[SOLVED] Problems with Xfce 19.1 Live US

richdev · 12-20-2018, 02:26 PM

Hi!

I've been trying unsuccessfully to get Mint 19.1 Xfce running on my USB. I've tried on 3 different thumbdrives and different downloads (in case of a corruption).

It never actually boots all the way and my resulting screen is a cursor line in the upper left of my screen.

I tried to create my live drive using unetbootin (linux) and pendrive (windows).

I could run 18.1 fine.

Is this a known issue? I'm OK running 18.1, but I was looking forward to trying 19.1.

Gracias!

hydrurga · 12-21-2018, 06:58 PM

This could be the result of several issues.

Have you verified the ISO that you downloaded?

https://linuxmint.com/verify.php

If so, could you recreate the USB stick as described here: https://linuxmint-installation-guide...test/burn.html

Let us know how that gets on.

Do you have a previous version of Mint already installed on that system? If so, please paste the output from:

Code:

inxi -Gxx

richdev · 12-22-2018, 06:43 AM

Thanks!

It looks like the sha256sum doesn't match.

Code:

7b53b29a34cfef4ddfe24dac27ee321c289dc2ed8b0c1361666bbee0f6ffa9f4
c996a0de1e010476f36ed55322cb055b07d3bd507f0c60eff65b07634f20f897

Little disconcerting to me because I downloaded several images from different sources (yeah, I should have verified first, but I've never DLed a bad image before).

I'm currently downloading a new image this time from Ecuador.

Here's my inxi output:

Code:

mint@mint /media/mint/OS/LinuxMint/iso $ inxi -Gxx
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Device 98e4
           bus-ID: 00:01.0 chip-ID: 1002:98e4
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: ati,amdgpu (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,radeon)
           Resolution: 1366x768@60.03hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD STONEY (DRM 3.1.0, LLVM 3.8.0)
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 11.2.0 Direct Rendering: Yes
mint@mint /media/mint/OS/LinuxMint/iso $

I'll let you know the prognosis.

Thanks for your help!

bodge99 · 12-23-2018, 09:54 AM

One thing that I do find useful in ruling out bad USB drives etc. is by booting the iso directly from hdd.

An example from my grub.cfg:

Code:

menuentry "Mint19.1-Cinnamon-ISO" {
       set isofile=linuxmint-19.1-cinnamon-64bit.iso
       loopback loop (hd1,gpt4)/ISO/$isofile
       linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/ISO/$isofile
       initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}

Obviously you'll need to change the iso filename to suit yours.
Also, the iso location and path.. (hd1,gpt4) is the fourth partition on the second hard drive. The iso file is in /ISO/ here.

If you can place the iso file on a second drive, then you can boot and install to any other drive (but not to the second drive with this method).

Bodge99

richdev · 12-23-2018, 06:32 PM

@hydrurga,

Well, looks like my new ISO (with good sha256sum) gives me the same symptoms. Rats.

-----------------

@bodge99,

Interesting solution! Unfortunately, I do not boot to Linux from my HDD. This is live only. From what I'm reading, this solution will only work from a Linux boot partition.

Any other ideas?

Thanks, All!

hydrurga · 12-23-2018, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richdev

@hydrurga,

Well, looks like my new ISO (with good sha256sum) gives me the same symptoms. Rats.

-----------------

@bodge99,

Interesting solution! Unfortunately, I do not boot to Linux from my HDD. This is live only. From what I'm reading, this solution will only work from a Linux boot partition.

Any other ideas?

Thanks, All!

Rats indeed. Did you create the USB with Mint's USB Image Writer or with Etcher?

How far do you get along the installation process - do you get any text on the screen at all?

bodge99 · 12-23-2018, 07:47 PM

It is possible to have grub and one or more ISO's on an external device (hdd, flashdrive, SD card etc.).
I've done this for use on UEFI systems.. It works well for my purposes but would probably be overkill for you at the moment.
The beauty of this method is that nothing needs to be "installed", just copied to a formatted device. You can have as many ISO's on the device as you wish, subject to the device capacity... Configuration is a simple text file, grub.cfg .

If you're interested then I'll look at writing something up.

