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I screwed up gdm3, can't recover
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Thomas H. George
Feb 7, 2015, 4:50:04 PM2/7/15
to
OK, my fault.
A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to xdm.
When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command. Tried
systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
problem not fixed.
What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
commands?
Any suggestions?
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A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to xdm.
When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command. Tried
systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
problem not fixed.
What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
commands?
Any suggestions?
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Joe
Feb 7, 2015, 5:10:03 PM2/7/15
to
On Sat, 7 Feb 2015 16:37:23 -0500
"Thomas H. George" <li...@tomgeorge.info> wrote:
> OK, my fault.
>
> A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to
> xdm. When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
>
> gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
>
> Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command.
> Tried
>
> systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
>
> exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
>
> tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
>
> problem not fixed.
>
> What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> commands?
>
> Any suggestions?
>
>
My first action would be to install kdm. It will bring a heap of
"Thomas H. George" <li...@tomgeorge.info> wrote:
> OK, my fault.
>
> A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to
> xdm. When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
>
> gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
>
> Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command.
> Tried
>
> systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
>
> exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
>
> tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
>
> problem not fixed.
>
> What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> commands?
>
> Any suggestions?
>
>
dependencies, but if that's a problem it can be sorted out once you're
running again. On installation, you should be offered the choice of DM,
and a clean kdm should work OK.
You can switch between default DMs from the command line if necessary,
by editing /etc/X11/default-display-manager.
I'd probably then try a purge of gdm3 then a reinstall. If that still
doesn't work, you should have some more information to bring back here.
If kdm didn't work either, along with gdm3 and xdm, that probably
points to something lower-level, such as an X issue.
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songbird
Feb 7, 2015, 6:10:04 PM2/7/15
to
Thomas H. George wrote:
...
> What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> commands?
>
> Any suggestions?
i'd go to single user mode and use:
> commands?
>
> Any suggestions?
apt-get purge gdm3 xdm
and then try to install gdm3 again and see how that goes...
songbird
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Thomas H. George
Feb 7, 2015, 7:00:04 PM2/7/15
to
On Sat, Feb 07, 2015 at 10:02:15PM +0000, Joe wrote:
> On Sat, 7 Feb 2015 16:37:23 -0500
> "Thomas H. George" <li...@tomgeorge.info> wrote:
>
> > OK, my fault.
> >
> > A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to
> > xdm. When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
> >
> > gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
> >
> > Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command.
> > Tried
> >
> > systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
> >
> > exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
> >
> > tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
> >
> > problem not fixed.
> >
> > What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> > commands?
> >
> > Any suggestions?
> >
> >
>
> My first action would be to install kdm. It will bring a heap of
> dependencies, but if that's a problem it can be sorted out once you're
> running again. On installation, you should be offered the choice of DM,
> and a clean kdm should work OK.
Tried this, desktop window failed to open afer installation.
> On Sat, 7 Feb 2015 16:37:23 -0500
> "Thomas H. George" <li...@tomgeorge.info> wrote:
>
> > OK, my fault.
> >
> > A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to
> > xdm. When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
> >
> > gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
> >
> > Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command.
> > Tried
> >
> > systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
> >
> > exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
> >
> > tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
> >
> > problem not fixed.
> >
> > What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> > commands?
> >
> > Any suggestions?
> >
> >
>
> My first action would be to install kdm. It will bring a heap of
> dependencies, but if that's a problem it can be sorted out once you're
> running again. On installation, you should be offered the choice of DM,
> and a clean kdm should work OK.
Tried /etc/init.d/kdm restart and got a message that kdm.service failed.
Same thing happened with xdm, xdm.service failed.
> You can switch between default DMs from the command line if necessary,
> by editing /etc/X11/default-display-manager.
>
but they don't start with ?dm.service failed.
> I'd probably then try a purge of gdm3 then a reinstall. If that still
> doesn't work, you should have some more information to bring back here.
> If kdm didn't work either, along with gdm3 and xdm, that probably
> points to something lower-level, such as an X issue.
>
--reinstall gdm3 works but failes to solve the problem. dependencies?
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Glenn English
Feb 7, 2015, 8:30:05 PM2/7/15
to
On Feb 7, 2015, at 4:52 PM, Thomas H. George <li...@tomgeorge.info> wrote:
>>> Any suggestions?
Have you tried logging in to the terminal and typing "startx"? If that gets you a Gnome GUI, Gnome is (probably) OK, and you can just remove the GUI starters and reinstall the one for Gnome. If not, your problem is (probably) not gdm.
Or, if startx works, you can live with typing a command every time you log in (over a lifetime, likely less work than figuring out what's wrong now). Or add the startx command toward the bottom of your .bashrc...
