Installed new grapghics card, blank monitors at boot up

Condobloke

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This a follow oin from THIS topic.....

Linux Mint 18.1

Installed a nvidia Geforce GT 170

plugged into motherboard....found choice of drivers in "driver manager'...nvidias or open source

Used bioth of them and got same result....press start button....both monitors remain blank and off until well into what i assume is the boot procedure.
Ar around the 30 second mark the speajer lights give a flash, i get 'hdmi on one screen and the 'on' light lights up on the other....10 seconds later I have two loaded desktops......Perfect...except if i wish to boot to a usb, i do not get that option.....no F11 prompt to boot a usb or whatever....

I followed Wizardfrom oz's advice in that previous topic in order (hopefully) to get some daylight....but no dice.....the whole procedure remains irritatingly the same !

below are pics of the grub file, and the terminal after sudo update-grub

2lav7nd.jpg


20fuk38.jpg
 


Brian this my last one for the evening, but may be of assistance to some.

Output from the following two systemd-analyze commands may be of assistance:

Code:
systemd-analyze critical-chain

and

Code:
systemd-analyze blame

There is a longer one which can be of use, and that is

Code:
systemd-analyze dump

that is best >'ed to a file, but it can be 25,000 lines or more, so I am not in a hurry to explore there.

Hope someone has some better ideas, and

Cheers

Wizard
 
brian@brian-desktop ~ $ systemd-analyze critical-chain
The time after the unit is active or started is printed after the "@" character.
The time the unit takes to start is printed after the "+" character.

graphical.target @11.032s
└─multi-user.target @11.032s
└─vmware.service @9.260s +1.771s
└─network-online.target @9.246s
└─NetworkManager-wait-online.service @1.323s +7.922s
└─NetworkManager.service @1.159s +152ms
└─dbus.service @1.126s
└─basic.target @1.123s
└─sockets.target @1.123s
└─uuidd.socket @1.123s
└─sysinit.target @1.121s
└─systemd-update-utmp.service @1.102s +17ms
└─systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service @1.083s +13ms
└─local-fs.target @1.069s
└─run-user-1000-gvfs.mount @10.868s
└─run-user-1000.mount @9.913s
└─local-fs-pre.target @865ms
└─lvm2-monitor.service @145ms +719ms
└─lvm2-lvmetad.service @186ms
└─system.slice @119ms
lines 1-23


brian@brian-desktop ~ $ systemd-analyze blame
7.922s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
5.217s udev-configure-printer@-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:14.0-usb1-1\
1.771s vmware.service
719ms lvm2-monitor.service
445ms dev-sda1.device
359ms apt-daily.service
338ms postfix.service
214ms vmware-USBArbitrator.service
212ms networking.service
192ms ModemManager.service
188ms accounts-daemon.service
178ms avahi-daemon.service
154ms loadcpufreq.service
152ms NetworkManager.service
152ms systemd-logind.service
151ms thermald.service
146ms ufw.service
121ms irqbalance.service
121ms grub-common.service
119ms apache2.service
112ms console-setup.service
105ms virtualbox-guest-utils.service
89ms ondemand.service
lines 1-23
 
Hi guys!

Brian, you didn't comment in the other post to this link I gave about fixing this problem on Ubuntu (which should probably work with Mint too). A little more Googling this morning finds many similar posts, including some that are Mint-specific. So check these other links as well, and note the very slight variations from each other. Your solution may be in there though you may have to try those variations. Some of the links are old, so this problem has been around for awhile, but other info is fairly current so it is probably still relevant.

https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1570 (easiest, if it works)
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=154617
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=109&t=69688#p402718

This link below is about installing Plymouth on Debian and the settings to make it work. You'll again see similarities to the other links and advice, but this is a different initramfs file being modified. https://miguelmenendez.pro/en/artic...hical-boot-animation-while-boot-shutdown.html

The link below is again about Ubuntu, but especially note how to interrupt GRUB and the steps to see what video modes are available at this stage of the boot process. The other links may also cover this too, but this link is up front and shows a pic of what you'll see. You want to choose the highest resolution that is available to your card from this list, although your running desktop resolution could possibly be higher. https://onetransistor.blogspot.com/2016/03/plymouth-fix-nvidia.html

Because of all the little variations, take notes of all your original settings so that you can restore them. Be especially careful with some instructions about changing initramfs -- for example:

Code:
echo FRAMEBUFFER=y | sudo tee /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash

The link that included that instruction also instructs how to make a backup of the file that it is changing... so you have to know what's going on here and that your method of backing out and going back to original is to restore the backup file that was made before the change. So take your time and don't make things worse... not having any working video is like not having a working computer! :eek:

With luck, the first link (the easy one) will fix it for you. But at least you see you are not alone with this problem.
 
