Intel NUC NUC5i5RYH - Boot - only mouse pointer appears (Xubuntu 14.04, 14.10)

Question

I am trying to install and use Xubuntu 14.04.2 on a new Intel NUC system. (Model: NUC5i5RYH, Intel Core i5-5250U, BIOS version 0137)

The installation medium is an usb flash drive and I am using the MINI-DisplayPort output.

I think the Xubuntu system doesn't recognize the graphic chip Intel HD 6000 correctly. I can only see the white mouse pointer on a blank screen. I can move the mouse pointer and can switch to the shell (CTRL+ALT+F1) but the XFCE desktop is not loading. So I can't install the system.

I tried Xubuntu 14.10 and it has the same problem. (Xubuntu 15.04 Beta is working.)

I tried:

• xforcevesa
• mini HDMI output
• restart lightdm on the shell

Now I installed Xubuntu 14.04 with the mini.iso (text install). But after the installation the GUI is not 100% working. You can see it on this picture: http://www.directupload.net/file/d/3914/njdytg9x_jpg.htm

My question is: Is there any way to get Xubuntu 14.04.2 working on this device?

EDIT: I tried 'nomodeset' and I could install Xubuntu 14.04.2 (amd64). After the Installation this link (How do I set 'nomodeset' after I've already installed Ubuntu?) was useful.

Solution

Just to add to the above, I downloaded xubuntu-14.04-desktop-i386.iso tonight and managed to successfully install it on my new NUC5i5RYH with a USB thumb drive using the "nomodeset" setting in front of "quiet splash" when editing the installer options.

The menus all worked OK during the install process. However, as soon as it booted without the "nomodeset" option then it was behaving erratically, resulting in the desktop freezing or not even loading (I had set auto-login on the user account).

After attempting to boot again using the "nomodeset" option, the desktop appeared without issue, the keyboard and mouse worked perfectly.

Following the guide from https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/110971-definitive-intel-nuc-how-to-guide-surround-sound-over-hdmi-apple-remote-graphics-part-2/ I managed to install the Intel Graphics drivers. However, after restarting and loading back in to the OS, strangely the desktop was only drawing/appearing when highlighting buttons or drop-down menus, otherwise was completely black all over.

Switching to the shell using CTRL+ALT+F1 as above worked OK.

Comments

[Admin]

I had the exact same problem with the NUC5i5RYH, Intel Core i5-5250U, BIOS version 0137 but was trying to install Mythbuntu 14.04.2. I also tried 15.04 which fixed the install but Mythbuntu 15.04 build does not work very well due to backend setup failures. After doing some research, I found that 14.04.3 will have the 15.04 kernel so I'm assuming this may allow us to use 14.04.3 LTS on the i5-5250U.

[matt]

Thanks! Maybe I misspelled nomodeset or something. I tried it again and I could install Xubuntu 14.04.2 (amd64) with 'nomodeset'. After the Installation this link (askubuntu.com/questions/38780/…) was useful.

[matt]

And I can confirm that the "Intel(R) Graphics Installer for Linux* 1.0.7" (01.org/linuxgraphics/downloads/2014/…) doesn't fix anything on Xubuntu 14.04.2. I think the driver is too old. After the installation I cannot use the Xubuntu installation anymore... there is only a blank screen with 'nomodeset'. Without 'nomodeset' there is only a broken graphical interface.