Black Screen with blinking white cursor when booting into bookworm pup (Solved)

[seriousgeorge67]

Hello all I am very new to linux and have been playing around for about a month. I have this old computer an ASUS g50vt from 2008. I have run many distros on it and have been pleased with the performance and interface with puppylinux. I installed bionicpup a while back and it worked fine I decided I wanted one that allowed apt. I settled on bookworm pup 64 bit for the computer. I wanted it to be persistent and wanted to have my whole 2tb ssd at disposal if I so wanted. I followed a tutorial by puppy_BYTE on Youtube here:

I thought it was a very easy to follow video and showed steps I had issues with figuring it out on my own. When I went to boot it up for the first time after installing it to the ssd I had a black screen and the white cursor was down a line or two from where it starts and it just blinks. I reached out the creator puppy_BYTE and he said to 'try to enter xorg.wizard and you should get a menu and go to ?custom and type in nvidia and enter- done - xwinjwm and see if you get a normal screen" (This pc ASUS g50vt has an nvidia GeForce 9800m 512mb). I tried to go back to booting from USB and installing a Nvidia driver for 9 series notebook linux but got lost in the sauce. Would anyone have any advice to offer me? I like puppy linux!!!

[rockedge]

Hello @seriousgeorge67 and to the Forum!

Be patient and one or more of the members will chime in and give some guidance on how to fix this. We want you to be up and running in BookwormPup and having a good experience.

Glad to have you onboard.

[bigpup]

I tried to go back to booting from USB and installing a Nvidia driver for 9 series notebook linux but got lost in the sauce. Would anyone have any advice to offer me? I like puppy linux!!!

Hopefully you did not get anything installed and BookwormPup64 is still original.

If you can boot OK with BookwormPup64 on a USB stick.

I think the issue may be the boot loader you installed.

I would run Frugalpup Installer and install both boot loaders. Not just the UEFI one.

At it's main window.

Select the boot button.
Select the location of the frugal install, on the correct drive drive. (Be careful to select the correct drive partition)
Select the 1st partition as location to install the boot loader.
Select the boot loader type.

both

This will replace the boot loader already there on the 1st partition.
Provide a boot loader that can boot any type computer bios.

Close Frugalpup installer

Now try to boot with the internal drive.

If no help

Give very specific info on what you see.
You do what?
You see what?

[bigpup]

The unallocated space on the drive I would partition and format all of it into a ext 4 format.

It is space to use so why not have it available.

BookwormPup64 10.0.9 is now available and has many improvements over v10.0.7

So you may want to start over fresh and do an install of it using a downloaded BookwormPup64 10.0.9 ISO.
You can get it here:
viewtopic.php?t=8690

[gychang]

Hello all I am very new to linux and have been playing around for about a month. I have this old computer an ASUS g50vt from 2008. I have run many distros on it and have been pleased with the performance and interface with puppylinux. I installed bionicpup a while back

Basics first: what is output of "uname -m"? 32 vs 64bit
"ls /sys/firmware/efi"? UEFI vs legacy bios

I agree using the wrong distro for the PC, the error message should be different.

[Clarity]

Hello @seriousgeorge67

I ask the following to better understand your effort and what you seek.

Questions

• Do you have a 2nd drive on this old PC that is connected via a SATA port and want to use it for all of your linux needs, separate from the original drive? This is asked as you mentioned 2TB.

• Is your USB a bootable Ventoy USB?

If that is your desire, post back here, as I had done this for several people over the past 2 years. I, too, personally use this specific arrangement, for several years, without issue(s). Its a really simple use setup requiring NO INSTALLATIONS EFFORTS.

P.S. The video you posted in your OP intends to get you to do somethings that is unnecessary for running forum's distros.

[seriousgeorge67]

I tried to go back to booting from USB and installing a Nvidia driver for 9 series notebook linux but got lost in the sauce. Would anyone have any advice to offer me? I like puppy linux!!!

Hopefully you did not get anything installed and BookwormPup64 is still original.

If you can boot OK with BookwormPup64 on a USB stick.

I think the issue may be the boot loader you installed.

I would run Frugalpup Installer and install both boot loaders. Not just the UEFI one.

At it's main window.

Select the boot button.
Select the location of the frugal install, on the correct drive drive. (Be careful to select the correct drive partition)
Select the 1st partition as location to install the boot loader.
Select the boot loader type.

both

This will replace the boot loader already there on the 1st partition.
Provide a boot loader that can boot any type computer bios.

Close Frugalpup installer

Now try to boot with the internal drive.

If no help

Give very specific info on what you see.
You do what?
You see what?

Thank you bigpup for responding and I apologize for my delay in responding.