Another method is: If you have a UEFI MS Windows system and your EFI partition is large enough, it is also possible to manually place the required Grub files into the EFI partition and the ISO on the NTFS partition.. You can then boot the ISO via Grub manually from your EFI shell. This method does not affect the Windows boot mechanism in any way whatsoever. Again, this is probably total overkill for you at this time.

Have you tried booting your Mint flash drive in compatibility mode ??

Bodge99

richdev · 12-24-2018, 04:22 PM

@hydrurga - I tried both. Etcher worked better. I can boot into the UI, but after a few minutes the UI hangs. (In compatibility mode it works better.) My usual actions after logging in are to connect to Wifi, install Windscribe (using an apt script) and then open FireFox. I'm using Ver 64.0 of FF.

@Bodge99

You suggested that I try compatibility mode. Compatibility mode seems to be working.

I'm not sure what my limitations are with Compat Mode. My understanding is that Compat Mode emulates an earlier version?

Dude, you seem to be a grub guru. I'd love to see a write-up. Because Compat Mode seems to be working, I'm thinking it's not a drive issue.

So now that we know it's working in Compat Mode, I wonder what I should do next.

Thanks for all your help!

bodge99 · 12-24-2018, 07:35 PM

Hi,

Compatibility mode disables certain "default" optimisations/assumptions about the detected hardware in your computer.
The most relevant other thing for you here is that video hardware is forced to act in a minimal fashion.. i.e. no video acceleration or other card specific "goodies". You'll probably have a restricted range of screen resolution choices at this stage.

At this point, all you need is "some sort" of useable screen. Something that is good enough to allow your installation to proceed.

After everything is installed, you can then look at installing the specific software that you'll need to get proper graphics performance and operation.

If the new installation boots to a black screen or locks up etc. then:

See https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_tessa_xfce.php
esp. the section "Solving freezes during the boot sequence". The "nomodeset" option shown here should allow the newly installed system to boot with a useable screen. You can now look at adding further graphics software/drivers etc.

Before you proceed further, update your system using the Update Manager.

Now try rebooting to see "the state of play". If you could report here, then we can give further instructions/help.

Can you also provide as much info about your computer as possible. Some computers and hardware have "known quirks".

All of this is solvable, but accurate help requires accurate information (as far as possible).

Don't worry.. We'll get there!

Bodge99

bodge99 · 12-25-2018, 04:45 PM

As requested:
Direct Linux ISO Boot From Any External Device (external hdd, flashdrive, SD card etc.).

I'll just cover 64-bit UEFI systems, although 32-bit UEFI devices (e.g. earlier Windows tablets) can also be used, with a little modification to the method.

A flashdrive boot is described here, although this method is applicable to just about anything.
It is assumed that the chosen device is accessible from the UEFI firmware at boot time. At a pinch, it's normally possible to work around this with a further slight modification to this procedure (briefly, for example, a SD Card slot that is not supported or initialised by the firmware. The workaround is to place a copy of the required kernel and initrd into the EFI partition. The initrd initialises the SD card slot. Boot control is then passed to the kernel on the SD card to allow a normal boot to complete.)

This method can be seen as an alternative to a pre-written live Linux flashdrive. The main advantage is that multiple ISOs can be kept on the device (subject to device capacity). Yes, O.K. most people will have no need for this at all. I have personally found it useful on more than one occasion.

This may look somewhat difficult to new Linux users.. It really isn't!! Just ask here if there are any queries..

OVERVIEW:

This method boots the iso file directly from a flashdrive or via the computer's UEFI shell using the Grub2 bootloader (64-bit EFI version.).

Just about any version of Linux (32 or 64-bit) can be booted and installed using this specific method.
I'll specifically cover Linux Mint here. Any other distro that uses Casper can use this method directly. Other distros will need slightly different handling. In most cases, trivial adjustments to the Grub configuration file are required to allow this method to work with just about anything.

