Can only boot with 5.4lts kernel or nomodeset on default kernel

General system EndeavourOS installation
1

Hi, I have installed using the offline installer and am dual booting with Windows 10. After the 1st update and reboot I choose Endeavour OS the screen goes dark and fails to display the LightDM login screen. I am unable to Ctrl-Alt-F2 etc. to a console. If I add nomodeset to the kernel line it boots ok but I can’t then use Virtualbox. I added the 5.4lts kernel which does display the login screen and allow me to use Virtualbox. I am using a Dell Inspiron 5570 laptop with hybrid Intel 620 and AMD Radeon R7 graphics.
I would like to use either the current or a zen kernel without disabling modesetting. I have looked through dmesg, lspci and inxi outputs but don’t really know what I am looking for. As I understand things the Intel 620 mostly handles the graphics only switching to the Radeon as needed.
Thanks for reading this.
Al

2

Mayby you need something as a switcher…

i belive nvidia-prime also or optimus manager…

as https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/hybrid_graphics#After_X_server_initialization

in lightdm you can setup some command has : https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LightDM#LightDM_displaying_in_wrong_monitor

is just an example…

really don know. kernel should be able to switch also… but you can with acpi_call switch one gpu off as example… mayby for time being, optimus manager should also work.

i think nvidia-prime has some scripts that works wit intel/amd too… on somepoint it is bit digging. probably lightdm has dificulties to use 2 gpu’s ?

3

I had an issue with garbled screen and no lightdm, I had to comment out

GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep

in /etc/default/grub and then update grub of course.

4

Thank you both for replying so quickly.
@SimonJ I tried “commenting out” the line in /etc/default/grub unfortunately it didn’t help in my case.
@ringo Plenty of reading for me still to do.
I have come over from using Arcolinux on my old laptop which had earlier Intel 620 gfx. Their install behaved the same on this laptop after its 1st update.
I am a bit of a distro-hopper and installed Garuda linux on an external USB hard drive. Their tweaked zen kernel worked fine even after it updated but as a distro it just isn’t for me. I will compare grub and xorg.conf etc. settings between Garuda and Endeavour for any clues. Every distro works and updates fine in Virtualbox so I believe the problem is down to the i915 driver and or modesetting on a bare metal install.
Again thank you both for your suggestions.
Al

1 Like
5

Somewhere on wiki on some hardware with 620 has some hang i believe with a fix is bit dificult to track what it is… generally 620 works ok but just stil see slightly some dings and dongs on that i cant point it on with the finger

1 Like
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I have finally solved my issues!
Following the advice on this page. All I needed to do was, somewhat counter-intuitively, uninstall the xf86-video-intel package. Now I am booting with the latest zen kernel and all visual artefacts (tearing) have gone and I can use SDDM with modesetting.
I am still scratching my head though as the integrated Intel GPU appears to score better than the AMD secondary GPU in glmark2.
In other benchmarks the AMD out performs the Intel as expected.
Anyway, I have achieved what I was struggling with and am now happy. Thanks again for the helpful advice given.
Al

[al@endy ~]$ glmark2
=======================================================
    glmark2 2020.04
=======================================================
    OpenGL Information
    GL_VENDOR:     Intel
    GL_RENDERER:   Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2)
    GL_VERSION:    4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 20.3.4
snip
=======================================================
                                  glmark2 Score: 2642 
=======================================================

[al@endy ~]$ DRI_PRIME=1 glmark2
=======================================================
    glmark2 2020.04
=======================================================
    OpenGL Information
    GL_VENDOR:     AMD
    GL_RENDERER:   AMD ICELAND (DRM 3.40.0, 5.11.9-zen1-1-zen, LLVM 11.1.0)
    GL_VERSION:    4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 20.3.4
snip
======================================================
                                  glmark2 Score: 505 
=======================================================
...
1 Like
7

True, it is not an obvious choice.
Sometimes either installing or uninstalling xf86-video-intel driver package helps.
Often newer machines don’t need that package.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel_graphics

8

Welcome Aboard!