Image not restorable with Ubuntu Server 20.04

[CLaurance]

Hi Piero,
I've been trying to produce an ISO from an Ubuntu server machine to spread it across others but I have been unable to with penguins-eggs since every time I boot on the ISO, I have a CLI (weird I think) but no access to a terminal

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create an egg on Ubuntu server. Commands used :

• sudo eggs tools yolk
• sudo eggs produce --pendrive -c -v

2. Boot on the created ISO
3. There you go, I am now stuck on an inoperable image

Expected Behavior

I'd think I could get access to a termial or any form of command line tool (CTRL + ALT + T)

Actual Behavior

Nothing allows me access to the system

Environment

• penguins-eggs Version: 26.1.31 linux-x64 node-v22.22.0
• Distro/: Ubuntu Server 20.04.3

[pieroproietti]

Hi @CLaurance

I'm installing an Ubuntu Server 20.04.3 minimal and will test it.

Well, I just installed it and:

• git clone https://github.com/pieroproietti/fresh-eggs
• cd fresh-eggs
• sudo ./fresh-eggs
• rebooted
• eggs love -n

The reinstalled in another VM, I was autologin inside and:

• sudo eggs krill -u
• reboot

Then I logged in on the new installation with: artisan/evolution

[CLaurance]

Hi Piero,
Thanks for the answer
Here is what I get after burning the generated iso with my commands above on a drive then booting on it with another machine :

Am I doing something wrong in my generation of the iso ?
Or is it my machine that causes the problem then ?

[pieroproietti]

Hi @CLaurance,

From what I understand, you have an Ubuntu system with Gnome installed and you are running it. If the last image is from the live boot, it worked. You could install it by opening a terminal window and typing: sudo eggs krill (but be careful, it will format the entire disk).

Alternatively, you could add the Calamares installer BEFORE generating the ISO on the host computer, allowing you to install your live system using Calamares, which is more convenient.

This is just a response generated by Google Gemini 3.1, but it may be useful to you.

It looks like you’ve successfully created a bootable ISO and the system is actually reaching the GNOME desktop environment (as seen in images 3 and 4). However, the errors in image 2 and the blank-ish desktop suggest a driver or configuration mismatch.

Based on the logs, here is the breakdown of what is happening and how to fix it:

1. The Error: Nvidia & UCSI Timeout
   The screen in Image 2 shows:
   nvidia-gpu ... i2c timeout error
   ucsi_ccg ... init failed -110

What this means:
These are common errors in Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal) related to the Nvidia USB-C Controller driver (UCSI). It’s trying to initialize a Type-C controller on a graphics card that might not exist or isn't responding correctly in the live environment.

Is it your ISO generation? Likely no. This is a kernel/driver interaction issue common to the Focal hardware enablement stack.

Is it the machine? Yes, specifically how the kernel is talking to the hardware on this specific PC.

2. Troubleshooting Steps
   Since you can actually get to the "Activities" and "Apps" menu (Image 4), your ISO is "working," but the graphical shell is unstable.

Step A: Try "Safe Mode" (easiest test)
In your first image (the GRUB menu), select UBUNTU FOCAL MOD1 Safe Mode.

This adds the nomodeset parameter, which tells the kernel not to load video drivers until the desktop is ready. If this works smoothly, the issue is definitely the Nvidia/Display driver integration in your ISO.

Step B: Blacklist the offending module
If you want to "clean up" your ISO generation so these errors don't stop the boot process, you can blacklist the UCSI driver. When building your ISO (before finalizing the squashfs), add this configuration:

Create a blacklist file: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia-ucsi.conf

Add this line: blacklist ucsi_ccg

Step C: Verify GPU Drivers
If the target machine has an Nvidia card, Ubuntu Focal's default open-source driver (nouveau) often struggles.

In your ISO generation script, ensure you are including ubuntu-drivers-common.

If this is for a specific machine, you might need to pre-install the nvidia-driver-XXX package in your chroot environment.

3. Observations on the Desktop
   In Image 4, I see "Install System" and "Byobu Terminal." This confirms your custom packages are there. However, the desktop background is missing/glitched.

Common cause:
If you are using a custom desktop overlay or a specific window manager, ensure gnome-shell-extension-desktop-icons or the relevant wallpaper paths are correctly set in the /etc/skel of your ISO build.

Summary
You aren't doing anything "wrong" in the command-line generation of the ISO file itself (since it boots and loads the GUI). The issue is hardware compatibility between the Ubuntu 20.04 kernel and the specific GPU/USB-C controller on that second machine.