I wanted to try again myself so I deleted puppy then reinstalled following that guys tutorial I recorded it in case that might help you help me. I greatly appreciate your effort! the same thing happened btw.

Immediately after I tried what you said and I recorded it as well. I couldn't find where or how to install both bootloaders. Here is link to that video.

I hope this helps1

[seriousgeorge67]

Hello all I am very new to linux and have been playing around for about a month. I have this old computer an ASUS g50vt from 2008. I have run many distros on it and have been pleased with the performance and interface with puppylinux. I installed bionicpup a while back

Basics first: what is output of "uname -m"? 32 vs 64bit
"ls /sys/firmware/efi"? UEFI vs legacy bios

I agree using the wrong distro for the PC, the error message should be different.

Hi! Thanks for responding, when I entered "uname-m" into terminal I got back "x86_64"

I think you wanted me to enter the command "ls /sys/firmware/efi" I did and got "ls: cannot access '/sys/firmware/efi' : no such file or directory

[seriousgeorge67]

The unallocated space on the drive I would partition and format all of it into a ext 4 format.

It is space to use so why not have it available.

BookwormPup64 10.0.9 is now available and has many improvements over v10.0.7

So you may want to start over fresh and do an install of it using a downloaded BookwormPup64 10.0.9 ISO.
You can get it here:
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=8690

So I have like 1.7TB of unallocated storage right now (I still have black screen tho). Would i create new partition then ext4, what should I call it? This was 10.0.9, the usb menu says 10.0.9.

[seriousgeorge67]

Hello @seriousgeorge67

I ask the following to better understand your effort and what you seek.

Questions

• Do you have a 2nd drive on this old PC that is connected via a SATA port and want to use it for all of your linux needs, separate from the original drive? This is asked as you mentioned 2TB.

• Is your USB a bootable Ventoy USB?

If that is your desire, post back here, as I had done this for several people over the past 2 years. I, too, personally use this specific arrangement, for several years, without issue(s). Its a really simple use setup requiring NO INSTALLATIONS EFFORTS.

P.S. The video you posted in your OP intends to get you to do somethings that is unnecessary for running forum's distros.

Hi @Clarity, Thank you for responding!
I do not have a second drive installed the ssd is a 1.92TB samsung one.
My usb is not a ventoy USB, it only has puppy 10.0.9 on it.

Regarding your P.S. Should everything still work tho? The only thing is I have like 1.7TB of unallocated space in the partition table and I would like to be able to use it somehow. @bigpup suggested making it into ext4.

thanks again

[gychang]

Hello all I am very new to linux and have been playing around for about a month. I have this old computer an ASUS g50vt from 2008. I have run many distros on it and have been pleased with the performance and interface with puppylinux. I installed bionicpup a while back

Basics first: what is output of "uname -m"? 32 vs 64bit
"ls /sys/firmware/efi"? UEFI vs legacy bios

I agree using the wrong distro for the PC, the error message should be different.

Hi! Thanks for responding, when I entered "uname-m" into terminal I got back "x86_64"

I think you wanted me to enter the command "ls /sys/firmware/efi" I did and got "ls: cannot access '/sys/firmware/efi' : no such file or directory

@seriousgeorge67 you have a 64-bit PC, and u have legacy bios, not UEFI. The original video is for the UEFI PC. This one is for legacy bios.

[seriousgeorge67]

@seriousgeorge67 you have a 64-bit PC, and u have legacy bios, not UEFI. The original video is for the UEFI PC. This one is for legacy bios.
[/quote]
*EDIT*** I googled how to tell if you have uefi or legacy bios and i see that that command you told me to run said no file or directory and it would have found a file or directory if it were uefi.
Im learning so much.

Hey @gychang, thanks for responding and letting me know that. Can you explain to me how you knew that I had legacy bios not uefi? I'm trying to learn and I honestly thought that legacy bios was for 32 bit pcs.

I will follow this video and let you know how everything goes tomorrow morningish.

[bigpup]

Not looking at any videos.
This is how I do frugal installs using Frugalpup Installer:
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=11171
Same steps work for any type drive, but I wrote it for USB sticks. Just do the same steps.

Immediately after I tried what you said and I recorded it as well. I couldn't find where or how to install both bootloaders. Here is link to that vid

I looked at the video you posted about trying to install both boot loaders on the drive that will not boot.

Frugalpup Installer is a little confusing unless you carefully read what it is saying.

When you got to the Frugalpup main window and selected the boot button.

The next window is asking where is the frugal install located. What drive and what partition on that drive. (select sda2, I think that was the drive and partition the frugal install is on)
That has to be identified, so it knows where to look for installs to make entry in the boot loader.

You selected the 1st partition sda1 which only has the boot loader, no frugal installs, so wrong selection.

