Unable to boot on Asus UX51VZ [SOLVED]

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daviddem · #21 Post by **daviddem** » Tue 30 Jan 2018, 07:25

Hello all,

Sorry for the delay, I've been traveling.

- No luck with LxPup, same behavior, black screen or stuck on png splash screen

- No luck with placing the .sfs files on my hard drive and pointing to them in the grub.cfg

- I have no option concerning my graphic card in the bios, however the Asus UX51VZ indeed uses Optimus technology.

...

KuLuSz · #22 Post by **KuLuSz** » Tue 30 Jan 2018, 13:28

U have separate vcard : NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M 2 GB GDDR5
May u need set console mode with simple boot parameters:

puppy nouveau.modeset=0 vga=776

You look the kernel loading line ? or when menu off, you get freeze?
Sometime BIOS settings get kernel panic and freeze , may enought if u set it to default ...

Note: I was Desktop pc and the default bios settings is make kernel panic i get it with vector problem ... i goes to bios and set anything , then after i set HT = Hyper treading to disable , and puppy was boot perfect without kernel panic

bigpup · #23 Post by **bigpup** » Tue 30 Jan 2018, 14:31

daviddem

the Asus UX51VZ indeed uses Optimus technology.

So, it probably is using the Intel hardware to run the computer.

Did you try the i915.modeset=0 option added to the kernel line in the grub.cfg boot menu entry?

Are we having fun yet

KuLuSz · #24 Post by **KuLuSz** » Tue 30 Jan 2018, 14:54

The SITE saying :

...the notebook features a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT 650M. Nvidia's Optimus technology switches between the two graphics options depending on requirements so power consumption and battery life are always optimized...

If optimus = power saving mode , may need acpi=off boot parameter...

bigpup · #25 Post by **bigpup** » Tue 30 Jan 2018, 16:36

The problem with Optimus is Puppy does not have the support for Optimus built in.
Puppy does not have the needed software.

So, Puppy just uses the Intel hardware.
The Nvidia hardware is not used.

daviddem · #26 Post by **daviddem** » Sun 04 Feb 2018, 09:56

I pretty much tried all combinations of kernel parameters at this point and always end up with the black screen... my last attempt was with:

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linux /vmlinuz nomodeset pmedia=usbflash i915.modeset=0 nouveau.modeset=0 acpi=off pfix=nox

I am running SLacko on my old laptop now, and might end up opting for Antergos or Neon for my bootable USB on the UX51VZ.

Still interested in trying to make Puppy work on the UX51 though, if you have other suggestions.

foxpup · #27 Post by **foxpup** » Sun 04 Feb 2018, 10:33

Looking at it from the start.
Are you still making your usb stick according to the link in the first post? Maybe you do something wrong there.
You could try to do it with the command dd. Take the xenialpup64-7.5-uefi.iso and in console/terminal you do something like

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# dd if=xenialpup64-7.5-uefi.iso of=/dev/sdc

where sdc is the usb to boot with. Not /dev/sdc1, but /dev/sdc without any number.
Try to boot that.

bigpup · #28 Post by **bigpup** » Sun 04 Feb 2018, 17:49

If this is still how the install on the usb was done.
http://blog.puppylinux.com/?viewDetailed=00009

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linux /vmlinuz nomodeset pmedia=usbflash i915.modeset=0 nouveau.modeset=0 acpi=off pfix=nox

This will not work at all.

Try this:
In grub.cfg

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linux /vmlinuz pmedia=usbflash i915.modeset=0
initrd /initrd.gz

daviddem · #29 Post by **daviddem** » Mon 05 Feb 2018, 04:03

I've been using the method of the first post (boots just fine on other machines).

I do have the initrd /initrd.gz line in grub.cfg, I only posted the kernel line to show the various kernel options I tried (some of them, all of them... always same result)

I have also tried burning the .iso with Rufus, including using the Rufus dd method. Boots fine on other machines but not the UX51.

Just tried also making the USB with the dd command:

Code: Select all

# dd if=xenialpup64-7.5-uefi.iso of=/dev/sdb

Got the Grub menu but again black screen after that.

Also tried with these two kernel options only, no dice:

Code: Select all

linux /vmlinuz pmedia=usbflash i915.modeset=0
initrd /initrd.gz

Is there any way to force the writing of a boot log file to the USB or hard drive to see where the boot process actually stalls?

bigpup · #30 Post by **bigpup** » Mon 05 Feb 2018, 04:32

Just to try it and see what happens.

At boot access the bios setup.
Just as it boots and before Grub boot loader takes over.
Usually press and hold F2 key will bring up bios setup.
Look for something about disable secure boot.
Disable secure boot.
See if that helps any.

Could have legacy boot enable as an option.
That should work also.

daviddem · #31 Post by **daviddem** » Mon 05 Feb 2018, 07:20

bigpup wrote:Just to try it and see what happens.

At boot access the bios setup.
Just as it boots and before Grub boot loader takes over.
Usually press and hold F2 key will bring up bios setup.
Look for something about disable secure boot.
Disable secure boot.
See if that helps any.

Could have legacy boot enable as an option.
That should work also.

Wow, dude... success!

Secure boot and fast boot were disabled all along, so I didn't change that. But CSM (legacy boot) was also disabled, since I was trying to boot in UEFI mode and I had had problems when enabling CSM earlier in my attempts to boot other distros (well before the OP).

So I enabled CSM and created the Xenial flashdisk again with Rufus, using "MBR partition scheme for BIOS and UEFI" option and "iso" mode, not dd.

Then I went to Windows advanced startup option and selected "use device". This time, apart from the usual UEFI option of the flashdisk, was also a "hard drive" option, which I chose... and sure enough, Puppy booted with no issue at all, using the nouveau driver and my Nvidia card, in full definition... no special kernel options needed at all.

Still not sure why UEFI wouldn't work though!? Any clue? So far I've managed to boot Arch, Antergos and Neon, and that was all with CSM disabled, so UEFI mode for sure...

bigpup · #32 Post by **bigpup** » Tue 06 Feb 2018, 19:48

Still not sure why UEFI wouldn't work though!?

Basically, Puppy is not keeping up with all that is needed for full UEFI bios booting.

It is something new to Puppy and to add it to Puppy, someone has to volunteer to do the work.

Some Puppy versions have what is suppose to work for UEFI.
Key word suppose to work!

It is easier to just disable secure boot and or enable legacy boot.

A lot of UEFI bios want to see a GPT partition table on the device trying to boot with.
Not fully supported in Puppy.

Rufus, using "MBR partition scheme for BIOS and UEFI" option

Whatever that is could be a problem for your UEFI bios.

Puppy is still all about support for the old stuff and old ways of computing.

You can not put every possible thing into a 300MB OPS.

daviddem · #33 Post by **daviddem** » Thu 08 Feb 2018, 03:49

bigpup wrote:Basically, Puppy is not keeping up with all that is needed for full UEFI bios booting...

OK fair enough. I will mark the thread as solved, and I will also post in the "laptops" section to document what has made it work eventually.

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Unable to boot on Asus UX51VZ [SOLVED]