Trying to install kali for 7 hours... It's driving me crazy!

[RedByte]

I have tried almost everything I could find on the internet and I think I have rebooted my laptop like 50 times already while trying to make it work.

This is my laptop:
It's an msi, Intel Core i7-6700HQ
16.0 GB Ram
64-bit
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 530 && Nvidia GTX 960M
256 GB SSD (C:)
1024 GB HDD (D:)

How I installed kali:
I want to dual boot kali 2016.2 with windows 10 Home which is installed. I freed 60 GB on my D drive.
I downloaded the Kali Linux 64 bit Iso and wrote it to my 8gb usb with Win32 Disk Imager.
Shift+Restart and then boot from the usb.(It didn't work the first time because I had to disable secure boot which I did) Everything was normal, the kali Linux screen popped up and I choose the graphical install option.
At the partition disks menu I chose the first option "Guided - use the largest continuous free space " followed by "All files in one partition (recommended for new users)"

Use a network mirror?
Yes

It didn't ask me to install the GRUB boot loader but it did show at the last step "Installing GRUB boot loader" before it asked me to remove my usb so that's a little bit weird.

Anyway my laptop shut down and when it restarted it didn't give me any option to choose what I wanted to start and directly booted windows 10 as normal. So I shift+right clicked the restart button again and there, there was an option to boot kali, which I did.
It restarted and opened the GRUB boot loader and I chose the first option to boot kali linux.

The problem:
It asked me for my username and password like nothing was wrong, but when I tried to log in, it gave me a black screen and my mouse froze. Nothing was flickering or my mouse wasn't moving, the screen just froze. I shut down my laptop but it always happened when I try it again. I can press Ctrl+Alt+f2 before I try to login and then I can login via the term but when I try to login with the graphical login screen it always freezes, and Ctrl+Alt+{Any f key} doesn't work anymore when it's frozen.

What I tried:

• Running the live version from the usb works just fine. Is there any way to install it on my hdd when I'm on the live version?
• I tried things like apt-get update and apt-get upgrade which totally broke it so I had to start all over again. (may be because "apt-get dist-upgrade-y && reboot" just didn't work as "dist-upgrade-y" is not a command?
• I have redownloaded the iso multiple times and installed it over and over but no succes, it's always the same.
• I have downloaded the Light version of kali 64 bit, but again the same problem: It freezes after I log-in. The only difference is that it's just a black screen without a frozen mouse here -_-
• So the live version works, but I really want to install it.
• Someone said this: "Open folders EFI - BOOT. Open syslinux.cfg with a text editor. Change "vesamenu.c32" to "menu.c32"." I tried this on the live version but when I install it I get the same problem.

I'm losing really losing my mind now. Does anyone know how to fix this?

[AmericanPi]

Sounds like something happened when your PC crashed.
I would delete the image and start form scratch.
-probably easier that troubleshooting something so involved at this point.
-sorry i can't be of more help, but seriously i'de just remove what you have and start over

[harry99]

SOLUTION: Enable Intel VT-x/AMD-V from BIOS

Hope this helped.

[RedByte]

So I went to my UEFI bios thing, and this where the options I found which looks like what you said:

• Intel Virtualization Technology which was already enabled
• Intel VT-d which was disabled

should I enable this one?


I already have started from scratch multiple times but this doesn't change anything.

[RedByte]

I enabled Intel VT-d, reinstalled kali from scratch, but nothing changed. What does Intel VT-d do? Does it change anything or can it harm my laptop as it is disabled by default?

[iojymbo]

"Intel VT-d" is related to virtualization :
- https://software.intel.com/en-us/art...of-io-devices/

Without more elements, I think GRUB is not installed correctly or not in the right HDD.

[_defalt]

I think the problem is how you're installing kali. First create an unallocated partition of reasonable space in windows. Don't assign drive letter to it. it should be kept unallocated.
Begin Installation. In the mid-operation Instead of choosing Guided partition scheme, choose manually. Select your unallocated partition you created earlier. Automatically partition the disk space. Select all files in one partition. Apply changes and write data to disk.

Installer won't ask you to install grub. It automatically starts installation of grub. Choose Network Mirror as off(you don't need network mirror at that time).

