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ColLeslieHapHapablap
Asked: 2016-08-19 17:24:37 +0800 CST

Garbled text on startup (Server 16.04)

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I'm having an issue with my Ubuntu Server 16.04 installation. I have it running on a Zotac Z-Box CI23 Nano. It installed fine, but on its first boot all I had was a blank screen. I edited /etc/default/grub and changed GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="nomodeset"

This let me see the startup, but the text is all garbled white blocks:

example

I first thought it might be a bad cable, so I switched cables with no change. I changed monitors with no effect. I switched to a TV using HDMI with no effect.

Any ideas would appreciated.

boot

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    I finally got this figured out. At first I thought it was bad hardware so I RMA'd the machine. The same exact thing was happening on the replacement. So I spent a few hours fiddling with grub settings. This is what ended up working for this machine:

    in /etc/default/grub:

    Comment out GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="splash quiet" entirely. Uncomment GRUB_TERMINAL=console

    Uncomment GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480 I set it to GRUB_GFXMODE=1280x800 because that's the monitor I'm using's default.

    Save it then sudo update-grub and reboot and it is showing as expected. Only the combination of those three changes seem to make it work for me, but YMMV.

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