Software Requirements for 64-bit UEFI:

Grub 64-bit EFI Binaries:
Just extract these directly from the Linux Mint iso file and place them in a temporary directory. The files Bootx64.efi and grubx64.efi can be found in: /EFI/BOOT/ within the ISO file. The utility Midnight Commander can be used to extract these files.
Install it with:

Code:

  sudo apt install mc

Grub modules for 64-bit UEFI:

Download grub-efi-amd64-bin_2.02~beta3-4ubuntu7_amd64.deb
Direct Link: http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/poo...ntu7_amd64.deb
Extract everything in /usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi and place in {temp dir}/x86_64-efi/ i.e. extract the x86_64-efi directory
and contents.

For those whose firmware doesn't have a built-in internal UEFI shell:

If you want or need to use the "Launch EFI Shell from filesystem device" in the "Save & Exit" screen (or the equivalent in other firmwares).

Device Shell EFI Executable Download:

64-bit version:
Direct link: https://github.com/tianocore/edk2/ra.../X64/Shell.efi

The filename used for the EFI shell executable is hard-coded into most firmwares that I've seen.. If you get an error message (cannot find..) when attempting to run the EFI shell then the error message may also state the required filename. In this case, simply rename the .efi file to match this requirement.

It would appear that most firmwares specifically look for the EFI shell executable named as "shell.efi" although I've seen a couple that use "shellx64.efi"

I just keep two copies of the same file. One named as "shell.efi" and the other as "shellx64.efi" in the same location.
Copy these two files to /boot/efi (the root of your EFI partition, normally sda1) on your computer.
I also keep a copy of these files on the flashdrive. I can then simply copy them to a computers EFI partition if I need to.

Other Software Requirements:

Linux Mint ISO's: One or more as required.

Create a grub.cfg with your favourite editor.. xed is perfectly fine for this.
The grub.cfg file is a plain text file. A description of the grug.cfg and some further examples can be found in a later post.

Grub Configuration:
This is suitable for Linux Mint XFCE. There are two grub entries here.
The first is for a normal boot, the second uses the nomodeset boot option for those "blank screen" times.

Sample grub.cfg

Code:

menuentry "Mint-Xfce-ISO" {
       set isofile=linuxmint-19.1-xfce-64bit.iso
       loopback loop (hd0,msdos1)/ISO/$isofile
       linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/ISO/$isofile
       initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}

menuentry "Mint-Xfce-ISO Nomodeset" {
       set isofile=linuxmint-19.1-xfce-64bit.iso
       loopback loop (hd0,msdos1)/ISO/$isofile
       linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz nomodeset boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/ISO/$isofile
       initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}

USB flashdrive:
Minimum capacity - 2GB. This is enough for one iso file as well as the boot files. An 8GB flashdrive will hold all three Linux Mint 64-bit ISOs plus the boot files.

Boot Flashdrive Preparation:

Format your flashdrive to fat32. Now create the following directories on the flashdrive:

Code:

.
├── boot
│   └── grub
│       └── x86_64-efi
├── EFI
│   └── BOOT
└── ISO

6 directories

Now copy over files as indicated below:

Code:

.
├── boot
│   └── grub
│       ├── grub.cfg
│       └── x86_64-efi
│           ├── acpi.mod
│           ├── adler32.mod
│           ├── affs.mod
|           : {listing shortened to save space}
│           ├── xzio.mod
│           ├── zfscrypt.mod
│           ├── zfsinfo.mod
│           └── zfs.mod
├── EFI
│   └── BOOT
│       ├── BOOTX64.EFI
│       └── grubx64.efi
├── ISO
│   ├── linuxmint-19.1-cinnamon-64bit.iso
│   ├── linuxmint-19.1-mate-64bit.iso
│   └── linuxmint-19.1-xfce-64bit.iso
├── shell.efi
└── shellx64.efi

6 directories, 275 files

On completion, just boot the computer with the flashdrive as normal.

More later..

Bodge99

richdev · 12-25-2018, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bodge99

Hi,
Before you proceed further, update your system using the Update Manager.

Now try rebooting to see "the state of play". If you could report here, then we can give further instructions/help.

Can you also provide as much info about your computer as possible. Some computers and hardware have "known quirks".

All of this is solvable, but accurate help requires accurate information (as far as possible).

Don't worry.. We'll get there!

Bodge99

Thanks again!

Here is my hardware config. I hope this is helpful. I'll try nomodeset soon and let you know (maybe as an edit to this post).

