Bug 28194

Created attachment 12248 [details]
Screenshot with black central square

Hi thanks reporting this.

This is due to recent code in Grub2 to give a flicker-boot from EFI/BIOS logo to Graphical Display Manager. As it involves different code/softwares, sometimes there are hipcups.

This one is due the fact Grub2 presents a menu and that this variable is set in /etc/default/grub:
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=auto

This does not set properly the framebuffer to the kernel, because we add unsupported vga=xyz to kernel command line and it is not the real resolution of the framebuffer at this time.

Try remove vga= from kernel command line
And add proper resolution to:
GRUB_GFXMODE=1920x1080
In case your monitor has this native resolution.

Also, to workaround properly a black screen,
Set:
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep.

I suggest to mask the menu as long as there is no other OS to boot.
This can be done by adding:
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=true

Just a comment (Aurélien has this well in hand) to thank Papoteur for the screenshot; it really helps to see the problem rather than trying to describe it. I am intrigued 'how'; it is very clear, surely not from a camera.

CC: (none) => lewyssmith

(In reply to Lewis Smith from comment #4)
> Just a comment (Aurélien has this well in hand) to thank Papoteur for the
> screenshot; it really helps to see the problem rather than trying to
> describe it. I am intrigued 'how'; it is very clear, surely not from a
> camera.

I do think the system is running inside a VM and papoteur reproduces the "glitch" and uses a screenshot tool ;)

(In reply to papoteur from comment #1)
> Created attachment 12248 [details]
> Screenshot with black central square

So in facts, the big black box is the terminal-box.

This issue comes from https://bugzilla.opensuse.org/show_bug.cgi?id=776244

The terminal box should be readable when modifying entries.
And, when a Linux entry is loaded, we should see here some messages like:
"Loading Linux........."

But as far as we add "quiet splash", we do not see these, and we see a black square, given the feeling something is wrong.

The Kernel should clean the terminal and should display ASAP plymouth boot screen.
But sometimes it takes ages...

My personal feeling is to remove the graphical GRUB if the PC is Linux-only, adding a countdown... If something goes wrong on the booting process, GRUB2 displays its menus upon reboot.

(In reply to papoteur from comment #0)
> After selecting an entry in grub, the central zone becomes black when the
> previous screen borders are still displayed. This is not very nice.
I scarcely see Grub these days (rEFInd rules OK for EFI), but have recently - with another Linux. This overlaid black terminal square only appeared *after*  selecting an entry, either to load or edit.
As you say. "Not very nice", but normal - and not new - behaviour. And ever so short-lived.

Closing (unless I have overlooked a problem that matters).

Resolution: (none) => INVALID
Status: NEW => RESOLVED

(In reply to Lewis Smith from comment #7)
> (In reply to papoteur from comment #0)
> > After selecting an entry in grub, the central zone becomes black when the
> > previous screen borders are still displayed. This is not very nice.
> I scarcely see Grub these days (rEFInd rules OK for EFI), but have recently
> - with another Linux. This overlaid black terminal square only appeared
> *after*  selecting an entry, either to load or edit.
> As you say. "Not very nice", but normal - and not new - behaviour. And ever
> so short-lived.
> 
> Closing (unless I have overlooked a problem that matters).

No so speedy.
I think this should be reviewed and we should try see if this can be prevented by removing the openSUSE patch.

Resolution: INVALID => (none)
Status: RESOLVED => REOPENED

I agree that it would be better not to see it, in spite of it being 'normal' behaviour on some systems.

Grub2 is done by different people at different times, so assigning this globally; CC'ing Martin who has tweaked it recently.

Assignee: bugsquad => pkg-bugs
CC: lewyssmith => mageia

The 'black rectangle' is the grub2 terminal screen. It always follows the boot menu to display any error or info messages.

In the past we had disconcerting messages flash up in one Mageia release that were harmless, so we patched it to hide these and leave the terminal blank.

There has been discussion about this before in various places, but no method of removing it was found.

Of course it has to exist for the grub2 edit mode and command line booting, so any attempt at removal must not interfere with that.

Maybe the messages (if any) should not be hidden, so at least the purpose of the 'black rectangle' is more obvious.

CC: (none) => zen25000

Instead of patching it blank, is it possible to patch it to display something like

          Loading kernel, please wait...


- With or without allowing other messages after that ?

CC: (none) => fri

(In reply to Morgan Leijström from comment #11)
> Instead of patching it blank, is it possible to patch it to display
> something like
> 
>           Loading kernel, please wait...
> 
> 
> - With or without allowing other messages after that ?

Normally, it should displays it already. But I think above mentioned patches hide this.

Note that I see in Comment 6 an openSUSE bug report with wrong color scheme.
So they basically make the terminal look black definitely.
https://bugzilla.opensuse.org/show_bug.cgi?id=776244