I am trying to install Debian on a new prebuilt, but when I
boot and press <F2>, the screen is garbled. Windows later
figures it out, but by that time it's too late to tell the
BIOS to boot from a USB stick on which I've installed netinst.

The mobo is a Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI (rev 1.5), manual at <https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B450M-DS3H-WIFI-rev-15#kf>.

I can see some letters on the garbled screen, but have not
yet been able to figure out how to get to the boot order.

So, either of 2 things might help me:

(1) The complete key sequence at the BIOS screen (or its <F1>
help screen) to tell the mobo to boot from the USB stick first.

(2) Some way to boot that stick or its
contents directly from inside Windows.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 9/15/24 16:12, Will Mengarini wrote:

I am trying to install Debian on a new prebuilt, but when I
boot and press <F2>, the screen is garbled. Windows later
figures it out, but by that time it's too late to tell the
BIOS to boot from a USB stick on which I've installed netinst.

The mobo is a Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI (rev 1.5), manual at <https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B450M-DS3H-WIFI-rev-15#kf>.

I can see some letters on the garbled screen, but have not
yet been able to figure out how to get to the boot order.

So, either of 2 things might help me:

(1) The complete key sequence at the BIOS screen (or its <F1>
help screen) to tell the mobo to boot from the USB stick first.

(2) Some way to boot that stick or its
contents directly from inside Windows.

Are you using the onboard graphics HDMI port? If not, what?


What is the make and model of your monitor?


Is the display legible during the power on self-test (POST), prior to
entering Setup?


Please describe "garbled" in more detail. Is the image consistent or
changing?


David

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On Sun, 15 Sep 2024 16:12:45 -0700
Will Mengarini <seldon@eskimo.com> wrote:

I am trying to install Debian on a new prebuilt, but when I
boot and press <F2>, the screen is garbled.

Slow down. When you boot what? A Debian installation (which,
presumably, appeared to be successful), or a Debian installer? If the
latter, which one, the netinst installer or a live CD (which has its
own less flexible installer)? Or a USB stick made from one of those?

And where exactly is it failing? In the on-board firmware (BIOS)? Grub?
During the boot process?

Also, which version of Debian? The current one, 12.x (bookworm), or
something else?

So, either of 2 things might help me:

(1) The complete key sequence at the BIOS screen (or its <F1>
help screen) to tell the mobo to boot from the USB stick first.

For that, you will have to get help from the firmware vendor or
Gigabyte.

--
Does anybody read signatures any more?

https://charlescurley.com
https://charlescurley.com/blog/

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Will Mengarini composed on 2024-09-15 16:12 (UTC-0700):

I am trying to install Debian on a new prebuilt, but when I
boot and press <F2>, the screen is garbled. Windows later
figures it out, but by that time it's too late to tell the
BIOS to boot from a USB stick on which I've installed netinst.

The mobo is a Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI (rev 1.5), manual at <https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B450M-DS3H-WIFI-rev-15#kf>.

I can see some letters on the garbled screen, but have not
yet been able to figure out how to get to the boot order.

So, either of 2 things might help me:

(1) The complete key sequence at the BIOS screen (or its <F1>
help screen) to tell the mobo to boot from the USB stick first.

(2) Some way to boot that stick or its
contents directly from inside Windows.

F12 should get you the Gigabyte BBS menu.

If you have no connected Windows disk, you should either get the USB boot menu, or
into BIOS setup.

If the GPU is on a discrete card and the motherboard provides an iGPU, take the discrete card out until boot priorities are as you wish.
--
Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion,
based on faith, not based on science.

Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata

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* Charles Curley <charlescurley@charlescurley.com> [24-09/15=Sun 18:15 -0600]:

On Sun, 15 Sep 2024 16:12:45 -0700
Will Mengarini <seldon@eskimo.com> wrote:

I am trying to install Debian on a new prebuilt, but when I
boot and press <F2>, the screen is garbled.

Slow down. When you boot what? A Debian installation (which,
presumably, appeared to be successful), or a Debian installer? If the
latter, which one, the netinst installer or a live CD (which has its
own less flexible installer)? Or a USB stick made from one of those?

This is a prebuilt that came with Windows installed. Booting
normally boots into Windows, even though I've plugged in a USB
stick that has netinst on it. The USB stick is being ignored,
presumably because the specified boot order starts with the SSD.

So I want to change the boot order so it boots the USB
stick first, but I can't, because I can't read the
setup screen that I access by pressing F2 during boot.

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* David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> [24-09/15=Sun 17:13 -0700]:

On 9/15/24 16:12, Will Mengarini wrote:

I am trying to install Debian on a new prebuilt, but when I
boot and press <F2>, the screen is garbled. Windows later
figures it out, but by that time it's too late to tell the
BIOS to boot from a USB stick on which I've installed netinst.

The mobo is a Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI (rev 1.5), manual at <https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B450M-DS3H-WIFI-rev-15#kf>.

I can see some letters on the garbled screen, but have not
yet been able to figure out how to get to the boot order.