Code:

mint@mint:~$ sudo lshw
mint                        
    description: Notebook
    product: Inspiron 15-3565 (078E)
    vendor: Dell Inc.
    version: 1.7.0
    serial: 9LWJ6L2
    width: 64 bits
    capabilities: smbios-3.0 dmi-3.0 smp vsyscall32
    configuration: boot=normal chassis=notebook family=Inspiron sku=078E uuid=44454C4C-4C00-1057-804A-B9C04F364C32
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: Inspiron 15-3565
       vendor: Dell Inc.
       physical id: 0
       version: A00
       serial: .9LWJ6L2.CNWSC0083900Q7.
       slot: Default string
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: Dell Inc.
          physical id: 0
          version: 1.7.0
          date: 10/23/2017
          size: 64KiB
          capacity: 8128KiB
          capabilities: pci pnp upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect edd int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int14serial int17printer acpi usb biosbootspecification netboot uefi
     *-cache:0
          description: L1 cache
          physical id: 17
          slot: L1 CACHE
          size: 160KiB
          capacity: 160KiB
          clock: 1GHz (1.0ns)
          capabilities: pipeline-burst internal write-back unified
          configuration: level=1
     *-cache:1
          description: L2 cache
          physical id: 18
          slot: L2 CACHE
          size: 1MiB
          capacity: 1MiB
          clock: 1GHz (1.0ns)
          capabilities: pipeline-burst internal write-back unified
          configuration: level=2
     *-memory
          description: System Memory
          physical id: 25
          slot: System board or motherboard
          size: 4GiB
        *-bank:0
             description: SODIMM DDR4 [empty]
             product: A1_PartNum0
             vendor: 000000000000
             physical id: 0
             serial: A1_SerialNum0
             slot: DIMM 0
             width: 64 bits
        *-bank:1
             description: SODIMM DDR4 Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered) 2400 MHz (0.4 ns)
             product: 4ATF51264HZ-2G3E1
             vendor: 009C360B0000
             physical id: 1
             serial: 1B0B3BB5
             slot: DIMM 1
             size: 4GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 2400MHz (0.4ns)
     *-cpu
          description: CPU
          product: AMD A6-9200 RADEON R4, 5 COMPUTE CORES 2C+3G
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
          physical id: 2c
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: AMD A6-9200 RADEON R4, 5 COMPUTE CORES 2C+3G
          slot: P0
          size: 1620MHz
          capacity: 2GHz
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 100MHz
          capabilities: x86-64 fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp constant_tsc rep_good acc_power nopl nonstop_tsc cpuid extd_apicid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq monitor ssse3 fma cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 movbe popcnt aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch osvw ibs xop skinit wdt lwp fma4 tce nodeid_msr tbm perfctr_core perfctr_nb bpext ptsc mwaitx cpb hw_pstate vmmcall fsgsbase bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 xsaveopt arat npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save tsc_scale vmcb_clean flushbyasid decodeassists pausefilter pfthreshold avic v_vmsave_vmload vgif overflow_recov cpufreq
          configuration: cores=2 enabledcores=2 threads=2
     *-pci:0
          description: Host bridge
          product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 100
          bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
        *-generic:0 UNCLAIMED
             description: IOMMU
             product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             physical id: 0.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:00.2
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: msi ht bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
        *-display UNCLAIMED
             description: VGA compatible controller
             product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
             version: c0
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm pciexpress msi vga_controller bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
             resources: memory:e8000000-efffffff memory:f0000000-f07fffff ioport:f000(size=256) memory:feb00000-feb3ffff memory:c0000-dffff
        *-multimedia:0
             description: Audio device
             product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 1.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:01.1
             version: 00
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm pciexpress msi bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
             resources: irq:64 memory:feb64000-feb67fff
        *-pci:0
             description: PCI bridge
             product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             physical id: 2.4
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.4
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pm pciexpress msi ht normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:57 ioport:e000(size=4096) memory:fea00000-feafffff ioport:f0800000(size=1048576)
           *-network
                description: Ethernet interface
                product: RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
                vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:14:00.0
                logical name: enp20s0