I like that one Atanere has provided ending "easiest if it works".

Just two (2) provisos, with that:
  1. Daniel Richter's Grub Customizer is 7 years old and showing its age. Probably OK just to change resolution, but a PITA in other services it provides, particularly if you multiboot like I do
  2. Brian, if you want your splash screen back, on successful use of one of Atanere's offerings, you will just have to retrace your steps with "no quiet nosplash" engaged in previously, ie remove the two instances of "no"
Good luck, I am a bit beyond my paygrade here, so will confine myself to stuff I know about, lol.

Wiz
 
....Easiest one.....
brian@brian-desktop ~ $ sudo gedit /etc/default/grub
[sudo] password for brian:
sudo: gedit: command not found
brian@brian-desktop

EDit: substituted 'nano' for gedit....and the command 'worked'....did not have the desired result however.
Note that in ect/default/grub...i now have grub, grub saved & grub saved1....

Moving on.

Edit again....one change......i now get the 'linux mint logo at the 45 second mark in the boot up
The entire boot process is taking 1 minute and 2 seconds. Eternity.
 
Last edited:
Becoming somewhat edgy here....if I implement changes and the result is a non booting system....i believe I am then unable to access 'boot to usb' in order to use my clonezilla usb to access backups (of which I have plenty) or Timeshift (again...plenty).....backups and timeshift are both stored on separate hard drives.

Holding down the shift key after pressing the start button does not achieve anything for me.
 
I like that one Atanere has provided ending "easiest if it works".

Just two (2) provisos, with that:
  1. Daniel Richter's Grub Customizer is 10 years old and showing its age, last revision/update was I think around 2009 or 2010. Probably OK just to change resolution, but a PITA in other services it provides, particularly if you multiboot like I do
  2. Brian, if you want your splash screen back, on successful use of one of Atanere's offerings, you will just have to retrace your steps with "no quiet nosplash" engaged in previously, ie remove the two instances of "no"
Good luck, I am a bit beyond my paygrade here, so will confine myself to stuff I know about, lol.

Wiz

Wiz is right... the "GRUB Customizer" is old, and I don't think that's the path to pursue. But most of the links are steering to the same general changes. Also right that you need "splash" enabled as that is what you're looking to see, if I understand all of this correctly. I'm out of my paygrade here too, but I see the Linux Mint logo on the splash screen. :D
 
Edit again....one change......i now get the 'linux mint logo at the 45 second mark in the boot up The entire boot process is taking 1 minute and 2 seconds. Eternity.

I didn't time the logo, but about a 65-70 second boot time is normal for me. Do you have SSD or some other reason to expect faster boot time? I've always found computers to take about a minute from a cold boot (not the M$ boot from hibernate trick they're using with Windows 10). Linux shutdown time is usually what blows away Windows... usually 5-10 seconds instead of waiting another full minute, or more.

About your F11 to boot on a USB... have you actually tried it? It may work, but the only explanation I can think of that it is masked would be in your BIOS/UEFI settings. Can you enter the UEFI setup? I'm guessing that F-key for Setup (or DEL, or ESC) is also masked so that you're not seeing it too, but you'll have to let us know for sure.
 
Becoming somewhat edgy here....if I implement changes and the result is a non booting system....i believe I am then unable to access 'boot to usb' in order to use my clonezilla usb to access backups (of which I have plenty) or Timeshift (again...plenty).....backups and timeshift are both stored on separate hard drives.

Holding down the shift key after pressing the start button does not achieve anything for me.

Sorry if I've made you nervous about this. So before you go too far, test your ability to boot USB and/or to access your UEFI settings, as I just mentioned above. Hosing up your system video, at worst, should not prevent your computer from booting on an external media, USB or DVD, and being able to then restore changes that caused the problems. But you need to know what you've done so that you're able to put it back. But at least you have some backups that should bring you back to a reasonable point without the effort of starting all over from scratch. Booting up on a Clonezilla backup should give you some confidence, even if you don't (yet) have to actually use it to restore your system.
 
After full shutdown and cold boot up, the Mint logo took about 22 seconds to appear. I don't know if that's typical or not, but differences in our computers (and video cards) could easily account for us to have different timing of events.

BTW, I only returned to Mint (18.2 beta) a few weeks ago, so I don't have many changes to configurations or too many other software apps installed. But it is installed to bare metal (not a virtual machine) and I have 8GB of RAM, ATI Radeon video, with just a single monitor. The HP computer is quite old... brand new on the day Windows 7 was first released here in U.S. (Oct. 2009).

Cheers!
 
Fed up with the constant crap since I installed graphics card.

So......


