Let me guess, your CPU and Graphics are AMD? The only Debian based distro that I could get to work with modern AMD graphics is MX19, Ubuntu 20.04 MATE works but back when I was removing W10 Ubuntu 20.04 had just entered development status. Give MX19 a try and if it works for you you will also have the added benefit of a choice between Sysvinit and SystemD at boot time, something no other currently available distro offers.
On 18/03/2020, jnq...@gmail.com <jnq...@gmail.com> wrote: > Just throwing a couple of thoughts your way in case it helps at all. > > Ending up with a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the top left > instead of the graphical login suggests that the graphical environment > could not load for some reason. I have experienced this myself a couple > of times using Debian's unstable channel after a major partial upgrade > to a new version of Gnome. I also happen to have experienced it today > when I returned to my computer only to find that a download had used up > all of my remaining free disk space and things were not happy. > > Note that you can use CTRL+ALT+<F-keys> to switch to a different > console interface and thus login in in text based mode. (The default > graphical environment is assigned to one of the F1-12 keys, just try > different F1-12 keys with CTRL+ALT until you get a text console). > > Since other distro live discs are working, but not the current Debian > discs, have you tried an older Debian disc? Perhaps the particular > package versions in the latest discs have a bug, just like I've > experienced with the updated Gnome situation just mentioned, and the CD > release team did not notice or it only occurs in certain situations. > > Note that you can build your own custom live disc with Debian's live- > build tool, though of course if you're having trouble getting Debian > installed in the first place ... > > On Mon, 2020-03-16 at 11:13 -0700, Lou Poppler wrote: >> This is possibly a "non-free" firmware problem. I suggest you try >> with one of >> the "unofficial" "non-free" live images or installer images. >> >> https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/non-free/cd-including-firmware/ >> >> On Mon, 2020-03-16 at 09:25 -0400, Mike Haag wrote: >> > Package: debian-live >> > Severity: important >> > >> > I first updated the BIOS using the supplied Windows 10, then >> > replaced the >> > supplied 128GB SSD with a new 500GB SSD. >> > >> > Verified the iso file with SHA512, and tried running as both DVD >> > and USB thumb >> > drive: >> > >> > Grub starts as expected. >> > >> > 1. Attempted to start the live desktop environment from the first >> > Grub menu >> > item, "Debian GNU/Linux Live (kernel 4.19.0-8-amd64)". >> > 2. Multiple status messages are displayed. Then, a Debian splash >> > screen is >> > briefly displayed, followed immediately by a blank screen with a >> > blinking >> > cursor, and the system freezes. >> > 3. Ctrl-Alt-Del will reboot the laptop into the Grub menu. >> > >> > The graphical installer (third Grub menu item) runs, and appears to >> > complete >> > successfully. But, the installed system exhibits the same problem: >> > Multiple >> > startup messages, and the system freezes before the desktop >> > environment starts, >> > just displaying a blank screen and blinking cursor. >> > >> > For what it's worth, I also tried several other Debian-based and >> > RPM >> > distributions. Could only get a working system with the RPMs: >> > >> > 1. Debian: The following produce the same results as above. >> > >> > debian-live-10.3.0-amd64-gnome+nonfree.iso >> > debian-live-testing-amd64-gnome.iso >> > debian-10.3.0-amd64-netinst.iso >> > >> > 2. Ubuntu 19.10 and LinuxMint 19.3: The live distributions work as >> > expected. Installed systems begin to boot but then both fail >> > with >> > unspecified watchdog soft lock errors before their respective >> > desktop >> > environments start. >> > >> > 3. Fedora 31: Live runs as expected. Installed system boots and >> > runs as >> > expected. >> > >> > 4. OpenSUSE Leap 15.1: Live runs as expected. Installed system >> > boots and runs >> > as expected. >> > >> > The only recommendation I could find using the Acer user forum and >> > other >> > internet searches, was to try editing the Grub menu line to >> > "nomodeset", but >> > that doesn't work. There was also some theorizing that the kernel >> > needed to be >> > updated to 5.0, but openSUSE 15.1 is kernel 4.12, and that is >> > working. >> > >> > Looking for advice and suggestions: I do not know how to proceed >> > with further >> > trouble-shooting. >> > >> > Thanks, Mike >> > >> > >> > >> > -- System Information: >> > Debian Release: 10.3 >> > APT prefers stable-updates >> > APT policy: (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'stable') >> > Architecture: amd64 (x86_64) >> > >> > Kernel: Linux 4.19.0-8-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU cores) >> > Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), >> > LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8) >> > Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash >> > Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system) >> > LSM: AppArmor: enabled >> > > >