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Bob Proulx
Feb 7, 2015, 9:40:04 PM2/7/15
to
Thomas H. George wrote:
> A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to xdm.
> When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
What was the display problem?
> A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to xdm.
> When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
> problem not fixed.
>
> What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> commands?
>
> Any suggestions?
upon it? All types of possibilities that I couldn't see in the words
written.
If X is failing to start look in the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file and see
what errors are present there.
Anecdote: Just Friday I helped a friend debug his laptop. He said his
machine "would not boot". When I looked the machine booted fine and
started X but using the VESA driver at a non-native resolution rather
than using the nvidia driver he had been using. He had accidentally
removed the kernel associated with his nvidia driver. That was Ubuntu
and his Unity desktop would not display against the VESA driver
because I assume lack of hardware acceleration. Installing the right
kernel and nvidia drivers was what he needed to get Unity running
again. The errors in /var/log/Xorg.0.log showed the nvidia failures.
So now when people say gdm3 doesn't start I wonder if it really means
that X isn't starting? Maybe.
Bob
Thomas H. George
Feb 8, 2015, 10:00:03 AM2/8/15
to
On Sat, Feb 07, 2015 at 04:37:23PM -0500, Thomas H. George wrote:
> OK, my fault.
>
> A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to xdm.
> When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
>
> gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
>
> Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command. Tried
>
> systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
>
> exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
>
> tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
>
> problem not fixed.
>
> What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> commands?
>
> Any suggestions?
purged and reinstalled gdm3. Restarted gdm3 and again gdm.service
> OK, my fault.
>
> A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to xdm.
> When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
>
> gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
>
> Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command. Tried
>
> systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
>
> exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
>
> tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
>
> problem not fixed.
>
> What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> commands?
>
> Any suggestions?
failed.
The output of journalctl -xn is
Script started on Sun 08 Feb 2015 09:36:33 AM EST
Zebra:~# joun [Krnal [Kctl -xn
-- Logs begin at Sun 2015-02-08 09:12:45 EST, end at Sun 2015-02-08 09:31:13 EST. -- [m
Feb 08 09:31:12 Zebra systemd[1]: [1;39mgdm.service: control process exited, code=exited status=1 [0m [m
Feb 08 09:31:12 Zebra systemd[1]: [1;31mFailed to start GNOME Display Manager. [0m [m
-- Subject: Unit gdm.service has failed [m
-- Defined-By: systemd [m
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel [m
-- [m
-- Unit gdm.service has failed. [m
-- [m
-- The result is failed. [m
Feb 08 09:31:12 Zebra systemd[1]: [1;31mDependency failed for X11 Display Manager. [0m [m
-- Subject: Unit x-display-manager.target has failed [m
-- Defined-By: systemd [m
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel [m
-- [m
-- Unit x-display-manager.target has failed. [m
-- [m
-- The result is dependency. [m
Feb 08 09:31:12 Zebra systemd[1]: [1;39mUnit gdm.service entered failed state. [0m [m
Feb 08 09:31:13 Zebra systemd[1]: [1;39mgdm.service start request repeated too quickly, refusing to start. [0m [m
Feb 08 09:31:13 Zebra systemd[1]: [1;31mFailed to start GNOME Display Manager. [0m [m
-- Subject: Unit gdm.service has failed [m
-- Defined-By: systemd [m
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel [m
-- [m
-- Unit gdm.service has failed. [m
-- [m
-- The result is failed. [m
Feb 08 09:31:13 Zebra systemd[1]: [1;31mDependency failed for X11 Display Manager. [0m [m
-- Subject: Unit x-display-manager.target has failed [m
-- Defined-By: systemd [m
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel [m
-- [m
-- Unit x-display-manager.target has failed. [m
-- [m
-- The result is dependency. [m
Feb 08 09:31:13 Zebra systemd[1]: [1;39mUnit gdm.service entered failed state. [0m [m
[KZebra:~# exit
Script done on Sun 08 Feb 2015 09:37:33 AM EST
>
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Thomas H. George
Feb 8, 2015, 10:30:05 AM2/8/15
to
On Sun, Feb 08, 2015 at 09:55:20AM -0500, Thomas H. George wrote:
> On Sat, Feb 07, 2015 at 04:37:23PM -0500, Thomas H. George wrote:
> > OK, my fault.
> >
> > A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to xdm.
> > When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
> >
> > gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
> >
> > Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command. Tried
> >
> > systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
> >
> > exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
> >
> > tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
> >
> > problem not fixed.
> >
> > What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> > commands?
> >
> > Any suggestions?
>
> purged and reinstalled gdm3. Restarted gdm3 and again gdm.service
> failed.
>
> The output of journalctl -xn is
journal output omitted. See previous posting.
