Trying to Escape Basic Video After Installation

[Boricua]

Hi, I was finally able to install a reasonable stable F15 on my main machine using the latest nightly build live cd. To complete the task, I needed to use the "basic video" option. Now I'm trapped in basic video. I deleted the xorg file in order to eliminate the vesa parameter used for installation, but I'm still booting with no Plymouth nor gnome shell, even though I know they should work with my nvidia g-force 7 card (they worked with the original F15 alpha lice cd). I'm considering trying the nvidia drivers, but I would rather not if possible. So every bit of help would be very much appreciated.

[ryptyde]

When I installed F15 on a old H-P desktop with a GeForce 6200 card it fall back to Gnome2 but after I installed
the mesa-dri-drivers and mesa-dri-drivers-dr1 and rebooted I had plymouth and G3.

phil

[Boricua]

Originally Posted by ryptyde

When I installed F15 on a old H-P desktop with a GeForce 6200 card it fall back to Gnome2 but after I installed
the mesa-dri-drivers and mesa-dri-drivers-dr1 and rebooted I had plymouth and G3.

phil

Thanks ryptyde, I added mesa-dri-drivers-dr1 (mesa-dri-drivers was already installed) but unfortunately it didn't work. Plymouth was restored but the loging prompt was unreachable (all colors distorted). I modified the kernel parameters to add the "nomodeset" option in order to stop Plymouth and allow access to the login prompt again.

[Boricua]

I just applied the recent updates including a new kernel, the video drivers and gnome-shell. It didn't work . Then I enabled the rpmfusion repos and found no suitable nvidia driver for the current F15 kernels (only for F14). I finally tried the akmod-nvidia way with all dependencies satisfied but it failed to build the module. Seems I'm running out of known options . It would be a pity to reinstall when the beta or the final release comes out. Any other suggestions?

---------- Post added at 11:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:57 AM ----------

If this thread is applicable to my current situation, seems I am really out of options but re-install or wait for nvidia drivers to catch-up:

http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=253638

[Boricua]

I'm not giving up yet. I filed bug report 693320. Then, I installed akmod-nvidia 270.30-1.fc15 along with dependencies. Upon booting, the nvidia module seems to build and install. No much joy. Plymouth is disabled, although login screen looked much better. Gnome-shell appears, only to freeze just one second after login . Mouse and keyboard remained operational; only the shell freezes, so I'm able to logout . Nouveau seems disabled in kernel parameters. Following this advice,

http://fclose.com/b/linux/1484/installing-nvidia-driver-on-fedora/

I enabled allow_execstack in SELinux. No joy . So, I uninstalled akmod-nvidia with dependencies and returned to gnome fall-back . I'll keep trying .

[AdamW]

francisc: as well as deleting /etc/X11/xorg.conf you have to edit /etc/grub.conf and take out all occurrences of 'nomodeset'. Basic graphics mode will add 'nomodeset' in there; if you delete xorg.conf but leave 'nomodeset' in there, it will disable kernel modesetting, and then nouveau will refuse to run because it doesn't work with userland modesetting any more, so X will fall right back to X again.

Now you've started messing with the proprietary driver, though, your config may be even more screwed up; you may want to consider doing a clean reinstall, updating, and then try deleting xorg.conf and editing grub.conf .

[Boricua]

Originally Posted by AdamW

francisc: as well as deleting /etc/X11/xorg.conf you have to edit /etc/grub.conf and take out all occurrences of 'nomodeset'. Basic graphics mode will add 'nomodeset' in there; if you delete xorg.conf but leave 'nomodeset' in there, it will disable kernel modesetting, and then nouveau will refuse to run because it doesn't work with userland modesetting any more, so X will fall right back to X again.

Now you've started messing with the proprietary driver, though, your config may be even more screwed up; you may want to consider doing a clean reinstall, updating, and then try deleting xorg.conf and editing grub.conf .

Thanks Adam . I will check and report back.

