Weird terminal / shell issues upon installation

Technical Issues & Assistance
#1

I’m expeirencing some super weird issues after install. I’ve reinstalled twice and confirmed the MD5SUM matches the iso, just to be clear.

On bootup, once I try to open a terminal, I end up with the neofetch screen and no shell prompt unless I press CTRL-C.

The Al-Hello script also doesn’t do anything… it just sits there with a blinking cursor. I don’t know what the issue is but it sucks because it makes the distro unusable for me as I can’t find a work around.

Edit: just tried the 2018-02 iso and same issue. If i try to switch to a VIrtual console, it’s a black screen with no shell prompt

#2

Would you mind installing using the 2017.10 release that uses Calamares and see if the issue persists.

#3

Sure giving it a try now

1 Like
#4

I have an empty key, tonight I try to install the last iso, I will let you know.

#5

just installed, no problem, either at boot time or with the Al-hello script.
Regards

#6

I wasn’t able to install the older release. It’s got to be something with the fact that my laptop is Nvidia Optimus as it’s the only thing I can think of.

#7

Just invited @nate, to see if he has any ideas on this.

#8

My laptop is Nvidia Optimus.
For the bootable iso i used etcher.
Regards

#9

A good alternative is just using dd from the terminal or Mintstick.

1 Like
#10

I used etcher as well. I meant perhaps Optimus is the issue for my original issue

#11

Does the shell work normally after you “CTRL-C”?

Does neofetch run correctly by itself?

Do other shells work normally? Test with termite -e bash.

If you think it is your graphics card then have you tried disabling the GPU and using the Intel card instead?

Does this happen for you in the “live” session?

#12

After CTRL C it works fine but every shell is the same. If I switch to a ctrl alt f4 or other VT it doesn’t work either, just a black screen.

Same issue on the live CD.

Launching termite with your params don’t work either. Would remove neofetch help perhaps?

#13

Post your hardware, maybe it’s too new.

#14

Ok I figured it out. I dropped to a shell and ran Nvidia-easy-install and rebooted and poof, fixed.

#15

Well done. I’ll mark your post as the solution.