No default boot after fresh install, but recovery mode ok

Reviewed Ubuntu MATE 16.04 LTS - Common Problems, Known Bugs, Workarounds

I just installed U/M 16.04.3 LTS for AMD64, on my eMachines T5246, AMD64 X2 with 4Gigs ram.

First reboot, black screen for 30 minutes, and nothing happens for ctrl-alt-F1 thru ctrl-alt-F8 (thus I have no consoles). Monitor is on.
Rebooted that a few times, ultimately discovered that using Grub Boot options, choose recovery mode, then simply exit recovery mode, I’ll get a working desktop but display resolution is off and the monitor information isn’t detected. At least that much works. I’m posting from that.
Possibly because I’m NOT using the on board nVidia graphics and instead I am using the add-in graphics card from ATI? Any ideas where to look?

LSHW:

puptent description: Desktop Computer product: MCP61SM2MA vendor: Gateway version: FAB1.0 width: 64 bits capabilities: smbios-2.4 dmi-2.4 vsyscall32 configuration: boot=normal chassis=desktop *-core description: Motherboard product: MCP61SM2MA vendor: Gateway physical id: 0 version: FAB1.0 *-firmware description: BIOS vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD physical id: 0 version: 6.00 PG date: 11/10/2007 size: 128KiB capacity: 448KiB capabilities: isa pci pnp apm upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb ls120boot zipboot biosbootspecification netboot *-cpu description: CPU product: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] physical id: 3 bus info: cpu@0 version: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ slot: Socket AM2 size: 1GHz capacity: 3GHz width: 64 bits clock: 201MHz capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt rdtscp x86-64 3dnowext 3dnow rep_good nopl extd_apicid pni cx16 lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy 3dnowprefetch vmmcall lbrv cpufreq *-cache:0 description: L1 cache physical id: a slot: Internal Cache size: 128KiB capacity: 128KiB capabilities: synchronous internal write-back data configuration: level=1 *-cache:1 description: L2 cache physical id: c slot: External Cache size: 512KiB capacity: 512KiB capabilities: synchronous internal write-back unified configuration: level=2 *-cache:0 description: L1 cache physical id: 6 slot: Internal Cache size: 128KiB capacity: 128KiB capabilities: synchronous internal write-back data configuration: level=1 *-cache:1 description: L2 cache physical id: a slot: External Cache size: 512KiB capacity: 512KiB capabilities: synchronous internal write-back unified configuration: level=2 *-memory:0 description: System Memory physical id: 26 slot: System board or motherboard size: 2GiB *-bank:0 description: DIMM DDR2 product: None vendor: None physical id: 0 serial: None slot: A0 size: 1GiB width: 64 bits *-bank:1 description: DIMM DDR2 product: None vendor: None physical id: 1 serial: None slot: A1 size: 1GiB width: 64 bits *-memory:1 UNCLAIMED description: RAM memory product: MCP61 Memory Controller vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: b bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0 version: a1 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz (15.2ns) capabilities: ht bus_master cap_list configuration: latency=0 *-isa description: ISA bridge product: MCP61 LPC Bridge vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 1 bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz capabilities: isa bus_master configuration: latency=0 *-serial description: SMBus product: MCP61 SMBus vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 1.1 bus info: pci@0000:00:01.1 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz capabilities: pm cap_list configuration: driver=nForce2_smbus latency=0 resources: irq:11 ioport:fc00(size=64) ioport:1c00(size=64) ioport:f400(size=64) *-memory:2 UNCLAIMED description: RAM memory product: MCP61 Memory Controller vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 1.2 bus info: pci@0000:00:01.2 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz (15.2ns) configuration: latency=0 *-usb:0 description: USB controller product: MCP61 USB 1.1 Controller vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 2 bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz capabilities: pm ohci bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=ohci-pci latency=0 maxlatency=1 mingnt=3 resources: irq:23 memory:fe02f000-fe02ffff *-usbhost product: OHCI PCI host controller vendor: Linux 4.10.0-28-generic ohci_hcd physical id: 1 bus info: usb@2 logical name: usb2 version: 4.10 capabilities: usb-1.10 configuration: driver=hub slots=8 speed=12Mbit/s *-usb description: Mouse product: Trackball vendor: Logitech physical id: 2 bus info: usb@2:2 version: 2.20 capabilities: usb-1.10 configuration: driver=usbhid maxpower=100mA speed=2Mbit/s *-usb:1 description: USB controller product: MCP61 USB 2.0 Controller vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 2.1 bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz capabilities: debug pm ehci bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=0 maxlatency=1 mingnt=3 resources: irq:22 