Re: Looking for THE laptop expert (SOLVED!)

[luikki]

see if this helps:

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,102676.msg877011.html#msg877011

[Yankee]

I thought the UEFI Secure Boot would be on a Windows 8 machine,
could be wrong about that.   It is removable, you would be the first
on the forums I believe to need to do so.

[DeBaas]

Grub bootloader on the Linux partition (Redo MBR)
Repair the winders bootloader.
Load your Linux bootloader with EasyBCD from whitin the winders bootmenu.

testing ?

[bicol_willem]

see if this helps:

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,102676.msg877011.html#msg877011

Result is the same .... 
The more I look at the problem, the more I get convinced that it isn't a real boot problem as we know it. After all boot is initiated, during boot things go wrong. It gets to hang on login. How this hang is avoided during a restart holds the key. 

[bicol_willem]

Grub bootloader on the Linux partition (Redo MBR)
Repair the winders bootloader.
Load your Linux bootloader with EasyBCD from whitin the winders bootmenu.

testing ?

Hmm, a new way of doing things. I will give it a try as well. It however will stop me from removing Windows, correct?

[DeBaas]

You need only a (very) small part from Windows, another try could be the use of the old XOSL bootloader that inits your video card to standard VGA.
For me It look s like there is a problem with the video init.
On one of my testboxes I had to change the first video init in BIOS from AGP to PCI before PCLos could start X, strange because the video card really is/was AGP.
So maybe you can find some video settings in your BIOS to play/test.

[bicol_willem]

You need only a (very) small part from Windows, another try could be the use of the old XOSL bootloader that inits your video card to standard VGA.
For me It look s like there is a problem with the video init.
On one of my testboxes I had to change the first video init in BIOS from AGP to PCI before PCLos could start X, strange because the video card really is/was AGP.
So maybe you can find some video settings in your BIOS to play/test.

I have the same feeling!
Not at the laptop right now but I will go through the BIOS once more......

[kjpetrie]

This is nothing to do with Grub, 2 or otherwise. Nor is it connected with secure boot. Grub has only two possible functions: to find and load a kernel, or to find another boot loader. Once it has done either of those, its job is done and it stops running. Secure boot likewise has only one function: to check that the software is signed before allowing it to run. Since the kernel loads and starts setting up the system, you're clearly getting past those hurdles.

The laptop boots and gets all the way to starting X, at which point it hangs if it has not previously been booted into Windows, so it is probably the video card which is not properly initialised. Grub errors or secure boot would not have let it get anything like that far.

You need to find out whether there are any video card configuration options in the UEFI set-up. It would also be helpful to examine Windows' boot log as previously mentioned to confirm what is being reconfigured by Windows as it boots.

[bicol_willem]

This is nothing to do with Grub, 2 or otherwise. Nor is it connected with secure boot. Grub has only two possible functions: to find and load a kernel, or to find another boot loader. Once it has done either of those, its job is done and it stops running. Secure boot likewise has only one function: to check that the software is signed before allowing it to run. Since the kernel loads and starts setting up the system, you're clearly getting past those hurdles.

The laptop boots and gets all the way to starting X, at which point it hangs if it has not previously been booted into Windows, so it is probably the video card which is not properly initialised. Grub errors or secure boot would not have let it get anything like that far.

You need to find out whether there are any video card configuration options in the UEFI set-up. It would also be helpful to examine Windows' boot log as previously mentioned to confirm what is being reconfigured by Windows as it boots.

I agree re grub. Starting X looks like to be the problem (we're narrowing it down!).
However, from UEFI stuff is NOthing to be found in BIOS....
Looked at winows/logs and the stuff there just makes me dizzle. (I found actually only logs from setup date)

I guess after a good sleep I should try the suggestion of DeBaas (add Linux boot options to the Windows bootmanager).
At least ... I will know if that will work (or not). 

[Yankee]

There is a program in Synaptic called do-vesa.
You can run it from the console as root (or terminal).   It
will put your video card setting to vesa.   Then
reboot.   It should eliminate or confirm that the video
card is the culprit, if vesa works fine thru the boot
process.

You said you can get into the system after using Windows,
so...


regards,

FF

[bicol_willem]

There is a program in Synaptic called do-vesa.
You can run it from the console as root (or terminal).   It
will put your video card setting to vesa.   Then
reboot.   It should eliminate or confirm that the video
card is the culprit, if vesa works fine thru the boot
process.

You said you can get into the system after using Windows,
so...


regards,

FF

Hmm, that script do-vesa IS installed.
Going to remove it and see if that makes any difference.

[Yankee]

There is a program in Synaptic called do-vesa.
You can run it from the console as root (or terminal).   It
will put your video card setting to vesa.   Then
reboot.   It should eliminate or confirm that the video
card is the culprit, if vesa works fine thru the boot
process.

You said you can get into the system after using Windows,
so...


regards,

FF

Hmm, that script do-vesa IS installed.
Going to remove it and see if that makes any difference.

I meant you should run the script and reboot. 
To change back to your regular video driver
use the PCC Control Center.    Easy test.

[bicol_willem]

There is a program in Synaptic called do-vesa.
You can run it from the console as root (or terminal).   It
will put your video card setting to vesa.   Then
reboot.   It should eliminate or confirm that the video
card is the culprit, if vesa works fine thru the boot
process.

You said you can get into the system after using Windows,
so...


regards,

FF

Hmm, that script do-vesa IS installed.
Going to remove it and see if that makes any difference.

I meant you should run the script and reboot.  
To change back to your regular video driver
use the PCC Control Center.    Easy test.

That won't help indicate..... ANY reboot (also from xxuntu) simply works...
It is just "cold boots", into any of the Linux installed, that fails.

My best guess is now there simply is a so far unresolved driver failure (ATI/AMD stuff). What else?
I removed the bfs kernel and use now the standard kernel (thought behind that was maybe bfs is in too much hurry).
But nothing changed.
In xxbuntu I found a ATI/AMD related driver named xvba-va-driver. Installed the same. Still the same.
The DeBaas option becomes my very last option now....
Going for it.
Otherwise we got to live with this inconvenience. Laptop is new and has to serve us for a while.

[bicol_willem]

I guess this will be the last one on this.
The "DeBaas" option also didn't work (but gave me some renewed "Winache", not that familiar anymore with Windows stuff). 
But I got it done in the end  but the results are the same.
Logic in a way, as start of boot seems not the problem. Booting up simply fails halfway, namely at login/starting X.
How in the world a "boot" and a "reboot" can differ?  I will probably never know! The only thing I can imagine is a difference of hardware temperature.
We got to live with it as is for a while. Maybe some future drivers will correct this.
Thanks for all the hands up guys!

[Just17]

How in the world a "boot" and a "reboot" can differ?

Maybe something along the lines of graphic card initialisation .......  not being done as you would expect on Linux from a cold boot situation ...... 

......  but on a reboot, the card is already initialised and so the problem does not present itself.