                version: 07
                serial: 58:8a:5a:3e:ba:90
                size: 10Mbit/s
                capacity: 100Mbit/s
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
                configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=half firmware=rtl8106e-1_0.0.1 06/29/12 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=MII speed=10Mbit/s
                resources: irq:63 ioport:e000(size=256) memory:fea00000-fea00fff memory:f0800000-f0803fff
        *-pci:1
             description: PCI bridge
             product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             physical id: 2.5
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.5
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pm pciexpress msi ht normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:58 memory:fe600000-fe7fffff
           *-network
                description: Wireless interface
                product: QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
                vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:16:00.0
                logical name: wlp22s0
                version: 31
                serial: 9c:30:5b:e4:fa:41
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath10k_pci driverversion=4.15.0-20-generic firmware=WLAN.TF.1.0-00002-QCATFSWPZ-5 ip=192.168.1.144 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
                resources: irq:65 memory:fe600000-fe7fffff
        *-generic:1 UNCLAIMED
             description: Encryption controller
             product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             physical id: 8
             bus info: pci@0000:00:08.0
             version: 00
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: msix ht pm bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
             resources: memory:f0900000-f091ffff memory:fe900000-fe9fffff memory:feb6f000-feb6ffff memory:feb6a000-feb6bfff
        *-multimedia:1
             description: Audio device
             product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             physical id: 9.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:09.2
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
             resources: irq:11 memory:feb60000-feb63fff
        *-usb:0
             description: USB controller
             product: FCH USB XHCI Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             physical id: 10
             bus info: pci@0000:00:10.0
             version: 20
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi msix pciexpress xhci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=xhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:11 memory:feb68000-feb69fff
           *-usbhost:0
                product: xHCI Host Controller
                vendor: Linux 4.15.0-20-generic xhci-hcd
                physical id: 0
                bus info: usb@2
                logical name: usb2
                version: 4.15
                capabilities: usb-2.00
                configuration: driver=hub slots=4 speed=480Mbit/s
              *-usb
                   description: Bluetooth wireless interface
                   vendor: Atheros Communications, Inc.
                   physical id: 1
                   bus info: usb@2:1
                   version: 0.01
                   capabilities: bluetooth usb-2.01
                   configuration: driver=btusb maxpower=100mA speed=12Mbit/s
           *-usbhost:1
                product: xHCI Host Controller
                vendor: Linux 4.15.0-20-generic xhci-hcd
                physical id: 1
                bus info: usb@3
                logical name: usb3
                version: 4.15
                capabilities: usb-3.00
                configuration: driver=hub slots=4 speed=5000Mbit/s
        *-storage
             description: SATA controller
             product: FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             physical id: 11
             bus info: pci@0000:00:11.0
             version: 4b
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: storage pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ahci latency=32
             resources: irq:4 ioport:f140(size=8) ioport:f130(size=4) ioport:f120(size=8) ioport:f110(size=4) ioport:f100(size=16) memory:feb6d000-feb6d3ff
        *-usb:1
             description: USB controller
             product: FCH USB EHCI Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             physical id: 12
             bus info: pci@0000:00:12.0
             version: 49
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=32
             resources: irq:11 memory:feb6c000-feb6c0ff
           *-usbhost
                product: EHCI Host Controller
                vendor: Linux 4.15.0-20-generic ehci_hcd
                physical id: 1
                bus info: usb@1
                logical name: usb1
                version: 4.15
                capabilities: usb-2.00
                configuration: driver=hub slots=2 speed=480Mbit/s
              *-usb
                   description: USB hub
                   vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
                   physical id: 1
                   bus info: usb@1:1
                   version: 0.18
                   capabilities: usb-2.00
                   configuration: driver=hub maxpower=100mA slots=4 speed=480Mbit/s
                 *-usb:0
                      description: Video
                      product: Integrated_Webcam_HD
                      vendor: CN0F08KGLOG0082BA075A02
                      physical id: 1
