Hi all, first post here... Hope to be on here a bit and learn more and more about Linux as time moves forward. Done a little on the Linux side a few years ago but as good as a noob these days so treat me gentle I have made the decision to move solely to Linux on all of my machines, and may build a server or two but in starting out I have come cross what I think is a known problem I am hoping someone could shed some light on, I have no real resolve to date. Does anyone have a work around for this?

I want to install a pure Linux system, so no VM ware or dual boots... Just Linux. Ideally I would like to run the Ubuntu distribution 20.04 LTS for now and to see if my lappy would have any driver issues, first off I thought I'd run it in a live USB environment. It hangs and errors, and loops with no matter what I try. So far I have read the problem exists around the Kernel being used with the 20.10 dist. and I think complicating the issue is the systemd suite (of which I have no experience with) also built in.

I have a Dell G5 5505 which runs the AMD Ryzen7 4800H with Raedon RX 2.9GHz and I use Rufus 3.4 to output the bootables (building to an MBR fs with the UEFI bios setup). Dell seems to boast great support for the processor / graphics combo, "checks" check out, but with the 20.10 dist. I am getting no where fast. So far I have tried using Ubuntu LTS 20.04 which uses the 5.4 Kernel I believe, and also the Ubuntu Groovy Gorilla 20.10 variant which I think uses the 5.8 Kernel. My 3rd and final ditch effort whilst falling asleep last night was to try Ubuntu 18.04 using the 4.15 Kernel and still no joy.

I have had the problem with all 3 distributions so far and I'm really scratching my head on how to get around this, will it be different if I don't try and run it on the USB as I am trying to currently? I was going to install straight to the machine if I had no major driver issues with the USB first, or that was at least the theory Common to them all I think is the systemd and wondering if this is really the main issue, and how to resolve that. I know enough to be dangerous only, so thought I might join up here and get geek'n with some of you to see if anyone can point me in the right direction, or if I am doing something daft.

Has anyone experienced this issue personally and resolved it?

Anyway, that was a good first blurt I think hahaha, thoughts?

Welcome to the community!

You don't have to use systemd if you think it doesn't agree with your hardware (or with you!). Just don't use Ubuntu. Use something like Devuan or AntiX. We have some fanatical anti-systemd people here who will happily give you a whole string of distro recommendations.

If you use mbr partitioning for your hard drive, you'll have to make sure your uefi chip is set to use legacy/csm boot. Personally I think you'd do better to create a gpt drive with a vfat-formatted ESP as the first partition and use native boot. That seems to be the way hardware is going these days.

Sweet, thanks for the input Hazel. You've given me a few things to check out over the next few days... Pretty steep learning curve for me but I'll get there ��

And cheers to such a warm welcome too ✌️

So tonight I tried a few different things and have a little more info, but still no joy. Tiny bit closer maybe. I tried to take your advice Hazel and went with a distro that omitted the systemd just to knock that out, and still (unless this is part of the problem) am trying to run live on USB to test the waters. Tonight I tried two different BIOS versions 1.3.0 & 1.5.0 on the G5 5505 both of which are UEFI. There does not seem to be a way to tell the UEFI chip to use Legacy/CSM, however it does contain "secure boot" options in the menus in both versions, leading me to believe it does do both UEFI and CSM???

I used the same Rufus and only tried with one of the Debian forks AntiX you mentioned, firstly building the USB with your suggested GPT selection which only allows for "UEFI". Trying to start any of the AntiX options I end up with a black screen and I think it's hanging... or looping in behind, not sure? I tried it again this time with the MBR option which states UEFI or BIOS, and still the same result. This was using the AntiX 19.03 with 4.9.235 Kernel (Debian10 Buster Update) .iso.

I did notice within my BIOS set up though, an option of adding a file browser boot option, currently set to the only option it has being a Windows Boot MGR. (\EFI\MS...blah). Do I need to add a boot path to the USB do you think, and if so what would the path look like to AntiX 19.03, or has it set this up already when selecting the USB to boot from after entering the BIOS in the first place, and is how I end up at the AntiX boot options? Both versions of the BIOS mentioned react the same way and still left with a WTF look on my face

Any further thoughts?

Secure boot is something else. Legally (in Europe at any rate) UEFIs are required to provide options to switch off secure boot and allow traditional booting from the mbr. With your mbr setup, you will need to have both these options set, but your UEFI interface won't necessarily make it easy for you to find them. csm (compatibility support module) is one of a number of obscure names which they give the traditional/legacy boot. Your chip may use a different one but it must legally be there somewhere.

Sorry, I'm confused. You don't need to partition your installation USB stick at all; just copy the downloaded installation image over. It's the hard drive that you need to partition.

Typically these chips, like their BIOS predecessors, have a key (usually F9 or F12) that you press during early boot which gives you a boot menu, including the option to boot from a USB stick.

Sorry for the confusion it's me, being too green delving this deep after such a long time, good to know I did understand you correctly. I have been temporarily ruined by letting myself fall into the dumbing down trap provided over the last 10 years with this stuff.

When I finally hit that install option to the hard drive, I will end up partitioning it GPT during setup. I am doing everything right by the sounds of it, my Dell FYI uses the F12, I select USB boot, it sees the USB and boots to install types, and making my selection ends me up at my problem.

In short, I think I just have to find how turn the CSM on.

No, you don't need to turn CSM on, although you might need to disable secure boot.

On some systems you might need to also disable the RST (intel rapid storage technology) which is often tied to secure boot as well. RST may need disabled before you can even get to the secure boot options.

Leave the setting for UEFI, then when you are in the boot menu you likely will see 2 options for the USB. One will be just the USB and the other will be the USB with UEFI. Select the UEFI version and it will do the install for UEFI boot since you selected that mode at boot.

When you get to the installer just select the drive to install to and tell it to use the entire disk and auto partition and you should be good to go.

As previously noted, don't do any partitioning on the USB, just copy the ISO file directly to the USB using rufus, etcher, or my favorite, dd.

*Sorry, garble warning ahead! I have managed to turn off the secure boot in bios setup Security\Secure Boot\ and selecting disable, but had to change deployed mode to audit mode and disable the Windows SMM Security Mitagations Table (WSMI) before it would let me adjust the File System path under the boot menu away from Windows. I directed it towards AntiX, Linux boot, anything it could "find" and ended up just deleting those paths after nothing working. Now under Security\Expert Key Management I have no PK signature list... Which I had, but think is a step forward.

It still retains under Security\Expert key management the KEK (1=MS & 2=Dell Ship) signature lists, and 3 DB lists also, all PKCS7 (1=MS Win & 2=MS Corp & 3= just PKCS7) what ever THAT is signifying, because I'm now just plain lost. This has gotten way out of control, I never remember bios to be this complicated!

The GOOD thing is now after all of that, I can go straight to the AntiX selection of Full, Failsafe, 1024 etc... etc... menu. I could always get there, but now I just power on the lappy with my Rufus'd USB in it and it goes to it. I still end up with a black screen, hung, or I am thinking looping somewhere because it chews the battery up when doing this, which is exactly the same as any of my previous attempts to get Linux to boot. I can enter the memory test section and play around in there.

I don't want to be the person to over complicate this, but WTAF. I possibly didn't need to do half of those things but at this point I'm just trying everything to see if it budges. If any of you follow what I have written out here, magic! But I am at a complete loss as to what to do next. I haven't tried another distro with a different Kernel with these changes yet, I thought I'd sit on it and have a think. Why is this so difficult!? Dell, MS... well done you! *sigh.

Well I'm at a total loss, I don't think I can get Linux to run on this laptop which sux because I really want to run Linux only moving forward I have not been able to find a way to alter the bios in any way to make it play ball. The only thing I can think and haven't tried yet is another USB key but really don't see this being the problem. Works perfectly everywhere else, and I can still get to the AntiX GRUB, does anyone else have any idea what could be going on?

I think it might be really simple!

Don't quite know the right string to use in AntiX though. It's potentially the good old nomodeset issue in the grub.cfg. I have tried a few ways to no avail but maybe someone could advise? Today I tried a different USB and this one had a light... It indicated activity as though Linux had actually booted, so now I think it's just a display issue? I can't seem to write to the grub.cfg and it won't understand grub-update (tried on an older machine). But, I had failed to try "e" on the grub with the lappy doh!

Now I'm posed with the following to edit... linux /antiX/vmlinuz quiet splasht disable=1xF menus

Does anyone know how the change to this line should look to use "nomodeset" ??

I have tried a couple of variations but it hasn't worked so far.

Firstly, try removing splasht disable=1xF at the boot menu and see if it boots to desktop.
Then, if no success, add nomodeset to that line.

AFAIK, you modify grub.cfg by editing the variables in /etc/defaults/grub. Then you run update-grub.

I've got a lot further now, tried Ubuntu 20.10 (Groovy Gorilla) and installed fully on the lappy because I knew how to do the nosetmode adjustment on that. Boots but a few issues like choking hard, kernel panicked at one point, won't open apps well and things not responding... But definitely getting closer, it kinda worked! Just about to try installing the 20.04 LTS now to see if that's a bit better.

Thanks for your input, I have now tried 3 alternative edits with the "e" on boot:

linux/antiX/vmlinuz quiet menus
linux/antiX/vmlinuz menus
linux/antiX/vmlinuz nomodeset menus

All end up with the original problem, black screen but I think it's rolling in the back ground.

PS. 20.04 was even worse than 20.10 and back to trying to get AntiX to work.

Well I just cant get AntiX to run, so have decided to focus on one. Gone with Groovy Gorilla for the time being, and did the full install to the lappy again. Something very very wrong though. Most things do not respond after a very short time, any action seems to look like it's actioning with the whirly gig, and the first one or two do but then it's basically useless.

One of the first actions on the last boot was to open the system monitor just to have a gander at what was rolling around in there, seemed ok... then went to the file system tab (started up on Processes) and saw /dev/nvme / ext4, and /dev/nvme /boot/efi vfat. OK, it's letting me poke around, cool. Then I went to view the resources tab and this is where it stalled, this time. A few actions in to the first instance of something I am trying to use from first boot seems OK. From there it's down hill and will only start to operate after a boot with the first few things tried again. Anything I tend to do seems to result in either a "not responding" dialogue but takes a minute or so to show it, and it seems to buffer those dialogues with every "action" I try and take respectively.

; OR It pretends (or tries at least) to open things, but doesn't appear. I'm sure the process of what ever selected will be running but somehow hanging up. In these instances lets say for example to open firefox to test its operation, it will show firefox in the top left in text as though it's opening with the whirly gig next to it, but disappears after 10-15secs or so and does nothing. I can't view if the process is running because of this problem either, and it's a rather frustrating loop

Strangely the mouse operation is OK, it will let me pull open the applications window to select something, the whole thing hasn't hung per-say, so naturally I want to pop into the terminal to have more of a poke around but the response is the same with anything I try and I'm left a bit stranded. Of course this includes using the terminal to figure out a way forward. Oh and after force quitting the system monitor by dialogue selection this time, it doesn't seem to get rid of the window on screen (screen re-write, not actually force closing... pffft not sure why!?), it's also still open on the apps bar with the orange dot.

This time around with the install, I don't think it has installed the grub and cant seem to manually boot in to it either, but this might be my inexperience with this lot. I can esc in to a manual boot bringing me to the grub> and ls shows me I have (proc) (hd0) (hd0,gpt2) and (hd0,gpt1). So I try set root=(hd0,1) and get grub> and then linux /boot/vmlinuz and tab to complete but finds nothing, or at least leaves me at >linux /boot/vmlinuz on the next line.

Don't forget I am still very green at all this, there has been a of of reading, and youtube, and I have little/no support with this. I just wanted to run Linux on this lappy hahahaha. In saying that, I'm enjoying the learning process but right now I'm quite stuck. I think I have done well to get it to where it is at, and hoping some linux loving genius out there reads this and gets interested, and is annoyed as me as to why a machine won't run Linux hardly LOL. Come help me oh gurus! LOL

It also seems to be !chunking! through battery, and I can't seem to boot at the moment where you can see the happenings [ OK ], [ OK ], [ OK ] etc... It's just right in there to the login screen. I'm now clicking the "post quick reply" button ROFL