nouveau stalled at ffff error message while trying to convert Windows 10 laptop to Ubuntu

Question

I am trying to convert my old MSI gaming laptop into an Ubuntu machine.

I followed the tutorial Converting an Old Windows Laptop to Ubuntu and downloaded and installed Ubuntu on a bootable USB.

I then shut my PC down and restarted it. After that, Ubuntu starts up, but then stops with the following message:

nouveau 000:01:00.0 tmr:  stalled at ffff

nouveau implies Nvidia hardware, so you will initially need to add the "nomodeset" word to the grub line starting with "linux". After the proprietary Nvidia drivers get installed, you wont need the nomodeset. — ubfan1, Sep 23 '19 at 15:30
Possible duplicate of Black screen after installation of Ubuntu 18.04 — karel, Sep 23 '19 at 15:57

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 04 '21 at 07:59

This error occurs because of the graphics card as the Ubuntu installer doesn't have graphics driver for processing the GPU output. Similar error may come after a successful installation of any Linux distro on a PC with dedicated graphics card.

A solution which works in both the cases is to switching the graphics driver.

When you get the boot options for Ubuntu from the LiveUSB select "Try Ubuntu without installer". Do not press Enter just select it.
Press E.
There would be some settings in form of labels and values Go to the line that starts with "linux" and at the end of the value, after "---", add
```
nouveau.modeset=0
```
Press F10 to save and exit.
Press Enter and follow the rest of the tutorial

The same solution works if the problem occurs after successful installation

The permanent solution:

After successfully installing Ubuntu install Nvidia driver 440/430/390 according to your preference by running following command in terminal. For 440, run,

sudo apt install nvidia-driver-440.

Reference: fix any linux booting problem - YouTube

The nouveau.modeset=0 works perfectly but the error message doesn't disappear even after I installed the Nvidia drivers. Anything else I can try cause I am tired of typing nouveau.modeset=0? — TheLizzard, Apr 21 '23 at 20:48

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 25 '20 at 13:50

I ran into this issue converting to Ubuntu 20.04 last night. Nouveau is the generic Nvidia driver. The fix this morning (fixed all my problems with secondary monitors, frame rates, and random black screens) was a hard re-installation with the "Install 3rd Party [whatever the rest says; can't miss it]" box checked. This will likely install your graphics driver and everything else correctly.

nouveau stalled at ffff error message while trying to convert Windows 10 laptop to Ubuntu

2 Answers2

The permanent solution:

Linked