Garuda Dr460nized ISO Fails to Boot on HP Omen – Black Screen After USB Selection

Hello Garuda Team,

I’m experiencing boot issues with both the Garuda Dr460nized and KDE Lite ISOs on my HP Omen laptop. After selecting the flashed USB from the boot menu (F9), the screen goes black and stays there — I don’t even reach the Garuda boot menu.


:cross_mark: Problem:

  • Flashed ISO boots from USB (SanDisk) but after selecting it in boot menu, it shows a blinking underscore _ for a second, then goes to a permanent black screen
  • This happens with both:
    • garuda-dr460nized-linux-zen-250308
    • garuda-kde-lite-XXX (latest)

:white_check_mark: What I’ve Tried:

  • Flashed with Balena Etcher and Rufus (DD mode)
  • Verified ISO checksums
  • Disabled Secure Boot in BIOS
  • Enabled Legacy Support, USB Boot, UEFI mode
  • Tried booting with nomodeset (but can’t reach GRUB to even apply it)
  • Used different USB ports (2.0 and 3.0)
  • Other distros like Kali Linux boot perfectly from the same USB

:laptop: System Information:

  • Laptop: HP Omen (Intel + NVIDIA Hybrid GPU)
  • Boot Mode: UEFI
  • USB Drive: 32GB SanDisk
  • Secure Boot: Disabled
  • Legacy Mode: Tested both Enabled/Disabled

:green_circle: Additional Notes:

  • This looks like a low-level kernel/initramfs issue, possibly related to early graphics detection (NVIDIA/Optimus?).
  • I’m eager to use Garuda, but unable to get any version to even reach the live environment.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if any additional logs or boot params can be tested.

Thanks for the great distro!

Best regards,
Amarnath

Please use Ventoy and grub2 boot option when prompted.

5 Likes

as info

  • use open source option …not prop. driver.
    This step (you have a nvdia dgpu) pls after the os is installed.
3 Likes

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