I can't boot from a BlackArch USB device on an MSI laptop

[Ali711]

Boot from USB flash stuck here, does anyone know how to solve this

MSI Laptop:

image hosted at ImgBB

Image image hosted on ImgBB

ibb.co

image hosted at ImgBB

Image image hosted on ImgBB

ibb.co

Laptop Name and Model: MSI Thin GF63 12UCX
System: BlackArch Linux 64 bit Full ISO Version 2023.04.01
Burning Programs Used: Rufus & Balena Etcher & Ventoy
Rufus ISOHybird image: I tried both options "ISO Image" & “DD Image”
USB Flash Drive: SanDisk Ultra Flair USB 3.0


Note:
1. There is no problem with the burning method on the flash.

2. I tried booting from the flash drive on a laptop from another company and it worked without any problem with the system.

3. Also, in the other laptop, it showed all the boot settings, unlike the MSI laptop, it showed me only two options.

4. I tried to quit EFI Shell and encountered the same problem.

5. I've tried several Linux operating systems all have the same problem except Kali Linux but I'm not interested in it. "Kali Linux, BlackArch Linux, Arch Linux, Wifislax, Tails, Parrot, Garuda, Qubes, Ubuntu"

Boot interface from another laptop:

IMG-20250724-012444 hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-20250724-012444 hosted on ImgBB

ibb.co

Please, help me solve the problem.

 

[osprey]

Boot from USB flash stuck here, does anyone know how to solve this

MSI Laptop:

image hosted at ImgBB

Image image hosted on ImgBB

ibb.co

image hosted at ImgBB

Image image hosted on ImgBB

ibb.co

Laptop Name and Model: MSI Thin GF63 12UCX
System: BlackArch Linux 64 bit Full ISO Version 2023.04.01
Burning Programs Used: Rufus & Balena Etcher & Ventoy
Rufus ISOHybird image: I tried both options "ISO Image" & “DD Image”
USB Flash Drive: SanDisk Ultra Flair USB 3.0


Note:
1. There is no problem with the burning method on the flash.

2. I tried booting from the flash drive on a laptop from another company and it worked without any problem with the system.

3. Also, in the other laptop, it showed all the boot settings, unlike the MSI laptop, it showed me only two options.

4. I tried to quit EFI Shell and encountered the same problem.

5. I've tried several Linux operating systems all have the same problem except Kali Linux but I'm not interested in it. "Kali Linux, BlackArch Linux, Arch Linux, Wifislax, Tails, Parrot, Garuda, Qubes, Ubuntu"

Boot interface from another laptop:

IMG-20250724-012444 hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-20250724-012444 hosted on ImgBB

ibb.co

Please, help me solve the problem.

Welcome!
The usb installation medium seems to be good since it did install properly on another machine. That suggests the issue is with your machine. I'm not familiar with this particular machine but here are some general observations.

It may be useful to look into the BIOS/UEFI settings and check that they are appropriate. Things to look for include that it sees the drive, that it's not using a setting for MS, and anything else that looks like it'd interfere with a non-MS installation. It's may be helpful to turn off secure boot and fast boot if they are set.

That said, the way in which a problem of failure to boot fully was resolved on a different machine here was to install an updated BIOS/UEFI. Once that was done, the issue disappeared. One needs to access the manufacturer's website, check if there's an update, look for instructions for the installation and follow them precisely.

Without checking anything more, Google said this:

To update the BIOS on your MSI Thin GF63 12UCX laptop, you'll need to download the correct BIOS file from the MSI support website, format a USB drive to FAT32, copy the BIOS file to it, and then use the M-Flash utility in the BIOS to initiate the update

It looks initially helpful, but needs to be checked by accessing the official documentation and perhaps user's actual reports on this exact matter. Updating BIOS/UEFI can potentially brick the machine, though I've never had that experience when following instructions.

