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I have a problem and I couldn't solve it by searching in google. My problem started with a USB modem that worked fine till one day it suddenly did not work anymore. I tried to solve the problem by following some instructions on google.

  • First I changed the mount options... didn't work
  • Then found a post suggesting to install Huawei drivers for Linux, installed and still didn't work.
  • I found and used these installation instructions. Package installed was HUAWEI Data Cards Linux Driver.zip from the same link.

I shut down the PC. The next startup, it didn't boot. I followed instructions to fix GRUB, after fixing GRUB with a live CD, PC restarted and came to screen error with low graphics mode. I clicked ok and the PC just stayed hanging.

After a long time I restarted the PC and then it booted up into GRUB prompt. Followed some instruction to fix this. After loading the kernel and booting, it reaches a point where the screen flasher and show verbose login info, I then have to hit Alt+F2 to get back to login screen.

Every few seconds the screen flashes again and show the verbose info very briefly then the screen goes blank. How do I fix this?

David Foerster
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Inox
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  • Is the Huawei driver kernel module still installed and/or the modem connected to the system in question? – David Foerster Jun 24 '18 at 09:44
  • Yes the driver is still installed. I tried booting with and without the modem. I can not access the system in order to remove the driver – Inox Jun 24 '18 at 19:47
  • Can you boot into recovery mode or a live system (to black-list or remove the driver)? – David Foerster Jun 24 '18 at 21:21
  • I can try to boot in recovery mode but I dont know how. I have the disk I installed from – Inox Jun 25 '18 at 06:48
  • The link in my previous comment points to a question that asks how to boot into recovery mode (with answers, of course). The installation disc includes a live system if it's for a Ubuntu Desktop installation. You can black-list kernel modules if you know their name. – David Foerster Jun 25 '18 at 10:14
  • I can not get that screen where I select the options. When I hold down the SHIFT key i get the grub prompt. As for the driver, it was a package I downloaded from huawei, the zip file is still on my hard drive. I can acess this file from live desktop enviroment. – Inox Jun 25 '18 at 10:39
  • Post edited.... – Inox Jun 25 '18 at 11:25
  • The installer and driver look to be incompatible with Ubuntu 16.04. (There are probably installation instructions for your modem somewhere here on Ask Ubuntu but that's not the question.) Unfortunately the installer makes many changes to system configuration. You can try to run the accompanying uninstall script but I wouldn't count on it to work. I'll formulate an answer with instructions and we can work on that as you try it. – David Foerster Jun 25 '18 at 11:41
  • Very well. Keeping in mind that I can only access my hard drive from live desktop. – Inox Jun 25 '18 at 11:43

2 Answers2

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Let's see if we can undo the driver installation with it's Uninstall program:

  1. Boot a live system and set up a chroot environment for you local Ubuntu installation (see steps 1–6 of this answer).

  2. Navigate to the directory where you extracted the Huawei modem driver and run the uninstaller:

    cd /path/to/huawei/driver
./Uninstall

  3. (optional) If you think your Grub installation or configuration may be broken you can continue with the remaining steps 7–9.

  4. Exit the chroot environment and reboot (as in step 10).

David Foerster
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  • Unable to proceed with step 2, the file on my hard drive is a zip file. I tried to unzip the file but the file does not show up in the folder after I did unzip. From the Live session I am able to locate and see the file, but in chroot I can not do anything with it – Inox Jun 26 '18 at 10:58
  • @Inox: The ZIP archive indicated in the question contains a (gzipped) TAR archive. You need to extract both (in that order). – David Foerster Jun 26 '18 at 11:19
  • I managed to get the file extracted, however I had to for some unknown reason rename the tar.gz file first. Now I get this error when running the Uninstall: modprobe: FATAL: Module option is in use. – Inox Jun 26 '18 at 11:59
  • @Inox: In that case I recommend that you either restore the system configuration in /etc to its state before the driver installation (e. g. from a back-up) or reinstall Ubuntu from scratch. It would take me a few hours to understand the installation script (it's quite long) and more hours to corroborate my findings with you through a chat (as opposed to direct system access). For the future I recommend a revision control system for your system configuration. – David Foerster Jun 26 '18 at 12:12
  • I am uncertain how to retore system config in /etc. With regard to reinstall Ubuntu, I will loose all data on my drive which can not happen. I am open to suggestions and willing to spend more time researching/waiting for a solution without loosing any data. We may move this conversation to chat but I have not yet earned that privilege. – Inox Jun 26 '18 at 12:17
  • @Inox: If you don't tell the Ubuntu installer to format the target file system it will overwrite what's necessary and leave everything else in place (thus you should remove everything you don't want to keep beforehand). You can also move your data to a separate partition than the system and application files. You can save and restore the list of installed packages. I can reinstall my set-up from scratch in less than an hour, two at most (not counting package download time). Did I mention that you should have a back-up of your data? – David Foerster Jun 26 '18 at 12:28
  • I was in the process of backing-up my files. So if I reinstall and not format, Ubuntu will not overwrite my files? – Inox Jun 26 '18 at 12:33
  • @Inox: Yes. See https://askubuntu.com/questions/56051/reinstalling-ubuntu-without-formatting-home-as-well-as-without-any-old-config for a little more information. – David Foerster Jun 26 '18 at 13:01
  • @Inox: As another tip you can test the next modem driver installation (using the same or different instructions) in a virtual machine with USB pass-through before you install it in your "proper" Ubuntu set-up. – David Foerster Jun 26 '18 at 13:03
  • Would it be possible to locate the module in use and stop or blacklist the module first, then try uninstalling the module? – Inox Jun 26 '18 at 13:07
  • Yes. However even after skimming through the installation script I still don't know the module's name. If you know more then I'll show you how to black-list it. – David Foerster Jun 26 '18 at 14:09
  • I am battling now to find out what the module name is, however, I did manage to run the uninstall scrip but it doesn't seem to remove the driver. I removed all usb device in order to run the uninstall scrip. – Inox Jun 26 '18 at 14:13
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One part of this problem was solved with the information in comments. I installed Ubuntu again on the same drive, re-partitioning the drive during installation and leaving the old installation on the first partition. When the installation was completed, I could access my first partition through the new installation. Now I can move my files over to the new installation without a hassle.

Inox
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