Alienware Aurora ACT1250 + Ubuntu & Grub Shell

I installed Ubuntu (26.04) on an `Alienware Aurora ACT1250` that comes with `NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 5060 Ti` and faced a couple of issues, mainly because of the graphics card. Here are the steps I followed.

I’m assuming you already have an Ubuntu bootable usb ready.

1. Bios settings

• Hit the `F12` key while booting till you get the BIOS page.
• Modify the boot sequence so your usb is first.
• It should say `Boot Mode: UEFI only`

Bios Setup > Boot Configuration

boot sequence

• Select AHCI/NVMe

Bios Setup > Storage

boot configuration

• Apply Changes
• Exit

2. Select `Ubuntu safe graphics`

I tried “Try/Install Ubuntu” but it didn’t work, I got a black frozen page. So I had to manually restart the machine and choose “safe graphics”.

Black frozen page:

ubuntu frozen page

3. Install Ubuntu.

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I followed a regular installation, basically next on every single page.

ubuntu installation

The installation went fine, but when Ubuntu tried to start, the black frozen page showed up again.

4. Fix Grub

• While booting, hit `Esc` till you get to the GNU GRUB shell

I never got the `Ubuntu boot menu`, I saw it for a second and it automatically switched to the `grub shell`. The shell renders very slowly, so be patient while typing.

ls -la /boot/
linux /boot/vmlinuz-7.0.0–30-generic root=/dev/nvme0n1p2 ro nomodeset
initrd /boot/initrd.img-7.0.0–30-generic
boot

Change `7.0.0–30` to your version.

fix grub

• After booting, you should be in Ubuntu, open a terminal and type:

Make sure the internet is on

sudo apt update
sudo grub-install /dev/nvme0n1
sudo update-grub

5. Install NVIDIA driver

ubuntu-drivers devices

• Pick the one that says “recommended”, in my case:

sudo apt install nvidia-driver-592-open

• It will open the `Secure Boot` Wizard.

nvidia-driver-592-open

• Create a password.

nvidia-driver-592-open password

• Once the password is created, reboot the machine.

sudo reboot

• After rebooting, it will show the MOK Management screen. Press any key.

MOK start page

• Enroll MOK

Mok enroll page

• Continue

MOK continue page

• Yes

MOK yes page

• Enter password

MOK password page

• Reboot

MOK reboot page

6. Verify

Now Ubuntu should start just fine. Let’s double check NVIDIA is working, open a terminal and type:

nvidia-smi

It should display a table, you are good to go.

nvidia-smi output