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- ---
title: Installing Debian
description: Gotchas encountered while installing Debian.
pubDate: "2026-03-28"
tags: []
- ---

For a while I've been encountering a bug on Ubuntu where
[gdm](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GDM) fails to start. After starting up
the PC, right where I expect to see gdm's list of login users, the whole screen
is black with a GUI cursor that I can control with the mouse, but there is
nothing to click. The fix is <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Alt</kbd>+<kbd>F2</kbd> and
continue from the console.

The annoying thing about this bug is that it happens sporadically, so it's
difficult to debug. I've tried various fixes over the last couple months but
nothing seems to work permanently.

I know the quickest fix is to just stop using gdm, or try another display
manager, but since I have time on my hands right now, I thought it would be fun
to try installing a brand new Linux distribution. I went with
[Debian](https://www.debian.org/).

## pkgsel

I opted for the minimal Debian image, the one which requires a working internet
connection during the installation phase. At some point during the install, it
prompts you for which [subset of
software](https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/ch06s03.en.html#pkgsel)
to install. I selected none of those (I even unchecked "Standard system
utilities") and I ended up with a working Debian installation.

## picom

After installing [X](https://www.x.org) and [AwesomeWM](https://awesomewm.org/),
the window opacity setting was not cooperating. Translucent windows such as my
terminal emulator were rendering as fully opaque.
[Picom](https://github.com/yshui/picom) was misbehaving. I even resorted to
compiling picom on my machine to get the latest version.

Nothing I tried worked in the evening yesterday, but this morning I opened a
terminal window, ran `picom --backend xrender`, and opened _another_ terminal
window. That other terminal window was rendered properly. And that was all I
needed to see. I integrated this into my AwesomeWM config, and all was well.

In particular, here is my `.xinitrc` (as of 2026-05-11):

```
xset r rate 200 40

picom --frame-opacity=1.0 --backend xrender &
feh --bg-scale ~/.local/share/wall.jpg &
exec /usr/local/bin/dwm
```

## N\*\*\*\*\* drivers

I have a N\*\*\*\*\* GeForce RTX 5050. And so after keying that in to their
website's driver search (a painfully slow process, since almost the whole page
reloads for each field you enter), and I get a link to download a shell script.
The url looks something like
`https://us.download.n*****.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/595.71.05/N*****-Linux-x86_64-595.71.05.run`.
As far as I can tell, they specifically chose **not** to pass the parameters
from the search query to the download page in the url, so the user is forced to
interface with that terrible GPU picker. Classic.

Once I have that shell script downloaded, I ran it with `sh` and elevated
permissions. It gives two choices: either `N***** Proprietary` or `MIT/GPL`. For
some reason the proprietary one didn't work at all—it didn't even detect my GPU
after installing. So I uninstalled that and went with the `MIT/GPL` version.
That worked fine. I also proceeded to disable `nouveau` from loading at startup
by creating a `/etc/modprobe.d/nouveau-blacklist.conf` containing

```sh
blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0
```

and then updating `initramfs` with `update-initramfs -u`, and finally rebooting.

## Emoji Support

I followed [this GitHub
gist](https://gist.github.com/SohamG/6b8830cc08a22bc5bc24c76ef799510a) and
installed [Noto Color
Emoji](https://github.com/googlefonts/noto-emoji?tab=readme-ov-file).

## Audio

I installed ALSA and PulseAudio with `apt install alsa-utils pulseaudio`. To be
honest I'm unsure which one is responsible for the audio eventually working. Do
note that I use a Focusrite Scarlett.

## Conclusion

That was pretty fun. Bye Ubuntu.
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