# Always a black screen at boot.



## hyrundo (Nov 26, 2021)

*ALWAYS A BLACK SCREEN AT REBOOT*

_*I followed Scribner's "Instructions for Installing KDE on FreeBSD (Rough Draft #5)": *up to step (10) at this __link to the post on this same thread_

*ISSUE*_*:  *_FreeBSD 13.0 reboots in '_multi-user mode'_ to a *black screen* after having installed _drm-kmod_ + _xorg_ packages via _pkg_
*SYSTEM IN USE:* Notebook HP Elitebook  840 G8 with CPU: TigerLake 11th Intel i5-1135G7 2.4 GhZ
*GOAL: *trying to install LXDE desktop environment
*PROCEDURE:
(–)* installed 'Freebsd 13.0 STABLE' from USB
*(–)* when creating a user, it was added to both '_wheel_' and '_video_' groups
*(–)* rebooted as _multi-user _with the created user
*(–)* turned to _su _mode
*(–)* installed _drm-kmod_ and _Xorg_ via the _pkg_
*(–)* using the _sysrc_ configuration tool I added the lines _kld_list="i915kms.ko"_ and _sysrc dbus_enable="YES"_ to the _rc.conf_ file
*(–) *added the following line to the _/etc/sysctl.conf _(as suggested from the message after Xorg installation)
_$ kern.evdev.rcpt_mask=3_
*(–) *I didn't create any_ xorg.conf _file, because that seems to be not necessary, as suggested elsewhere here in the forums
*(–) *rebooted the system - from _su _mode to _multi-user _mode with:
_  $ shutdown -r now_
*(–) *inevitably, the system reboots to a* full black screen
(–) *tried a bunch of times to reinstall the whole OS shebang from the USB and tried slight variants of the step-by-step procedure, but to no avail.

*SOLUTION?
(-)* I read in some posts here on the FreeBSD forums that by re-installing the
_drm-kmod_ via the _ports system_ instead of the _pkg_ might solve the issue.
Nevertheless:
*(-)* on the FreeBSD manual - on the chapter relating to Xorg installation - it is
explicitly suggested not to mix pkg and ports installations on the same system. Read the warning on the '_4.5 Using the Ports Collection_' at the following:
[LINK] https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/ports/#ports-using

Any useful hints?

(thank you in advance)


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## SirDice (Nov 26, 2021)

`cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | nc termbin.com 9999`

And you may indeed need to recompile graphics/drm-fbsd13-kmod from ports. 13-STABLE has a few changes which aren't in 13.0-RELEASE. On 13-STABLE you might want to try graphics/drm-devel-kmod.


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## Alexander88207 (Nov 26, 2021)

SirDice said:


> On 13-STABLE you might want to try graphics/drm-devel-kmod.



Even the pkg-descr says the following?



> This version is the development version and only works on FreeBSD CURRENT.


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## Yampress (Nov 26, 2021)

Did you install* xf86-video-intel* package?

then, you have to configure it


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## grahamperrin@ (Nov 27, 2021)

SirDice is correct.



Alexander88207 said:


> Even the pkg-descr says the following?



FreeBSD bug 260074 – graphics/drm-devel-kmod package description does not express compatibility with stable/13



hyrundo said:


> _kld_list="i915kms.ko"_



`.ko` is superfluous.

Note what was recommended in the package message.



> reboots to a* full black screen*



What things are visible between the time of power on, and blackness?

_Full_ as in, without a cursor (blinking or non-blinking) at top left, and without a pointer that moves in response to the trackpad?

Is there a response to Control-Alt-F2? Hint: in this situation, use the integral keyboard, not a peripheral.



> … suggested not to mix pkg and ports …



Generally: you should be OK if packages are from _latest_ (not quarterly).

`pkg -vv | grep url`

More specifically, for STABLE, it _is_ appropriate to:

have a system that's built and installed from updated source code; *and*
build and install DRM-related kernel modules from updated source code.
Appropriate … but not always required; if your timing is lucky, there'll be pre-packaged kernel modules that suit the running system.

`freebsd-version -kru ; uname -KU`

<https://www.freshports.org/graphics/drm-fbsd13-kmod/#history>

<https://www.freshports.org/graphics/drm-devel-kmod/#history>

<https://www.freshports.org/graphics/gpu-firmware-kmod/#history>

– et cetera.



> … Elitebook 840GB …



I assume a typo; should be _840 G8_.

HP EliteBook 840 G8 Notebook PC | HP® Customer Support



Yampress said:


> Did you install* xf86-video-intel* package? …



If it's a G8: I don't imagine that a legacy driver will be appropriate. x11-drivers/xf86-video-intel/


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## astyle (Nov 27, 2021)

I think OP should really follow the Handbook and keep things simple. I said the same things in the thread that OP references.


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## hyrundo (Nov 29, 2021)

Thank you everyone for your support!

(1) FYK, I was forced to use the _'FreeBSD 13.0 STABLE_ _vs.'_ because of a previous bug, reported at the following thread: 

https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/...stid-cant-find-boot-entropy.82968/post-542614

(2) I will get through the suggested links and see if I can manage to make it work, then I will report back here.

TBU.


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