: Logical CPU
             physical id: 1.2
             width: 64 bits
             capabilities: logical
     *-pci
          description: Host bridge
          product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 100
          bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
          version: 09
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
          configuration: driver=agpgart-intel
          resources: irq:0
        *-display:0
             description: VGA compatible controller
             product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
             version: 09
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list rom
             configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
             resources: irq:28 memory:d0000000-d03fffff memory:c0000000-cfffffff(prefetchable) ioport:50f0(size=8)
        *-display:1 UNCLAIMED
             description: Display controller
             product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
             version: 09
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
             resources: memory:d3400000-d34fffff
        *-usb:0
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1a
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:20 ioport:50c0(size=32)
        *-usb:1
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1a.7
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.7
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:21 memory:d6704c00-d6704fff
        *-multimedia
             description: Audio device
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1b
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
             version: 03
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=HDA Intel latency=0
             resources: irq:22 memory:d6700000-d6703fff
        *-pci:0
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:24 ioport:4000(size=4096) memory:d5700000-d66fffff ioport:d0400000(size=16777216)
        *-pci:1
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.1
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:25 ioport:3000(size=4096) memory:d4600000-d56fffff ioport:d1400000(size=16777216)
           *-network UNCLAIMED
                description: Network controller
                product: Broadcom Corporation
                vendor: Broadcom Corporation
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:04:00.0
                version: 01
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: bus_master cap_list
                configuration: latency=0
                resources: memory:d4600000-d4603fff
        *-pci:2
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 3
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.2
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:26 ioport:1000(size=8192) memory:d3500000-d45fffff ioport:d2400000(size=16777216)
           *-network
                description: Ethernet interface
                product: Atheros AR8132 / L1c Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
                vendor: Atheros Communications
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:05:00.0
                logical name: eth0
                version: c0
                serial: 88:ae:1d:6d:31:19
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=atl1c driverversion=1.0.0.1-NAPI firmware=N/A latency=0 multicast=yes
                resources: irq:29 memory:d3500000-d353ffff ioport:1000(size=128)
        *-usb:2
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:23 ioport:50a0(size=32)
        *-usb:3
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.1
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:19 ioport:5080(size=32)
        *-usb:4
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.2
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:20 ioport:5060(size=32)
        *-usb:5
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.3
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:18 ioport:5040(size=32)
        *-usb:6
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.7
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.7
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:23 memory:d6704800-d6704bff
        *-pci:3
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1e
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.0
             version: 93
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci bus_master cap_list
        *-isa
             description: ISA bridge
             product: ICH9M LPC Interface Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: isa bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
        *-storage
             description: SATA controller
             product: ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: storage bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
             resources: irq:27 ioport:50e8(size=8) ioport:50fc(size=4) ioport:50e0(size=8) ioport:50f8(size=4) ioport:5020(size=32) memory:d6704000-d67047ff
        *-serial UNCLAIMED
             description: SMBus
             product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
             version: 03
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             configuration: latency=0
             resources: memory:d6705000-d67050ff ioport:5000(size=32)

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Jean-Paul Berroir
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Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#1

Could you boot on Natty USB, choose "Try" instead of "Install" and report results ?
For black screen, you can have a look at: http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2010/05/06/ubuntu-10-04-lucid-blank-screen-at-startup-workaround/

Revision history for this message
Jean-Paul Berroir (jpb-a) said : 		#2

Thanks for answer!

-1) I'll have a close look at the provided link tomorrow and I'll let you know. But as I cannot reach GRUB (see below) I rather doubt it will work.
-2) Regarding booting in "try" mode rather than "install": problem is that I cannot reach this menu. On kubuntu distros you first have a screen with "perform memory test" (which lasts for ages) and "start kubuntu" which drives you to the "try/install" menu. As soon as I launch "start kubuntu" the computer hangs. I've got first a black screen with a blinking cursor and HD lights flashing, then nothing, totally black. The USB stick keeps flashing even after one hour... With the same procedure however, I could install lucid (without wifi although)

-Is trying a ubuntu distro rather than kubuntu a good idea? (I yet have some preferences for kubuntu)
-If you don't find a solution right now, does the lshw dump that I've provided give you some hint on why I don't have wifi under lucid?

many thanks

JP

Revision history for this message
Jean-Paul Berroir (jpb-a) said : 		#3

OK I've tried the workaround you gave me. This didn't solve my problem.

