It appears that the problem I was having with the Ubuntu installer entering safe mode (or not working at all) is actually related to a bug in the version of the Intel i945 driver that ships with Ubuntu 9.04.
Basically, X was having a problem starting and I was getting the following lines in my /var/log/Xorg.0.log file:
(WW) intel(0): No outputs definitely connected, trying again...
(II) intel(0): Output VGA disconnected
(WW) intel(0): Unable to find initial modes
(EE) intel(0): No valid modes.
(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
I tried a whole bunch of different things, but eventually resolved that it was likely a bug in the Intel driver. I filed a bug report with Ubuntu here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/375545
The resolution was to use the 2.7.1 Intel driver, which is not included with the Ubuntu 9.04 release, but is still considered stable. To use the new driver, do the following:
Add the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates/ubuntu jaunty main
Add the archive's key to your list:
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 643dc6bd56580ceb1ab4a9f63b22ab97af1cdfa9
Update your apt cache:
sudo apt-get update
Install the new package:
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-intel
And that should fix it!
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Congratulations! You are now officially the Shuttle X50/Ubuntu Guru of the Internet! How does it feel?
ReplyDeleteIf you have the time and skills and inclination to do so: could you make a Ubuntu USB bootable "image" with the correct 2.7.1 driver and such? So the rest of the world can boot from it without hopefully any problems?
Keep up the good work, Stefan
Hmm...I'd love to, but with all of the constant updates to ubuntu, I'd guess that these changes will make it in somewhere...
ReplyDeleteFor now, I think it's probably just easier to document what needs to get done, and let people take care of making them themselves.
But should you feel so inclined, please have at it!
I had the same problem, and tried updating the drive as instructed but no luck.
ReplyDeleteI eventually traced the problem to a video cable. I had my monitor connected to a KVM switch which was connected to the video output on my machine. When I replaced the cable between the KVM and the machine everything worked fine. What's weird is that the old cable worked fine for everything else, and once I had started up, I could replace the new cable with the old and everything continued to work fine. Anyway, I'm now back in business.