Ubuntu 10.04 “Lucid” Blank Screen at Startup : Workaround
There have been a number of reports regarding blank screens at startup pre and post installation on the new Ubuntu 10.04 “Lucid” release. It seems there are some incompatibilities with some video drivers, particularly (not surprising) some ATI and nVidia. Also in the mix are some older Intel cards. This post outlines a workaround you can try in order to get your video working properly again.
Booting from CD
This section outlines how to workaround the video issue while booting from the CD. Your mileage may vary, depending on your video card, but hopefully this steers you in the right direction:
- At the install screen press ‘F6‘ and insert one of the options below, depending on your hardware.
- On first boot after install, press e to edit the GRUB menu.
- Using the arrow keys to navigate, delete quiet and splash and again insert one of the options below.
- Press Ctrl and X to boot.
The suggested options that I have found are hardware specific. Here is a list:
- Older Intel video card: i915.modeset=1 or i915.modeset=0
- nVidia: nomodeset
- Generic: xforcevesa
Hopefully one of these options will get you up and running. Keep reading now to make these changes persistent!
GRUB
You’ll want to change these settings in GRUB so they’ll automatically be applied on each reboot. To do so, follow the steps below:
- Edit the /etc/default/grub file. You will need Admin privileges to do so (sudo)
- Find this line: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash”
- Replace with: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash <option>”
For example, if I had an older Intel model, my GRUB configuration would read:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash i915.modeset=1″
Save your changes and you should get proper graphics on each reboot.
UPDATE: Based on a lot of user feedback I am reminded that you need to run ‘update-grub’ after you make changes.
Feeback
If you have any additional suggestions, please leave them as comments here. Different hardware often needs different options, and it would be nice to cover as many as needed in a central place. Good luck!
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Great post!!!
I have a Dell 700m that I tried to upgrade with 10.4 and am getting the blank screen…specs say I have a “Intel Extreme Graphics” card will either i915.modeset=1 or i915.modeset=0 work? Or is there something else I can use?
I have tried all the solutions mentioned above to no avail. I use a Hp compaq 615. When I use acpi=off option in the grub menu, it loads fine but my bluetooth and wireless are no longer working. I never had this issue with 9.04. Please someone tell me what to do!!!
I have tried the solution on my Sony VIAO VGN-T37TP but still failed to boot and install 10.04 on it. Any suggestion??? Thanks
This resolved it on my old Compaq Evo N800c with ATI
In the file
/etc/default/grub
changed the line
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash”
into
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash nomodeset vga=0×318″
and saved it (edit as root, use your editor through sudo, for example).Then run
sudo update-grub
in a command window (uses /etc/default/grub as template).
The thing vga=0×318 is to get a little neater splash picture and also not such a large text at console login, if you ever try that. Without it will function equally with a larger splash.
Since there is no intervention with acpi etc., nomodset seems to be useful(?)
Extactly the same problem. Any suggestions?
Hey guys, thanks for the help! i had the same problem on an asus P4c800 mainbord with a ati radeon 9600. for me, it was the acpi=off that did it. after changing that in the grub, everything boots fine. i have no problems with my wifi with acpi turned off.
For my ATI HD5450 I had to add radeon.modeset=0 xforcevesa
My system has an ATI PCIe card and I get the white screen of death when booting my Lucid install disc. Had to revert to Karmic just to get my system back up and running. Anyone else getting the WSOD when booting a Lucid install disc?
I will attempt updating to Lucid from Karmic and making sure that I have the nomodeset option in my grub file before rebooting. {fingers crossed}
I’m using the “old” Grub and so I had to add “i915.modeset=1″ in “/boot/grub/menu.lst” behind the “quiet splash”. Works perfectly. Thanks!
Im new to ubuntu and linix in general.
trying to install every timdo a get the out of range across my hdtv compture montor.
I have a old intel video card and cant seem to get it to work even with this guide.
Id like further explaination if someone would be so kind.
Im not sure how to install the option using F6
Greeat post! Worked for my old toshiba laptop with the ancient intel chip onboard. Added “i915.modeset=1″ on the end of the boot parameters, and installation finally began rather then just dumping me off on a black screen.
Thanks. Adding “nomodeset” fixed this problem on my HP Pavillion a1730n desktop.
Thank you so #$@%ing much. Been searching everywhere for a fix for this. It worked wonders. I’m gonna print this out for the future just in case
Again, thank you!
Referring to my earlier post:
@ Tore Ericsson
I did try the same trick on a formally equal but some year older laptop, but this one required the ONLY extra parameter ‘radeon.modeset=0 ‘ to properly show the splash screen (thanks, XabiX! — xforcevesa destructive, though).
All other options, like also vga=x0…, did at worst destroy tty1–6 and did also ‘touch’ something in the sound system (malfunction messages after startup). So each system seems to need individual check, and I did not get the console mode on this laptop to show other than those huge letters.
A little disappointing from an LTS release.
Hi. This is awesome, finally worked for me on an Acer Travelmate 290 using the option i915.modeset=1
To get into Grub on first reboot, hold down the Shift key
Thanks a lot!
I have a Fujitsu Amilo L1300 laptop with an integrated Intel graphics card. These tips haven’t worked for me so far =(
I tried it on a DELL T7500 workstation with two NVIDIA AVG275 cards, and it did not help. Went back to Ubuntu 8.04…. Please somebody fix it for newer versions!
I also tried upgrading from 9.10 or 9.04, but it only works if I used the live cd..
After applying the work around as you pointed out( big thanks by the way)the first part works meaning during start up but i have difficulty making it permanent.In the Terminal when i put the command sudo egdit/etc/default/grub i get the reply “command not found” .Any work around on this?
Thanks– “i915.modeset=1″ fixed the problem on my Toshiba a45 s120
Yes, thanks — “i915.modeset=1″ worked on my Toshiba a45 s150, as well. Adding the parameter was the easy part. Finally discovering that hitting the Shift key right after BIOS boot was the only way to get a Grub boot menu in order to add the parameter, now that was the tedious part…
Thanks, it works! Acer Travelmate 250