> On Sat, Feb 07, 2015 at 04:37:23PM -0500, Thomas H. George wrote:
> > OK, my fault.
> >
> > A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to xdm.
> > When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
> >
> > gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
> >
> > Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command. Tried
> >
> > systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
> >
> > exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
> >
> > tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
> >
> > problem not fixed.
> >
> > What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> > commands?
> >
> > Any suggestions?
>
> purged and reinstalled gdm3. Restarted gdm3 and again gdm.service
> failed.
>
> The output of journalctl -xn is
Following previous suggestions installed both xdm and kdm. If
default-display-manager is set to xdm when xdm is started I get the
Debian login window and can only login as root. The login is successful
to the gnome desktop. Tried to switch users but could not. Exited.
If the default-display-manager is set to kdm when kdm is started I get
the kdm login window. If I try to login with my user name my password
is not recognized. If I try to login as root the login is not allowed.
If the default-display-manager is set to gdm3 I get the message
gdm.service failed and the journal output as in the previous posting.
>
>
> >
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> >
> >
>
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songbird
Feb 8, 2015, 12:30:04 PM2/8/15
to
Thomas H. George wrote:
...
...
> Following previous suggestions installed both xdm and kdm. If
> default-display-manager is set to xdm when xdm is started I get the
> Debian login window and can only login as root. The login is successful
> to the gnome desktop. Tried to switch users but could not. Exited.
ok, so root works under xdm.
> default-display-manager is set to xdm when xdm is started I get the
> Debian login window and can only login as root. The login is successful
> to the gnome desktop. Tried to switch users but could not. Exited.
> If the default-display-manager is set to kdm when kdm is started I get
> the kdm login window. If I try to login with my user name my password
> is not recognized. If I try to login as root the login is not allowed.
when set up initially. i don't recommend working around
this either as it is a good idea to have only authenticated
users changing to root after they sign in.
> If the default-display-manager is set to gdm3 I get the message
> gdm.service failed and the journal output as in the previous posting.
not good enough then that could be the overall problem.
that xdm works says you have a functioning system of
some kind.
since you're trying things out... for a system that looks
like previous Gnome give MATE a try as it will not need so
much hardware support.
another method to try is to boot as sysvinit (in the
grub menu under the default boot there should be a line
for this), but i think this is a hardware issue since
xdm can run and so i think you'll not get gdm3 going
there either, but you may get a more informative error
message and perhaps something in the X session logs.
songbird
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Patrick Bartek
Feb 8, 2015, 12:50:04 PM2/8/15
to
On Sat, 07 Feb 2015, Thomas H. George wrote:
> OK, my fault.
>
> A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to
> xdm. When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
What display problems? You don't say exactly. Also. What's the specs
> OK, my fault.
>
> A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to
> xdm. When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
on your system? How old is it? Etc.
> gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
>
> Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command.
> Tried
>
> systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
>
> exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
>
> tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
>
> problem not fixed.
>
> What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> commands?
>
> Any suggestions?
choosing to install.
Try just a terminal only install and see if that works. X could be the
problem.
B
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Bob Proulx
Feb 8, 2015, 3:30:04 PM2/8/15
to
songbird wrote:
> Thomas H. George wrote:
> ...
> > Following previous suggestions installed both xdm and kdm. If
> > default-display-manager is set to xdm when xdm is started I get the
> > Debian login window and can only login as root. The login is successful
> > to the gnome desktop. Tried to switch users but could not. Exited.
>
> ok, so root works under xdm.
Which means it is not an X problem and not a system level problem.
> Thomas H. George wrote:
> ...
> > Following previous suggestions installed both xdm and kdm. If
> > default-display-manager is set to xdm when xdm is started I get the
> > Debian login window and can only login as root. The login is successful
> > to the gnome desktop. Tried to switch users but could not. Exited.
>
> ok, so root works under xdm.
Which means the problem is probably something related to the desktop
in the user $HOME/.config and other files.
If you create a fresh pristine new user "anothertom" or some such does
it all work for that new user? If so then the problem is not system
related but corruption of files in the $HOME.
Bob
Thomas H. George
Feb 8, 2015, 3:50:06 PM2/8/15
to
On Sun, Feb 08, 2015 at 09:44:21AM -0800, Patrick Bartek wrote:
> On Sat, 07 Feb 2015, Thomas H. George wrote:
>
> > OK, my fault.
> >
> > A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to
> > xdm. When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
>
> What display problems? You don't say exactly. Also. What's the specs
> on your system? How old is it? Etc.
>
System is an HP Compaq dx2250 microtower about 8 years old I think. It
> On Sat, 07 Feb 2015, Thomas H. George wrote:
>
> > OK, my fault.