memory:fe02e000-fe02e0ff *-usbhost product: EHCI Host Controller vendor: Linux 4.10.0-28-generic ehci_hcd physical id: 1 bus info: usb@1 logical name: usb1 version: 4.10 capabilities: usb-2.00 configuration: driver=hub slots=8 speed=480Mbit/s *-usb:0 description: Mass storage device product: USB Flash Drive vendor: SanDisk physical id: 4 bus info: usb@1:4 logical name: scsi5 version: 1.26 serial: 4C532000010501123321 capabilities: usb-2.00 scsi emulated scsi-host configuration: driver=usb-storage maxpower=200mA speed=480Mbit/s *-disk description: SCSI Disk physical id: 0.0.0 bus info: scsi@5:0.0.0 logical name: /dev/sdf size: 29GiB (32GB) capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos configuration: logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=512 signature=67ff2a12 *-volume description: Windows NTFS volume physical id: 1 bus info: scsi@5:0.0.0,1 logical name: /dev/sdf1 logical name: /media/mmmmna/32G USB version: 3.1 serial: 23dd-1f5e size: 29GiB capacity: 29GiB capabilities: primary ntfs initialized configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2017-08-11 08:44:49 filesystem=ntfs label=32G USB mount.fstype=fuseblk mount.options=rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0,default_permissions,allow_other,blksize=4096 state=mounted *-usb:1 description: Mass storage device product: Mass Storage Device vendor: Generic physical id: 6 bus info: usb@1:6 logical name: scsi4 version: 1.00 serial: 920321111113 capabilities: usb-2.00 scsi emulated scsi-host configuration: driver=usb-storage maxpower=100mA speed=480Mbit/s *-disk:0 description: SCSI Disk physical id: 0.0.0 bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0 logical name: /dev/sdb configuration: logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=512 *-disk:1 description: SCSI Disk physical id: 0.0.1 bus info: scsi@4:0.0.1 logical name: /dev/sdc configuration: logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=512 *-disk:2 description: SCSI Disk physical id: 0.0.2 bus info: scsi@4:0.0.2 logical name: /dev/sdd configuration: logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=512 *-disk:3 description: SCSI Disk physical id: 0.0.3 bus info: scsi@4:0.0.3 logical name: /dev/sde configuration: logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=512 *-pci:0 description: PCI bridge product: MCP61 PCI bridge vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 4 bus info: pci@0000:00:04.0 version: a1 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz capabilities: pci ht subtractive_decode bus_master cap_list resources: ioport:c000(size=4096) memory:fdf00000-fdffffff memory:fd900000-fd9fffff *-firewire description: FireWire (IEEE 1394) product: VT6306/7/8 [Fire II(M)] IEEE 1394 OHCI Controller vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc. physical id: 7 bus info: pci@0000:01:07.0 version: 46 width: 32 bits clock: 33MHz capabilities: pm ohci bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=firewire_ohci latency=64 maxlatency=32 resources: irq:16 memory:fdfff000-fdfff7ff ioport:cc00(size=128) *-network description: Network controller product: BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller vendor: Broadcom Corporation physical id: 8 bus info: pci@0000:01:08.0 version: 02 width: 32 bits clock: 33MHz capabilities: bus_master configuration: driver=b43-pci-bridge latency=64 resources: irq:17 memory:fdffc000-fdffdfff *-multimedia description: Audio device product: MCP61 High Definition Audio vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 5 bus info: pci@0000:00:05.0 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz capabilities: pm msi ht bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0 maxlatency=5 mingnt=2 resources: irq:23 memory:fe028000-fe02bfff *-ide:0 description: IDE interface product: MCP61 IDE vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: d bus info: pci@0000:00:06.0 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz capabilities: ide pm bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=pata_amd latency=0 maxlatency=1 mingnt=3 resources: irq:0 ioport:1f0(size=8) ioport:3f6 ioport:170(size=8) ioport:376 ioport:f000(size=16) *-bridge description: Ethernet interface product: MCP61 Ethernet vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 7 bus info: pci@0000:00:07.0 logical name: enp0s7 version: a2 serial: 00:1c:25:5e:cf:20 size: 100000000 capacity: 100000000 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz capabilities: bridge pm msi ht bus_master cap_list ethernet physical mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=forcedeth driverversion=0.64 duplex=full ip=10.0.0.227 latency=0 link=yes maxlatency=20 mingnt=1 multicast=yes port=MII speed=100Mbit/s resources: irq:28 memory:fe02d000-fe02dfff ioport:ec00(size=8) *-ide:1 description: IDE interface product: MCP61 SATA Controller vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 8 bus info: pci@0000:00:08.0 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 66MHz capabilities: ide pm msi ht bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=sata_nv