I installed the debian stretch system on one my old laptop,you know,just for first using Linux system.In begining, it seems really cool for using terminal,type some command lines. Last night it was dead when I finished installing the openconnect for VPN,it can't boot.Now its status is having machine noise,but the screen completely no any brightness even you keeping ALT+SHIFT+DELETE or the enter key or the brightness key, then later, the machine noise gone.So what's wrong with my laptop？What should I do?

When you turn it on do you see the initial screen with the message about the BIOS? Can you boot from a live cd? If not, exactly what happens when you turn the machine on? From what you have described I suspect you have hardware problems, not software. The fact that you just installed stretch is probably only coincidental. However takes us through what actually happens when you turn the machine on - what you see, what you hear and what you physically feel, if anything.

I can't see BIOS,the screen completely black just like you powered it off, but it has the sounds of machine fun noise, the power light and the boot light is on, then later the lights are off and the noise is gone. Or what should i notice for run stretch in old computer?

Since it is a laptop have you tried to see if the laptop is set to display to an external monitor as opposed to the builtin screen?
There maybe <Function> keys to switch displays.
Can you tell us the laptop model type/make/model/etc?

Also, can you plug it into an external monitor?
The display might be swapped or set to an invalid resolution.


Then again the display or Gpu might be dead!

Dell inspiron, now i don't have any monitor, I just have a Mac air

dell inspiron 15R

I gather that the noise you are hearing is not unusual, it is not a grinding or high squeak or something, just normal machine noise. Have you tried booting from your installation medium? I assume it was a live CD or DVD. Is there any difference? Do you still hear the noise but does it last longer? It is hard to tell yet from what you have said but it is sounding like a hardware problem, not software. How old is the laptop? As Roy_lt said it could be the gpu, or it could be the screen itself, or it could be something else. Watch the screen very closely for a minute or so during an attempt to boot. Often although a screen appears to remain black you can tell something is happening because it actually turns a little lighter, very subtle but a definite change. You often can't see it unless you are expecting it and looking for it. It may be time to pay a repairman to look at it if it is worth it. With the price of laptops today it may not be worth the cost.

Does it finish POST? What do you mean machine noise?

What exactly did you type in? Is this the first time you have used a Linux OS?

To me it sounds like a] this is the first time you have used Linux and b] you copied and pasted some commands into your terminal without totally understanding what they were. This has potentially led to you FUBARing your system.

If the above are at all true, I would recommend a reinstall of Debian or an easier OS like Ubuntu or Mint, along with employing a crucial understanding that the terminal is an extremely powerful tool, not to be messed with unless one knows what one is doing.

"With great power comes great responsibility" and all that.

can't see BIOS black screen, that is before booting into any OS, maybe your laptop broke not Linux broke it. rip it open if you can and look for loose parts. maybe fan or hdd as this is the only moving parts in a laptop.

pull your RAM and reseat it, keep it open and boot it looking to see where the noise is coming from, if you can.

1 members found this post helpful.

If you've only got fan noise (louder than normal and continuous?), no display at all and no boot, that does not sound good. Do you hear any POST error beeps? How long before it powers off by itself?

Can you disconnect the power supply, pull the battery, then hold in the power button for about 5 - 10 seconds.

Then try reconnecting only the power supply and press the power button. If nothing happens, reinstall the battery and try again.

If after all that, you've still got a black screen and loud constant fan noise, I would start to think that you might have a dead CPU.

Any other hardware problem, such as loose RAM should generate POST error beeps. So again, I'm assuming you're not hearing any beeps?

That model is about 8 years old? On Dell laptops, dying batteries used to cause some strange problems, as I recall, even if you had it running on AC all the time. It's worth trying to power up without the battery to at least rule that out.

look for blinking lights if you have lights of any kind on your lap top as well. then you can look up error codes for the blinking lights to your model of laptop.

cap lock light even, things like that too.

I believe some of the Dell laptops have a function key (combo) that allows you to turn on/off the display. So look at the keyboard for a function key that looks like a display/screen to toggle on/off the display or switch to external display.
Or look through your user manual to see if your laptop has such a feature and how to use it!
Also, when you boot the laptop is there any BEEPs? If so, how many, as that could be an indication that the H/W has detected an error. Your manual should tell you what the number of beeps mean.

Tnx for your kind reply, I have got another old laptop and plan to install debian again. God, I want to buy a new MBP even be a newbie.

No POST, just the machine fan noise I guess, I will install another old laptop using debian.
If not smoothing well, i will post again.