> >
> > A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to
> > xdm. When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
>
> What display problems? You don't say exactly. Also. What's the specs
> on your system? How old is it? Etc.
>
was my daughter's microsoft home office computer which she replaced last
year. I took out her sata drives, installed one of my own and installed
jessie. Boot up and all the settings and programs I tried worked
perfectly including gdm3 and the gnome desktop.
I created the display problem. The HP box has only vga, no hdmi so I
experimented with the settings and chose an incompatable one resulting
in a black screen. I created a second user, tom2, and the display opened
normally for tom2. To recover my initial work I ran rsync -r --stats
/home/tom/ /home/tom2. All my data was recovered but on reboot the
display wouldn't open for either tom or tom2.
Not wishing to create tom3 I tried installing xdm. There was some
problem with that so restarted gdm3 with the following result.
> > gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
> >
> > Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command.
> > Tried
> >
> > systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
> >
> > exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
> >
> > tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
> >
> > problem not fixed.
> >
> > What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with systemctl
> > commands?
> >
> > Any suggestions?
>
> Yes. Reinstall, expert mode. So, you can see what the installer is
> choosing to install.
>
> Try just a terminal only install and see if that works. X could be the
> problem.
>
found xdm works but only allows me to log in as root and then brings up
the gnome desktop with all the installed programs. I can live with this
until I find out how to correct systemctl's problem with gdm3.
Tom
> B
>
>
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Ric Moore
Feb 8, 2015, 5:40:04 PM2/8/15
to
On 02/07/2015 09:31 PM, Bob Proulx wrote:
> So now when people say gdm3 doesn't start I wonder if it really means
> that X isn't starting? Maybe.
Bob, I just had that happen to me. It failed to start lightdm. so in
> So now when people say gdm3 doesn't start I wonder if it really means
> that X isn't starting? Maybe.
text mode, as logged in root user, I re-installed lightdm :
apt-get install --reinstall lightdm
Then I got an error that there was a syntax error in /etc/X11/xorg.conf
I copied a back up over it and rebooted. Worked, after grinding gears
for a bit. I just had to wait longer than usual, but I heard the drive
seeking so I just waited. Then my desktop came back. Whew! Maybe you
could do the same and re-install gdm?? Ric
--
My father, Victor Moore (Vic) used to say:
"There are two Great Sins in the world...
..the Sin of Ignorance, and the Sin of Stupidity.
Only the former may be overcome." R.I.P. Dad.
http://linuxcounter.net/user/44256.html
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Patrick Bartek
Feb 8, 2015, 7:30:05 PM2/8/15
to
On Sun, 08 Feb 2015, Thomas H. George wrote:
> On Sun, Feb 08, 2015 at 09:44:21AM -0800, Patrick Bartek wrote:
> > On Sat, 07 Feb 2015, Thomas H. George wrote:
> >
> > > OK, my fault.
> > >
> > > A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to
> > > xdm. When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
> >
> > What display problems? You don't say exactly. Also. What's the
> > specs on your system? How old is it? Etc.
> >
> System is an HP Compaq dx2250 microtower about 8 years old I think. It
> was my daughter's microsoft home office computer which she replaced
> last year. I took out her sata drives, installed one of my own and
> installed jessie. Boot up and all the settings and programs I tried
> worked perfectly including gdm3 and the gnome desktop.
>
> I created the display problem. The HP box has only vga, no hdmi so I
> experimented with the settings and chose an incompatable one resulting
Ah! The ol' problem between the keyboard and chair problem. The
> On Sun, Feb 08, 2015 at 09:44:21AM -0800, Patrick Bartek wrote:
> > On Sat, 07 Feb 2015, Thomas H. George wrote:
> >
> > > OK, my fault.
> > >
> > > A new jessie installation. Display problem so I tried to switch to
> > > xdm. When this didn't work I tried to switch back to gdm3. No Go:
> >
> > What display problems? You don't say exactly. Also. What's the
> > specs on your system? How old is it? Etc.
> >
> System is an HP Compaq dx2250 microtower about 8 years old I think. It
> was my daughter's microsoft home office computer which she replaced
> last year. I took out her sata drives, installed one of my own and
> installed jessie. Boot up and all the settings and programs I tried
> worked perfectly including gdm3 and the gnome desktop.
>
> I created the display problem. The HP box has only vga, no hdmi so I
> experimented with the settings and chose an incompatable one resulting
hardest kind to fix. ;-)
> in a black screen. I created a second user, tom2, and the display
> opened normally for tom2. To recover my initial work I ran rsync -r
> --stats /home/tom/ /home/tom2. All my data was recovered but on
> reboot the display wouldn't open for either tom or tom2.
simultaneously. This should shutdown the X-Server and drop you to
a terminal. If it doesn't, post back here with the details. This
should be a root terminal. Read the output on the screen as to what
went wrong.
If you have access to the system from this terminal, see if there is an
xorg.conf somewhere. Normally, it would be in /etc/X11/ There
probably isn't one -- too old school. All that X info is now created
at boot time every boot. If not, create one. 'man xorg.conf' for
details. Create or select the default screen resolution you want in that
file. Remember since your system video only supports VGA, only use VGA
resolutions and timings. No New Age hdmi wide screen shit. You'll break
the system as you've found out.
If you want "modern" screen resoutions, etc., install a modern video
card. And a monitor that handles it.
The "other" way is to find the user's (Tom) local X config file and
delete it, so when the system reboots, it will read the hardware and
select the best resolution for the video card-monitor combo. I'm not
familiar at all anymore with how GNOME is set up having left it years
ago, and only use a window manager now. So, I have no idea where this
file might be: /home/Tom/.config/gnome, maybe?
> Not wishing to create tom3 I tried installing xdm. There was some
> problem with that so restarted gdm3 with the following result.
>
> > > gdm3.serviceJob for gdm.service failed.
> > >
> > > Looked for solution in man systemctl, found reset-failed command.
> > > Tried
> > >
> > > systemctl reset-failed gdm.service
> > >
> > > exit code was 0 but problem was not fixed.
> > >
> > > tried apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
> > >
> > > problem not fixed.
> > >
> > > What to do? Reinstall jessie? Continue experimenting with
> > > systemctl commands?
> > >
> > > Any suggestions?
> >
> > Yes. Reinstall, expert mode. So, you can see what the installer is
> > choosing to install.
> >
> > Try just a terminal only install and see if that works. X could be
> > the problem.
> >
> Reinstall would certainly cure all my mistakes. Before doing that I
> found xdm works but only allows me to log in as root and then brings
> up the gnome desktop with all the installed programs. I can live with
> this until I find out how to correct systemctl's problem with gdm3.
have a support group for that. We meet every Tuesday at 7. Use my
name to get the fresh donuts. ;-)
B
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Bob Proulx
Feb 9, 2015, 2:00:06 AM2/9/15
to
Ric Moore wrote:
> Bob, I just had that happen to me. It failed to start lightdm. so in text
> mode, as logged in root user, I re-installed lightdm :
> apt-get install --reinstall lightdm
Why is everyone having troubles with X all of a sudden?
> Bob, I just had that happen to me. It failed to start lightdm. so in text
> mode, as logged in root user, I re-installed lightdm :
> apt-get install --reinstall lightdm
> Then I got an error that there was a syntax error in /etc/X11/xorg.conf
for some reason?
> I copied a back up over it and rebooted. Worked, after grinding gears for a
> bit.
> I just had to wait longer than usual, but I heard the drive seeking
> so I just waited. Then my desktop came back. Whew!
That is started by lightdm, xdm, the *dm programs. After X starts up
then the desktop starts. If there is an error in either then of
course it doesn't work.
> Maybe you could do the same and re-install gdm?? Ric
problems.
Bob
Bob Proulx
Feb 9, 2015, 2:10:05 AM2/9/15
to
Patrick Bartek wrote:
> Try this: Reboot. When you get the black screen, hit CTL-ALT-BKSPC
> simultaneously. This should shutdown the X-Server and drop you to
> a terminal. If it doesn't, post back here with the details. This
> should be a root terminal. Read the output on the screen as to what
> went wrong.
Note that X now by default disables control-alt-backspace now. This
> Try this: Reboot. When you get the black screen, hit CTL-ALT-BKSPC
> simultaneously. This should shutdown the X-Server and drop you to
> a terminal. If it doesn't, post back here with the details. This
> should be a root terminal. Read the output on the screen as to what
> went wrong.
is an Ubuntu page but it documents it.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/XorgCtrlAltBackspace
Meanwhile it can be enabled again. I always enable it. Along with
setting a Compose key. I will throw that in here as a freebie.
setxkbmap -model pc104 -layout us -option compose:menu -option terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
> Ah! The classic Can't-leave-it-alone-until-I-fix-it masochist. They
> have a support group for that. We meet every Tuesday at 7. Use my
> name to get the fresh donuts. ;-)
Bob
Ric Moore
Feb 9, 2015, 3:20:04 AM2/9/15
to
member, but I am the President. Does it take an entire can of coffee to
fuel up a coffee urn? We hold our meetings right after the
"Can't-leave-it-alone-until-I-fix-it" meeting. Lisi promises to bring
Styrofoam cups. :) Ric
--
My father, Victor Moore (Vic) used to say:
"There are two Great Sins in the world...
..the Sin of Ignorance, and the Sin of Stupidity.