                      bus info: usb@1:1.1
                      version: 52.68
                      serial: 200901010001
                      capabilities: usb-2.00
                      configuration: driver=uvcvideo maxpower=500mA speed=480Mbit/s
                 *-usb:1
                      description: Human interface device
                      product: Touchscreen
                      vendor: ELAN
                      physical id: 2
                      bus info: usb@1:1.2
                      version: 57.12
                      capabilities: usb-2.00
                      configuration: driver=usbhid maxpower=100mA speed=12Mbit/s
                 *-usb:2
                      description: Generic USB device
                      product: USB2.0-CRW
                      vendor: Generic
                      physical id: 3
                      bus info: usb@1:1.3
                      version: 39.60
                      serial: 20100201396000000
                      capabilities: usb-2.00
                      configuration: driver=rtsx_usb maxpower=500mA speed=480Mbit/s
                 *-usb:3
                      description: Mass storage device
                      product: USB 2.0 FD
                      vendor: PNY Technologies
                      physical id: 4
                      bus info: usb@1:1.4
                      logical name: scsi2
                      version: 11.00
                      serial: AD48HD08000002871
                      capabilities: usb-2.00 scsi emulated scsi-host
                      configuration: driver=usb-storage maxpower=200mA speed=480Mbit/s
                    *-disk
                         description: SCSI Disk
                         product: USB 2.0 FD
                         vendor: PNY
                         physical id: 0.0.0
                         bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0
                         logical name: /dev/sdb
                         logical name: /cdrom
                         version: 1100
                         serial: AA00000000000485
                         size: 15GiB (16GB)
                         capabilities: removable
                         configuration: ansiversion=4 logicalsectorsize=512 mount.fstype=iso9660 mount.options=ro,noatime,nojoliet,check=s,map=n,blocksize=2048 sectorsize=512 state=mounted
                       *-medium
                            physical id: 0
                            logical name: /dev/sdb
                            logical name: /cdrom
                            size: 15GiB (16GB)
                            capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
                            configuration: mount.fstype=iso9660 mount.options=ro,noatime,nojoliet,check=s,map=n,blocksize=2048 signature=1482d141 state=mounted
                          *-volume
                               description: Windows FAT volume
                               vendor: mkfs.fat
                               physical id: 2
                               logical name: /dev/sdb2
                               version: FAT12
                               serial: 044e-ac17
                               size: 15EiB
                               capabilities: primary boot fat initialized
                               configuration: FATs=2 filesystem=fat
        *-serial
             description: SMBus
             product: FCH SMBus Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             physical id: 14
             bus info: pci@0000:00:14.0
             version: 4b
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             configuration: driver=piix4_smbus latency=0
             resources: irq:0
        *-isa
             description: ISA bridge
             product: FCH LPC Bridge
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
             physical id: 14.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:14.3
             version: 11
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: isa bus_master
             configuration: latency=0
     *-pci:1
          description: Host bridge
          product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 101
          bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:2
          description: Host bridge
          product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 102
          bus info: pci@0000:00:03.0
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:3
          description: Host bridge
          product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 103
          bus info: pci@0000:00:09.0
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:4
          description: Host bridge
          product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 104
          bus info: pci@0000:00:18.0
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:5
          description: Host bridge
          product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 105
          bus info: pci@0000:00:18.1
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:6
          description: Host bridge
          product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 106
          bus info: pci@0000:00:18.2
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:7
          description: Host bridge
          product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 107
          bus info: pci@0000:00:18.3
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:8
          description: Host bridge
