Linux failed install on Recoil 15.6'' series laptop

odestorm

New member
I recently bought a Recoil series 15.6'' laptop from pcspecialist with the intention of installing Linux. The installation process seemed to be successful, however after attempting to login after the installation the OS just froze indefinitely. I tried to install Ubuntu 18.04.1, Debian 9.6.0 and Deepin 15.8 with all of them freezing after the install. However, Ubuntu worked fine on the live boot which leads me to believe there may be an issue with the storage drive. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Detailed Specs:

Chassis & Display
Recoil Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti - 4.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
500GB WD Blue™ 3D NAND 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 2 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Battery
Recoil II Series 46WH Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
PER-KEY RGB BACKLIT UK MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Promotional Item
Get Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Quantity
1
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Can you install Windows?

Just for troubleshooting ofc and to help rule in/out a faulty drive. You can download Windows directly from MS even without a licence key.
 

Stephen M

Author Level
When did the freeze occur and did you just get a black screen, possibly with some letters and numbers at the top. The 1050ti has been problematic with Ubuntu but can be fixed.

On log in you there may be an option, a cog wheel icon next to the log in, click on that and choose "Ubuntu on Wayland"

Installing with "nomodeset" is advisable.

If it is an Nvidia driver issue, you can purge them via a tty terminal if you have a log in loop or black screen, ctrl+alt+f2 should open this (worth trying even if the machine appears frozen) then after logging into the terminal use the following

sudo purge nvidia*

sudo apt-get update

reboot

Hopefully that may help.
 

odestorm

New member
The screen was not black and there was no letters or numbers in all the cases. The freeze occurred instantly after login leaving only the background image (for instance in Ubuntu it just froze on a purple background). I will try and remove the Nvidia drivers as suggested. Would I go about installing nomodeset from a tty terminal as well? (I'm assuming sudo apt-get install nomodeset).

I will also try Ubuntu on Wayland as suggested.
 

Stephen M

Author Level
Nomodeset is chosen on installation, by purging the Nvidia drivers the machine will default to nouveau X.org drivers so you should not need to.

The freeze described could well be a GPU issue. If you can boot up after using Wayland or purging Nvidia have a look at software and update drivers section. It is possible you will be fine with different Nvidia drivers, there is a PPA to get them from but I do not have the details to hand. It is usually the newest driver that is best but it can also be a trial and error thing, going through the list retrieved from the PPA.
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Can you install Windows?

Just for troubleshooting ofc and to help rule in/out a faulty drive. You can download Windows directly from MS even without a licence key.

I would support this approach too. I realise you're a Linux user but it's usually vital when faced with problems like this to determine whether the problem is hardware or software based. You could, for example, be chasing your tail for some time in Linux only to discover that you have a hardware issue.

You should be able to install a downloaded copy of Windows for long enough to check whether it's working ok. If it is, then you know your issue is a Linux one, but if it doesn't then you have a hardware issue.

We often advise Windows users with problems like this to try a Linux distro to eliminate hardware as the cause.

:)
 

odestorm

New member
Thank you for everyone's help - I've just solved the issue. As Stephen suggested it appears to be a problem with the gpu drivers. I removed them in recovery mode and then the system booted as normal and didn't freeze on login. Yay.
 

DaniSerra

New member
Greetings,

I was able to install ubuntu 18.04 in recoil II with booteable USB wiht UUI.

0- Desactive secure boot in BIOS.

1- You must press 'e' in the install options. Write after 'quite splash' the next text "acpi=off" this first step let you install wihtout hangs.

2- Install alongside windows or select your partition.

3- At restart mby laptop show you a blackscreen just turn off the laptop.

4- Start you can select in BIOS- boot - bdds properties use Ubuntu launcher or just restart windows holding press shift and select usb divice called 'Ubuntu'.

5- In grub boot selection repeat step 1, pres 'e' etc.

6- Use in terminal : sudo "ubuntu-drivers autoinstall" or "sudo apt install nvidia-390". Now you will havent too press 'e' in boot anymore and everything should work.


Now my problem is the keyboard leds and different options. I dont know how to control leds or touchpad lock. Anyone know?
 

Stephen M

Author Level
Thanks for the info DanniSerra, glad you got Ubuntu working. For anyone having driver trouble it is sometimes a trail and error thing to find which is the best driver. You can add Nvidia drivers via the terminal with this:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
 
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