 

[theLegionWithin]

I agree with @osprey - the issue has to be with the laptop. I checked the MSI forums and other than your post there, the only other relevant thing I could find was https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/disabling-secure-boot-on-gf63-thin-with-no-os.400137/ - reading through a few of the other posts it seems that MSI's position is that winOS is the way to go and anything else isnt supported.

you may want to post on this subreddit --> https://www.reddit.com/r/MSILaptops/

 

[Brickwizard]

Basics first, make sure that windows fast boot and secure boot are disabled in the bios, whilst there check boot from USB is enabled and is showing in the main boot order,
after you have tried above and it still does not load, try
now this is for PARROT put USB in slot switch on, do you get the Parrot install/try page, third line down Failsafe modes scroll down and click to open, you now have 3 options, try them in order [other distributions may have other options in their install sequence]

 

[osprey]

Basics first, make sure that windows fast boot and secure boot are disabled in the bios,

If secure boot was set, and the distros tried weren't supplied with the trusted keys, the machine wouldn't have booted at all, however the images in post #1 show actual booting, but failure to complete. It doesn't appear that secure boot is the issue here, and it's almost certainly not set.

 

[f33dm3bits]

If secure boot was set, and the distros tried weren't supplied with the trusted keys, the machine wouldn't have booted at all,

It would have given some sort of error like "policy violation" when trying to boot the kernel.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

I'm 99% sure the problem is GPU driver, the first screenshot is what you see when display manager doesn't show up due to driver issue.
According to specs below it's:

NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2050 Laptop GPU 4GB GDDR6
Up to 1170MHz Boost Clock 45W Maximum Graphics Power with Dynamic Boost.

https://www.msi.com/Laptop/Thin-GF63-12UX/Specification

 

[osprey]

It would have given some sort of error like "policy violation" when trying to boot the kernel.

Yes, I have seen that too. On my Thinkpad T15, unfortunately, one is not even privileged to get a message of any sort ... there's nothing at all and the user is left to wonder.

 

[f33dm3bits]

Boot from USB flash stuck here, does anyone know how to solve this

MSI Laptop:

image hosted at ImgBB

Image image hosted on ImgBB

ibb.co

What happens here when you switch to a different tty by pressing "ctrl+alt+f6". If you get a new tty where you get asked for a username and password then it's probably a driver issue as @CaffeineAddict stated, since the graphics driver needs to be loaded in order to start the display manager.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

switch to a different tty by pressing "ctrl+alt+f6"

I'd like to know what happens as I've found my self in this situations many times.

Albeit I never understood the difference between CTRL+ALT+ F1-F7, what do different functions key do and how they're different.
CRTL+ALT+F7 doesn't work btw.

 

[osprey]

What happens here when you switch to a different tty by pressing "ctrl+alt+f6". If you get a new tty where you get asked for a username and password then it's probably a driver issue as @CaffeineAddict stated, since the graphics driver needs to be loaded in order to start the display manager.

The output from the failed boot in post #1 does stop when the system is trying to start the display manager for LXDE, so the graphics card does appear to be implicated on that boot. However, in post #1 it was mentioned that Kali worked, which, if it booted to the GUI and login was achieved, might suggest something else. If @Ali711 could provide more details, it might help readers.

A reasonable way to check if the graphics card is implicated is to boot to a text prompt and see if the system works as expected in that mode. If it does, then one can set the network up and install necessary the graphics drivers.

To boot to a text console, there are instructions here if needed: https://www.baeldung.com/linux/boot-linux-command-line-mode

 

[f33dm3bits]

Albeit I never understood the difference between CTRL+ALT+ F1-F7, what do different functions key do and how they're different.

They are used to switch between virtual consoles(ttys).

Linux console - ArchWiki

 

[CaffeineAddict]

They are used to switch between virtual consoles(ttys).

Linux console - ArchWiki

It seems to be distro dependent, here only F3-F6 opens virtual consoles, F1 opens display manager and F2 opens graphical session, while F7-F12 open blank virtual console without possibility to login (only blinking cursor)

 

[f33dm3bits]

#1 it was was mentioned that Kali worked, which, if it booted to the GUI and login was achieved, might suggest something else.

