Bug 30087

Did you download the Mageia 8 ISO also from https://distro.ibiblio.org/ (the same dead server as in bug 30089?

If yes, chose another server (check https://mirrors.mageia.org/status and http://mirrors.mageia.org/ before; also verify the checksum)

If you install the system from the new media, make sure that you setup the online media whilst installation and make a update of the packages. So you can be sure that you have the newest packages matching to new hardware before you do a reboot.

Ah nuts!!  Never saw the "status" link before. The mirrors page doesn't link to it, so it's effectively hidden.  I did let the install do the updates before I started the system....  Will grab the mirror files again while I sleep...  Thanks!

yeah, the release kernel 5.10 series does not really support RX6600XT,  as needed bits landed upstream in 5.11 series and got improved in 5.13-5.14 series... 

So as long as you get the system updated to 5.15 series kernels and mesa 21.3 series available in updates it should work better...

Thanks for that info Thomas.  And to think after a quick search, it appeared that AMD had better support than NVIDIA; so I modified the order.  I'm still downloading the correct Cauldron files. Looks like I'll be dealing with 5.15 or 5.16 and 21.3...  Fingers crossed.

For an cauldron installation it is advised to have a working MGA 8 installation and update it to cauldron. See https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Cauldron

There are no finished install ISOs for cauldron yet and the netinstaller sometimes might not work as expected (it's cauldron....)

Thanks! The reason I decided on Cauldron was because mga8 had the same video issue from the ISO install. I have no objection to using Cauldron; won't be my first time :)
I rarely use an ISO to install; used it this time in hopes of saving time getting it running quickly**. Also, mga8 EOL is in sight; so my input and your support are more likely to meet in the middle.  Other than the video issue; [old] Cauldron seemed to install reasonably well...  Will see once my downloads finish. This new system will be very busy as soon as it's running. 

** Funny...  I often say: "Slow down and you'll go faster."  :D

Cauldron installed. Still no sddm...  Found this in journal:
Failed to open configuration file '/var/lib/sddm/.config/systemd/user.conf': Permission denied
and other errors all related to failure to access /var/lib/sddm
drwx------ 2 root root 4096 Feb 25 2021 /var/lib/sddm

chown sddm.sddm /var/lib/sddm  and Ctrl+Alt+Bksp and I now have video.

Thank you for this helpful diagnosis.

Since this looks like 'sddm', assigning it to neoclust who is responsible for it.

Assignee: bugsquad => mageia

From the 'discuss' mailing list:
On Fri, 18 Mar 2022 00:14:42 +0100 Morgan Leijström wrote:

>Den 2022-03-17 kl. 23:32, skrev Pierre Fortin (via discuss Mailing List):
>> On Thu, 17 Mar 2022 21:22:24 +0100 Morgan Leijström wrote:
>>  
>>> Den 2022-03-17 kl. 20:55, skrev Pierre Fortin (via discuss Mailing List):  
>>>> Recently got a new system, and had no video after installing 8.  
>>> Would be interesting to know what was the problem.
>>>
>>> Did you check  
>> Yes, I found it, reported it, and the info is in the part of my message
>> you redacted...
>>  
>I can not see you say in this thread nor the bug that it is the same 
>problem and verified fix in mga8 as in mga9.
>
>If it is, please state so in the bug.
>

It's going to take me a long time (over a month) to get all my stuff
moved over to this new system.  On the old Dell M6800 laptop running
mga8 upgraded from previous mga releases (I forget which was the first
in 2014), I see:
# ll /var/lib/sddm -d
drwx------ 6 sddm sddm 4096 Mar 16  2021 /var/lib/sddm/

Since this is how mga8 runs on the old system; but in mga9 (on this
sysstem) that directory was installed owned by root and would not work
until changed to sddm *might* imply that a change was made between mga8
and mga9. On the other hand, maybe a setup process did not expect
something on this Dell XPS8950 with AMD RX6600, and failed to complete,
leaving /var/lib/sddm owned by root.  

I cold installed mga8 from the ISO *twice*. The video appeared to be fine
UNTIL I booted into mga8. All looked fine up to the point X/sddm was
about to display the login screen -- black screen. Ctl+Alt+F2 gave me vty
access. Shutting down the system gave me the "shutdown wallpaper".

Mirrored mga9, installed it and got the exact same video symptoms (no, I
did not retain mga8 info), nor provide X logging (my bad); but the cure or
workaround was a permissions change as indicated by the X log.

I've been using Linux exclusively since 1998; Mageia since Mandrake and
Mandriva. Never had this problem before; but the X log clearly stated it
failed to start because of permissions on /var/lib/sddm...

To me, the question is not comparing mga8 and mga9; rather: what code
fails to set sddm permissions need on this system; but works on virtually
all other systems... 

I did not state anything conclusive other than "chown sddm.sddm
/var/lib/sddm  and Ctrl+Alt+Bksp and I now have video." <== (no reboot).

Based on a sample of one, it can no longer be assumed mga8 does not have
the same issue as that reported against mga9, due to identical symptoms.
At least, if someone installs mga8 and has the same problem I had, they
should have hope...

I don't have the time, or desire, to try mga8 on this system which is now
working on analyzing over 6TB (nearly 7TB) of data.  Yes, I
understand the risks of using Cauldron; but when I can do in minutes vs
hours, hours vs days, with only minor issues, the risk is less important
to me than the time to revert to mga8. 

The bug is factual. If you're a developer who can solve this issue;
great! Hope this info helps... I may be able to provide more info; but not
by re-installing mga8 for a 3rd time...

Cheers,
Pierre

Closing as old.

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