No Desktop on New Install - Bug in ISO?

[frogprince]

I just installed Linux Lite 1.08 on an older AMD Sempron machine (AMD64). After the install completed, the system would only boot into a tty screen. After a quick search, I found:

https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/index...361#msg361

and proceeded to follow the command line entries. I first ran:

sudo service lightdm stop

and the system told me there was no such instance. So I ran:

sudo apt-get remove --purge nvidia-*

and that ran fine. I moved on to:

sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf

but was told there was no such file. I finally ran:

sudo apt-get install nvidia-current && sudo reboot

and the desktop came up fine. But I'm not sure a real newbie could figure this one out. Bug in the iso?

[N4RPS]

Hello!

I know I sound like a broken record every time I say this, but did you run an MD5 hash check on the ISO when you downloaded it, to insure it all downloaded correctly? Until I started doing this, I, too, had various issues pop up with the ISOs from time to time.

AFAIK, having installed both, the 32-bit and 64-bit LL ISOs are fine...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[frogprince]

Rob: That is an excellent and appropriate question. However, I downloaded and checked both the 32- and 64 bit isos:

9261562605d9eeb6983c2dc2bf30e357  /media/Garage/Alt_Distros/Linux_Lite/linux-lite-1.0.8-32bit.iso

07def50dfb23b172f486c2b9bc9f2024  /media/Garage/Alt_Distros/Linux_Lite/linux-lite-1.0.8-64bit.iso

Both match the posted MD5's.

In addition, I installed first the 32-bit and then the 64-bit because this mother board is an older AMD chip unit (Sempron), and I wasn't sure which one would install. Both did, and both exhibited exactly the same behavior and solution.

My concern was that this might be a bug that affects only AMD chips, and as such, might not have shown up. I have some other questions that I posted separately about this very fine distro, but in general this machine is running well right now after the earlier post.

If you feel the need to pursue this one further, please let me know if I can help.

[N4RPS]

Hello!

After a q like it has more to do with the Nvidia chipset than anything else. Nvidia legacy support

[N4RPS]

Hello!

I didn't mean to insult your intelligence in such a fashion. It just seems that the overwhelming majority of issues concerning ISO-related issues here are the result of people who, being newcomers to Linux, just don't know about running hash checks on ISOs after downloading them.

Based on your fix, it sounds like the problem was with the way the Linux kernel handles and assigns a driver for your legacy Nvidia card. From what I've been able to gather online, legacy Nvidia video card support has always been a hit-or-miss proposition in Linux. IIRC, these drivers are proprietary to Nvidia, in much the same way as certain wireless card drivers are proprietary to Broadcom.

As I am not a member of the Linux Lite development team, I cannot say for certain whether or not the kernel has been changed in any way by them to make this process easier. As Linux Lite matures, I'm sure this and other minor issues will be addressed.  For those who follow you who might experience this issue, I would definitely say that what you had to do to fix it should be included either in the Linux Lite documentation or posted someone on here where n00bs can find the information easily.

Today, I had a somewhat similar issue myself. In addition to Linux Lite, I also play around with Lubuntu - it just plain faster on some of the REALLY SLOW laptops I refurbish for people who wouldn't have a computer otherwise.

It seems that the latest version (14.04) loads b43-pci-bridge at startup by default. This mucks up the installation of the b43legacy wireless drivers, so I had to blacklist b43-pci-bridge in etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf. Would something like that confuse the dickens out of a n00b? Definitely!

That's why I posted my solution on Ubuntu forums. Thank you for doing the same here. I'm sure that, if you're interested in doing so, you have a lot to offer the Linux Lite community as a whole...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob
 

[frogprince]

Rob: Thanks for your kind response, but I took no offense. I meant what I said: it was a good suggestion to check. The two sources of the error that occurred to me were in fact the old nVidia 5200 video card and the AMD-based board. I've been working with Linux for some ten years now, and have seen a lot of both profound and silly questions on forums - some of them my own!  :  And as I said, if you get other instances of the same error, I'm happy to help if I can.

[N4RPS]

Hello!

My thanks, and a recognition point...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob