live usb boot but video issues
 

Hi,

I am trying to boot an HP dv6500 "entertainment" laptop with a live usb key version of linux. I have a Fedora version and I have a Ubuntu version that will boot the system but both have issues with the onboard video rendering the system unuseable.

At least that is my diagnosis of whats going on.

The laptop has a wide screen and is labeled as having an NVIDIA graphics card.

Do I have any options to load an appropriate NVIDIA driver with a livebootable usb key scenario?

Thanks,

Brian H.

Maybe. Depends on how you made the live usb. Can you at least test with a live cd.

One issue with some live usb's is that you are not in a real install. Some files can't be updated properly.

On a real install to a usb the files can be updated.

This also begs me to ask, why do you believe it is the drivers?

Well, I know that the hardware is working because the machine will boot to Windows and there are no video related issues then. Beyond that, I guess years of experience working with MS windows and HP with drivers etc have pre disposed me to think drivers.

I am at a loss to think what else it could be, suggestions?

Thanks,

Brian H.

No. The CD/DVD drive does not seem to work on this particular machine and an external one that I have tried does not seem to want to boot it, although it works otherwise.

I made the bootable usb's using the pendrive utility:

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/univers...easy-as-1-2-3/

as suggested at the Ubuntu download site.

Thanks,

Brian H.

Those installs are not easy to correct some files. You can try nvidia linux and your video system. I think the driver you need is from 2007.

Still not too sure of any need for this. Can you tell us more what is going on? Do you see anything?

Here is what I am seeing:

POST & bios setup utility text appear onscreen properly.

During the UBUNTU / FEDORA live USBkey boot, I see the initial splash screen presented correctly. Then, as the boot proceeds, I see normal legible rolling text on screen up to about half way through. Thereafter, something about the display abruptly changes, like a new video driver is invoked, and the text I see from that point on appears double, once beginning at the LH screen edge and again beginning at the centre of the screen with horizontal stripes through both, as if interlacing of the video scan is not happening correctly. Once the system boots to the xwindow, I see the GUI presented in similarly duplicated format, one image horizontally offset from the other. I see obvious mouse cursor movement, but I have not been able to make any use of the interface by guessing where the active regions are for mouse clicks etc.

FWTW, both my UBUNTU and the FEDORA live USBkey versions are known to boot and work properly on other machines.

Hope this gives a clue.

Thanks,

Brian H.

"live USBkey versions are known to boot and work properly on other machines." While that is a good test to start with, it doesn't fully prove that any modern linux will easily work with your system.

I have not played enough with those two to know for sure which way to go. One way is to try to set the current video settings via some text based config or some older gui based config. OpenSuse would use yast or sax/sax2 I think from command line.

The second way to go is to start off with a proper install to a usb just as if it were a real hard drive. Be careful, I suggest you remove internal hard drive before you attempt that. Then you could be sure things like kernel and basic support files would be changed. A live cd to usb is a cheat of two things. One is the faux live part and the second is how you put that on to a usb.

hardware fault Ive concluded
 

Hi,

Just to close this thread off, I have come to the conclusion that this machine has a hardware issue related to the NVIDIA GPU. This is what I think has happened: http://sudburymods.com/laptoprepair.html

Havent decided what to do about it as yet but linux isn't the issue after all.

Thanks one and all for the suggestions.

Brian H.