[Solved] Installation Issues

thedude

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hello everybody

new, rookie linux user here, needing help and since my issue it's very similar with op's, i've decided to post it here.

first, a few things regarding my experience with computers, i have a very little, very basic knowledge about pc's and operating systems, i was lucky to learn in the times of windows 3.0, norton commander and briefly ms-dos. but that was very long time ago and most of that knowledge it is buried in years, since the operating systems have became more user friendly.

after successfully making recently the transition from windows to linux mint on my old laptop, i've purchased an old imac from 2009 and decided to make it my new home pc, with linux ubuntu 20.4 as os and then the issue started. after installation, at the restart, the screen goes black, while the hdd and the rest of the machine still operates. no display at all.

here is what i did: make a bootable usb flash drive, started the imac and booted from the usb, holding the opt key. all good so far, i've clicked on instal the os on the computer, then the screen went black. after a few days of research online, with the help of this thread, i've made a bit of progress by entering in the edit mode of the grub / boot by pressing "e" key and introducing the "nomodeset" command and this time i managed to install the new os on the imac, it went trough all the process of choosing the user, password, the language, zone and all the others. at the end i get a message saying that the computer needs a restart before all the changes will apply so after clicking on restart now, the computer starts and quickly goes in black screen mode and does not come back.

the imac specs are as follows:
2009 model
intel core i7 cpu [email protected] ghz x 8 processor
16 gb of ram
llvmpipe(LLVM 11.0.0, 128 bits graphics
1 tb hdd

the version of the os that i am trying to install it's the following: ubuntu-20.04.2.0-desktop-amd64

the mac was working perfectly with the apple os so the machine it's ok. i've looked everywhere online but i could not find the solution to my problem, the most far away i've reached with the help from this thread but im my case the solution did not completely worked, maybe because the op's case was not with a mac machine. i've tried so far about 5 or 6 linux versions and it happened the same with every version (mint, deepin, manjaro, ubuntu 2 versions, kubuntu, kali) installed. i would very much like to get the mac working with ubuntu 20.4, i like very much the look of it but ultimately i would like to have the imac working with a proper installed linux system.

any of you good, knowledgeable people have any idea of what the problem can be and how to solve it?

many thanks in advance and peace to all
 


@thedude
It's better to create your own topic that way the problem you are running into will more likely get more replies.
 
I've split this off to its own thread.
 
When you reboot the system do you see grub before it goes black, if so can you try booting with nomodeset again? What happens then?
 
When you reboot the system do you see grub before it goes black, if so can you try booting with nomodeset again? What happens then?

Many thanks for the reply and for the admin's help.

No, it does not. At the restart, it shows the following message:
"Failed to Set MokListRT: Invalid Parameter
Could not create mokListRT: Invalid Parameter
Importing MOK states has failed: import_mok_state() failed: Invalid Parameter
Continuing boot since secure mode is disabled."

and then it goes black...
 
Looks like you are running into this bug and also mentioned the comments for someone running into it on askubuntu, you can try what's mentioned in comment #23 which is.
1. Boot from the installation media into rescue mode
2. from the rescue shell run the following.
Code:
apt-get purge shim
mv /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu /root/ubuntu-efi.bak
grub-install /dev/sda1
 
i've tried to follow the instructions but at booting i don't have the rescue mode. the only options i have are the following:
Ubuntu (safe graphics)
OEM install (for manufacturers)
boot from the next volume
UEFI Firmware Settings


i've looked online at how to boot into rescue mode and found a code i think needs to added to the grub on boot from the USB.

Here is the process

Turn on

Hit and hold 'alt'

Select efi drive (immediately i am taken to the next menu and in a few seconds it dissapears and screen goes blank so i only have a couple of seconds to see the screen.)

Grub loads with options

Ubuntu
Ubuntu (safe graphics)
OEM install (for manufacturers)
Boot from next volume
UEFI Firmware Settings

i hit command key 'e' and am taken to the grub menu which shows the following only

setparams 'Ubuntu'

set gfxpayload=keep
Linux /casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed maybe-ubiguity quiet splash ---
initrd /casper/initrd


i have read that to boot into rescue mode i edit out quiet splash and add the following

setparams 'Ubuntu'

set gfxpayload=keep
Linux /casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed maybe-ubiguity systemd.unit=rescue.target ---
initrd /casper/initrd

After hitting F10 my screen scrolls with long list of white code then after a second or two back to black screen of death!
 
