In trying to install 13.1 on a Lenovo T60-2007, everything goes fairly well until it comes to start up Gnome or KDE. Even with a live Gnome disk, the results are the same: X tries to start, the box stops working.
It appears that problem centers around the video card: ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 The drivers seem to be proprietary. The question, then, is how to get around this issue.
I’ve tried safemode and No KMS. That doesn’t fix the problem.
The T60 is dual core 32-bit, with 1G RAM, 320G HDD
In trying to install 13.1 on a Lenovo T60-2007, everything goes fairly well until it comes to start up Gnome or KDE.
So, does the initial install complete, and the problem is only occurring after first reboot when the X-server starts?
The older Radeon chipsets are generally supported only by the open source radeon driver. (I have an old ThinkPad Z60m with X300 chipset, running openSUSE 13.1)
If you can, open a console with CTRL-ALT-F2 and login as root. Logs to check out include: /var/log/messages, /var/log/kdm.log, and /var/log/Xorg.0.log.
A memory stick could be useful here, as you can copy the files to it, and view in a working graphical environment elsewhere, and/or upload the logs to SUSE Paste so that we can view. (Just post the links generated.)
With memory stick attached, observe
fdisk -l
then (if the device is /mnt/sdb for example)
make dir /mnt/memory
mount /dev/sdb /mnt/memory
Copy the files across
cp /var/log/Xorg.0.log /mnt/memory/
Unmount with
umount /mnt/memory
You might want to try a live distro (openSUSE, Fedora, Ubuntu etc) just for test purposes. Maybe one will play nicely with your hardware
Exactly.
The older Radeon chipsets are generally supported only by the open source radeon driver. (I have an old ThinkPad Z60m with X300 chipset, running openSUSE 13.1)
That’s the sense of what my searches are finding.
I’ll take a stab at that. I have a working 12.1 system I can use (trying to get that one to 13.1 is another tale of woe).
32-bit Gnome 12.1 (had it around from the “update 12.1 to 13.1” project) also cratered with the same gripe. I’ll try Ubuntu just for laughs and grins.
BTW, the T60’s battery is utterly dead. A replacement is on its way. Once it shows up, I’m going to flash “the latest and greatest” BIOS rev (2.23 to 2.27). I don’t think it’ll fix the issue but… [/shrug] this thing is almost a doorstop as it is.
Okay, so that suggests a possible kernel regression. A search of bug reports (including upstream) might be in order.
BTW, the T60’s battery is utterly dead. A replacement is on its way. Once it shows up, I’m going to flash “the latest and greatest” BIOS rev (2.23 to 2.27). I don’t think it’ll fix the issue but… [/shrug] this thing is almost a doorstop as it is.
My old laptop is in the same situation, but i haven’t yet ordered a replacement battery. It could also use some more RAM. IIRC, it can take 2GB max. Other than that, it actually runs fine with openSUSE 13.1.
The experiment with Ubuntu was interesting. I booted off a stick and got to the point where Ubuntu ran for a while. I was even able to browse with FF. Then the machine seized up when I tried to get a system hardware summary, to see what Ubuntu thought was going on with the video section. Rebooting with the same stick has been utterly useless. In short, one time it works, the rest of the time, forget it. Unless Ubuntu is secretly leaving messages to itself on the HDD, any boot-up should be the same as the first one. Drop power to the machine, and it should all return to where the show began. I’d say that’s not happening.
It seems there’s no straightforward answer to the problem. I’m going poke at it a bit more and then call the job “not worth the aggro.” I’ve got a total of $20 and some DVD’s tied up in this project. The T60 is a freebie. If it won’t fly soon, I’ll leave it grounded.
I have the similar problem.
Interestingly, I am also using Lenovo laptop - G405 A4-5000.
But I was able to install the previous 12.3 version, however there are still one problem - the brightness cannot be changed, no matter what I done.
I also try the latest Fedora 20, which is not working as well. Then I tried latest Xubuntu 13.10 (live cd), no luck. Then I turn to earlier version Xubuntu 12.04, and it works, but still brightness can’t be change. Then I tried again with Debian live lxde 7.2, and it works, no luck for the brightness control.
Any idea how to solve this??
Okay, I have fix the brightness issues by updating the kernel.
I follow the instruction from here.
After updating and reboot, it works. I can edit the brightness of the display now.
BUT, now the mouse cursor became very odd. There is a white box appeared under the mouse cursor. The box will follow the cursor no matter where it goes.
Here is the screenshot.
What is the problem?
tcdev, it helps to know which video board is in your machine.
Coming back on topic, when things fail, it appears that the machine locks up. The cursor won’t move and any apps that should change over time don’t. I’ll try to get telnet running so I can see if the machine really freezes or it’s just X.
If the machine is run in text only mode (that is booting ends in a shell prompt), it runs and runs and runs. I put it into rescue mode yesterday and finally took it down, to add another 2G of RAM - 3G total. That was after about 20 hours of uptime. So all I can conclude is it’s somewhere in the move from text to X. And after that, I’m stumped.
Sigh… the answer to the problem is and isn’t obvious. I mentioned the battery in the T60 is “utterly dead”. That, believe it or not, is the villain. Take the battery out and all of a sudden everything works. So, yes, it’s obvious the battery needs help. No, it isn’t obvious (to me) that the battery is killing system performance.
Anyway, “all better”!
deano_ferrari, molte grazie and good on ya for your efforts! [/grin]
It is AMD A4-5000 APU, As I checked, it running AMD Radeon HD 8330 wich integrated DirectX 11.1 graphics card.
I’ll politely suggest your problem with the mouse and the white blocks is better handled with a separate topic with a title that, in a couple of words, states your problem. [/smile] How about “White blocks under curser - Lenovo G405 A4-5000”?
My problem was that nothing, using X or some video modes, ran long enough to be of any use. The problem was caused by a battery that cannot hold a charge at all. Take the battery out and everything runs exactly as hoped for. This is completely different from what you’re seeing.
Okay, will do that when I have time. Anyway thanks for the suggestion. 
Believe me, I understand how frustrating your problem is. I’m in that position with another machine. My point here is that I don’t want you to think I’m just being an Internet snob saying take your problems elsewhere. OK? [/smile]
No worry, totally understand.
OK, and best of luck with your problem.