[opensuse] 12.3 RC1 install mysteries

Roger Oberholtzer

18 Feb 2013 18 Feb '13

15:40

I am installing 12.3 RC1 on a machine that happily runs earlier versions of openSUSE. The graphics is, admittedly, an older ATI Rage XL (MACH64). It runs as a server, and this is on the MB. It is usually only seen during install. The install was a bit of a PITA because, no matter what display I used, I could not get a graphic install to work. I tried setting various resolutions and even 'No KMS' in the initial install screen. The screen would go black, and I could do nothing. No virtual terminals. Nothing. Eventually I had settle for the text install. The text install went rather okay. Quite impressive. I expected that when I did a text install, perhaps the installed GRUB2 would also be set up to be text based. This seems not to be the case. So, when the system rebooted to do the second part of the install, where things like the root password are set, I just got a blank screen. The second part did not happen. So I now have a machine where: * grub2 is installed, but it will not provide a menu. Eventually it does the default and boots, resulting in a graphic login screen - which works - even though grub2 does not manage it's graphics. * there is no root password, so I cannot do any system configuration. I can log in as a user (made during the first phase of the install) and run KDE. What I would really like to do is (1) get grub2 to work, perhaps in text mode and (2) set a root password so I can proceed to set things up. Any suggestions? Especially the root password part. Yours sincerely, Roger Oberholtzer Ramböll RST / Systems Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________ Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

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Patrick Shanahan

18 Feb 18 Feb

15:51

* Roger Oberholtzer [02-18-13 10:43]: [...]

...

So I now have a machine where:

* grub2 is installed, but it will not provide a menu. Eventually it does the default and boots, resulting in a graphic login screen - which works - even though grub2 does not manage it's graphics.

* there is no root password, so I cannot do any system configuration. I can log in as a user (made during the first phase of the install) and run KDE.

in a text tty/window(pts) su to root (su -) and: passwd root follow instructions provided. interrupt the boot process at the initial grub(2) screen ("e") and add "3" to the line beginning with "linux" for the default boot option menu section (no quotes). -- (paka)Patrick Shanahan Plainfield, Indiana, USA HOG # US1244711 http://wahoo.no-ip.org Photo Album: http://wahoo.no-ip.org/gallery2 http://en.opensuse.org openSUSE Community Member Registered Linux User #207535 @ http://linuxcounter.net -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Roger Oberholtzer

16:11

On Mon, 2013-02-18 at 10:51 -0500, Patrick Shanahan wrote:

...

* Roger Oberholtzer [02-18-13 10:43]: [...]

...
So I now have a machine where:

* grub2 is installed, but it will not provide a menu. Eventually it does the default and boots, resulting in a graphic login screen - which works - even though grub2 does not manage it's graphics.

* there is no root password, so I cannot do any system configuration. I can log in as a user (made during the first phase of the install) and run KDE.

in a text tty/window(pts) su to root (su -) and: passwd root follow instructions provided.

This does not work. I cannot su because I do not have a password.

...

interrupt the boot process at the initial grub(2) screen ("e") and add "3" to the line beginning with "linux" for the default boot option menu section (no quotes).

There is no grub screen. Nothing to interrupt. It is grub that has the graphic problems. When X/kdm run, all is okay. Yours sincerely, Roger Oberholtzer Ramböll RST / Systems Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________ Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

ianseeks

17:45

On Monday 18 Feb 2013 16:40:14 Roger Oberholtzer wrote:

...

I am installing 12.3 RC1 on a machine that happily runs earlier versions of openSUSE. The graphics is, admittedly, an older ATI Rage XL (MACH64). It runs as a server, and this is on the MB. It is usually only seen during install.

My laptop has a ATI mobility display and i couldn't install 12.1 on it, 12.2/123 installs but i can't watch any BBC iPlayer or youtube that uses flash, the plugin just crashes. I think graphical setups/configs (or something) in 12.x has issues with ATI

...

The install was a bit of a PITA because, no matter what display I used, I could not get a graphic install to work. I tried setting various resolutions and even 'No KMS' in the initial install screen. The screen would go black, and I could do nothing. No virtual terminals. Nothing. Eventually I had settle for the text install.

The text install went rather okay. Quite impressive. I expected that when I did a text install, perhaps the installed GRUB2 would also be set up to be text based. This seems not to be the case. So, when the system rebooted to do the second part of the install, where things like the root password are set, I just got a blank screen. The second part did not happen.

So I now have a machine where:

* grub2 is installed, but it will not provide a menu. Eventually it does the default and boots, resulting in a graphic login screen - which works - even though grub2 does not manage it's graphics.

* there is no root password, so I cannot do any system configuration. I can log in as a user (made during the first phase of the install) and run KDE.

What I would really like to do is (1) get grub2 to work, perhaps in text mode and (2) set a root password so I can proceed to set things up.

Any suggestions? Especially the root password part.

Yours sincerely,

Roger Oberholtzer

Ramböll RST / Systems

Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________

Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Phil Savoie

19 Feb 19 Feb

00:41

On 02/18/2013 12:45 PM, ianseeks wrote:

...

