10.10 Installer crashes with black screen... even in text mode!

[WARM3CH]

It has been a few days I'm struggling to install Kubuntu 10.10 on my computer. I started with the normal CD, burnt it and boot the computer. Halfway through the graphical installer, I got a black screen and system froze up. I tried several things (including running the installer with nomodest and single options) but didn't help.

Then I downloaded the alternate CD and started to install in the text mode. I could get passed installing the kernel and programs but right after adding a user/password, the text installer crashed with a black screen and system froze!

Now, I already have Windows 7 64 bits on this computer and have done all kinds of memory/hardware tests on it and it works fine. The CPU, GPU and the case is well ventilated so nothing is overheating. I also run heavy loads on Windows (MATLAB, Chess engine tournaments) for hours and hours and never had a crash. So I guess the hardware is fine.

Here are the specs of the system if it can help:

CPU: i7 950 GPU: ATI HD5870 (model Gigabyte GV-R587UD-1GD) RAM: 12 GB DDR-1666 Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 2.0) Optical drive: Liteon ihbs112 USB Mouse and Keyboard

Windows is installed on a SSD and I have 2x 2.0TB hard disks for data. Kubunto, however was being installed on a separate and dedicated 200GB hard disk. During installation process I format and partition this drive. I didn't disconnect/disable the other drives. In BIOS, all SATA controllers are set to run in AHCI mode.

My primary suspect is the graphics card. However, why it would ever crash even in the text mode?? Although it works fine in Windows even with heavy gaming so graphics card is itself stable.

Any suggestions or ideas are highly appreciated. If it does not work might need to stick running Kubuntu in VMware on Windows but that option is no replacement for a real system.

Thanks,
WARM3CH

[WARM3CH]

Somebody suggested that my install disks might not have been written correctly. I did a binary comparison of the disk contents and the image files and they are identical. So I guess I can rule out the disks as a source of the problem.

So any suggestions, ideas anyone? I just don't want to give up and conclude it is impossible to install Kubuntu on my computer!

-WARM3CH

[om~namas~ganga]

I have also an ATI 5470 on a laptop HP G62 and I still can´t make use of that card properly.

Only have managed to install it on safe graphics mode ( when you see the first screen on the live CD , press F4 , then on the menu is the F6 key that opens a dialog for different options, in that options, you can select the "safe graphics mode" ) if "safe graphics" is not there then try with "no acpi". then install as usual.
For me the problem persist after the install, cause once I get on the grub and select my kernel, it hangs forever in black again.
To avoid this , on the grub press CTRL + E to edit grup options, then change the "quiet splash" for "nomodeset" and press CTRL + X to continue....

In that crappy way I am functionning now... with Ubuntu 10.10...after all this years...

On the other partition I have a Windows 7. all hardware works just fine.

Somebody suggested to create a Virtual Machice from Windows and install Ubuntu there.... My love for linux doesn´t let me listen to this voices...

but anyone out there with a magic solution for this ATI knightmares????

[WARM3CH]

Wow that did it! I used the "noacpi" option and could complete the install. When I booted the system for the first time, I quickly continued to install ATI's propriety video drivers and now everything is working for hours and hours.

From my previous experience I knew that without proper drivers for the video card system would crash after a few minutes: When I boot the system, before OS is booted I can hear the fans on the graphics card running very fast. Fans are controlled by video card's BIOS so I guess initially it is in a mode that consumes too much power. Now right after drivers are loaded, fans slow down. The thing is without a driver (boot environment) or with open source drivers, graphics cards fan run very fast (i.e. hot GPU) and with propriety drivers fans run slow (i.e. cool GPU). Thus to have a stable system you need to get ATI's driver.

[mörgæs]

Good, please mark the thread 'solved'.

[om~namas~ganga]

I am glad it solve your difficulty , please let me know if you get the card to work properly ( I honestly have been few weeks without trying it again )

I am not sure that it should be rated as "Solved" cause what we are doing is a bit tricky, I am still stuck on the configuration of the ATI 5470 and I guess it might be interesting for the developers of Ubuntu to take in account the nightmares that thousands of users with ATI card are having, ny investigation leads me into the point that ATI driver works ...but sometimes...

I guess most of people not experienced on Linux trying first time with a LiveCD , hearing good things from people about that Os, and seeing that it wont give you more than a black screen... it will just make them through it away....

Is that difficult to check on the startup of the live CD the kind of card you have and maintain a "black list" of cards having problems... and turn the "safe graphics mode" on automatically, at least you are giving the oportunity of installing it.