Debian won't boot on XPS 9380

Hi

The BIOS I see, Dell XPS 13 9380 System BIOS is dated 06 Nov 2023.

Do you need to update that (XPS_9380_1.26.0.exe)?  

Are you Dual booting?

Do you have the Live Debian distro to attempt repairs with?

A few more details may help.

Let's see bios version is 1.26.0 Yes I am able to boot from a live debian stable (12) version. What details shall I provide? Do you think it matters that I installed from legacy boot?

Hi

I try with secure boot enabled, just a bad habit I have. However it does mean I follow a method/routine and have less to check if/when there is a problem.

Obviously the storage device (HDD/SSD) is for GPT/uEFI to suit the above.

Perhaps a piccy of the storage layout?

If Debian won’t boot on your Dell XPS 9380, disable Secure Boot in BIOS, update firmware, and use kernel ≥5.10. Ensure NVMe and Intel graphics drivers load properly. Try booting with nomodeset or acpi=off. Also, verify UEFI settings and use non-free firmware during installation if needed.

Dear @anne_droid and @YashSmith thank you for your replies. The storage device I am running is a NVMe Corsair MP600 CORE XT - 1 TB. I will try to get a screenshot from BIOS for the layout. Nonetheless, I can see it in BIOS. As I mentioned, I installed Debian while booting from legacy mode. Would it help to reinstall from UEFI instead? As I understand it, Debian now ships with non-free firmware. But at some point I was asked for specific drivers. Maybe I prepare those on a USB stick in a reinstallation. But would that affect the boot drive? Where in BIOS do I set nomodeset or acpi=off?

To boot a Linux system with nomodeset or acpi=off kernel parameters, you typically need to add these options temporarily or permanently to the boot loader command line (usually GRUB):

1. Temporarily (one-time boot):

   • When you see the GRUB menu during startup, highlight the kernel or Linux boot entry you want to modify.

   • Press the e key to edit the boot entry.

   • Find the line starting with linux (it contains the kernel path and boot options).

   • Replace or append nomodeset or acpi=off (or both, space-separated) after the existing options, often replacing quiet splash.

   • Press Ctrl+X or F10 to boot with these options.

2. Permanently (every boot):

   • Edit the GRUB configuration file:

     bash

     sudo nano /etc/default/grub

   • Find the line starting with GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT and add nomodeset and/or acpi=off inside the quotes. For example:

     text

     GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nomodeset acpi=off"

   • Save the file and update GRUB:

     • On Debian/Ubuntu:

       bash

       sudo update-grub

It worked after I reistalled debian 13 in UEFI mode with secure boot disabled. I think the problem was I installed in legacy mode.