---------- Post added at 03:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:25 PM ----------

I checked /etc/grub.conf and found not a single instance of nomodeset:

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE:  You have a /boot partition.  This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
#          root (hd0,1)
#          kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/mapper/vg_hogar-lv_root
#          initrd /initrd-[generic-]version.img
#boot=/dev/sda
default=0
timeout=0
splashimage=(hd0,1)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora (2.6.38.2-9.fc15.x86_64)
	root (hd0,1)
	kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.38.2-9.fc15.x86_64 ro root=/dev/mapper/vg_hogar-lv_root rd_LUKS_UUID=luks-25a62efb-de93-4d9a-87dd-a4044cbb0486 rd_LVM_LV=vg_hogar/lv_root rd_LVM_LV=vg_hogar/lv_swap rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us-acentos rhgb quiet
	initrd /initramfs-2.6.38.2-9.fc15.x86_64.img
title Fedora (2.6.38.2-8.fc15.x86_64)
	root (hd0,1)
	kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.38.2-8.fc15.x86_64 ro root=/dev/mapper/vg_hogar-lv_root rd_LUKS_UUID=luks-25a62efb-de93-4d9a-87dd-a4044cbb0486 rd_LVM_LV=vg_hogar/lv_root rd_LVM_LV=vg_hogar/lv_swap rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us-acentos rhgb quiet
	initrd /initramfs-2.6.38.2-8.fc15.x86_64.img
title Fedora (2.6.38.1-6.fc15.x86_64)
	root (hd0,1)
	kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.38.1-6.fc15.x86_64 ro root=/dev/mapper/vg_hogar-lv_root rd_LUKS_UUID=luks-25a62efb-de93-4d9a-87dd-a4044cbb0486 rd_LVM_LV=vg_hogar/lv_root rd_LVM_LV=vg_hogar/lv_swap rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us-acentos rhgb quiet
	initrd /initramfs-2.6.38.1-6.fc15.x86_64.img

In fact, in order to reach the login screen I have to manually enter "nomodeset" to the kernel parameters each time I turn on this computer, in order to prevent Plymouth to run.
So I guess I have only two options, either reinstall or wait for a kmod-nvidia module for the current kernel to see it if works, right?

---------- Post added at 08:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 PM ----------

Well, I finally decided to reinstall everything using the latest F15 DVD. Installation was done in basic video mode. After completing installation, did an update, deleted xorg.conf and "nomodeset" from grub.conf. No joy . Resolution is a little bit better, but otherwise I'm in the same situation with no acceleration. I will refrain from installing the proprietary drivers this time and hope for the best with incoming updates.

[diamond_ramsey]

Originally Posted by Francisco_PR

...Well, I finally decided to reinstall everything using the latest F15 DVD. Installation was done in basic video mode. After completing installation, did an update, deleted xorg.conf and "nomodeset" from grub.conf. No joy . Resolution is a little bit better, but otherwise I'm in the same situation with no acceleration. I will refrain from installing the proprietary drivers this time and hope for the best with incoming updates.

Best to you for your future Fedora 15 updates.

My thought is be patient and time will tell.

[Boricua]

Originally Posted by diamond_ramsey

Best to you for your future Fedora 15 updates.

My thought is be patient and time will tell.

Agreed.

[Boricua]

This update-testing update seems to solve my issue:

http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=238906

Plymouth now runs after deleting nomodeset from grub.conf, although gnome=shell itself shows some lag or delay while typing or moving windows. So it seems after all it was a kernel issue.

---------- Post added at 10:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:05 AM ----------

Be careful when trying this solution. I got hit by a system freeze, apparently due to having around six windows opened at once in the shell.

[gstool]

I had a similar problem. I have a nVidia Corporation G73 [GeForce 7300 GT] (rev a1) video card. I tried all of the above, and finally found a fix by installing the kernel mentioned above.

Gerry

[Boricua]

Originally Posted by gstool

I had a similar problem. I have a nVidia Corporation G73 [GeForce 7300 GT] (rev a1) video card. I tried all of the above, and finally found a fix by installing the kernel mentioned above.

Gerry

Yes, I suspect it all has something to do with the card. Mine is a GeForce 7300 too. Glad it worked for you too.