Installing help GPU crash

lawmanuk

Hi all. I'm brand new to bsd looking for some help booting. Currently on void Linux (from cachyos arch). I'm using a very old hp Pro book 455 G2 laptop with 8g ram and Radeon gpu. Linux works fine on this old machine but not bsd.

When I try booting from ghostbsd usb my machine keeps crashing on loading amdgpu.

I've tried turning off both amdgpu and Radeon but booting into vesa gui doesn't work and takes me to a shell where I can't install ghost.

screenshot attached as I've reached a dead end. The usb works fine on other laptops so I know its good.

My questions are

1) is there a text installer available and how?

2) how can I boot into vesa to fix the graphics issues?

Thanks in advance

img-20251022-022154-777.jpg

vimanuelt

Try pressing Ctrl C to stop the reboot, then press these keys together, Ctrl Alt F2, to get to a prompt.

Next, use the xconfig command to setup the gpu.

Interactive setup

sudo xconfig setup
# or
sudo xconfig manual

Opens the bsddialog/dialog UI. Choices are built safely via set -- (no fragile quoting).

Direct targets

# GPUs
sudo xconfig nvidia         # Auto-detect the correct NVIDIA branch
sudo xconfig intel          # Intel with external config template
sudo xconfig intel-auto     # Intel auto (no config file)
sudo xconfig amd            # Auto decide: amdgpu or radeonkms (based on device)
sudo xconfig amdgpu         # Force amdgpu template
sudo xconfig radeonkms      # Force radeonkms template

# Virtualization
sudo xconfig virtualbox
sudo xconfig vmware
sudo xconfig qemu
sudo xconfig hyperv

# Fallback / recovery
sudo xconfig vesa
sudo xconfig scfb
sudo xconfig safe

# System Info / Debug
sudo xconfig debug

lawmanuk

Thanks for the response.

I wasn't sure at which point to enter 'sudo xconfig setup'

I tried the following:-

1) I tried pressing escape at the live boot menu, but this didn't recognise sudo xconfig setup.

2) On live boot menu, I pressed option 2 - single boot. This took me to a shell. Tried "sudo xconfig setup" but got error saying it didn't recognise sudo.

3) On live boot menu option 1 - multiboot. I waited till it crashed loading AMDGPU then pressed ctrl-c but there was no response and after a few seconds it rebooted.

4) On live boot menu option 1 - multiboot. I waited till it had copied system into memdisk then tried pressing Ctrl-C, but it wouldn't stop the boot process. I pressed Ctrl-Alt-F2 and it took me to login, where I was trying to login but the background boot process had continued I think, with same result as (3) and reboot.

Please advise any other options?

Thanks

vimanuelt

Thank you for the feedback.

It might not be available in the single boot (rescue environment), but try:

su
xconfig manual

lawmanuk

vimanuelt
su doesn't work here.

vimanuelt

There might be nothing you can do at the moment, but submit a feature request.
ghostbsd/issuesissues
Once a patch has been created, we'll need you to test it.

Iirc, the behavior is controlled in ghostbsd-build's autologin script. We could add a feature to check for success of the xconfig auto command, when xconfig auto is unsuccessful then launch xconfig manual command. This would provide a better option for users in this situation.

lawmanuk

vimanuelt

Created request at ghostbsd/issues302

BTW the laptop is a HP Probook 455 G2 with bios v1.45 2018 which is the latest as I understand.

lawmanuk

I tried pressing ctrl-c again repeatedly after loading to memdisk and it went to the fish shell finally.

Tried sudo xconfig setup which took me to a menu. I chose Radeon which is correct for my laptop but this gave an error. Then tried vesa and startx which opened the gui and I installed it as zfs partition with refind.

It's fully installed now but with below issues.

1) is there an option to have encrypted partition?

2) What would be the best way to change from vesa to the correct video driver?

3) The wi-fi wasn't enabled and restarting networking didn't help. What would be the best way to fix this?

Thanks again

vimanuelt

I submitted the work for inclusion, but it was not accepted due to timing and competing priorities. Since a new installer is in development, updating the legacy one is not a current focus. We should plan to add the feature once the new installer is available to avoid duplicating effort.
We need to analyze the overlap and differences between radeonkms and amdgpu, then design updated logic. The previous guidance from AMD was inaccurate. As a fallback, we can implement logic where if xconfig auto fails, it automatically triggers xconfig manual. Modifying ghostbsd-build's autologin.shis needed to change the behavior. When a user selects a driver and it does not work, then we can say the driver is either incorrect or incomplete. xconfig allows for you to select the driver, but it is not responsible for how the driver works or doesn't work. :-)
The FreeBSD project has introduced a new Wi-Fi driver setup method. GhostBSD could integrate this new approach into its existing configuration process to improve compatibility and maintain consistency.

I think those issues are listed in GhostBSD's github project board already. Eric will set the priorities.

vimanuelt

Submitted ghostbsd/xconfig38 to explicitly handle the apu/gpu. It adds the missing firmware, too.