GUI failing to start

Traveosa · 12-05-2010, 05:12 PM

Hey all. I had an Ubuntu 10.10 installation that ran fine for around a month or so. I decided to go out and try to install aptosid (formerly known as sidux) as a dual boot. I couldn't get the desktop to boot in the LiveCD and kept getting an error saying that the nouveau module could not be loaded.

I rebooted and at the main LiveCD screen, I added xmodule=vesa xres=1440X900

I was able to get a 1024x768 resolution. I decided that I really didn't like aptosid, so I shut it down and took out the LiveCD. When I booted back into Ubuntu, my resolution changed down to 640x480 for some reason.

I decided to remove the proprietary nVidia driver I had installed via jockey. Once it was removed, I restarted. Now, I see no startup splash or a login screen - my monitor just goes to sleep.

I have all my files backed up already, so I decided to pop in my Kubuntu 10.10 LiveCD to install that. Once I choose the "Start Kubuntu" option, my monitor goes to sleep.

I tried putting in Linux Mint Debian Edition LiveCD to see if that would work, and I had the same issue.

After this, I went for the nuclear option and installed Windows 7 to see if it would wipe out any memory of my Linux drivers from the system. The Windows drivers for my card worked fine, so I decided to put the Kubuntu LiveCD back in and got the same problem.

Does anyone know what my problem could be? I am currently running a Partition Magic LiveCD, but could only boot into it using the Xvesa option instead of Xorg.

My video card is an nVidia 9800 GT - and it has always worked in the past.

Maybe you guys here will know a solution to this. This is just a random problem that came out of the blue for me.

paulsm4 · 12-05-2010, 06:17 PM

Hi -

1. Clearly, the problem is that X windows isn't liking your combination of video driver/video hardware.

2. You're definitely on the right track - you need to find any appropriate driver, configure that driver in X, and things should then "start working".

3. A couple of additional tips:
a) even if you can't boot into graphics mode, you should still be able to access the command line
EXAMPLE: <Ctl-Alt-F1> will take you to "virtual console #1". You can log in to a command line from there.

b) You can get detailed error messages from any/all of /var/log/Xorg*.log, /var/log/messages and dmesg

c) Assuming you're running an amd64 version of Ubuntu, you can get the latest/greatest compatible driver here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d...d64_177.13.htm
<= the 32-bit version is also freely available on the site, if you need it

'Hope that helps!

Traveosa · 12-05-2010, 07:11 PM

The thing is, I don't currently have an OS installed as of right now. I have two hard drives - One blank one (my main one) and the slave with my files backed up onto it.

I am able to boot into Parted Magic LiveCD. Any idea where I go from here?

paulsm4 · 12-05-2010, 09:45 PM

Hi -

1. Install an OS
<= You can't do much before this step, can you?
2. Once you've got SOMETHING installed, then fix any remaining issues
<= Who knows - there might be NO problems after (re)installing. True?

So please - pick an OS, try installing it .. and post an SOS if you run into problems at that point. OK?

Traveosa · 12-06-2010, 06:37 AM

Okay. I managed to get Kubuntu 10.10 running with all of the F6 (other options) enabled. When I start up, I have to add to GRUB, after the quiet bootsplash "nouveau.modeset=0"

I think that aptosid destroyed the firmware I had, so I reinstalled it via kpackagekit.

THis is where I'm stuck. I can't boot up without adding the nouveau.modeset=0 option. And when I use this, I get a low resolution and very slow graphics.

Traveosa · 12-06-2010, 06:45 AM

Okay. I managed to install the proprietary drive via jockey-kde, but I can only get a resolution of 640x480, and the nouveau driver still won't work.

Any suggestions from here?

paulsm4 · 12-06-2010, 11:21 AM

Hi -

Sorry - it sounds like this bug:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ux/+bug/658258

This appears to be the closest thing to a workaround:

Quote:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...258/comments/8

I deinstalled xserver-xorg-video-nouveau, but X refuses tu use the nvidia driver.
BUT: I uninstalled nvidia-current, reinstalled xserver-xorg-video-nouveau, and now at least X recognizes my correct resolution again: 1680x1050.

Traveosa · 12-06-2010, 02:32 PM

Still didn't work for me. This is such a strange problem. I had a problem with it around this time last year, and what I did then was use the LiveCD of Ubuntu 8.04, took the xorg.conf off of that, and put it on my main installation.

Traveosa · 12-06-2010, 04:05 PM

My xorg.conf file looks pretty normal to me:

Code:

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	DefaultDepth	24
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load	"glx"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Default Device"
	Driver	"nvidia"
	Option	"NoLogo"	"True"
EndSection

Traveosa · 12-07-2010, 05:12 AM

Since I've figured out the problem, I guess the question I'm trying to ask now is this: How do I restore/reenable the Nouveau drivers?