When you select the correct partition sda2.

You may get a couple of windows pop up asking this. The next one usually shows what is on the partition you selected.
So you know you picked the correct one.
The frugal install is just on the partition, so you do not need to select a directory it is in.
Select OK should go to next window.

Then a window pops up asking where to install the boot loader on the drive. Select the first partition.

Then it will give a list of different boot loaders you can install.

One will be both.

Select both and continue to install it.

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If the computer is a legacy bios one.
The drives partition table may need to be msdos not GPT.
That could also be why it stops at a blinking input line.
It cannot see a GPT setup as boot-able device.
Some legacy bios can use GPT some cannot.

On a 2TB drive.
If you do change to msdos partition table on the drive.
1st partition small 300MB for boot partition.
Rest of drive 2 primary partitions, so it splits up the space, so partitions are not bigger than 1TB. Leave a little unallocated space at end for a swap partition.
If you want a small swap partition make it at the end of the drive.

I think you can still have a forth partition a swap partition.

[Clarity]

Hello @seriousgeorge67, I have a simple solution that I am using for over a year. It is a LONG-TERM solution for me and just might be what you, too, MIGHT want.

1st, is LONGTERM; as to me, this means I will never need to INSTALL another forum distro while possessing the ability to boot and run every forum distro! ... never INSTALL again, EVER! because with this it is unnecessary. And LONGTERM as I have little to no need to change it for all the forum distros I run, now and into the future.

I reached this decision over a year ago, and it has served me flawlessly, thus far. I do NOT see any need for ever changing this going forward in this,my, PC's usage.

It appears, currently, you have a 2TB drive as your main motherboard connect system drive. Thus, there is currently not much on it, presently. So my offering might be something you too would want as it reduces headaches and simplifies future use of the PC.

Here what I did:

1. Save/backup any data on the drive I wanted to keep. Since this drive is going to be completely restructured, I am sure you KNOW to backup to some media NOT on the current system drive.

2. Boot up the Ventoy ISO and allow Ventoy to layout the drive for you. Ventoy will be used to create 3 partitions on the drive for you! In my case, I have Ventoy setup the drive as GPT (not MSDOS) and Secure Boot Enabled

   1. The 1st 2 will show images of distros to boot in the menu that your PC will display any time it is booted.

   2. The 2nd controls starting the PC and presenting the images on the 1st partition.

   3. And the 3rd is an empty partition that you will use for any 'other' purposes you choose; some of which will probable used the very same data you backed up. This 3rd partition, as @bigpup mentions could be a linux partition (ie ext4) or whatever format you deem appropriate for your future needs. In my case, ALL forum distro saved sessions are kept on this system drive for both performance and stability reasons.

   4. Further, from this arrangement, there is so much space in the 3rd partition that can use GParted in the future to carve out additional partitions if needed in the future.

3. I boot every forum distro and any other, every time, I start this PC. They ALL operate flawlessly.

This setup is stupid-proof meaning I cannot screw things up while ALL systems boot and run without issues:

• Bootables are on partition #1

• Sessions for all distros are saved on partition #3

Again, this is a setup ONCE and use forever (LONGTERM) solution.
If interested, PM me and I will guide you to forum threads to step you thru.

[seriousgeorge67]

Good Evening @Clarity ,

I am writing you this now on my ASUS g50vt running bookworm pup and it's saving and stuff! I used the information learned this past week and a tutorial by @gychang this one. I attached a picture of what my gparted looked like after I was done, let me know if it looks ok to you. I will save your post still cause what you posted sounds easy to duplicate. I appreciate your feedback and useful information during my install of puppy linux. Is there something I need to do to mark this post as solved?

Thanks again,
seriousgeorge67

[seriousgeorge67]

@bigpup Hi! I got it work to what I think is pretty good. Everything stays when I reboot. I appreciate your instructions and will consult them for any future installations of puppy I do. I do appreciate the time you spent helping me during my installation process of puppy.

Thanks again,
seriousgeorge67

[seriousgeorge67]

@gychang I got it to work following one of your videos, not that one you attached about installing bionic pup but this one

I felt that the one I just linked even though it was 32 bit was easier to follow and was more step by step. I think it was easier to follow just because everything looked similar and I got to see you make the partitions. Thank you for all your help throughout my installation process and responding to all my youtube comments. I think you're doing a great service to people like me that struggle with this kind of stuff and would like to follow a video step by step.

Thanks again,
seriousgeorge67

[Clarity]

Hello @seriousgeorge67

... I need to do to mark this post as solved? ...

Yes!
Go to your opening post at the top, edit the Subject 'box' and add <Solved> at the beginning or end of your Subject's text; then 'Submit' it.

Members will see you have a solution.
Enjoy.