Boot method: USB stick
Image version: https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd/debian-13.2.0-amd64-netinst.iso
Date: 2025-12-16

Machine: Asus X61SL-6X017C
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T6400
Memory: 4 GB

Output of lspci -knn (from Kali 2025.4 live image):
 00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 671MX [1039:0671]
 	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1af7]
 00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] PCI-to-PCI bridge [1039:0004]
 	Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] PCI-to-PCI bridge [1039:0004]
 	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
 00:02.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS968 [MuTIOL Media IO] [1039:0968] (rev 01)
 00:02.5 IDE interface [0101]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 IDE Controller [1039:5513] (rev 01)
 	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1af7]
 	Kernel driver in use: pata_sis
 	Kernel modules: pata_sis, ata_generic
 00:03.0 USB controller [0c03]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller [1039:7001] (rev 0f)
 	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1af7]
 	Kernel driver in use: ohci-pci
 	Kernel modules: ohci_pci
 00:03.1 USB controller [0c03]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller [1039:7001] (rev 0f)
 	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1af7]
 	Kernel driver in use: ohci-pci
 	Kernel modules: ohci_pci
 00:03.3 USB controller [0c03]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller [1039:7002]
 	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1af7]
 	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
 	Kernel modules: ehci_pci
 00:04.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 191 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter [1039:0191] (rev 02)
 	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1815]
 	Kernel driver in use: sis190
 	Kernel modules: sis190
 00:05.0 IDE interface [0101]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SATA Controller / IDE mode [1039:1183] (rev 03)
 	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1af7]
 	Kernel driver in use: sata_sis
 	Kernel modules: sata_sis, ata_generic
 00:06.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] PCI-to-PCI bridge [1039:000a]
 	Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Device [1039:0004]
 	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
 00:07.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] PCI-to-PCI bridge [1039:000a]
 	Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Device [1039:0004]
 	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
 00:0f.0 Audio device [0403]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Azalia Audio Controller [1039:7502]
 	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:1203]
 	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
 	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV710/M92 [Mobility Radeon HD 4530/4570/5145/530v/540v/545v] [1002:9553]
 	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Mobility Radeon HD 4570 [1043:1b42]
 	Kernel modules: radeon, amdgpu
 01:00.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV710/730 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4000 series] [1002:aa38]
 	Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV710/730 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4000 series] [1002:aa38]
 	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
 	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
 02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Qualcomm Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) [168c:002a] (rev 01)
 	Subsystem: AzureWave AW-NE771 802.11bgn Wireless Mini PCIe Card [AR9281] [1a3b:1067]
 	Kernel driver in use: ath9k
 	Kernel modules: ath9k

Base System Installation Checklist:
 [O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it

Initial boot:           [O]
Detect network card:    [E]
Configure network:      [ ]
Detect media:           [ ]
Load installer modules: [ ]
Detect hard drives:     [ ]
Partition hard drives:  [ ]
Install base system:    [ ]
Clock/timezone setup:   [ ]
User/password setup:    [ ]
Install tasks:          [ ]
Install boot loader:    [ ]
Overall install:        [ ]

Comments/Problems:
 Same in regular Install, Graphical Install, and Expert Install. System
 hangs shortly after selecting 'ethdetect': the text console cursor
 stops blinking, the display seems frozen, the fan spins up. It seems
 either sis190 or cfg80211, or something that should happen next causes
 the problem. Attached is the text output from the console.
 .
 Kali 2025.4 live system and installer fail similarly, though live
 system in fail-safe mode works quite well.
 .
 Debian live with GNOME does not finish booting even in fail-safe mode,
 again it hangs soon after loading X.509 certs and setting up some
 audio/video stuff. "registered new interface driver uvcvideo" and
 "Finished modprobe@efi_pstore.service - Load Kernel Module efi_pstore."
 tend to be the last messages printed.

The first suspects are the ethernet and wireless driver modules sis190
and ath9k. You can try to blacklist either module by adding
module_blacklist=sis190 or module_blacklist=ath9k to the kernel command
line in the boot menu and see what happens.

So ath9k seems to be the culprit.

Was the installer totally dead or was it still possible to switch
between consoles and check logs ?

If you appended the parameter after "---", the installer should have
automatically added it to GRUB menu entry kernel command line.

In your previous mail lspci shows that ath9k was in use for the wireless
controller when booting Kali in fail-safe mode. Which kernel parameters
does it add, maybe some pci or iommu option ?

This is probably because the last installation steps were not performed.

This is for sure because the last installation steps were not performed.

Thanks for your reply.

Debian (regular) Installer hangs with "Menu item 'ethdetect' selected"
being the last log line printed.
information (or something like that). I can boot the installed system
(and even login to GNOME) but there are some issues:
- I cannot boot without module_blacklist=ath9k,
- start-stop-daemon is not in PATH (there is start-stop-daemon.REAL),
- ifupdown configuration of the Ethernet interface was not disabled (it
  normally is when I keep GNOME selected in Debian Installer), so
  NetworkManager considered it unmanaged,
- probably others.

AFAIK Kali live fail-safe kernel command line has the following kernel
parameters:
memtest noapic noapm nodma nomce nolapic nomodeset nosmp vga=normal

Debian live fail-safe kernel command line has the following kernel
parameters:
memtest noapic noapm nodma nomce nosmp vga=788

If it fails, we can assume none of them helps.

Kernel parameters which are present in Kali live fail-safe command line
but not in Debian live fail-safe command line are nolapic and nomodeset.
The Debian installer does not use any graphic driver for real hardware
which requires modesetting, so my best guess would be nolapic.

Hello,

when looking for more information on that nolapic parameter, I have
found several Internet posts[1][2][3] that recommended disabling
"New interface card" in BIOS setup. Seems a known issue with Asus
notebooks from that era. Now Kali, Debian live and Debian installer
all boot correctly. Another Debian installation is ongoing, probably
will be good this time.

[1]: https://askubuntu.com/a/126601
[2]: https://askubuntu.com/a/543775
[3]: https://linuxfr.org/forums/linux-noyau/posts/resolu-compatibilite-noyau#comment-1579675

(FWIW, while that BIOS feature was still enabled, Kali live couldn’t
boot in fail-safe mode when either nolapic or nomodeset was absent.)


Thank you very much for your help. I wish you happy Christmas and
all the best in New Year.