Here is the description of what I've done:

-Boot natty kubuntu amd64 from USB stick. At the first screen press F6 and escape to disable the menu; I can then edit the boot options.
I removed quiet splash -- and replace it with eg i915.modeset=1 --
Then I typed Enter to boot (CTRL-X just appends a x to the boot options)

Here are the results :
-first if I omitt the last "--" the screen turns to black with blinking cursor, then just black.
-For i915.modeset=1: lot of boot logs are displayed but too fast for me to notice anything. Then black screen

-For i915.modeset=0 again boot logs, then the boot freezes with an error message related to casper mount, I had time to "see /dev/sr0 no medium found" or something so, "stdin error 0", then lots of new errors with boot continuing with long hangs. After 15' it seems freezed, the last error messages are:
Preconfiguring networking .... ... scritps/casper-bottom/23networking: line 31: can't create /root/etc/network/interfaces: nonexistent directory. After 20' new errors occur it ends up with that message:

"target filesystem doesn't have requested /sbin/init.
No init found. Try passing init= bootarg."

I have then a script (initramfs) running

-for nomodeset: pretty much like i915.modeset=0

-for xforecevesa: pretty much like i915.modeset=1

Maybe you'd like to have the boot logs but I don't know how to transfer then to my spare pc

Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#4

1) Is trying a Ubuntu distro rather than Kubuntu a good idea? (I yet have some preferences for Kubuntu): Yes, you can install first "Gnome" Ubuntu (now "Unity" Ubuntu...) and then install KDE packages. There is a master package, which allow to load all KDE packages.
2) If you don't find a solution right now, does the lshw dump that I've provided give you some hint on why I don't have wifi under lucid?: No, as I know nothing on WIFI drivers (I still use wired connection only). But it could help someone else to answer you.
3)/dev/sr0 no medium found: You could have an issue with CD despite ISO image is OK: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/CDIntegrityCheck

Revision history for this message
Jean-Paul Berroir (jpb-a) said : 		#5

ok, time for me to find a place to burn a cd and I'll try

Revision history for this message
Jean-Paul Berroir (jpb-a) said : 		#6

Hi, I'm back with new results but my problem is still unsolved

-1) I've burnt on another pc a CD with kubuntu 11.04 x86, checked MD5SUM, performed CD integrity check and burnt as slowly as I could
-2) I then started my laptop on CD. I have to modify the boot options according to the tutorial http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2010/05/06/ubuntu-10-04-lucid-blank-screen-at-startup-workaround/ : I removed "quiet splash" and inserted "i915.modeset=0". All other possible options suggested by the tutorial fail.
-3) I am then able to launch kubuntu. "try ubuntu" works fine. I then used "install kubuntu", prepared partitions and so on and installation was OK
-4) on reboot however, the black screen is back. The computer yet starts: I ear the startup music but no video output at all, no console login possible. When I manage to shut down with CTRL-ALT-DEL I see for some seconds the kubuntu shutdown screen.
The aforementioned tutorial suggests to modify /etc/default/grub to add the "i915.modeset=0" boot option so as to make this boot options change permanent. But how can I do it without console login? Can you tell me if there is a way to do this ?

Revision history for this message
Jean-Paul Berroir (jpb-a) said : 		#7

Edit to my last message:
I have thought to
1 start laptop on CD
2 select "boot from hard disk"
3 prior to lauch press F6 and edit boot options (they are empty by default for this choice) to insert i915.modeset=0 --.
4 then start.
The computer then starts on disk, I assume the boot options has been taken into account but I have no way to check it as there are no logs.
Strange, this magical option has no effect and the screen keeps totally black.

Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#8

"But how can I do it without console login?" : Boot on Ubuntu CD, and choose "Try". Then Ctrl+T to get a terminal. Run "sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt", then "gksudo gedit /mnt/etc/default/grub".

Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#9

http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2010/05/06/ubuntu-10-04-lucid-blank-screen-at-startup-workaround/ : you could also try "i915.modeset=1" and "xforcevesa".

Revision history for this message
Jean-Paul Berroir (jpb-a) said : 		#10

Thanks for your help

After many tests it appeared that the right option to add was "nomodeset". Option i915.modeset=0 allowed me to install but not to boot.

Anyway I've learned a lot about GRUB, but I imagine a newcomer facing this problem.... it really should be fixed in next releases!

My solution was:

-Install from CD, hit F6 and select nomodeset;
-On first reboot, have the GRUB menu (SHIFT if not showing up) and type "e" to edit and insert "nomodeset" after "quiet splash"
-Once booted, edit /etc/default/grub and do the same, then sudo update-grub.

It seems to work now

thanks again for your help