Only the former may be overcome." R.I.P. Dad.
http://linuxcounter.net/user/44256.html
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Patrick Bartek
Feb 9, 2015, 12:40:06 PM2/9/15
to
On Mon, 09 Feb 2015, Bob Proulx wrote:
> Patrick Bartek wrote:
> > Try this: Reboot. When you get the black screen, hit CTL-ALT-BKSPC
> > simultaneously. This should shutdown the X-Server and drop you to
> > a terminal. If it doesn't, post back here with the details. This
> > should be a root terminal. Read the output on the screen as to what
> > went wrong.
>
> Note that X now by default disables control-alt-backspace now. This
> is an Ubuntu page but it documents it.
Right. I forgot. You're using Jessie. Another "improvement."
> Patrick Bartek wrote:
> > Try this: Reboot. When you get the black screen, hit CTL-ALT-BKSPC
> > simultaneously. This should shutdown the X-Server and drop you to
> > a terminal. If it doesn't, post back here with the details. This
> > should be a root terminal. Read the output on the screen as to what
> > went wrong.
>
> Note that X now by default disables control-alt-backspace now. This
> is an Ubuntu page but it documents it.
Why do these people need to "fix" things that aren't broken?
"They" rationalize saying it's to prevent people from "accidentally"
shutting down X (or whatever) and loosing data. I say: "You can't fix
stupid!"
>
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/XorgCtrlAltBackspace
>
> Meanwhile it can be enabled again. I always enable it. Along with
> setting a Compose key. I will throw that in here as a freebie.
configuring X years ago when I used Fedora Core. The installer always
read my video hardware wrong and configured X wrong. Useless Black
screen. So, hit the ol' key-combo, drop to the boot terminal, fix it.
Now, I just set up my systems to boot to a terminal: login, and run
startx when I want a GUI -- usually just a window manager and a panel
with menus. KISS.
> setxkbmap -model pc104 -layout us -option compose:menu -option
> terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
B
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David Wright
Feb 9, 2015, 1:30:06 PM2/9/15
to
Quoting Patrick Bartek (nemo...@gmail.com):
> On Mon, 09 Feb 2015, Bob Proulx wrote:
> > Note that X now by default disables control-alt-backspace now. This
> > is an Ubuntu page but it documents it.
>
> Right. I forgot. You're using Jessie. Another "improvement."
>
> Why do these people need to "fix" things that aren't broken?
> "They" rationalize saying it's to prevent people from "accidentally"
> shutting down X (or whatever) and loosing data. I say: "You can't fix
> stupid!"
I think X made this change several years/Debian distributions ago. If
> On Mon, 09 Feb 2015, Bob Proulx wrote:
> > Note that X now by default disables control-alt-backspace now. This
> > is an Ubuntu page but it documents it.
>
> Right. I forgot. You're using Jessie. Another "improvement."
>
> Why do these people need to "fix" things that aren't broken?
> "They" rationalize saying it's to prevent people from "accidentally"
> shutting down X (or whatever) and loosing data. I say: "You can't fix
> stupid!"
you restore the facility in /etc/default/keyboard then upgrading seems
to keep your change. You have had to add it yourself when installing
afresh.
eg /etc/default/keyboard
--8<--------
# Check /usr/share/doc/keyboard-configuration/README.Debian for
# documentation on what to do after having modified this file.
# The following variables describe your keyboard and can have the same
# values as the XkbModel, XkbLayout, XkbVariant and XkbOptions options
# in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
#XKBMODEL="pc105"
XKBMODEL="latitude"
XKBLAYOUT="gb"
XKBVARIANT=""
XKBOPTIONS="caps:none,compose:menu,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"
# If you don't want to use the XKB layout on the console, you can
# specify an alternative keymap. Make sure it will be accessible
# before /usr is mounted.
# KMAP=/etc/console-setup/defkeymap.kmap.gz
BACKSPACE="guess"
--8<--------
Cheers,
David.
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Jessica Litwin
Feb 9, 2015, 1:50:04 PM2/9/15
to
David, you just solved an unrelated problem I had where my keyboard settings inside XFCE weren't being respected. I wondered why...
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jessicalitwin.com
twitter: press5
aim: press5key
skype: dr_jkl
aim: press5key
skype: dr_jkl
Bob Proulx
Feb 9, 2015, 3:00:06 PM2/9/15
to
Patrick Bartek wrote:
Jessie on that topic.
> Why do these people need to "fix" things that aren't broken?
I would contribute to a bounty payment if someone solved that
problem. Very unfortunately I doubt the problem is solvable because
people are people.
> "They" rationalize saying it's to prevent people from "accidentally"
> shutting down X (or whatever) and loosing data. I say: "You can't fix
> stupid!"
