[SOLVED] Segmentation Fault on Backtrack 5 Linux. X11 Refuses to Start

graison · 10-18-2011, 06:42 PM

Hello everyone,

This is my first post on linuxquestions.org so I would like to start off by saying hello to everybody.

Anyway, I seem to be having a bit of a problem with my Xorg X11 not wanting to start. When I execute "startx" to get the GUI, I get a SEGFAULT. I am on Backtrack 5 on an ASUS A53E laptop. It appears to begin loading the GUI and then it stops.

Here is the backtrace:

Code:

Backtrace:
0: /usr/bin/X (xorg_backtrace+0x45fcc8
1: (0x400000+0x5dfbd) [0x45dfbd]
2: /lib/libpthread.so.0 (0x7f710d24e000+0xf8f0) [0x7f710d25d8f0]
3: /usr/bin/X (DamageUnregister+0x53) [0x4d7a33]
4: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libshadow.so (shadowRemove+0x33) [0x7f71094c43c3]
5: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libshadow.so (0x7f71094c3000+0x1884) [0x7f71094c4884]
6: /usr/bin/X (0x400000+0xb56a9) [0x4b56a9]
7: /usr/bin/X (0x400000+0xd2cbc) [0xd2cbc]
8: /usr/bin/X (0x400000+0x2624c) [0x42624c
9: /lib/libc.so.6 (__libc_start_main+0xfd) [0x7f710bf45c4d]
10: /usr/bin/X (0x400000+0x425d59]
Segmentation fault at address (nil)

Any help with solving this problem would be greatly appreciated.

Graison Mitio

westburian · 10-18-2011, 10:12 PM

I recently had a machine that had acted fine (slackware) and I was swapping out some RAM trying to give it more memory, and I started having a slew of segmentation faults. After researching a bit I found that faulty hardware is often a cause, putting the old memory back in and I was back to normal. That is something you might consider, if the same hardware will run other OS's, say, maybe you have other distros in a multiboot setup, and have no issues, then it is probably save to say you have an issue with X.

I'm not familiar with that distro, but assuming everything works fine at CLI and seems stable, why not start at the beginning with.

X -configure

to generate a basic xorg.conf file and then follow the directions to test it. If you can get a black screen, with a large X that the mouse moves around, then you have a foundation with which to start.

From there, you need to figure out how to configure x using whatever tools are specific to your distro, and then choose the window manager or desktop of your choosing.

slackware has xorgsetup and xorgconfig and you choose your desktop with xwmconfig

To make sure your hardware is capable of working okay with X, you might first try running a bootable live CD, I'm very partial to slackware, so why not try slax, wolvix, salix, goblinX, NimbleX, Vector Linux Live, Zenwalk Live or any of the other fine slackware based live CD's, they will all (usually) detect your hardware and (usually) work right out of the box.

Hope that helps, good luck!!!

graison · 10-20-2011, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by westburian

I recently had a machine that had acted fine (slackware) and I was swapping out some RAM trying to give it more memory, and I started having a slew of segmentation faults. After researching a bit I found that faulty hardware is often a cause, putting the old memory back in and I was back to normal. That is something you might consider, if the same hardware will run other OS's, say, maybe you have other distros in a multiboot setup, and have no issues, then it is probably save to say you have an issue with X.

I'm not familiar with that distro, but assuming everything works fine at CLI and seems stable, why not start at the beginning with.

X -configure

to generate a basic xorg.conf file and then follow the directions to test it. If you can get a black screen, with a large X that the mouse moves around, then you have a foundation with which to start.

From there, you need to figure out how to configure x using whatever tools are specific to your distro, and then choose the window manager or desktop of your choosing.

slackware has xorgsetup and xorgconfig and you choose your desktop with xwmconfig

To make sure your hardware is capable of working okay with X, you might first try running a bootable live CD, I'm very partial to slackware, so why not try slax, wolvix, salix, goblinX, NimbleX, Vector Linux Live, Zenwalk Live or any of the other fine slackware based live CD's, they will all (usually) detect your hardware and (usually) work right out of the box.

Hope that helps, good luck!!!

Thank you so much for your prompt and accurate reply! I greatly appreciate it. Anyway, my problem is resolved. I looked deeper into the internet and found there is a bug in backtrack 5 KDE 64 bit. All I had to do live was execute the command

Code:

rm -rf ~/.kde

and I was able to startx and get into the GUI. I installed BT5 onto my HDD and I had a different error message with startx(not a SEGFAULT) and I followed the instructions at http://ariessysadmin.blogspot.com/20...ack-5-kde.html and all is well!