latency=0 maxlatency=1 mingnt=3 resources: irq:20 ioport:9f0(size=8) ioport:bf0(size=4) ioport:970(size=8) ioport:b70(size=4) ioport:d800(size=16) memory:fe02c000-fe02cfff *-pci:1 description: PCI bridge product: MCP61 PCI Express bridge vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 9 bus info: pci@0000:00:09.0 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 33MHz capabilities: pci pm msi ht pciexpress normal_decode bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=pcieport resources: irq:24 ioport:b000(size=4096) memory:fde00000-fdefffff ioport:e0000000(size=268435456) *-display UNCLAIMED description: VGA compatible controller product: RV710 [Radeon HD 4350/4550] vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] physical id: 0 bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0 version: 00 width: 64 bits clock: 33MHz capabilities: pm pciexpress msi vga_controller bus_master cap_list configuration: latency=0 resources: memory:e0000000-efffffff memory:fdee0000-fdeeffff ioport:bc00(size=256) memory:c0000-dffff *-multimedia description: Audio device product: RV710/730 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4000 series] vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] physical id: 0.1 bus info: pci@0000:02:00.1 version: 00 width: 64 bits clock: 33MHz capabilities: pm pciexpress msi bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0 resources: irq:27 memory:fdefc000-fdefffff *-pci:2 description: PCI bridge product: MCP61 PCI Express bridge vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: 100 bus info: pci@0000:00:0b.0 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 33MHz capabilities: pci pm msi ht pciexpress normal_decode bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=pcieport resources: irq:25 ioport:a000(size=4096) memory:fdd00000-fddfffff ioport:fdc00000(size=1048576) *-pci:3 description: PCI bridge product: MCP61 PCI Express bridge vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: c bus info: pci@0000:00:0c.0 version: a2 width: 32 bits clock: 33MHz capabilities: pci pm msi ht pciexpress normal_decode bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=pcieport resources: irq:26 ioport:9000(size=4096) memory:fdb00000-fdbfffff ioport:fda00000(size=1048576) *-display UNCLAIMED description: VGA compatible controller product: C61 [GeForce 6100 nForce 405] vendor: NVIDIA Corporation physical id: e bus info: pci@0000:00:0d.0 version: a2 width: 64 bits clock: 66MHz capabilities: pm msi vga_controller cap_list configuration: latency=0 resources: memory:fb000000-fbffffff memory:d0000000-dfffffff memory:fc000000-fcffffff memory:80000000-8001ffff *-pci:4 description: Host bridge product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] physical id: 101 bus info: pci@0000:00:18.0 version: 00 width: 32 bits clock: 33MHz *-pci:5 description: Host bridge product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] physical id: 102 bus info: pci@0000:00:18.1 version: 00 width: 32 bits clock: 33MHz *-pci:6 description: Host bridge product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] physical id: 103 bus info: pci@0000:00:18.2 version: 00 width: 32 bits clock: 33MHz *-pci:7 description: Host bridge product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] physical id: 104 bus info: pci@0000:00:18.3 version: 00 width: 32 bits clock: 33MHz configuration: driver=k8temp resources: irq:0 *-scsi:0 physical id: f logical name: scsi0 capabilities: emulated *-cdrom description: DVD-RAM writer product: CDDVDW TS-H652H vendor: TSSTcorp physical id: 0.0.0 bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0 logical name: /dev/cdrom logical name: /dev/cdrw logical name: /dev/dvd logical name: /dev/dvdrw logical name: /dev/sr0 version: GA00 capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc *-scsi:1 physical id: 10 logical name: scsi3 capabilities: emulated *-disk description: ATA Disk product: ST500DM002-1BC14 vendor: Seagate physical id: 0.0.0 bus info: scsi@3:0.0.0 logical name: /dev/sda version: JC4B serial: Z2AEM4KJ size: 465GiB (500GB) capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos configuration: ansiversion=5 logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=512 signature=916ac4d6 *-volume:0 description: EXT4 volume vendor: Linux physical id: 1 bus info: scsi@3:0.0.0,1 logical name: /dev/sda1 logical name: / version: 1.0 serial: 5c97ec47-8c24-4c28-8ef6-c4d924c19aac size: 456GiB capacity: 456GiB capabilities: primary bootable journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink extents ext4 ext2 initialized configuration: created=2017-08-11 08:54:04 filesystem=ext4 lastmountpoint=/ modified=2017-08-11 13:31:12 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered mounted=2017-08-11 13:30:31 state=mounted *-volume:1 description: Linux swap volume physical id: 2 bus info: scsi@3:0.0.0,2 logical name: /dev/sda2 version: 1 serial: d7caf392-0292-4cf5-b9e9-4553918ae721 size: 9536MiB capacity: 9536MiB capabilities: primary nofs swap initialized configuration: filesystem=swap pagesize=4096

