"Fatal IO error 104" stops linux GUI starting
 

Hello all

I've been having a few problems recently with using USB devices in Mandriva.

Today, I detatched one and then shut down the computer. When I turned it back on later I found that Linux would no longer boot and instead I was presented with this message and the prompt:

"Fatal IO error 104 (connection reset by peer_ on X Server "0.0"

after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining"

It also tells me to consult the "var/xorg.0.log" for more information, but as my linux knowledge is still very reliant on the graphical front end I don't know how to do this.

When I try to run the command "StartX" it tries to start linux, mentions something about the fonts being messed up and then goes back to the command prompt.

What is the quickest and most painless way for me to get Mandriva up and running again?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Dave

logs are kept in the /var directory. Just navigate to that directory, find the appropriate log, and read it for specific error messages (probably at the end of the log). Post the exact error message here.

I'm not totally up on Mandriva, but often times you can run fc-cache from the command line to solve a fonts link problem. Worth a shot.

In case you don't know how to follow the instructions that masonm gave, I'll expand a bit:

To change to a different directory, you use the cd command (change directory), e.g. "cd /var/log" (without the quotes). In your post, you said X told you the file was in /var. Are you sure this is correct and it wasn't /var/log? Also, the file will likely be called Xorg.0.log and not xorg.0.log. Case sensitivity is important and as such, the two names in the previous sentence are not the same to the shell.

As for reading the file, there are multiple ways to do this. You can use cat, which will just write all the contents of the file to the screen. Since the file may be quite long, this may not be the most useful because you won't be able to scroll. Another option is to use less, which will allow you to scroll using both the arrow keys and the page up/down keys. To just print the end part of the file to the screen, you can use tail. Edit: for all 3 commands, just write the command followed by the filename, e.g. "tail Xorg.0.log".

On reading the Xorg.0.log, the end error part says:

"Could not init font patn element unix/:-1, removing from list

Fatal Server Error:
Could not open font 'fixed'"

and then a little message telling me to consult the X.org foundation

Does this shed any light on to what is causing my computer so much trouble?

Thanks so much for your help so far, its rather daunting to move to a new OS after so many years of Windows and everyone on these forums have been incredibly helpful

Dave

Please post your thread in only one forum. Posting a single thread in the most relevant forum will make it easier for members to help you and will keep the discussion in one place. This thread is being closed because it is a duplicate.

Discussion continues here.