How to boot Debian on Librem Mini v2? (How to set fb=false?)

Hardware
1

When trying to USB boot Debian 11 (installer) on Librem Mini v2, I get weird blue pixels on top at “Starting Kernel”. Apart from the blue pixels animating a bit, nothing happens. The suggested solution on Debian wiki is to set “fb=false”.

How to do this?

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2

Hit ‘esc’ when you see the grub/systemd boot menu (the menu where you can select the OS you want to boot).

Hit ‘e’ to edit the highlighted menu-item.

Scroll down to the part with the kernel-parameters. Move to the end of the line, add: fb=false

I think you can hit ‘enter’ now to boot, but it might also be ‘b’. There should be a hint at the bottom.

3

The thing is I never see this menu in the first place. I should have mentioned I’m using PureBoot.

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4

If you boot Debian from USB it does not matter what OS is already on the Mini.

You do not see any menu at all before “Starting kernel …” ? It has been a while but ISTR that Debian gives the option to boot into the installation text or graphical, boot a full OS, or boot into rescue mode.

5

you would need to edit grub.cfg on the USB before attempting to boot it in your L14

6

Thanks, I couldn’t just “edit grub.cfg” directly as the ISO on the USB drive is read-only. I had to extract the ISO, edit the file, and re-create the ISO.

Now the blue pixel issue is no longer there, but it still freezes at “Starting new kernel”.

  1. Are you able to boot a USB stick with debian-11.0.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso on your own PureBoot machine?
  2. As you can see, “editing the ISO” was pain. Are there any plans to allow PureBoot users to access the normal GRUB menu somehow, so we can edit the GRUB on-the-fly like “normal” non-PureBoot people can do?
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7

Update:

I tried also Debian 10 (debian-10.8.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso) and Debian 9 (debian-9.9.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso) - exact same issue.

At this stage I’m just confused. How can it be that one can’t even boot from the standard Debian ISO images from PureBoot? When Purism say they only support PureOS and Qubes, maybe they REALLY MEAN IT (don’t expect other systems to even be bootable).

8

@MrChromebox

Is it related to this? How to boot Debian installer from PureBoot?

If so, 1. how do I check my current PureBoot version? and 2. could it be worth it to install the latest one (I will do it if you can confirm it fixed this issue).

9

I realize this an older post, but were you able to solve it?

I am not sure if I have pureboot or not (sorry)…

When I boot my LMv2, I press the ESC key when I see the Purism logo, then I choose the boot device.

10

that’s the standard coreboot/SeaBIOS firmware; you should have no issues booting non-live Debian ISOs

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