Found a solution !
I know there should be a cleaner or easier way to do this, please don't criticize my solution too much![:D]( "Very Happy")
![Image]()
I recently got this Alienware M16 R1 (i7-13700HX, Nvidia RTX 4070), bought it at sale, to replace my old MSI Apache Pro, i7, Nvidia GTX 960M.
As I already had Debian 12 installed in the old laptop (WD_BLACK SN850X 1000GB), I thought it was just a matter of switching the SSD to the new laptop, after doing it (and modifying the proper BIOS settings), the booting process hanged at "Loading initial ramdisk", I tried every possible solution: BIOS parameters, kernel loading parameters, updating grub (update-grub), initramfs, etc.
After hard failing, I decided to do a clean installation, that is how I ended finding your post, as the install hangs after selecting any of the available options.
I found in your publication at techtalkhawke "Debian 12 Q4OS on Alienware M18 r1", that Ubuntu 22.04 works, so I decided to try Debian 12 trixie (testing), which also works without problems.
After using my new laptop with Debian trixie for some days, I found that there are some packages missing (that exist in bookworm), I needed those packages for one application, so I installed them from bookworm, but I wasn't happy with that solution.
Meanwhile, as I had a working laptop with "trixie", I thought about installing Ubuntu 22.04, or keep investigating to try to solve the problem with the installation of bookworm, went for the second option.
So, I did a clean Debian installation in the old laptop, using the SSD that came with the new laptop, after switching the SSD to the Alienware, the boot process hanged exactly at "Loading initial ramdisk".
Switched back the SSD to the old laptop, long history short, after a lot of tests, thinking in why "trixie" works but "bookworm" doesn't, I added the backports repo and installed a newer kernel from bookworm-backports, ending with exactly the same issue![:(]( "Sad")
In my frustration and thinking, decided to try something else: installed a newer grub version from bookworm-backports (and related packages),
![Image]()
switched back the SSD to the Alienware, and voila !, problem solved ! booted just fine !![:D]( "Very Happy")
So, solution 1:
Install Debian 12 bookworm in another PC, add the bookworm-backports and update grub from backports, and switch the SSD to the Alienware.
![Image]()
Now that I had Debian 12 bookworm installed in my new laptop, I decided to keep experimenting, now with the installation media, as I knew it had to do with grub.
I tried a lot of things, modifying and mixing the contents of the installation disks from "trixie" and "bookworm", tried to learn how to create a live cd, a new installation disk, etc.
Modified a bookworm live cd with "Cubic", added the "bookworm-backports" repo, installed grub from the backports.
Used isomaster to remove and add files between ISO files (netinst testing and netinst stable) and the other way around (funny thing, found that the resulting ISO was not "burneable" but it worked if I added to a Ventoy USB.
Every try ended in a hard fail.
Found solution 2 !
To not make this post longer...
Download the installation ISOs (I used netinst ISOs, but this procedure should work with the Stable live cd ISO and the testing netinst ISO).
- In another laptop -
Create a new GPT table in a USB stick and a fat32 file system and mount it.
![Image]()
Mount the Debian 12 bookworm ISO and copy all the content to the USB stick:
![Image]()
Mount the testing ISO.
In the USB stick, rename (or delete) the file EFI/boot/grubx64.efi (4.2 MB) and copy the file from the testing ISO (2.7 MB)
![Image]()
Plug the USB stick in the Alienware M16, and while booting press F12 to enter the boot menu, select the USB stick to boot.
The installation should work as expected (no hanging as before).
Note: I didn't test if after a clean install by using the modded USB, the "Loading initial ramdisk" issue occurs, as I didn't finish the installation, just checked it didn't hang after selecting "graphical install', if that's the case, it should be fixable by booting with live cd (Ubuntu 22.04, for example), chrooting to the SSD, add backports repo and install grub from backports.
Another option could be to install the alternative Opinionated Debian Installer.
Greetings !
I know there should be a cleaner or easier way to do this, please don't criticize my solution too much
I recently got this Alienware M16 R1 (i7-13700HX, Nvidia RTX 4070), bought it at sale, to replace my old MSI Apache Pro, i7, Nvidia GTX 960M.
As I already had Debian 12 installed in the old laptop (WD_BLACK SN850X 1000GB), I thought it was just a matter of switching the SSD to the new laptop, after doing it (and modifying the proper BIOS settings), the booting process hanged at "Loading initial ramdisk", I tried every possible solution: BIOS parameters, kernel loading parameters, updating grub (update-grub), initramfs, etc.
After hard failing, I decided to do a clean installation, that is how I ended finding your post, as the install hangs after selecting any of the available options.
I found in your publication at techtalkhawke "Debian 12 Q4OS on Alienware M18 r1", that Ubuntu 22.04 works, so I decided to try Debian 12 trixie (testing), which also works without problems.
After using my new laptop with Debian trixie for some days, I found that there are some packages missing (that exist in bookworm), I needed those packages for one application, so I installed them from bookworm, but I wasn't happy with that solution.
Meanwhile, as I had a working laptop with "trixie", I thought about installing Ubuntu 22.04, or keep investigating to try to solve the problem with the installation of bookworm, went for the second option.
So, I did a clean Debian installation in the old laptop, using the SSD that came with the new laptop, after switching the SSD to the Alienware, the boot process hanged exactly at "Loading initial ramdisk".
Switched back the SSD to the old laptop, long history short, after a lot of tests, thinking in why "trixie" works but "bookworm" doesn't, I added the backports repo and installed a newer kernel from bookworm-backports, ending with exactly the same issue
In my frustration and thinking, decided to try something else: installed a newer grub version from bookworm-backports (and related packages),
switched back the SSD to the Alienware, and voila !, problem solved ! booted just fine !
So, solution 1:
Install Debian 12 bookworm in another PC, add the bookworm-backports and update grub from backports, and switch the SSD to the Alienware.
Now that I had Debian 12 bookworm installed in my new laptop, I decided to keep experimenting, now with the installation media, as I knew it had to do with grub.
I tried a lot of things, modifying and mixing the contents of the installation disks from "trixie" and "bookworm", tried to learn how to create a live cd, a new installation disk, etc.
Modified a bookworm live cd with "Cubic", added the "bookworm-backports" repo, installed grub from the backports.
Used isomaster to remove and add files between ISO files (netinst testing and netinst stable) and the other way around (funny thing, found that the resulting ISO was not "burneable" but it worked if I added to a Ventoy USB.
Every try ended in a hard fail.
Found solution 2 !
To not make this post longer...
Download the installation ISOs (I used netinst ISOs, but this procedure should work with the Stable live cd ISO and the testing netinst ISO).
- In another laptop -
Create a new GPT table in a USB stick and a fat32 file system and mount it.
Mount the Debian 12 bookworm ISO and copy all the content to the USB stick:
Mount the testing ISO.
In the USB stick, rename (or delete) the file EFI/boot/grubx64.efi (4.2 MB) and copy the file from the testing ISO (2.7 MB)
Plug the USB stick in the Alienware M16, and while booting press F12 to enter the boot menu, select the USB stick to boot.
The installation should work as expected (no hanging as before).
Note: I didn't test if after a clean install by using the modded USB, the "Loading initial ramdisk" issue occurs, as I didn't finish the installation, just checked it didn't hang after selecting "graphical install', if that's the case, it should be fixable by booting with live cd (Ubuntu 22.04, for example), chrooting to the SSD, add backports repo and install grub from backports.
Another option could be to install the alternative Opinionated Debian Installer.
Greetings !
Statistics: Posted by Magigamix — 2024-04-02 04:46 — Replies 4 — Views 1530