Debian 8.1.0 Install
 

Hi everyone, Pszoom here,

I have been trying to install Debian 8.1.0 and I keep getting the same problem no matter what setup I try. I have and eMachine EL1200-06W with an Athlon 64 2650e 1.6 GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 7200 RPM 160GB HDD, Label Flash DVD-RW, with an integrated Graphics Controller VGA nVidia GeForce 6150 SE (1440 x 900). The problem I am having is that once everything is installed via iso image burned to disc is that I keep getting diagonal lines across my display, HP Pavillion 23xw. sometimes it will boot up to the GUI but shortly after, say 10 seconds, it faults to the diagonal line and I am unable to do anything except power off and back on. I have tried AMD64 version, i386 version and even Debian Live boot. I can run from a copy of Racy Puppy 5.2.2 without a problem. I think I may need a different video driver but not sure how to set that up since i can't get to a GUI without the diagonal lines. Maybe with Racy Puppy? Thank You

Well, you could always try another distro and see if the issue persists.

Something I notice about Puppy is that it only comes in 32-bit architecture, but you were trying the 64-bit version of Debian. What happens if you try the 32-bit version of Debian?

The difference is in two different kernel versions. It's typical of the Linux kernel to have regressions which break certain hardware. This will not be fixed in a given stable distribution which are normally focused on stability and security fixes.

You don't need a running X server to fix this. Just install the system, boot to the command line. Add the backports repository to your sources:

http://backports.debian.org/Instructions/

Then install a newer backported kernel, reboot into that kernel and see if it solves your problem.

Debian 8.1.0
 

I thought i386 was 32 bit? TY

It is.

I second Cynwulf's recommendation of boot to CLI, and add backports and then a newer kernel to see if that happens to fix it.

I have a machine with the same GPU. Yes, the nouveau driver for that card sucks, you basically have to use the nVidia proprietary driver. You can sometimes delete the display manager and it'll boot to the command line just fine. Although getting to it if you default to a GUI login kind of sucks. If it's a removable drive you can do it from another machine, if you have another machine. Maybe Cntrl+ALT+F2 if you're fast enough. In the old days you could Cntrl+ALT+Backspace a dozen times and it would grumpily get you to a command line. I tend to avoid GUI logins specifically for reasons like this.

From the grub menu you could press "e" to edit the menu item and add "single" to the kernel parms to force a commandline. Just one of many options.

I have had trouble with nvidia GeForce cards and Debian 8, not so much with Debian 7. Deb8 would install the graphics ok if I chose Mate as my desktop install but not anything else. Ended up replacing the GeForce (6*** series I think) with a Radeon 600 and everything was ok, needed 'firmware-non-free' to work without bootup compliant messages.

Fred.

I've had this problem also with two ubuntu derivatives. If you can get the GUI up long enough, hunt down the additional drivers page and tell it to switch to proprietary drivers, (if you can't do that, try ctr+alt+f<insert_number> and installing the drivers (I believe I have a system with the same graphics chip, and it is using nvidia-304-updates right now). Something seems to be up with that chip and nouveau.

The standard install of Debian will not have the nonfree sources enabled so you will have to edit the sources.list file to get access to the nvidia drivers on Debian. Even the older nvidia module/driver (304) did not work for me on Deb8. This may have been updated by now (nvidia driver) but I doubt it for an old card.
Putting an different card in a laptop might be a problem but Deb8 did work on the graphics (Geforce) with the Mate desktop.

Fred.

I've never had problems with nvidia drivers.

I follow the instructions in https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers
Backup your data first!

I also used this page:

https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers

but it might have been updated since I followed these instructions as I had my problems shortly after deb8 was released and the page was updated on "2015-07-21".
Still I have not noticed the need for intel to provide special drivers for linux.
It might be easier to try a different distro. as much as I like Debian.

Fred.

I tend to use the "expert" install from the Debian CDs as that allows the non-free repositories to be added during install which helps wit things like this as it is then just a case of going to a terminal and installing the proprietary NVIDIA drivers.