There is an old joke. The punch line is, "I have heard of people
falling out of love but never people falling out of stupid."
Bob
> Bob Proulx wrote:
> > Note that X now by default disables control-alt-backspace now. This
> > is an Ubuntu page but it documents it.
>
> Right. I forgot. You're using Jessie. Another "improvement."
That change was introduced in Debian in Squeeze 6. No changes for
> > Note that X now by default disables control-alt-backspace now. This
> > is an Ubuntu page but it documents it.
>
> Right. I forgot. You're using Jessie. Another "improvement."
Jessie on that topic.
> Why do these people need to "fix" things that aren't broken?
problem. Very unfortunately I doubt the problem is solvable because
people are people.
> "They" rationalize saying it's to prevent people from "accidentally"
> shutting down X (or whatever) and loosing data. I say: "You can't fix
> stupid!"
falling out of love but never people falling out of stupid."
Bob
Bob Proulx
Feb 9, 2015, 3:20:04 PM2/9/15
to
Thomas H. George wrote:
> I created the display problem. The HP box has only vga, no hdmi so I
> experimented with the settings and chose an incompatable one resulting
> in a black screen. I created a second user, tom2, and the display opened
> normally for tom2.
That proves that the problem was limited to desktop configuration
> I created the display problem. The HP box has only vga, no hdmi so I
> experimented with the settings and chose an incompatable one resulting
> in a black screen. I created a second user, tom2, and the display opened
> normally for tom2.
files saved in $HOME.
> To recover my initial work I ran rsync -r --stats
> /home/tom/ /home/tom2. All my data was recovered but on reboot the
> display wouldn't open for either tom or tom2.
broken desktop config.
> Not wishing to create tom3 I tried installing xdm. There was some
> problem with that so restarted gdm3 with the following result.
system is just going to confound the issue with additional noise.
Very likely your system is fine. If you were to create a pristine
user again I expect you would be able to start a full desktop again.
> Reinstall would certainly cure all my mistakes. Before doing that I
> found xdm works but only allows me to log in as root
powerful and X has an unaudited amount of code. Bound to be bugs in
there somewhere.
> and then brings up the gnome desktop with all the installed
> programs. I can live with this until I find out how to correct
> systemctl's problem with gdm3.
user desktop configuration that was the problem.
Bob
Patrick Bartek
Feb 9, 2015, 4:50:05 PM2/9/15
to
On Mon, 09 Feb 2015, Bob Proulx wrote:
> Patrick Bartek wrote:
> > Bob Proulx wrote:
> > > Note that X now by default disables control-alt-backspace now.
> > > This is an Ubuntu page but it documents it.
> >
> > Right. I forgot. You're using Jessie. Another "improvement."
>
> That change was introduced in Debian in Squeeze 6. No changes for
> Jessie on that topic.
That's odd. Works on my Wheezy 7 64-bit install. Always has. Used it
> > Bob Proulx wrote:
> > > Note that X now by default disables control-alt-backspace now.
> > > This is an Ubuntu page but it documents it.
> >
> > Right. I forgot. You're using Jessie. Another "improvement."
>
> That change was introduced in Debian in Squeeze 6. No changes for
> Jessie on that topic.
numerous times during the initial X set-up/config/shakedown. I didn't
manually enable it either. Of course, my system isn't stock.
Started with a bare minimum, terminal only net install, then built up
from there, piece by piece, but never installed a "formal" desktop just
a window manager and LXPanel. Maybe, the key-combo disabling is done as
part of a/any desktop install. Don't install a desktop environment,
combo not turned off.
B
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Bob Proulx
Feb 9, 2015, 5:20:05 PM2/9/15
to
Patrick Bartek wrote:
> That's odd. Works on my Wheezy 7 64-bit install. Always has. Used it
> numerous times during the initial X set-up/config/shakedown. I didn't
> manually enable it either. Of course, my system isn't stock.
Perhaps you have it configured that way?
> That's odd. Works on my Wheezy 7 64-bit install. Always has. Used it
> numerous times during the initial X set-up/config/shakedown. I didn't
> manually enable it either. Of course, my system isn't stock.
$ grep XKBOPTIONS /etc/default/keyboard | grep --color terminate
XKBOPTIONS="lv3:ralt_switch,compose:menu,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"
> Started with a bare minimum, terminal only net install, then built up
> from there, piece by piece, but never installed a "formal" desktop just
> a window manager and LXPanel.
it as "heavy". :-)
> Maybe, the key-combo disabling is done as part of a/any desktop
> install. Don't install a desktop environment, combo not turned off.
