Solved Dell Inspiron 16 7640 --cannot install Fedora??

[splott]

I finally got everything tweaked on my practice laptop, it's all working the way I want, so I went to put Fedora on my new laptop, and ...it won't install. It lets me choose "Test this media and Install" and then when I hit enter, the screen goes black with a static cursor in the upper left corner and stays there forever.

Secure Boot is turned off, I've tried all the bios options I can come up with, but I can't find the problem. I had Ubuntu booted earlier today, it was fine, but Fedora won't, not even just to the live first-step, where it asks me to select destination drive, etc.

And before you suggest it, I tried to post directly to the Fedora channels, but it won't let me into the chat or forums even though I have an account already.

 

[Condobloke]

What breed is the new laptop?

Have you tried returning bios to default ?

 

[splott]

see above, Dell Inspiron 16 7640

like, turn Secure Boot back on? ALL defaults? or just..some?

 

[Condobloke]

ALL

zero back on

 

[splott]

I did try resetting bios settings back to defaults. no change.
I even tried enabling Secure Boot as long a I was at it, no change.

 

[Condobloke]

Which Fedora is this ? It is unusual for a dell to give problems.

 

[Condobloke]

Is there a 'Fastboot" bios setting there.......did the new laptop have windows on it initially /

 

[splott]

I tried the latest Fedora, 42, then 40, and then I read something that said there could be a problem with uefi and the motherboard and that would be solved by going back to 36 and then just updating once installed...but none of them worked.

the new laptop has windows 11 on it now.
fastboot doesn't sound familiar, i can go look again...(I'm familiar with the concept, i just don't know where it is in the Dell BIOS, which is a shiny gui interface I'm just learning).

 

[Condobloke]

Are you going to dual boot or is this to be Linux only install

On which machine was the bootable usb stick set up......windows or Linux

Try using balena etcher on your Linux pc if you haven't done so already

 

[splott]

the intent was to be linux only.
but if I can't get Fedora working, I don't know...Fedora+gnome is the only combo that reliably works with 2-in-1 laptops, the screen autorotate doesn't work right in every other situation i could find. i guess i could dual-boot a different distro and boot back to windows when i need to convert the laptop to different orientation? but that's really awkward.

 

[splott]

Are you going to dual boot or is this to be Linux only install

On which machine was the bootable usb stick set up......windows or Linux

Try using balena etcher on your Linux pc if you haven't done so already

sorry, forgot a couple answers: i wrote the stick on the windows device with rufus, same as all the other bootable USBs I've made lately, i'll give it a try on the other one tomorrow.

but my hunch is that's not it. I think it's something to do with the bios/uefi thing...maybe even directly related to that shiny "bios" interface that comes with Dell? I could be wrong...

 

[Condobloke]

Disable legacy bios

 

[wizardfromoz]

@splott , G'day and welcome to linux.org.

I have a Dell Inspiron 17 5000 series, specifically 5770, about 2019, and run over 60 Linux on the rig.

I'll try to have a look in on this thread on my tomorrow.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

 

[theLegionWithin]

some mentions here regarding a recent Dell bios update breaking compatibility with fedora --> https://www.dell.com/community/en/c...reaks-linux-installs/67d09c66c5ead74c2bf65cd5 - maybe revert to a previous bios version

 

[MikeWalsh]

@theLegionWithin :-

some mentions here regarding a recent Dell bios update breaking compatibility with fedora --> https://www.dell.com/community/en/c...reaks-linux-installs/67d09c66c5ead74c2bf65cd5 - maybe revert to a previous bios version

.....except I suspect the OP would prefer to keep the newest BIOS possible (especially if the "auto-rotate thing" depends on some setting provided in that newest version)?

You could well be right as to a possible "solution", though.

I agree with the previous sentiments as well. It IS unusual for Dells to give issues like this; normally, they're very "Linux-friendly".....although I confess I'm all-at-sea when it comes to all this modern "2-in-1", "convertible", "touchscreen", "dual-screen" malarkey.

( I'm a dinosaur! It takes me all my time to deal with a single screen along with a keyboard & mouse!! Next you'll be wanting me to drag myself into the 21st century.... )

[ ...mutter, mutter, grumble, grumble. Sheesh, whatever next...? ]




Mike.

 

[splott]

Disable legacy bios

okay we're getting into the "how the heck do I do that?" territory, I'll have to look it up.

...but I thought UEFI was the NEW thing? and BIOS was the old one? so it seems like I'd go the other direction? But BIOS has been "the thing" since I started computer-ing 30+ years ago so maybe I'm making assumptions.

