Ubuntu 8.10 - Unable to Open Display after Upgrade from 8.04
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Ubuntu 8.10 - Unable to Open Display after Upgrade from 8.04
Greetings, all.
I finally got around to upgrading the Ubuntu installation on my laptop from 8.04 to 8.10, fully intending to keep going until I'm current. However, after updating to 8.10, Ubuntu seems unable to open display.
It boots into the command line and while I am able to log in, execute sudo commands and run basic programs like nano, trying to run any programs such as grep or gedit returns the "unable to open display" error.
I am running on a Dell Inspiron 8600 which uses an ATI Radeon Mobility 9600 gpu. I uninstalled the old flgrx driver, reinstalled the X.org driver and configured my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file per these instructions: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver
Can anyone offer assistance? It'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Thanks for the tip! Running 'startx' yielded some errors in /etc/X11/xorg.conf that I was able to correct. Now all I need to do is instruct it to give me resolutions other than 640x480...
Last edited by BlueInkAlchemist; 03-27-2010 at 10:29 AM.
The radeon driver should query the monitor for it's supported resolutions. Are you sure you are using the radeon driver? If not, please show us your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file.
The radeon driver should query the monitor for it's supported resolutions. Are you sure you are using the radeon driver? If not, please show us your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file.
Adam
Updated again to 9.04 and now X displays a black screen with a mouse pointer.
How are you starting X? Does the mouse pointer move with the mouse? And can we see your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file?
Adam
X starts automatically on boot, as far as I can tell. The graphical login screen appears. When I enter my user credentials it goes to the black screen with the mouse pointer. The pointer moves with the mouse (or touchpad, in this case).
Here are the relevant files - I finally looked up how to mount a USB drive through the command line. The Xorg.0.log file is attached, as it is too long for the forums.
/ext/X11/xorg.conf:
Code:
# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by failsafeDexconf, using
# values from the debconf database and some overrides to use vesa mode.
#
# You should use dexconf or another such tool for creating a "real" xorg.conf
# For example:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
Section "Files"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "bitmap"
Load "ddc"
Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "int10"
Load "vbe"
Load "glx"
Load "GLcore"
Load "v4l"
EndSection
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used
#Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier "Configured Mouse"
# Driver "mouse"
#EndSection
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Radeon 9600"
Driver "ati"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Option "XAANoOffScreenPixmaps"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 28-50
VertRefresh 43-75
# Set DisplaySize if you want the fonts to scale
# It's in WxH in mm
#
# Display Size 850 650
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Radeon 9600"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 0
Modes "1440x900" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1440x900" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1440x900" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1440x900" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1440x900" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1440x900" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1440x900" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection
Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection
Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection
Upgrades with the 'buntus generally cause trouble - the interweb is littered with tales of woe.
The best advice seems to be to make a backup of your home, then reinstall from scratch.
Then restore the personal files you need (not the config files!) from your backup.
Upgrades with the 'buntus generally cause trouble - the interweb is littered with tales of woe.
The best advice seems to be to make a backup of your home, then reinstall from scratch.
Then restore the personal files you need (not the config files!) from your backup.
In case I do need to go this route, I have what might seem to be a dumb question. Will the new installation simply overwrite the old on the same partition without affecting any other partitions on the HDD?
Please backup your /home/* to an external HDD before you begin. Always best to be safe.
I generally backup (with sudo cp -a /home/* /media/disk/oldhome ) my home to a linux-formatted (ext3 in my case) external HDD, because that way permissions, groups, timestamps etc. are preserved, and I can always get back to my original data.
The install partitioner will offer you a choice of "Manual Partitioning", so just select that, and then set up the partitions the installer will use as you'd like them to be. You can re-use your old swap partition.
I distrust anything that says "automatic", as it usually does something I did not want to happen.
It is also quite a good idea to find all the gory details of how your current system boots, before you start (especially if you have several OSs on different partitions). Bootinfo is excellent for that, and I recommend it.
Please backup your /home/* to an external HDD before you begin. Always best to be safe.
I generally backup (with sudo cp -a /home/* /media/disk/oldhome ) my home to a linux-formatted (ext3 in my case) external HDD, because that way permissions, groups, timestamps etc. are preserved, and I can always get back to my original data.
I'm working on doing this now, thank you. Since the CD drive on the laptop is busted, I'm using a couple USB drives, one to backup home and one for the 9.10 Installation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tredegar
The install partitioner will offer you a choice of "Manual Partitioning", so just select that, and then set up the partitions the installer will use as you'd like them to be. You can re-use your old swap partition.
The partition that worries me is the FAT32 partition I set up as a common file repository between Ubuntu and Windows. While Windows hasn't deigned to boot properly in a while, it's something of a moot point, but I am still concerned about losing data from both home and that shared partition. However, if Manual Partitioning allows me to target the new install at /dev/sda1 (Linux's ext3 partition) without touching any of the others, that'd take a load off of my mind.
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