On Monday 18 Feb 2013 16:40:14 Roger Oberholtzer wrote:

...
I am installing 12.3 RC1 on a machine that happily runs earlier versions of openSUSE. The graphics is, admittedly, an older ATI Rage XL (MACH64). It runs as a server, and this is on the MB. It is usually only seen during install.

My laptop has a ATI mobility display and i couldn't install 12.1 on it, 12.2/123 installs but i can't watch any BBC iPlayer or youtube that uses flash, the plugin just crashes. I think graphical setups/configs (or something) in 12.x has issues with ATI

...
The install was a bit of a PITA because, no matter what display I used, I could not get a graphic install to work. I tried setting various resolutions and even 'No KMS' in the initial install screen. The screen would go black, and I could do nothing. No virtual terminals. Nothing. Eventually I had settle for the text install.

The text install went rather okay. Quite impressive. I expected that when I did a text install, perhaps the installed GRUB2 would also be set up to be text based. This seems not to be the case. So, when the system rebooted to do the second part of the install, where things like the root password are set, I just got a blank screen. The second part did not happen.

So I now have a machine where:

* grub2 is installed, but it will not provide a menu. Eventually it does the default and boots, resulting in a graphic login screen - which works - even though grub2 does not manage it's graphics.

* there is no root password, so I cannot do any system configuration. I can log in as a user (made during the first phase of the install) and run KDE.

What I would really like to do is (1) get grub2 to work, perhaps in text mode and (2) set a root password so I can proceed to set things up.

Any suggestions? Especially the root password part.

Yours sincerely,

Roger Oberholtzer

Ramböll RST / Systems

Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________

Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se

You could try adding to the kernel line the parameter nomodeset. This works for me when installing Centos on laptops/desktops that have an ATI video card. HTH, Phil -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Roger Oberholtzer

06:51

On Mon, 2013-02-18 at 19:41 -0500, Phil Savoie wrote:

...

On 02/18/2013 12:45 PM, ianseeks wrote:

...
On Monday 18 Feb 2013 16:40:14 Roger Oberholtzer wrote:

...
I am installing 12.3 RC1 on a machine that happily runs earlier versions of openSUSE. The graphics is, admittedly, an older ATI Rage XL (MACH64). It runs as a server, and this is on the MB. It is usually only seen during install.

My laptop has a ATI mobility display and i couldn't install 12.1 on it, 12.2/123 installs but i can't watch any BBC iPlayer or youtube that uses flash, the plugin just crashes. I think graphical setups/configs (or something) in 12.x has issues with ATI

...
The install was a bit of a PITA because, no matter what display I used, I could not get a graphic install to work. I tried setting various resolutions and even 'No KMS' in the initial install screen. The screen would go black, and I could do nothing. No virtual terminals. Nothing. Eventually I had settle for the text install.

The text install went rather okay. Quite impressive. I expected that when I did a text install, perhaps the installed GRUB2 would also be set up to be text based. This seems not to be the case. So, when the system rebooted to do the second part of the install, where things like the root password are set, I just got a blank screen. The second part did not happen.

So I now have a machine where:

* grub2 is installed, but it will not provide a menu. Eventually it does the default and boots, resulting in a graphic login screen - which works - even though grub2 does not manage it's graphics.

* there is no root password, so I cannot do any system configuration. I can log in as a user (made during the first phase of the install) and run KDE.

What I would really like to do is (1) get grub2 to work, perhaps in text mode and (2) set a root password so I can proceed to set things up.

Any suggestions? Especially the root password part.

Yours sincerely,

Roger Oberholtzer

Ramböll RST / Systems

Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________

Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se

You could try adding to the kernel line the parameter nomodeset. This works for me when installing Centos on laptops/desktops that have an ATI video card.

I added nomodeset when doing the install, but it still fails after the initial screen. I see that XOrg/icewm are running. But the display is black. The problem seems not to be the kernel. When that eventually starts I get a graphic login. The problem is that grub2 does not show. The monitor prints that the resolution is not supported and the screen is black. I have tried all resolutions that I know work with two different monitors. It is more like grub2 either ignores these or is just doing something wrong. During install, in a VT, I see this: Loading extension GLX Error loading MTTR: type=1 Invalid argument (22) Perhaps this is making X confused? X does not exit, and there are no errors in /var/log. Only this message on a VT. Is it possible to get grub2 to do a fully text thing? I looked in the config file, but there was no real info. There were descriptions of the various options - but not a mention of other possible values. Which is usually a good idea in such a critical configuration files. Or, is it possible to use grub instead?

...

HTH,

Phil

Yours sincerely, Roger Oberholtzer Ramböll RST / Systems Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________ Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Felix Miata

07:15

On 2013-02-19 07:51 (GMT+0100) Roger Oberholtzer composed:

...

Or, is it possible to use grub instead?

Works fine on my R128. Machines on which Grub did everything required of it in the past don't need Grub2. -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Roger Oberholtzer

07:59

On Tue, 2013-02-19 at 02:15 -0500, Felix Miata wrote:

...

