GuixSD on T440p won't boot or install properly / missing free software ... nouveau ...

GuixSD on T440p won't boot or install properly / missing free software ... nouveau ...

[Kodcu via]

Hi, 

I had trouble arriving at the blue screen to install GuixSD with a USB on my T440p but then, I burned a DVD and then I could install it with some error message but I cannot boot it afterwards. The message was: 
missing free software ... nouveau ... bios ctor failed: -22 unable to locate usable image 
but then the installation carried on and it seemed to be successful.

Now I can see grub and then it the logo of Guix with gray background. Then nothing else happens.

By the way, during the installation on the blue screen I got another warning: your graphics hardware possibly does not work, expect trouble! Perhaps pass "nomodeset" to the kernel args and need to configure uvesafb kernel module. I am a bit stuck here.

I am passing nomodeset during the boot by pressing e but it has no effect.
Any help?
 Thanks
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Re: GuixSD on T440p won't boot or install properly / missing free software ... nouveau ...

[pelzflorian (Florian Pelz)]

Hello Kodcu.

According to h-node.org, the ThinkPad T440p uses Intel graphics and not
Nvidia/nouveau.  Graphics are claimed to work with the libre kernel.

I presume you can switch to a TTY by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F2 at least after
booting with nomodeset.

If graphics actually do not work and you do want a graphical system, it
might be possible to use an older kernel.  Add a line inside
/etc/config.scm to the operating-system:

(use-package-modules linux)
(operating-system
 (kernel linux-libre-5.4)
 …

or some other old version.

Otherwise, uvesafb is an option but not a good one.  It would be much
better without uvesafb.
The installer’s config file uses uvesafb, the installed system does not
by default (see
<https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-guix/2020-11/msg00172.html>
which can also be found using the yhetil.org search engine).

Regards,
Florian

Re: GuixSD on T440p won't boot or install properly / missing free software ... nouveau ...

[Kodcu via]

Hi Florian,
Thanks for the reply.
I have Intel HD Graphics 4600 (CPU-integrated), my laptop is from https://store.vikings.net/en/t440p-secure-laptop.I cannot boot into the system even though I'm writing nomodeset in grub/linux line by pressing e but I was able to install the system after writing nomodeset during installation. 
I could not boot the system, even once, after the initial installation.
Pressing CTRL+Alt+F2/3 etc do not do anything during grub boot time and then I end up with the gray background and guix logo, so i cannot get any TTY. At this point, I cannot access /etc/config.scm to add uvesafb or an older kernel.
Any ideas what to do? 
Thanks
Kodcu
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30 sep 2023 00:17 van pelzflorian@pelzflorian.de:

> Hello Kodcu.
>
> According to h-node.org, the ThinkPad T440p uses Intel graphics and not
> Nvidia/nouveau.  Graphics are claimed to work with the libre kernel.
>
> I presume you can switch to a TTY by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F2 at least after
> booting with nomodeset.
>
> If graphics actually do not work and you do want a graphical system, it
> might be possible to use an older kernel.  Add a line inside
> /etc/config.scm to the operating-system:
>
> (use-package-modules linux)
> (operating-system
>  (kernel linux-libre-5.4)
>  …
>
> or some other old version.
>
> Otherwise, uvesafb is an option but not a good one.  It would be much
> better without uvesafb.
> The installer’s config file uses uvesafb, the installed system does not
> by default (see
> <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-guix/2020-11/msg00172.html>
> which can also be found using the yhetil.org search engine).
>
> Regards,
> Florian
>

Re: GuixSD on T440p won't boot or install properly / missing free software ... nouveau ...

[pelzflorian (Florian Pelz)]

Hi Kodcu.  Ohh you had written that the problems are at the GRUB stage
before Linux …

1. A web search leads to urgent advice to install firmware updates on
T440p before installing any Linux distro.  However, probably Vikings did
this already.

2. On my father’s old PC, GRUB does get stuck sometimes.  Rebooting
helps there.

I have no further suggestions.  The problem seems to be with the BIOS or
possibly with GRUB.

