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**Snowhog** · Jul 07, 2010, 11:53 AM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

First, welcome to KFN.

There are posts here, and elsewhere, on problems using the current nvidia binary drivers with the current kernel (IIRC). Watch this post, as those that have had this issue will comment.

**Spadge** · Jul 07, 2010, 11:54 AM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

Thanks for the speedy reply Snowhog, I will keep an eye out.

**GreyGeek** · Jul 07, 2010, 09:36 PM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

You can start by checking this url out. And, you can use the Kubuntuforum search option to search for nvidia.

**dibl** · Jul 08, 2010, 04:33 AM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

8800GTS is an excellent graphics card. I had one for a year, then thought I'd "upgrade" to a 9600GT. I should have read the specs closer -- the 9600GT was not noticeably superior in any way to the 8800GTS.

So, I do not know why jockey-kde, aka "Hardware Drivers", does not always work as intended. But, being that as it is .....

Download the 256.35 driver/installer from here, either 32-bit or 64-bit as applicable: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=122606

Here is guidance on how to install the proprietary driver yourself:

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3107406.0

Read it once through completely, then follow it step by step, and I think you'll have good graphics pretty soon. Post back if you have trouble with it.

**Spadge** · Jul 08, 2010, 11:10 AM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

Smashing, Thanks dibl - I will give that a go just as soon as I get the kubuntu machine plugged into a wired dhcped network. Then I will report back with tales of woe or success.

Thanks again.

**Spadge** · Jul 10, 2010, 09:31 AM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

I tried the steps set out in that excellent walkthrough, however I'm still stuck with the same problem.

One of the things I have tried to troubleshoot the problem is install sshd on the machine and log in remotely to see if anything is going on. The machine is still responsive but I notice Xorg is sitting at the top of top using up 100% CPU. That can't be right, right?

So after KDE4 starts up and draws the desktop etc, something is happening to X11 to make it wig out and run off with more cycles than a kleptomaniac in Halfords.

I just can't work out what's wrong with it.

**dibl** · Jul 10, 2010, 10:27 AM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

Originally posted by Spadge

Xorg is sitting at the top of top using up 100% CPU. That can't be right, right?

Nope.

OK, probably something is haywire as a consequence of whatever happened when you attempted to use the "Hardware Drivers" aka jockey-kde utility. For example, I wonder if the nouveau driver is completely stripped out?

I would say that you need to attempt to confirm that the nouveau driver is really gone, i.e. Ctrl-Alt-F1 to the console,

Code:

sudo service kdm stop

to shut down X, and then

Code:

sudo apt-get --purge remove xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

then

Code:

sudo update-initramfs -u

When you're pretty sure nouveau is gone, then I would continue by making sure all of nvidia-glx is gone too, by issuing from the root prompt "/":

Code:

sudo rm -rf nvidia*

Finally, go into /etc/X11/ and

Code:

sudo mv xorg.conf xorg.conf.10jul10

Now you should be in shape to change to the /tmp directory and copy the Nvidia downloaded driver installer there, and then run it. At the end, say "YES" to write a new xorg.conf file. Then you can

Code:

sudo service kdm start

and I'm hoping you'll have some success.

Also, when you've got the basic Nvidia driver installed and working, you may still have Grub2-to-plymouth-to desktop transition issues, which can be fixed if you follow this:

http://idyllictux.wordpress.com/2010...ricted-driver/

**Spadge** · Jul 10, 2010, 02:00 PM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

This is pretty much the instructions on the walkthrough post.

I reinstalled kubuntu before starting, so I don't think it's the proprietary drivers doohickey. I installed from fresh, updated using the KDE software manager, jumped ahead in the walkthrough to the apt-get build-essentials bit, then started the walkthrough from the beginning on what looked like a working clean .23 install.

Also, dropping out to TTY1 isn't an option as whatever it is still happens: screen goes blank (or a seemingly random solid colour) and nothing does anything any more, except that the OS is still running cos I can ssh in from my mythbuntu box.

I didn't try removing the old xorg.conf file before letting nvidia-xconfig create a new one. Would that make much of a difference? The corg.conf file created during install is very sparse, I've tried hand filling it with useful information (like V and H ranges my monitor supports, although I'll concede I can't say how accurate they are).

I had to install the driver from the recovery console's net-root option, as nothing else gets me in to the cmd line safely. Once I had rebooted after removing the nouveau drivers the problem surfaced.

There must be something that's a part of the KDE startup that's killing it. I'll go out on a limb and say I suspect X is actually starting fine, as KDE needs to attach to that - but that when it does, at some point in the startup sequence and after it draws the desktop, KDE is causing the X server to run wild.

I'm still at a loss as to what's causing it.

Does anyone have any tips on how to troubleshoot this? I can't see anything obvious in any of the logfiles. How do I know if there's a bit of nouveau hanging around, even after the purge?

Thanks for the assistance once more.

