Blank screen after installing Zorin in Mac Pro 6.1 Trashcan

Greeting. Installed Zorin OS in a Mac Pro Trashcan, post installations and boot process only see black screen. Mac Pro Trashcan has no problem with latest versions of Linux Mint and Ubuntu (workstation) installed. Spent 5 hours trying suggestions I found on the internet related to installing Zorin OS in my Mac Pro Trashcan... UNSUSSCEFULL! Friends considering installing Zorin OS in theirs own Trashcan walked away - they decided to go with Linux Mint. Zorin OS works great in my HP Z820, and in a Mac Mini 2012. Is there a simple procedure (I don't want to be referred to a link) or a patch to get the Mac Pro video to work? (I don't want to use Linux Mint in the Mac Pro Trashcan.) Thank you for reading my problem.

I would add nomeset to grub parameter - nebst quiet and splash - to boot. Press Escape or left shift key during boot to access the GRUB menu, then select Zorin.

Press the e key to edit the boot options.

Locate the line starting with linux and add nomodeset after splash separated by a space. You may have another kernel version in that line, don't change things, just add nomodeset.

linux   /boot/vmlinuz-6.17.0-35-generic root=UUID=your - uuid ro quiet splash nomodeset $vt_handoff

Press Ctrl + x to boot Zorin with the nomodeset option.

After the boot with nomodeset parameter at login screen click on your username, then a cog wheal appears at the bottom right corner, there you can switch between Xorg and Wayland. Select Xorg there (only one is named).
Then install kernel 6.8

sudo apt install linux-image-6.8.0-130-generic linux-headers-6.8.0-130-generic linux-modules-6.8.0-130-generic linux-modules-extra-6.8.0-130-generic

and reboot. During the boot select Advanced options for Zorin and select kernel 6.8 to boot from. If it works, set kernel 6.8 as default kernel to boot.

Or another option you have is to try it with an installation of Zorin 17, it is based on kernel 6.8.

Since it works on Linux Mint 22, which uses kernel 6.8 by default, I suspect the issue is due to the newer kernel in Zorin 18.1, which is based on kernel 6.17.

It would be easier to help you, and you would certainly get more answers, if you allowed links as well. These instructions are rather vage.

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Forgot to say, Hi and welcome. :blush:
We also don't know what graphics card is used. As Zorin is based on Ubuntu 24.04 using Brave A.I. includes @Forpli 's advice plus a bit more:

" A black screen on a Mac Pro 6,1 running Ubuntu 24.04 is typically caused by incompatible graphics drivers, specifically issues with NVIDIA or AMD/ATI cards, or the quiet splash boot parameter.

  • Disable Graphics Modesetting : Boot to the GRUB menu (press Shift or Esc ), highlight your Ubuntu entry, press e to edit, and add nomodeset to the line starting with linux . This forces the system to use basic video drivers, allowing you to boot into a graphical environment.

  • Remove Splash Screen : A known bug in Ubuntu 24.04 causes black screens during boot due to the splash loader. Edit /etc/default/grub and change GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT='quiet splash' to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT='quiet' (or remove it entirely), then run sudo update-grub .

  • Blacklist Problematic Drivers : If you have an AMD/ATI card, the radeon driver may cause conflicts. You can blacklist it by adding blacklist radeon to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf and updating your GRUB configuration.

  • Reinstall Drivers : Once booted (potentially with nomodeset ), open Additional Drivers in Ubuntu settings to install the recommended proprietary NVIDIA drivers , which often resolve black screen issues on Mac Pros better than open-source drivers.

AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts."

Commands missing at the start of the 'Edit ...' sentences, first requires you to open a terminal. To do this without access to the display, after booting drop to a tty terminal by pressing any combo of Ctrl+ Alt+ F2 through F6.

Next you need to login. Enter your username at the login prompt and press enter.
Next 'Password' appears. Be careful as you may not see any asterisks as you enter your login password.

Now, to use the Edit command you need to do the following for the first one given in the search:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

This opens a new window.

Edit the correct lines and be sure to be precise if there are any spaces in the commands needed.

Once you are happy with the edit, press Ctl+ O to write the changes. You should see a prompt appear asking if yo want to save/write out the changes to '/etc/default/grub', press the Enter key to accept and then Ctrl+ X to exit.

After all editing is completed, reboot.

You can trying this https://t2linux.com/ maybe there you find answear.

When I saw t2 I thought it was relating to T2 that Apple brought out. @crazyforZorin doesn't want a different distribution, they just need Zorin to work on their Mac 6.1.

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My apologies for this late replay.

My gratitude to every individual for submitting your expertise. The Black screen in the Mac Pro 6.1 Trascan has been solved thanks to all of you. Zorin installed in the Mac Pro 6.1 Transcan is handling two monitors. I relayed this accomplishment to all my friends... they will be installing Zorin in theirs own Apple Intel based legacy platforms.

Please continue the Great Zorin Success....

Cordially,

crazyforZorin

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Can you please mark the post of the solution which has helped you so that it is clear for others who have the same problem?