How to Manually Set nomodeset Kernel Boot Line Option in Linux

YGeneric Canonical Ubuntu media (some OEM Dell media) or other Linux media does not boot to the live environment or installer as usual and instead the computer may stop responding or get stuck.

The first troubleshooting step that may resolve your boot issue and allow you to install Ubuntu is to disable the intel graphics features by setting the nomodeset option before boot.

You can do this either for one-time booting as shown in Solution 1 or you can also make it permanent as seen in Solution 2.

Solution 1

1. With media attached, turn on the computer.
2. Watch for the GNU GRUB bootloader screen.
3. When you see the option for Ubuntu as shown, press the E key on your keyboard.
    
4. In the editor, use the arrow keys to locate the end of the line that starts with the following. Each bootloader may say something slightly different.
   linux /boot/vmlinuz***
    
5. Type the following line option into the end of the line.
   nomodeset
    
6. Press CTRL+X keys to boot to the normal installer or live environment like normal.

Solution 2

1. Open a terminal and type the following:
   sudo gedit /etc/default/grub
2. Enter your password if prompted.
3. Move the cursor to the line that looks like the following:
   GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
    
4. Change that line to match the following:
   GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nomodeset"
   (you can also remove quiet and or splash variables to troubleshoot no-boot issues)
     
5. Click Save.
6. Close the window.
7. In the terminal, type the following and press enter:
   sudo update-grub2
8. Once complete, reboot your computer with this change made.

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