ZimaBlade - ZimaOS 1.7.1 installer black screen during boot unless nomodeset is used

Start with /EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg on the installer USB and compare the default kernel command line with the working nomodeset workaround. Reproduce the black screen on a ZimaBlade, then investigate the Intel graphics/KMS initialization mentioned in the report. Done means the installer boots visibly without manual EFI edits, or provides a working safe-graphics boot option.

Summary

The ZimaOS installer does not boot correctly on my ZimaBlade using the default kernel parameters.

The installer starts normally, reaches:

Populating /dev using udev:

and then the display goes black.

I reproduced the same behavior with both ZimaOS 1.7.1 and ZimaOS 1.7.0.

After adding nomodeset to the ZimaOS installer kernel command line, the installer boots successfully and ZimaOS can be installed normally.

This appears to be related to Intel graphics / Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) initialization on ZimaBlade.

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Hardware

• Device: ZimaBlade
• Internal storage: 32 GB onboard eMMC
• eMMC model: A3A551
• Display: HDMI
• Installation media: USB flash drive
• Installer USB created with Balena Etcher
• No SATA drives connected during troubleshooting

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ZimaOS versions tested

• ZimaOS 1.7.1
• ZimaOS 1.7.0

Both versions showed the same behavior.

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BIOS configuration

The following BIOS settings were tested:

Boot Mode: UEFI
CSM Support: Disabled
Boot Option Filter: UEFI
Secure Boot: Disabled
USB Boot: Enabled
Legacy USB Support: Enabled
XHCI Hand-off: Enabled
USB Mass Storage Driver Support: Enabled
SDIO Access Mode: Auto
eMMC: Auto

The USB installer was explicitly booted using the UEFI entry:

UEFI: Mass Storage Device 1.00, Partition 1

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Problem

With the default ZimaOS installer configuration, boot proceeds normally at first.

The installer shows:

Booting 'ZimaOS Installer'

and then starts the early userspace services:

Starting syslogd: OK
Starting acpid: OK
Starting klogd: OK
Running sysctl: OK
Populating /dev using udev:

At this point the video output goes black.

In some attempts the system also appeared to reboot and repeat the installer boot process.

Screenshot 1 - ZimaOS stops during early boot

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Ubuntu comparison test

To determine whether the problem was caused by the eMMC, CasaOS, USB controller, or general hardware failure, I booted Ubuntu 24.04.3 Desktop on the same ZimaBlade.

Ubuntu using the normal graphics boot path also resulted in a black screen.

However, Ubuntu boots successfully using:

Ubuntu (safe graphics)

Screenshot 2 - Ubuntu Safe Graphics works

This strongly suggests that the issue is related to graphics initialization rather than storage or the ZimaBlade being unable to boot Linux.

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eMMC detection

Ubuntu Safe Graphics detects the onboard eMMC successfully.

lsblk shows:

mmcblk0       28.9G
├─mmcblk0p1   512M  vfat
├─mmcblk0p2   26.5G ext4
└─mmcblk0p3    1.9G swap

The kernel also initializes the eMMC correctly:

mmc0: SDHCI controller on PCI [0000:00:1c.0] using ADMA 64-bit
mmc0: new HS200 MMC card at address 0001
mmcblk0: mmc0:0001 A3A551 28.9 GiB
mmcblk0: p1 p2 p3

This indicates that the onboard eMMC and SDHCI controller are working correctly.

The issue therefore does not appear to be caused by CasaOS blocking access to the device.

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Graphics-related kernel messages

While Ubuntu was booted using Safe Graphics, the following messages were visible:

simple-framebuffer simple-framebuffer.0: [drm] Initialized simpledrm

and:

snd_hda_codec_hdmi hdaudioC0D2: No i915 binding for Intel HDMI/DP codec

There were also these messages:

ee1004 2-0050: Failed to select page 0 (-6)
EDAC pnd2: Failed to register device with error -22

I am including these only as diagnostic information.

I am not claiming that these messages are necessarily the direct cause of the ZimaOS installer failure.

Screenshot 3 - Ubuntu kernel messages

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Workaround

I mounted the EFI partition of the ZimaOS installer USB and inspected:

/EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg

The original file contained:

set default="0"
set timeout="0"

menuentry "ZimaOS Installer" {
    linux /bzImage console=tty1 quiet splash loglevel=0 vt.global_cursor_default=0
}

I modified the kernel line by adding:

nomodeset

The resulting configuration was:

set default="0"
set timeout="0"

menuentry "ZimaOS Installer" {
    linux /bzImage console=tty1 quiet splash loglevel=0 vt.global_cursor_default=0 nomodeset
}

After this change, the ZimaOS installer booted successfully.

Screenshot 4 - ZimaOS installer works after adding nomodeset

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Installation result

After booting the installer with nomodeset, installation to the onboard eMMC proceeded normally.

The installer correctly selected:

/dev/mmcblk0

and successfully wrote the ZimaOS root data.

Screenshot 5 - ZimaOS installation in progress

ZimaOS was successfully installed and configured afterward.

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Steps to reproduce

1. Use a ZimaBlade with the onboard 32 GB eMMC.
2. Download the ZimaOS 1.7.1 installer image.
3. Flash the installer image directly to a USB drive using Balena Etcher.
4. Configure BIOS for UEFI boot and disable Secure Boot.
5. Boot the USB using the UEFI boot entry.
6. Allow the ZimaOS installer to boot with its default kernel parameters.
7. Boot reaches approximately:

Populating /dev using udev:

8. Video output goes black and the installation interface never becomes visible.
9. Mount the installer EFI partition on another Linux system.
10. Edit:

/EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg

11. Change:

linux /bzImage console=tty1 quiet splash loglevel=0 vt.global_cursor_default=0

to:

linux /bzImage console=tty1 quiet splash loglevel=0 vt.global_cursor_default=0 nomodeset

12. Boot the installer again.
13. The ZimaOS Installation Tool now appears.
14. Installation proceeds normally.

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Expected behavior

Because ZimaBlade is officially supported hardware, the ZimaOS installer should boot successfully without requiring users to manually edit the installer EFI partition.

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Suggested improvement

Please investigate Intel graphics / i915 / Kernel Mode Setting initialization during the ZimaOS installer boot process on ZimaBlade.

It may also be useful to provide an additional installer boot option such as:

ZimaOS Installer (Safe Graphics)

which would automatically use:

nomodeset

This would provide a fallback for ZimaBlade systems or HDMI/display combinations that fail during normal graphics initialization.

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Result

Default boot

ZimaOS Installer
        ↓
Populating /dev using udev:
        ↓
Black screen

With workaround

ZimaOS Installer + nomodeset
        ↓
Installer UI loads successfully
        ↓
ZimaOS installs successfully to /dev/mmcblk0

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Conclusion

The problem is reproducible on this ZimaBlade with both ZimaOS 1.7.0 and 1.7.1.

The onboard eMMC is detected correctly by Ubuntu and does not appear to be the cause.

Ubuntu also fails during normal graphics initialization but boots successfully using Safe Graphics.

Adding nomodeset to the ZimaOS installer kernel parameters completely resolves the installer boot problem.