'kbd'. If you have a long upgraded system you may be using
console-tools as that was the previous default. Newly installed
systems in Squeeze 6 have kbd. I am still using console-tools in
Wheezy 7 as I had issues with kbd. In Jessie 8 this has been moved
into the 'keyboard-configuration' package. It seems to be in the
middle of a slow thrash.
Bob
Cindy-Sue Causey
Feb 9, 2015, 9:40:04 PM2/9/15
to
has already been said. I JUST went through something similarly
different yesterday with Sid. Not sure the how or what of how my
situation came to be, but in the middle of it I remembered there was a
default example somewhere for profiles.
That default is within /etc/skel. Those are .bashrc, .profile, and
.bash_logout. I copied those over, and it still didn't work..
So I went back in as root and just sat there staring at various files
under a new user's home directory that worked properly and my desired
user's home directory that didn't. File permissions were different.
The one not working still belonged to root. *smacking head*
I changed that, and have been smokin' along as my desired user profile
within Sid ever since.
Might not fix what's going on for OP here, but figured it might work
for someone with another "similarly different" problem when they
stumble on this thread in the archives...
Good luck!
Cindy :)
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Talking Rock, Pickens County, Georgia, USA
* falls on face occasionally *
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David Wright
Feb 9, 2015, 10:30:06 PM2/9/15
to
Quoting David Wright (deb...@lionunicorn.co.uk):
> I think X made this change several years/Debian distributions ago.
Just some clarification for off-list replies:
> I think X made this change several years/Debian distributions ago.
http://ftp.x.org/pub/X11R7.0/doc/html/Xorg.1.html
The special combinations of key presses recognized directly by Xorg
are:
Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
Immediately kills the server -- no questions asked. This can be
disabled with the DontZap xorg.conf(5x) file option.
http://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.5/doc/man/man1/Xorg.1.html
The special combinations of key presses recognized directly by Xorg
are:
Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
Immediately kills the server -- no questions asked. This is
disabled by default. It can be enabled with the -retro command
line flag or by setting the DontZap xorg.conf(5) file option to a
FALSE value.
It's 100% clear that Xorg made the change. It would be stupid of
Debian to set a trap with CtrlAltBackspace for anyone who knew how
X11R7.5 should behave by default.
Cheers,
David.
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Patrick Bartek
Feb 10, 2015, 12:00:05 AM2/10/15
to
On Mon, 09 Feb 2015, Bob Proulx wrote:
> Patrick Bartek wrote:
> > That's odd. Works on my Wheezy 7 64-bit install. Always has.
> > Used it numerous times during the initial X
> > set-up/config/shakedown. I didn't manually enable it either. Of
> > course, my system isn't stock.
>
> Perhaps you have it configured that way?
I didn't do anything. Just let the installer pick the keyboard type,
> > That's odd. Works on my Wheezy 7 64-bit install. Always has.
> > Used it numerous times during the initial X
> > set-up/config/shakedown. I didn't manually enable it either. Of
> > course, my system isn't stock.
>
> Perhaps you have it configured that way?
etc. during the initial install. (It picked correctly, by the way.)
Here's /etc/default/keyboard:
======================= >8 ++++++++++++++++++++++
# KEYBOARD CONFIGURATION FILE
# Consult the keyboard(5) manual page.
XKBMODEL="pc105"
XKBLAYOUT="us"
XKBVARIANT=""
XKBOPTIONS=""
BACKSPACE="guess"
======================== >8 ======================
That's it. No local user keyboard configs that I can find.
> $ grep XKBOPTIONS /etc/default/keyboard | grep --color terminate
> XKBOPTIONS="lv3:ralt_switch,compose:menu,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"
>
> > Started with a bare minimum, terminal only net install, then built
> > up from there, piece by piece, but never installed a "formal"
> > desktop just a window manager and LXPanel.
>
> That sounds perfectly fine. I wouldn't quote "formal". I would quote
> it as "heavy". :-)
> > Maybe, the key-combo disabling is done as part of a/any desktop
> > install. Don't install a desktop environment, combo not turned off.
>
> It probably also depends upon if you are using 'console-tools' or
> 'kbd'. If you have a long upgraded system you may be using
> console-tools as that was the previous default. Newly installed
> systems in Squeeze 6 have kbd. I am still using console-tools in
> Wheezy 7 as I had issues with kbd. In Jessie 8 this has been moved
> into the 'keyboard-configuration' package. It seems to be in the
> middle of a slow thrash.
Probably as a dependency. I didn't manually install it. However, all
but three entries are commented out in /etc/kbd/config. None of which
have anything to do with key combos.
Still think the key disabling is a consequence of installing a desktop
environment. The powers that be don't want you using it to shutdown X
and quit the desktop (for whatever reasons). However, if you haven't
installed any of the environments, the combo doesn't get disabled, even
if you have installed X and a window manager. Just a theory.
B
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