**Spadge** · Jul 17, 2010, 03:37 AM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

Originally posted by dibl

When you're pretty sure nouveau is gone, then I would continue by making sure all of nvidia-glx is gone too, by issuing from the root prompt "/":

Code:

sudo rm -rf nvidia*

I've been thinking about this. Isn't this only going to delete files/folders in the root (/) beginning with "nvidia"? Of which I would assume there will be approximately zero on anyone's system.

If we are trying to purge the entire system of all files/folders beginning with "nvidia" them I would suggest updating the walkthrough with:

Code:

find ./ -name "nvidia*" -print | awk '{print "rm -rf \""$0"\""}' | sh

Cheers

**dibl** · Jul 17, 2010, 06:57 AM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

Code:

man rm

The -r option recurses the command through all sub-directories, so that it catches all files matching the "nvidia*" pattern. The -f ("force") option makes it proceed through any prompts that might come up.

When you run nvidia-xconfig, either stand-alone or at the end of the Nvidia installer, it will mark your prior xorg.conf file with a changed filename, and write a new one, so it is not necessary to remove the old one.

**Spadge** · Jul 17, 2010, 05:07 PM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

I thought rm -r foo* deleted all files starting with foo in the current directory, all dirs starting with foo in the current directory and recursively all files and dirs within those dirs.

What it will not do is walk the filesystem hierarchy and delete /bar/foo.

Thus:

Code:

root@tobermory# mkdir bar
root@tobermory# touch bar/foo
root@tobermory# touch foo
root@tobermory# rm -ir foo
remove foo? n
root@tobermory# find ./ -name "foo" -print | awk '{print "rm \""$0"\""}'
rm "./bar/foo"
rm "./foo"
root@tobermory#

Big difference.

**dibl** · Jul 17, 2010, 05:56 PM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

I think you did not read the manual.

rm [OPTION]... FILE...

DESCRIPTION
This manual page documents the GNU version of rm. rm removes each specified file. By default, it does
not remove directories.

....

-r, -R, --recursive
remove directories and their contents recursively

....

By default, rm does not remove directories. Use the --recursive (-r or -R) option to remove each
listed directory, too, along with all of its contents.

**Spadge** · Jul 18, 2010, 02:04 AM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

OK, show me it working. I've already shown you it not.

The pattern matching isn't done by rm, it's done by the shell. So when the manpages say "remove directories and their contents recursively" they mean from matched items returned by bash, and * is everything in the current directory.

It's the difference between "[delete this pattern from this directory] [and everything under it]" and "[delete this pattern] [from this directory and everything under it]".

`rm -rf nvidia*` from / will not delete /usr/lib/nvidia-current

`find ./ -name "nvidia*" -print | awk '{print "rm -rf \""$0"\""}' | sh` from / will.

Still, if you can show me it working differently I will gladly alter my understanding.

**dibl** · Jul 18, 2010, 06:34 AM

Re: Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

Wow. Well, color my face red, my hat off, and my breakfast plate full of crow pie.

@Spadge, you are right, and I was wrong. I made a little study of the subject of deleting files and directories this morning, and learned things. Your description of how the shell does the pattern matching is exactly right, and my "rm -rf" command was not doing what I thought it was doing. So, I stand corrected -- the "how to" is already fixed.

So, in my studies, I learned what appears to be a slightly more elegant approach to getting the job done -- you can take a look and see if you like it (I'm sure your awk command works just fine, too).

We will use the "find" command, as you did, and feed it arguments with options, directly:

Code:

don@lucid:~$ mkdir test1
don@lucid:~$ mkdir test1/test2
don@lucid:~$ touch test1/foo1
don@lucid:~$ touch test1/test2/foo2
don@lucid:~$ ls -la test1/test2
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 don don 4096 2010-07-18 08:18 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 don don 4096 2010-07-18 08:18 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 don don  0 2010-07-18 08:18 foo2
don@lucid:~$ ls -la test1
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 3 don don 4096 2010-07-18 08:18 .
drwxr-xr-x 50 don don 4096 2010-07-18 08:18 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 don don  0 2010-07-18 08:18 foo1
drwxr-xr-x 2 don don 4096 2010-07-18 08:18 test2
don@lucid:~$ find . -type f -name "foo*" -exec rm -f {} \;
don@lucid:~$ ls -la test1/test2
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 don don 4096 2010-07-18 08:21 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 don don 4096 2010-07-18 08:21 ..
don@lucid:~$ ls -la test1
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 3 don don 4096 2010-07-18 08:21 .
drwxr-xr-x 50 don don 4096 2010-07-18 08:18 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 don don 4096 2010-07-18 08:21 test2
don@lucid:~$

With this approach, I deleted all the "foo*" files, but left the directory structure intact. For files in the system outside the user's folder, that seems safer than taking out directories too. One could take out directories that included "foo" in the name, by issuing the command this way:

Code:

find . -name "foo*" -exec rm -rf {} \;

Well, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I hope there's no charge for the education.

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[SOLVED] Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

[SOLVED] Lucid kubuntu dies after KDE startup

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