So, either of 2 things might help me:

(1) The complete key sequence at the BIOS screen (or its <F1>
help screen) to tell the mobo to boot from the USB stick first.

(2) Some way to boot that stick or its
contents directly from inside Windows.

Are you using the onboard graphics HDMI port? If not, what?

HDMI

What is the make and model of your monitor?

ViewSonic 15E

Is the display legible during the power on
self-test (POST), prior to entering Setup?

No.

Please describe "garbled" in more detail.
Is the image consistent or changing?

Changing; it's out of sync, as if the
BIOS is using an unsupported resolution.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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* Felix Miata <mrmazda@stanis.net> [24-09/15=Sun 22:01 -0400]:

Will Mengarini composed on 2024-09-15 16:12 (UTC-0700):

I am trying to install Debian on a new prebuilt, but when I
boot and press <F2>, the screen is garbled. Windows later
figures it out, but by that time it's too late to tell the
BIOS to boot from a USB stick on which I've installed netinst.

The mobo is a Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI (rev 1.5), manual at <https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B450M-DS3H-WIFI-rev-15#kf>.

I can see some letters on the garbled screen, but have not
yet been able to figure out how to get to the boot order.

So, either of 2 things might help me:

(1) The complete key sequence at the BIOS screen (or its <F1>
help screen) to tell the mobo to boot from the USB stick first.

(2) Some way to boot that stick or its
contents directly from inside Windows.

F12 should get you the Gigabyte BBS menu.

Something happens when I press <F12>, but I can't
tell what, because I can't read the screen, because
it is out of sync, using an unsupported resolution.

If you have no connected Windows disk, you should
either get the USB boot menu, or into BIOS setup.

I doubt I am getting the USB boot menu because I
would expect netinst to be readable on all monitors.

I'm getting into BIOS setup but can't tell where to go from there
because I can't read the monitor to tell what keys I should press.

If the GPU is on a discrete card and the motherboard provides an iGPU,
take the discrete card out until boot priorities are as you wish.

There is no discrete GPU.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Sun, 15 Sep 2024 23:28:36 -0700
Will Mengarini <seldon@eskimo.com> wrote:

* Charles Curley <charlescurley@charlescurley.com> [24-09/15=Sun
18:15 -0600]:

On Sun, 15 Sep 2024 16:12:45 -0700
Will Mengarini <seldon@eskimo.com> wrote:

I am trying to install Debian on a new prebuilt, but when I
boot and press <F2>, the screen is garbled.

Slow down. When you boot what? A Debian installation (which,
presumably, appeared to be successful), or a Debian installer? If
the latter, which one, the netinst installer or a live CD (which
has its own less flexible installer)? Or a USB stick made from one
of those?

This is a prebuilt that came with Windows installed. Booting
normally boots into Windows, even though I've plugged in a USB
stick that has netinst on it. The USB stick is being ignored,
presumably because the specified boot order starts with the SSD.

So I want to change the boot order so it boots the USB
stick first, but I can't, because I can't read the
setup screen that I access by pressing F2 during boot.

So this is actually a monitor/motherboard problem, in that the BIOS
cannot drive the monitor properly, but Windows can.

First, get hold of the manual for the motherboard, which will be online somewhere. This will tell you which keys are available from the BIOS.

Try another monitor, you may have a TV around with an HDMI socket. Once
you can get a coherent picture you can at least enable USB booting, and
you will probably need a BIOS screen in the future, so you need to know
how to see it. Your system will almost certainly be UEFI, and you may
need the UEFI boot menu from time to time.

--
Joe

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Will Mengarini <seldon@eskimo.com> writes:

ViewSonic 15E

Isn't that a CRT from the '90s? So you have some adapter for HDMI? Is
there really no other monitor you could use?

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On Sun 15 Sep 2024 at 23:45:42 (-0700), Will Mengarini wrote:

Felix Miata <mrmazda@stanis.net> [24-09/15=Sun 22:01 -0400]:

F12 should get you the Gigabyte BBS menu.

Something happens when I press <F12>, but I can't
tell what, because I can't read the screen, because
it is out of sync, using an unsupported resolution.

I'm getting into BIOS setup but can't tell where to go from there
because I can't read the monitor to tell what keys I should press.

The F12 menu might be a simple list, in which case you could try
typing blind:

F12 wait Return
F12 wait DownArrow Return
F12 wait DownArrow DownArrow Return
F12 wait DownArrow DownArrow DownArrow Return

etc., and in case the F12 screen does not point to the first item:

F12 wait UpArrow Return

etc.

Cheers,
David.

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On 9/16/24 03:32, Anssi Saari wrote:

Will Mengarini <seldon@eskimo.com> writes:

ViewSonic 15E

Isn't that a CRT from the '90s? So you have some adapter for HDMI? Is
there really no other monitor you could use?

I tried using a search engine and came up empty:

https://html.duckduckgo.com/html?q=site%3AViewSonic.com%2015E


As other readers have suggested, I think the motherboard is putting out
a video signal that the monitor does not support.


I suggest the OP test with another monitor -- one that supports up to
FHD (1920x1024 60 Hz).


David

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