Regards,
Florian

Re: GuixSD on T440p won't boot or install properly / missing free software ... nouveau ...

[Felix Lechner via]

Hi Kodcu,

On Sat, Sep 30 2023, Kodcu via wrote:

> Any ideas what to do? 

I haven't used it in a while, but maybe you can get into single-user
mode with the kernel parameter "single".

For more desparate cases, "init=/bin/sh" can be helpful.

Kind regards
Felix

Re: GuixSD on T440p won't boot or install properly / missing free software ... nouveau ...

[Alex Sassmannshausen]

Hi Kodcu et al,

I actually used the same laptop and have just bought a replacement. Believe it or not it should actually work really well - but there is this weird quirk:

Just after grub, but before the graphical login manager loads, the screen fails to render.

This is not a problem if all goes well and you don't have an encrypted disk that requires unlocking: the process should just take you to the graphical login. If early boot i broken then this is horrible.

On the other hand, if, like me, you have an encrypted disk, the boot process will get "stuck" at the password prompt with the grey grub background. Wait 10 sec or so for your system to expect a password, then type it, and hit enter. In another 10 sec or so you'll get to graphical login - if you entered your password correctly.

A while ago on this list someone mentioned a similar problem and that it was caused by a missing module in the initrd img or so. That might fix the issue entirely, but I just considered this extra "security through mad UI"...

Could this be your issue? Does my workaround help?

Best wishes

Alex

Je 2023-septembro-30 01:08:22 GMT+02:00, Felix Lechner via <help-guix@gnu.org> skribis:
>Hi Kodcu,
>
>On Sat, Sep 30 2023, Kodcu via wrote:
>
>> Any ideas what to do? 
>
>I haven't used it in a while, but maybe you can get into single-user
>mode with the kernel parameter "single".
>
>For more desparate cases, "init=/bin/sh" can be helpful.
>
>Kind regards
>Felix
>

Re: GuixSD on T440p won't boot or install properly / missing free software ... nouveau ...

[Kodcu via]

Hi Alex,
Indeed, I had an encrypted disk. So I have just quickly reinstalled Guix without encryption and it works even though I received the same error messages and warning. I have bought this laptop to run any free Linux OS but I intended to use Guix especially. I will update the system and check errors later.
Thanks :)
Regards,
Kodcu
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30 sep 2023 10:30 van alex.sassmannshausen@gmail.com:

> Hi Kodcu et al,
>
> I actually used the same laptop and have just bought a replacement. Believe it or not it should actually work really well - but there is this weird quirk:
>
> Just after grub, but before the graphical login manager loads, the screen fails to render.
>
> This is not a problem if all goes well and you don't have an encrypted disk that requires unlocking: the process should just take you to the graphical login. If early boot i broken then this is horrible.
>
> On the other hand, if, like me, you have an encrypted disk, the boot process will get "stuck" at the password prompt with the grey grub background. Wait 10 sec or so for your system to expect a password, then type it, and hit enter. In another 10 sec or so you'll get to graphical login - if you entered your password correctly.
>
> A while ago on this list someone mentioned a similar problem and that it was caused by a missing module in the initrd img or so. That might fix the issue entirely, but I just considered this extra "security through mad UI"...
>
> Could this be your issue? Does my workaround help?
>
> Best wishes
>
> Alex
>
> Je 2023-septembro-30 01:08:22 GMT+02:00, Felix Lechner via <help-guix@gnu.org> skribis:
> >Hi Kodcu,
>
>>
>>
> >On Sat, Sep 30 2023, Kodcu via wrote:
>
>>> Any ideas what to do? 
>>>
> >I haven't used it in a while, but maybe you can get into single-user
> >mode with the kernel parameter "single".
>
>>
>>
> >For more desparate cases, "init=/bin/sh" can be helpful.
>
>>
>>
> >Kind regards
> >Felix
>
>>
>>