You have to boot from the Ubuntu installation media and then select rescue mode.
 
ok, in rescue mode now. Trying to run the 3 commands and i get the following:

the first (apt-get purge shim), hit enter, package installed
the 2nd(mv /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu /root/ubuntu-efi.bak),hit enter, and the message is: No such file or directory
the 3rd (grub-install /dev/sda1), hit enter, the message displayed is the same as on the 2nd: No such file or directory.

i am lost here now :(
i've attached a picture of the screen for reference
 

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I miss read your other post, seems like you still see grub before it going dark. Do you have the menu item "Advanced Options for Ubuntu" anywhere?
 
yes, it goes for a second or so in the grub and then it goes dark. no, i did not see that menu item anywhere
 
Since you still see grub when booting, can you try adding "nomodeset" to the kernel boot parameters again as you did before. What happens then?
 
Since you still see grub when booting, can you try adding "nomodeset" to the kernel boot parameters again as you did before. What happens then?
i've tried that, then it installs the ubuntu os and at the end it says that the computer needs to restart in order to finalize the installation, otherwise any modifications won't be saved. Then, at the restart, it goes black and it does not come back
 
I see, I was confused from post #7, seems that was the installation media's menu you were describing there. So just to be clear after the installation, you reboot, then you don't get to see the grub menu before it goes black? Can you boot from the LiveCD(Try Ubuntu instead of installing) and chroot into your system from there? Like this but in short:
1. Boot from LiveCD
2. sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt (If you are not sure what your root partition is, share the output of lsblk)
3. sudo chroot /mnt
Let me know once you get up to step 3 then we will continue from there.
 
Last edited:
I see, I was confused from post #7, seems that was the installation media's menu you were describing there. So just to be clear after the installation, you reboot, then you don't get to see the grub menu before it goes black? Can you boot from the LiveCD(Try Ubuntu instead of installing) and chroot into your system from there? Like this but in short:
1. Boot from LiveCD
2. sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt (If you are not sure what your root partition is, share the output of lsblk)
3. sudo chroot /mnt
Let me know once you get up to step 3 then we will continue from there.

the step 2 it did not worked like this but i've tried sda2 and it worked. i am there now, just finished the step 3 (sudo chroot /mnt)

and thank you very much for your patience, sorry if i confused you with the post #7 earlier, i've tried to give you as much details of what i am doing here, the meaning can get lost a bit in the messages sometimes
 
Can you share the output of the following now that you are chrooted into your system from the LiveCD?
Code:
cat /etc/fstab
 
after imputing the command (cat /etc/fstab), i get the message shown in the picture
 

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Try the following.
1. Open the following file with your favorite editor: /etc/default/grub
2. Change this line: from: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=" to: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nomodeset"
3. Save the file
4. Run the following from a terminal: sudo update-grub
6. Reboot your system

What happens now?
 
maybe it seems stupid but i don't get it, i don't know how to edit the file from here, i've tried in a new tab in the terminal but i wasn't allowed. it makes sense since it opened in ubuntu@ubuntu.
i don't have any editor i think in the imac, since it was wiped out during the first installation attempt. i've looked on how to edit a file in editor and as i understand the computer needs an editor program, but since now it runs from the usb drive, i can't modify the content without installing the os first. catch 22 or i am a turnip
can you please advise me how do i open the file?
 
After you have chrooted into your installation after having run "sudo chroot /mnt" you will have a shell in front of you that looks like this.
Code:
root@ubuntu:/#
1. To open and edit the file type this: nano /etc/default/grub
2. Go to the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX and add nomodeset, so that it looks like this.
Code:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nomodeset"
3. Save the file by pressing: Ctrl+x (When asked if you want to save it press Y and then press enter again)
4. Then update your grub by running the following: update-grub
5. Reboot your system and see what happens.
 

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