Debian now only booting to command line

Lagamorph · 05-30-2015, 03:23 PM

Ok, here's my xorg.0.log file,

http://paste.debian.net/189313

And the results of my dpkg -l | grep -i kde command,

http://paste.debian.net/189314

Head_on_a_Stick · 05-30-2015, 03:35 PM

I think you just need an xorg configuration file for your fglrx driver.
https://wiki.debian.org/ATIProprietary#configure

Amarildo · 05-30-2015, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Head_on_a_Stick

I think you just need an xorg configuration file for your fglrx driver.
https://wiki.debian.org/ATIProprietary#configure

If the OP doesn't understand the terminology too well, there's always a simpler way:

Code:

sudo aticonfig --initial

will create and properly configure your display

Lagamorph · 05-30-2015, 03:48 PM

I have a file named xorg.conf file at /etc/X11, the contents can be seen below,

http://paste.debian.net/189359

I just ran this,

Code:

sudo aticonfig --initial

and then did a reboot, but unfortunately still booting to the command line.

Head_on_a_Stick · 05-30-2015, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagamorph

I have a file named xorg.conf file at /etc/X11, the contents can be seen below,

http://paste.debian.net/189359

I just ran this,

Code:

sudo aticonfig --initial

and then did a reboot, but unfortunately still booting to the command line.

I would recommend (re)moving that file and creating a new configuration file by using the method outlined in my link above.

Lagamorph · 05-30-2015, 03:59 PM

Ok, removed the xorg.conf files and re-ran the command then did another reboot, but still booting to command line sadly.

Head_on_a_Stick · 05-30-2015, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagamorph

re-ran the command

Which command?

I don't think `aticonfig` is working for your system.

You should try the two commands from my link (after removing any other xorg configuration files on your system):

Code:

# mkdir /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
# echo -e 'Section "Device"\n\tIdentifier "My GPU"\n\tDriver "fglrx"\nEndSection' > /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-fglrx.conf

Lagamorph · 05-30-2015, 04:26 PM

Ok, just tried this,

Code:

# mkdir /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
# echo -e 'Section "Device"\n\tIdentifier "My GPU"\n\tDriver "fglrx"\nEndSection' > /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-fglrx.conf

That's created the 20-fglrx.conf file, though no xorg.conf file. I ran a reboot after running those two commands, but still booting into Command line only mode.

Am I supposed to run,

Code:

sudo aticonfig --initial

After running that and then reboot again?

Amarildo · 05-30-2015, 04:40 PM

Your system may have many left-over pieces from the drivers you installed manually. Not to mention there could be problems in the Kernel because you installed them that way.

IMO it's way easier/faster to just use a LiveCD to backup your data and then re-install Debian and then the drivers as I described on the previous page, as manually installing them (from the .run file) can lead to lots of problems if the user doesn't know how to maintain the Kernel/drivers and/or how to fix things if something goes wrong.

Quote:

Am I supposed to run,
Code:

sudo aticonfig --initial

After running that and then reboot again?

Do you still have the ATI driver installed? Which one? Did you remove the driver you manually installed?

Quote:

That's created the 20-fglrx.conf file, though no xorg.conf file

That's OK.

Head_on_a_Stick · 05-30-2015, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagamorph

Am I supposed to run,

Code:

sudo aticonfig --initial

After running that and then reboot again?

No, I don't think that would help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagamorph

I did some more Googling, ran some commands and did some apt-get installs (though sadly I can't recall exactly what they were)

You must have b0rked your system doing this.

Post the output of:

Code:

apt-cache policy

Lagamorph · 05-30-2015, 04:45 PM

I think you're probably right and I have borked it

Here's the results of the apt-cache policy,

http://paste.debian.net/189421

I may just chalk this one up as a lesson learned and reinstall, then follow Amarildo's steps to get setup as I want. Then be sure to take a backup image I can restore from incase of future...'lessons'

For what it's worth I installed by burning the main installation disc to a USB pen rather than burning DVDs.
One thing I have noticed is the occasional popup when I started up (when I could get into GUI mode) asking for the CD-ROM. Any way I can get rid of that when I do reinstall?

Head_on_a_Stick · 05-30-2015, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagamorph

Code:

500 http://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ precise/steam i386 Packages
     origin repo.steampowered.com
 500 http://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ precise/steam amd64 Packages
     origin repo.steampowered.com

What the hell are these?

When you re-install, follow this guide:
https://wiki.debian.org/Steam

Head_on_a_Stick · 05-30-2015, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagamorph

One thing I have noticed is the occasional popup when I started up (when I could get into GUI mode) asking for the CD-ROM. Any way I can get rid of that when I do reinstall?

Edit the file at /etc/apt/sources.list and remove the lines relating to the CD-ROM

Lagamorph · 05-30-2015, 05:00 PM

I installed Steam using a guide I found on the Steam forums, which involved downloading and running a steam.deb file, I believe those were likely added by that package.

And thanks! Thank you everyone who's contributed! Despite not quite getting there, I do feel I've learned a few things. And that's what really matters right? No harm done and I learned something along the way.

Head_on_a_Stick · 05-30-2015, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagamorph

I installed Steam using a guide I found on the Steam forums, which involved downloading and running a steam.deb file, I believe those were likely added by that package.

That is entirely unnecessary in Debian jessie -- I have it working perfectly in my jessie systems by following the Debian wiki guide I have linked above.