          product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 108
          bus info: pci@0000:00:18.4
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
          configuration: driver=fam15h_power
          resources: irq:0
     *-pci:9
          description: Host bridge
          product: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 109
          bus info: pci@0000:00:18.5
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-scsi:0
          physical id: 1
          logical name: scsi0
          capabilities: emulated
        *-disk
             description: ATA Disk
             product: TOSHIBA MQ01ABD1
             vendor: Toshiba
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/sda
             version: 3D
             serial: 28HHTBRUT
             size: 931GiB (1TB)
             capabilities: gpt-1.00 partitioned partitioned:gpt
             configuration: ansiversion=5 guid=9b216b98-417f-4309-b3f2-4d2ef82cc374 logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=4096
           *-volume:0
                description: Windows FAT volume
                vendor: MSDOS5.0
                physical id: 1
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
                logical name: /dev/sda1
                version: FAT32
                serial: 6435-4b7a
                size: 495MiB
                capacity: 499MiB
                capabilities: boot precious readonly hidden nomount fat initialized
                configuration: FATs=2 filesystem=fat label=ESP name=EFI system partition
           *-volume:1
                description: reserved partition
                vendor: Windows
                physical id: 2
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
                logical name: /dev/sda2
                serial: bf7e2054-fab1-43e7-80f5-15f088082e2f
                capacity: 127MiB
                capabilities: nofs precious readonly hidden nomount
                configuration: name=Microsoft reserved partition
           *-volume:2
                description: Windows NTFS volume
                vendor: Windows
                physical id: 3
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,3
                logical name: /dev/sda3
                logical name: /media/mint/OS
                version: 3.1
                serial: 3e016f63-f91e-5947-a7ed-8e885e7ce9ca
                size: 916GiB
                capacity: 916GiB
                capabilities: ntfs initialized
                configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2018-03-10 18:08:19 filesystem=ntfs label=OS mount.fstype=fuseblk mount.options=rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0,default_permissions,allow_other,blksize=4096 name=Basic data partition state=mounted
           *-volume:3
                description: Windows NTFS volume
                vendor: Windows
                physical id: 4
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,4
                logical name: /dev/sda4
                version: 3.1
                serial: 0806-480a
                size: 879MiB
                capacity: 906MiB
                capabilities: boot precious readonly hidden nomount ntfs initialized
                configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2018-09-16 05:06:27 filesystem=ntfs modified_by_chkdsk=true mounted_on_nt4=true resize_log_file=true state=dirty upgrade_on_mount=true
           *-volume:4
                description: Windows NTFS volume
                vendor: Windows
                physical id: 5
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,5
                logical name: /dev/sda5
                version: 3.1
                serial: f648-b5d7
                size: 12GiB
                capacity: 12GiB
                capabilities: boot precious readonly hidden nomount ntfs initialized
                configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2018-03-10 21:10:57 filesystem=ntfs label=Image modified_by_chkdsk=true mounted_on_nt4=true resize_log_file=true state=dirty upgrade_on_mount=true
           *-volume:5
                description: Windows NTFS volume
                vendor: Windows
                physical id: 6
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,6
                logical name: /dev/sda6
                version: 3.1
                serial: 5ccd-6bfa
                size: 1082MiB
                capacity: 1091MiB
                capabilities: boot precious readonly hidden nomount ntfs initialized
                configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2018-03-10 20:46:02 filesystem=ntfs label=DELLSUPPORT modified_by_chkdsk=true mounted_on_nt4=true resize_log_file=true state=dirty upgrade_on_mount=true
     *-scsi:1
          physical id: 2
          logical name: scsi1
          capabilities: emulated
        *-cdrom
             description: DVD-RAM writer
             product: DVD+-RW GU90N
             vendor: HL-DT-ST
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/cdrom
             logical name: /dev/cdrw
             logical name: /dev/dvd
             logical name: /dev/dvdrw
             logical name: /dev/sr0
             version: A1C3
             capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
             configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
  *-battery
       description: Nickel Cadmium Battery
       product: DELL 991XP7B
       vendor: LGC-LGC2.80
       physical id: 1
       serial: 57474
       slot: Location of the battery
       capacity: 41440mWh
       configuration: voltage=14.8V
mint@mint:~$

