Ubuntu Tutorials

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:

1. At the install screen press ‘F6‘ and insert one of the options below, depending on your hardware.
2. On first boot after install, press e to edit the GRUB menu.
3. Using the arrow keys to navigate, delete quiet and splash and again insert one of the options below.
4. 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:

1. Edit the /etc/default/grub file. You will need Admin privileges to do so (sudo)
2. Find this line: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash”
3. 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!

If this article has been helpful, please consider linking to it.

Last nite I decided to install Beryl and AIGLX after upgrading to Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft). After getting things setup and enjoying the sweet new features of Beryl I thought I’d post my instructions. note: All previous installations of XGL/AIGLX must be removed for this to work.

Step 1: Make sure your desktop meta-package is installed.
sudo aptitude install ubuntu-desktop (for Ubuntu)
sudo aptitude install kubuntu-desktop (for Kubuntu)

Step 2: Add one of these repositories to your /etc/apt/sources.list (or System > Administration > Software Sources).
deb http://www.beerorkid.com/compiz edgy main-edgy
deb http://media.blutkind.org/xgl/ edgy main-edgy
deb http://compiz-mirror.lupine.me.uk/ edgy main-edgy
deb http://ubuntu.compiz.net/ edgy main-edgy

Or for you 64bit people out there:
deb http://compiz-mirror.lupine.me.uk/ edgy main-edgy main-edgy-amd64

Step 3: Import the GPG key for the repository.
wget http://ubuntu.compiz.net/quinn.key.asc -O – | sudo apt-key add -

Step 4: Use this repository for the latest nVidia drivers.
deb http://amaranth.selfip.com edgy lrm

Step 5: Make sure you’ve got 3D rendering setup.
sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx
sudo apt-get install linux-686 (Intel Processors)
sudo apt-get install linux-686-smp (Intel Multiple Processors / Core Duo)
sudo apt-get install linux-k7 (AMD Processors)
(for more on 3D rendering use the Latest nVidia for Dapper

Step 6: Run the following command & restart your Desktop (ctrl-alt-bksp).
sudo nvidia-xconfig

Step 7: Make sure your machine is completely up-to-date.
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude upgrade
sudo aptitude dist-upgrade

Step 8: Install the Beryl packages.
sudo apt-get install beryl-core beryl-plugins beryl-plugins-data emerald beryl-settings beryl-manager beryl beryl-dev emerald-themes

Step 9: Add the following to the end of your xorg.conf. (MAKE A BACKUP FIRST!)

BACKUP: cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf-WORKING.

# If you are using an older version of compiz that
# does not support rendering into the Composite
# Overlay Window, you will need to disable clipping
# of GLX rendering to the X Root window with this
# option, or you will get a blank screen after
# starting compiz:
# Option “DisableGLXRootClipping” “True”
Option “TripleBuffer” “True”

Step 10: Make sure your defaultdepth is 24 in xorg.conf
Restart X with ctrl-alt-bksp and log in again.
ALT-F2 – beryl-manager and start Beryl.

You should be done at this point. You should see the Beryl splash-screen. If not you’ve missed a step or something is else is missing. If it doesn’t work see the list of places below:

Other Beryl and Compiz Tutorials
Install nVidia Drivers
Install Latest nVidia Drivers
Enable Compositing in X

Outside of that you can use #ubuntu-xgl on irc.freenode.net for more tips and help. I hope the above steps work for you. I can say Beryl is much nicer than the Compiz / XGL I’ve seen in the past. Enjoy!