After following some crappy instructions, I was left with a pc that would not boot at all

I tapped repeatedly on the shift key and the F11 key intermittently and occasionally at the same time....and lo and behold i got to boot to the usb ! (that WAS a fluke !!)

(I have linux mint 18 on a usb (my installed version is 18.1)

Once in the live usb.....I followed instructions at ::
https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/245

I then shut down, turned power off... and took the ******* graphics card out, swapped the monitor connection back to their original connection points....

Ta Da !!....booted in its usual time of around 39 seconds.

Interestingly it booted to a log in screen.....entered username and password, and it then booted to my usual desktops. This log in screen has not reappeared.


Anyone interested in buying a Nvidia geforce GT 710 ? the price will be attractive.

I have rebooted several timea dn shut down completely a number of times and all appears to A1
 
Oops ... hope we were not a part of the crappy instructions. :(

I was going to ask whether you had kept the old graphics card, figured you would, and whether a swap brought about a difference.

You were talking with me over the weekend on the email about having learned that your spectacles were "crazed" by being too close to the fire loading wood in your (our) cold winter, and I was wondering ...

Hang onto that card, never know when any probs with it will be sorted?

Cheers

Wiz
 
I will definitely hang onto the bought card...$64 just sitting in the carton.....

The original "card" is an onboard....part of the motherboard.

The good people here are not responsible for my outburst.....on the contrary I really do feel nvidia would have their act together by now for all the various OS's that their cards are likely to come in contact with.
They obviously make too much money.
 
I greatly apologize if my instructions, or those I linked to, were inaccurate or too difficult. You may often run into variations like that though... no one (hardly ever) has the exact same setup as you, and part of the process is choosing a path to follow among the competing advice. You are learning much and already are well prepared for dealing with troubles, as you have just demonstrated in bringing it back to life... well done!

As you were shopping for new video cards, I didn't really think to question nVidia as your choice as I have not really had too many and don't recall problems with them. However, if you don't mind coarse language, this video clip might give you a chuckle (I hope). Keep in mind, too, that this video is many years old... one could hope that nVidia was doing better in the Linux world, but maybe they are not, and perhaps we should try to steer others away from their products. I can imagine that will be your advice from now on, right?

For me though, I have beat my head against the walls many times (and repaired many walls).... I am a Linux masochist and I would install the damn thing again! :eek::D However, I understand if you don't feel the same way too! :D:D
 
Hey Brian - mate no hurry (I will be doing other tasks this arvo anyway) but when you get a chance, can you post us a screenshot of how your Driver Manager environment looks like at the moment?

Mine looks like this in the Study, using the same Serena Cinnamon you are using. You get there through Menu-Administration-Driver Manager.

OhLk7Gr.png


Cheers mate

Wizard
 
driver manager and I are well acquainted.....I have been here a number of times trying both the open source driver and the nvidia..

2d0xapy.jpg


That is the current 'look'....

when the card was installed, it had a choice of ::
.nvidia 375.66-OubuntuO

xserver-xorg-video-nouveau open source driver.

I tried them both, with and without the intel micrcode device applied.....prob didnt matter but I tried anyway.
 
Regrets on the delay, and thanks for the input CB.


Wanted to make sure that atanere and I had covered all the bases, and wondered whether you knew the following:

  • There is a way of adding a PPA for nVidia directly to your Distro, whereby you can update drivers by direct install, and that

  • There is a driver you do not (likely) have currently that may be better suited to the new graphics card you purchased.

These options fall into the category of “ifs and buts”, and so are entirely up to you whether you wish to try them out.


Perhaps run a Timeshift and/or Aptik exercise first to be safe for dialling back.


  1. PPA -

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
    sudo apt-get update


  2. nVidia driver (perhaps) best suited is v378.13

    sudo apt-get install nvidia-378 nvidia-settings


You can also gain access to drivers using the command


wget


to download them directly, if you know what you are looking for.


Suggested reading (& I would read it all the way through) can be found at the site where you & I met, at bleepingcomputer.com , namely here



https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/549534/nvidia-drivers-how-to-install-it-in-ubuntu/



Cheers



Wiz
 
read your reply Wiz.....i have been toying with the idea of reinstalling the card again......

In the meantime I have updated to Sonya (18.2)

All appears to be quite steady....no surprises, other than the "usual" drama with icons not going to the edge on the second monitor.....but I am (thankfully) aware of the 'fix there !!!!!

Busy as a dog with two tails atm....started out having a garage sale to rid myself of 49 years of accumulated mower parts /spares etc etc etc.....and one guy came in and bought the lot. Thank God for him !

Later....I have the graphics card ready......and I will read your post at length, and mentally absorb it.
 
In your own time, Mate.

We're here if we can be of assistance.

Save some mower spares for me ... the Victa is crapped out again.

Wiz
 

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