Kali is a lot different from something Arch-based. Generally the display manager should start even with nouveau loaded but I've seen cases where it failed to start because of some driver not being loaded or some other issue.

If it does, then one can set the network up and install necessary the graphics drivers.

That's why I mentioned trying to switch tty's from the first screenshot.

 

[f33dm3bits]

It seems to be distro dependent,

I remember reading somewhere is possible to limit them.

 

[osprey]

It seems to be distro dependent, here only F3-F6 opens virtual consoles, F1 opens display manager and F2 opens graphical session, while F7-F12 open blank virtual console without possibility to login (only blinking cursor)

The standard set of virtual consoles in debian in my recent experience is to provide F1 to F6. Today's trixie, forky and sid do that. If one wants more consoles from F7 onwards, they can be configured in systemd but I've never had the need to do that.

As you mentioned, the GUI session is set on F1, but here all the other default consoles. F2 to F6 are available with text prompt logins.

 

[osprey]

I remember reading somewhere is possible to limit them.

Yes. In systemd the number of virtual consoles is set in /etc/systemd/logind.conf with the variable: NAutoVTs=#. In debian at the moment the default is 6.

 

[Ali711]

What happens here when you switch to a different tty by pressing "ctrl+alt+f6". If you get a new tty where you get asked for a username and password then it's probably a driver issue as @CaffeineAddict stated, since the graphics driver needs to be loaded in order to start the display manager.

Nothing happens, how do I download the graphics driver?

 

[osprey]

Nothing happens, how do I download the graphics driver?

Is the machine able to boot to a text prompt as outlined in the link in post #11?

The graphics card on the machine according to the link in post #7 by @CaffeineAddict shows the graphics card to be:

NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU 6GB GDDR6 96-bit
Up to 990MHz Boost Clock 45W Maximum Graphics Power with Dynamic Boost. *May vary by scenario

Note the typo in post #7 (the webpage shows RTX 3050 not 2050).

However, this page displays specifications for the model "Thin GF63 12UDX" which may be different from model "Thin GF63 12UCX" mentioned by @Ali711 in post #1.

The problem is that manufactures do alter hardware at times with inconsistent attention to model numbers, so the only valid means of determining what the graphics card actually is to run a command such as the following:

lspci -nnk | grep -i vga -A3

That command will also show if a driver is actually loaded.

Bear in mind that both driver and firmware are usually needed. Readers will benefit from the output of the above command. If you could paste it exactly, that will help, preferably using code tags.

In relation to the graphics card RTX 3050, AI states that the nouveau driver supports it. If that's the case, the machine should be able to boot to a GUI because the nouveau driver is built into the kernel. If nouveau fails, then I guess it's possible that the firmware and/or the kernel are not the latest.

Therefore, it is advisable to install the latest kernel, and the latest firmware.

Unfortunately, the nouveau website here: https://nouveau.freedesktop.org/CodeNames.html, has not as yet noted that the RTX 3020 is supported by the nouveau driver, so there's some inconsistency between AI and the nouveau website.

Despite all of the above, for any performance-related tasks like gaming, 3D workloads, or hardware-acceleration, it is the proprietary nvidia drivers (e.g. the nvidia-535, nvidia-550, or similar packages available from the distro's repositories) that are needed. Nvidia drivers are going to provide full 3D acceleration, proper clocking, and hardware features like nvenc. If one wants the performance the card has available, then one can ignore the nouveau driver issue, and download the proprietary drivers. First, one needs to know what the graphics card is, so the output to the above command would help.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Nothing happens, how do I download the graphics driver?

Maybe F6 is disabled, try also CTRL+ALT+F3 and CTRL+ALT+F4, or try every one from F1 to F12 while pressing CTRL+ALT

If it's still not working what could make it work is booting in recovery mode and try again, but your boot menu doesn't have this option.

Note the typo in post #7 (the webpage shows RTX 3050 not 2050).

It's not typo, his laptop model is UCX not UC.
Anyway your nouveau link doesn't explicitly list RTX 2050 either.