bodge99 · 12-26-2018, 06:11 AM

Hi,

I've had a quick look online.. It seems that your GPU is not supported by AMD/ATI so you are forced to look at the open source drivers. Your chip-ID: 1002:98e4 given in your earlier post indicates that the GPU is an R5.
As I understand it, this should be directly supported by Mint "out of the box".

Have a look at these:

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=248059
https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archiv...phics-drivers/

The PPA given in the second link might help.

It also might be helpful to install the latest stable kernel. The easiest way is via UKUU.
Run the following in a terminal.

Code:

 sudo apt-add-repository -y ppa:teejee2008/ppa
 sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install ukuu

And run the program from a terminal with

Code:

 sudo ukuu-gtk

I hope this helps..

Bodge99

bodge99 · 12-26-2018, 07:49 AM

Another alternative is to keep your working installation "as is" for now and install 19.1 to an external device.
You could use an external hard drive or even a USB flashdrive.

Obviously, the flashdrive option will give lower performance but will allow you to experiment with possible solutions to your graphics problems whilst keeping a useable system.

One further thing to try is booting a Devuan live iso. This doesn't use systemd (yay!!). I find it very fast & stable. It also handles hardware in a more "traditional" manner, so you might get better results for now, until a better solution can be found for Mint 19.1 . It is essentially a fork/partial rewrite of Debian. The devuan_ascii_2.0.0_amd64_desktop-live.iso is approx. 997MB in size.

See https://devuan.org/

Have a look at Devuan ASCII.

If you want to use the above flashdrive ISO boot method then here are the grub.cfg entries for the Devuan ASCII Live ISO (with & without the nomodeset option).

Code:

menuentry "Devuan ASCII Live ISO" {
      set isofile=devuan_ascii_2.0.0_amd64_desktop-live.iso
      loopback loop (hd0,msdos1)/ISO/$isofile
      linux (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live config findiso=/ISO/$isofile username=devuan 
      initrd (loop)/live/initrd.img
}

menuentry "Devuan ASCII Live ISO nomodeset" {
      set isofile=devuan_ascii_2.0.0_amd64_desktop-live.iso
      loopback loop (hd0,msdos1)/ISO/$isofile
      linux (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live config findiso=/ISO/$isofile username=devuan nomodeset
      initrd (loop)/live/initrd.img
}

Bodge99

richdev · 12-27-2018, 05:41 AM

Hi, Bodge99

I seem to be stuck on a very rudimentary step here: how to edit the grub file. On the USB, it's a read-only drive. I've tried remounting as per https://askubuntu.com/questions/1757...-as-read-write. But no success.

I used isomaster to extract and re-add the grub file, but that seems to break the "bootablility" of the ISO (when I burn it to the thumbdrive, I get a non-bootable thumbdrive).

I've flailed on a few other ways to edit this, but nothing seems to work well.

I know this doesn't seem like it should be complicated, but I'm stumped. lol

Thanks for all your help!!

Edit:
Based on your comment about compatibility issues, I wonder if this issue could be considered a bug. For what
I do, I could probably live with Compat Mode, but something degraded between 18.1 and 19.1. I'm happy to help the Mint dev team. Thoughts?

Also - I'm DLing Devuan right now. I think I've got 1 more usable USB stick lying around.

Edit2: I think I mentioned it above, but I'm only trying to run Linux Live from the USB drive, I don't want to install it on my HDD. Unfortunately, this probably precludes kernal updates and such. I'm terribly sorry if I wasn't clear about that.

bodge99 · 12-27-2018, 09:02 AM

Hi,

I feel your pain..
As you've found out, modding an existing ISO can easily go wrong. I've found that many of the online guides were perfectly fine when they were written, but can quickly become out of date.

You can edit your Grub configuration "on the fly" if you need to. If you can see a grub menu then you can edit it (for the current boot only i.e. it's only temporary and changes are not kept.) Just ask if you want details.

It is possible to modify a live Mint flashdrive to add persistence. (any changes are kept between reboots) but I've found this to be slightly "problematic" at times. The other reason that I personally don't use this method any more is that the working system is now becoming more and more "non-standard" if you know what I mean.

I think that you have a few options on how to proceed:

Give up and stick with your existing installation for now.. At least it's working!

Switch to a different distro (once you're sure that it works properly with your hardware).

If you have the hard drive space, resize your existing installation and install Mint 19.1 as a second OS. You can then experiment on the second OS at your leisure. The new OS is now running on real hardware with the best performance possible for your system.

Install Mint 19.1 to an external flashdrive or other device. Again, you can experiment here with no risk to your existing working system.

I personally would consider a flashdrive or external drive installation if possible. This would allow you to at least perform the actual installation and update procedures etc. The "state of play" at this stage might be slightly different.

I'm asking around locally, to see if I can borrow a laptop which has the same cpu/gpu as yours. I've sure that your graphics support problem is relatively easily solvable. I'd like to see exactly what's going on.

Bodge99