[KlinNoob]

Pesonally I wouldn't use a network mirror. It over complicates things. Secondly start over from scratch. Thirdly create an 'unallocated' partition of at least 8gb. You can use a booteable usb with a live version of Gparted to do this, or if you have an extra hard disk that is unmountes when running windows, then you can use that. Other wise a live boot of Gparted will be needed to split your main drive into two partitons. After that, insert the Live USB Kali and boot from USB. If you are having trouble with booting from USB on windows 10, you need to modify your UEFI settings. Navigate to settings-> search "UEFI" and click advanced recovery settings. And click advanced start up/restart now. This will restart the computer. From there you need to find the button that will bring you to a bios type menu. You will need to alter the boot order. From there you just load the USB and continue with the install. Its quite rudimentary from there. Just make sure that when installing Kali you use the extra partitiong and NOT THE ONE THAT WINDOWS IS LOADED ON. If you accidentally click it, the program will warn you that an OS is already present on the disk. And again dont use the network mirror and you probably want to establish wireless after the installation. The last step in installation will be the GRUB boot loader. Simply choose the default configurations. Good luck. Its a tough concept for beginners, believe me i know.

[micromods]

Hi Redbyte,

I don't believe you are doing anything wrong and I'm in exactly the same position as you with a very similar MSI GP72 laptop.

I have exactly the same problems as yourself and there is definitely a piece of hardware that Kali does not like. There is probably nothing wrong with your download and it isn't corrupt, it is something awkward with Kali and our hardware.

I have ended up just installing VMware and Virtualbox for now as I was pulling my hair out trying to fix this. I'm trying to learn Linux from zero experience and this would be enough to put anyone off. I would download Virtualbox and also the Pre-configured Virtual image for it and start playing. Once you are more familiar with it have a look at any config files that may need editing etc.

[micromods]

Hi again Redbyte,

I have been able to get my MSI GP72 to boot up and login by using the nouveau.modeset=0 modification although I have had no joy with installing the Nvidia Drivers.

here is a screenshot of what you need to add to the line that starts with Linux and currently finishes with quiet

kalifix.jpg

The full procedure is to boot to the grub menu and press "e" to edit. use the down arrow to get to the line "Linux" and then right arrow to the end of that line which finishes with the text "quiet". then you add the text nouveau.modeset=0 and press "F10" to continue booting. Give this a try and see if it works for you.

Hopefully the screenshot will help you.

[RedByte]

Hi again Redbyte,

I have been able to get my MSI GP72 to boot up and login by using the nouveau.modeset=0 modification although I have had no joy with installing the Nvidia Drivers.

here is a screenshot of what you need to add to the line that starts with Linux and currently finishes with quiet

kalifix.jpg

The full procedure is to boot to the grub menu and press "e" to edit. use the down arrow to get to the line "Linux" and then right arrow to the end of that line which finishes with the text "quiet". then you add the text nouveau.modeset=0 and press "F10" to continue booting. Give this a try and see if it works for you.

Hopefully the screenshot will help you.

I gave up last month after trying everything that could possibly fix it. And people kept saying it was my fault and I did something wrong xD
But your solution fixed it! Thanks for posting, you don't know how happy you made me!

[Pradeep Nalluri]

I am using Dell inspiron i7559 series laptop with Nvidia GTX 960M Graphic Card I am facing the same problem after I type my login details my screen frozes with Grey background with mouse pointer and I cant do anything except force shut down the PC I have tried o reinstall Kali for Four times now but no use.I think Nouveau Drivers are not upto date with GTX960 graphic card.

[_defalt]

Instead of adding nouveau.modeset=0 you can add nomodeset.

[Pradeep Nalluri]

Yeah nouveau.modeset=0 worked for me too.. Thanks micro mods if you dont want to type it at the beginning every time just use this command tin terminal to set it by default
sed 's/quiet/quiet nouveau.modeset=0/g' -i /etc/default/grub
and then type
update-grub
now nouveau.modese will be set to zero by default thanks bye..hope this wil be helpful

[_defalt]

Yeah nouveau.modeset=0 worked for me too.. Thanks micro mods if you dont want to type it at the beginning every time just use this command tin terminal to set it by default
sed 's/quiet/quiet nouveau.modeset=0/g' -i /etc/default/grub
and then type
update-grub
now nouveau.modese will be set to zero by default thanks bye..hope this wil be helpful

Can you show the output of cat /etc/default/grub? I want to compare it with mine.

[Pradeep Nalluri]

root@kali:~# cat /etc/default/grub
# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in this file, see:
# info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet nouveau.modeset=0"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="initrd=/install/gtk/initrd.gz"

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xe fefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"