LSPCI:

00:00.0 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 Memory Controller (rev a1) 00:01.0 ISA bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 LPC Bridge (rev a2) 00:01.1 SMBus: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 SMBus (rev a2) 00:01.2 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 Memory Controller (rev a2) 00:02.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 USB 1.1 Controller (rev a2) 00:02.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 USB 2.0 Controller (rev a2) 00:04.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI bridge (rev a1) 00:05.0 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 High Definition Audio (rev a2) 00:06.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 IDE (rev a2) 00:07.0 Bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 Ethernet (rev a2) 00:08.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 SATA Controller (rev a2) 00:09.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI Express bridge (rev a2) 00:0b.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI Express bridge (rev a2) 00:0c.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI Express bridge (rev a2) 00:0d.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6100 nForce 405] (rev a2) 00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller 00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 01:07.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6306/7/8 [Fire II(M)] IEEE 1394 OHCI Controller (rev 46) 01:08.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02) 02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV710 [Radeon HD 4350/4550] 02:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV710/730 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4000 series]

I’m wondering whether grub entries might be at fault.

The third line in the failing boot option is gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode and that is not present in the boot option which allows me to get to the recovery mode menu.

Not sure which way to go on this… should I edit grub (and how to)? Or should I get the Display DDC communication situation fixed (presumably I’d be dealing with preventing Ubuntu Mate 16.04.3 64 from using the onboard nVidia hardware, since I’m not connected there)?

Still wondering what to do.