But that link above shows it might be specific to Dell, the Lenovo Yoga I'm typing on right now did NOT have that problem, it's not new-new, but it was surplus from work, so it's probably 5ish years old. It didn't have any problem installing and I got the autorotate working as soon as I tried Gnome, that's why i was thinking the Dell would be easy too. <sigh>

It occurs to me, I could bite the bullet and just rotate it manually in the display settings whenever I want to flip it. I was/am surprised nobody has made a widget for that to throw on the taskbar/desktop, seems like autorotate is a bust on 95% of distros so I'd think someone would've made one? But I haven't found anything simple like that...but I could maybe make a keyboard shortcut to the command-line command...hmm.

Anyway i got it working on this one (the Yoga) so it should be doable on the Dell...UNLESS, as someone theorized, the problem is attached to the BIOS which is fundamentally different on the Dell, as revealed by this whole "can't install fedora" fiasco.
@MikeWalsh Dell specifically recommended Ubuntu for their computers. but they don't mention the screen autorotate..or any other distros. Just Ubuntu. Also, FYI i'm not a spring chicken either, but I'm extremely adaptable and once you've gotten used to a convenience, it's hard to go back. <shrug>

But that's neither here 'nor there, I guess.

At this point I think my action items are:
Look into "disable legacy boot"
Read more from that Dell-specific link above once i've had more coffee.
and the INaction item: patiently wait for @wizardfromoz to wake up, since he's got an older version of this very machine.

Last-ditch option is to explore making a keyboard shortcut for flipping the screen, and going with Ubuntu or Manjaro, those are the two that I've had working from Live USBs on the Dell in the past.

 

[MikeWalsh]

@splott :-

Last-ditch option is to explore making a keyboard shortcut for flipping the screen, and going with Ubuntu or Manjaro, those are the two that I've had working from Live USBs on the Dell in the past.

TBH, that would be MY first "port of call". Anytime I find I'm wanting to use any command that runs from the terminal, at all regularly, my first thought is almost invariably "Right; let's knock-together a widget I can run from Puppy's taskbar (or 'Launch' area, or notification area.") YAD - the modern fork of the older Zenity - gets roped in for this, mainly 'cos it's just SO much simpler to use than gtk-dialog is (which most folks would use). Gtk-dialog is a PITA.

(I put executable icons all over the place, me. It's a throwback to my Win XP days, I'm afraid; I got very used to my GUIs & 'launchers', and I'm not SO pedantic that everything has to be "just so" and nothing else will do. The sheer amount of things I've created launch widgets for over the years is nobody's business!)

I'd far sooner build my own widget than go through all the hassle of trying-out distro after distro just to find one that has the behaviour I want. Why search for functionality when you can create it yourself? It's yet another area where Linux excels compared to Windoze or Crapple. Don't ask me how you'd go about it, though; I've used Puppy's lightweight ROX-filer/JWM combo for so many years I can almost tear it down & re-build it in my sleep.....but I'm totally lost when it comes to "full" DEs.

Wouldn't know where to begin with those....

(And yes; you're right. It is UEFI - not 'BIOS' - but most of us have been thinking in terms of BIOS for so many years we tend to use the two terms interchangeably. We know what we mean, even if we don't always use the precisely correct terminology all the time,)


Mike.

 

[Condobloke]

seeing the Dell is new.....I will throw this in......not to confuse....but becasue this was found on an Asus m'board and led us a merry dance until the owner discovered it quite by chance.....the quote below are his words then he found it...
""There is a physical IPMI and BMC switch on the board. Flipped them off. Tried to boot into Mint,...and it worked !""

IPMI switch (my comment)

seeing this is a laptop, you may find reference to ipmi in the bios/uefi ....maybe not.
Worth a look.

 

[909mjolnir]

From a different computer, I'd download and install to a fresh USB drive the ISO. And also maybe download a different linux ISO and install that to yet another USB drive. Don't put all your efforts into Fedora. Ubuntu Gnome works with touchscreen last time I heard about it. But overall, I'm thinking that maybe your first try didn't work because maybe the ISO/USB drive were corrupt.

Somebody else on the forum had a similar problem and it was fixed by getting a fresh ISO on a different USB drive I think.

 

[splott]

From a different computer, I'd download and install to a fresh USB drive the ISO. And also maybe download a different linux ISO and install that to yet another USB drive. Don't put all your efforts into Fedora. Ubuntu Gnome works with touchscreen last time I heard about it. But overall, I'm thinking that maybe your first try didn't work because maybe the ISO/USB drive were corrupt.

Somebody else on the forum had a similar problem and it was fixed by getting a fresh ISO on a different USB drive I think.

Touchscreen and autorotate are entirely different animals.
I've tried several different ISOs, and I'm pretty sure I tried different USB drives? but I've made sure. no change.