On 2013-02-19 07:51 (GMT+0100) Roger Oberholtzer composed:

...
Or, is it possible to use grub instead?

Works fine on my R128. Machines on which Grub did everything required of it in the past don't need Grub2.

I do not recall getting the chance to choose grub in the install. Maybe this is not the case in the text install. Yours sincerely, Roger Oberholtzer Ramböll RST / Systems Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________ Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Felix Miata

08:42

On 2013-02-19 08:59 (GMT+0100) Roger Oberholtzer composed:

...

I do not recall getting the chance to choose grub in the install. Maybe this is not the case in the text install.

Many many moons since I was last forced into text openSUSE installation. I have no idea whether it's offered, but can only speculate it probably is in the same place found in GUI install, in partitioning, but possibly only in expert/create mode, the only mode I ever use. -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Per Jessen

09:03

Felix Miata wrote:

...

On 2013-02-19 08:59 (GMT+0100) Roger Oberholtzer composed:

...
I do not recall getting the chance to choose grub in the install. Maybe this is not the case in the text install.

Many many moons since I was last forced into text openSUSE installation. I have no idea whether it's offered,

When installing over ssh for instance. -- Per Jessen, Zürich (-0.8°C) http://www.dns24.ch/ - free DNS hosting, made in Switzerland. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Roger Oberholtzer

10:57

On Tue, 2013-02-19 at 10:03 +0100, Per Jessen wrote:

...

Felix Miata wrote:

...
On 2013-02-19 08:59 (GMT+0100) Roger Oberholtzer composed:

...
I do not recall getting the chance to choose grub in the install. Maybe this is not the case in the text install.

Many many moons since I was last forced into text openSUSE installation. I have no idea whether it's offered,

When installing over ssh for instance.

It is offered via F3 in the initial install screen. I think that if text mode was then properly propagated to grub2, the install would have completed completely.

...

Roger Oberholtzer

07:21

New subject: [opensuse] 12.3 RC1 install mysteries [SOLVEDish]

Bad form replying to me, but I have a bit of progress: 1. To set the root password, I: - booted with the 12.3 install and chose rescue - mounted the root partition - cd'd and chroot'd to that partition - ran 'passwd' 2. Now that I can run something as root, I then ran yast and set grub2 to be in text mode. And that works. I get a proper boot screen. I really think that when you do a text install, grub should also be set to be in text mode. So now I can hopefully get the rest of the system configured and get on with the the real task of setting up a local Apache mod_tile Open Street Map server. That is more my kind of fun... Yours sincerely, Roger Oberholtzer Ramböll RST / Systems Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________ Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Anton Aylward

13:08

New subject: [opensuse] 12.3 RC1 install mysteries [SOLVEDish]

Roger Oberholtzer said the following on 02/19/2013 02:21 AM:

...

Bad form replying to me, but I have a bit of progress:

1. To set the root password, I:

- booted with the 12.3 install and chose rescue - mounted the root partition - cd'd and chroot'd to that partition - ran 'passwd'

BTDT. BT and edited the config files under /boot many times as well. (grub and grub2) I found the blank-screen graphical boot with grub2 can be dealt with by editing the config file. Yes, you're not supposed to ... Now if only I can remember whose machine I did that on ... I'll get back to you on that ... -- The heresies we should fear are those which can be confused with orthodoxy. -- Borges, "The Theologians" -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Andrey Borzenkov

07:22

On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 10:51 AM, Roger Oberholtzer wrote: [...]

...

The problem seems not to be the kernel. When that eventually starts I get a graphic login. The problem is that grub2 does not show. The monitor prints that the resolution is not supported and the screen is black. I have tried all resolutions that I know work with two different monitors. It is more like grub2 either ignores these or is just doing something wrong.

How exactly did you try them?

...

Is it possible to get grub2 to do a fully text thing?

Yes. In /etc/default/grub set GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT=console and run "grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg". -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Roger Oberholtzer

07:42

On Tue, 2013-02-19 at 11:22 +0400, Andrey Borzenkov wrote:

...

On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 10:51 AM, Roger Oberholtzer wrote: [...]

...
The problem seems not to be the kernel. When that eventually starts I get a graphic login. The problem is that grub2 does not show. The monitor prints that the resolution is not supported and the screen is black. I have tried all resolutions that I know work with two different monitors. It is more like grub2 either ignores these or is just doing something wrong.

How exactly did you try them?

The only way available: Using F3 in the initial install screen, I tried the various resolutions, as well as Auto and No KMS. I see that the resolutions offered are effected by the monitor connected. Of course, I have no idea where that resolution is actually used during install. But I don't know of anything else to set.

...

...
Is it possible to get grub2 to do a fully text thing?

Yes. In /etc/default/grub set GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT=console and run "grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg".

I will file this for future reference. Running yast (text mode) also has a place to set this, which is what I did. But to do any of this, I first needed to sort out the root password. Which I did. Yours sincerely, Roger Oberholtzer Ramböll RST / Systems Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________ Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org