Safe to install Todays updates

[jwhibdon]

I was wondering if it is safe to let the update delete and not replace libdrm-nouveau1. Most often when something like that happens I get crashed for a while. I think I am using that video driver. I have not installed the nvidia drivers this time due to problems in the past and these appear to be working.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

Is your update telling you it is going to remove libdrm-nouveau1? If so, you might want to wait a day or two and do the update/dist-upgrade again, and see if it is still trying to remove it. Most of the update is kde, not kernel related, so unless it says it is going to remove that package, it probably won't affect the video driver.

Note that my first restart after the upgrade was to the login screen, followed by the black screen o'death. A reboot fixed it.

Also, if you have the disk space, I would recommend a full system backup before doing a large update like this, just as a routine precaution.

[ScottyK]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

Just installed 304 updates on the VMware version, reboot and now it's frozen at the login screen. Recovery mode also freezes after loading the "/scripts/init-bottom".

But at least the splash screen now says "Kubuntu 11.04"!

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

Recovery mode also freezes after loading the "/scripts/init-bottom".

Can you boot your VM with a live CD, or otherwise get into the file system?
If so, take a look at /var/log/dmesg and /var/log/syslog (on the file system, not the CD)
Might be some clues there.
Also you might try temporarily renaming /etc/X11/xorg.conf and see if it will boot into VESA.
Otherwise try booting an older kernel.

[jwhibdon]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

I think I will just wait a few more days to do the update.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

I think I will just wait a few more days to do the update.

Good idea. There seem to be several threads emerging on borked updates.

I thought I was home free, but apparently not. It is taking two or three tries to boot the system, and an additional two or three tries to get kde running properly.

<soapbox> I wish k/ubuntu would have put more emphasis on a STABLE boot process, rather than a FAST boot process. The fact that it runs at all says everything is there, and there is no logical reason why a series of software processes should not work every time, exactly the same way, except that they are somehow not synchronizing properly. In the long run, it takes more time to reboot three or four times, than just to wait for one slow, laborious, but successful bootup. </soapbox>

[ScottyK]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

the above install was from the orginal alpha release.

Today downloaded the daily build dated 21 Jan. Installed it in the virtual machine, and same exact error.

Will also wait for a few more days.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

I ran the update for my Natty guest OS. The updates installed without a hitch. When I rebooted the process stalled on the black screen, before the splash screen would normally appear. I used VM to force Natty to quit. When I restarted Natty I held the Shift Key down until the Grub menu appeared. From the recovery screen I selected "Continue with a normal startup". After the splash screen appeared (the one with the blinking dots) and just before it called the KDE login screen, it dropped to a console and asked for a login name. I entered my name and password and was greeted with a terminal. I issued:
sudo service kdm start
and the login screen appeared. I logged in and KDE started up normally. I played around in KDE 4.6 a bit and then restarted Natty. It booted up normally and went right to the KDE login screen.

So far, I haven't noticed anything different between KDE 4.5.3, which I am running in K10.4, and KDE 4.6 in Natty.

[timek718]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

I ran the update for my Natty guest OS. The updates installed without a hitch. When I rebooted the process stalled on the black screen, before the splash screen would normally appear. I used VM to force Natty to quit. When I restarted Natty I held the Shift Key down until the Grub menu appeared. From the recovery screen I selected "Continue with a normal startup". After the splash screen appeared (the one with the blinking dots) and just before it called the KDE login screen, it dropped to a console and asked for a login name. I entered my name and password and was greeted with a terminal. I issued:
sudo service kdm start
and the login screen appeared. I logged in and KDE started up normally. I played around in KDE 4.6 a bit and then restarted Natty. It booted up normally and went right to the KDE login screen.

So far, I haven't noticed anything different between KDE 4.5.3, which I am running in K10.4, and KDE 4.6 in Natty.

I'm having the same problem on normal boot Natty stops at a blank screen.

Once I got to the command line login, I tried "sudo service kdm start" but to no avail.

I tried playing around with xserverconfig & xserverstatus but all I got was the following error message:

Application initialization failed: no display name and no $DISPLAY environment variable


And I've run apt-get update & apt-get dist-upgrade.


Any ideas?

[timek718]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

It's broken updates. Some packages have yet to be be built for amd64 systems.

[timek718]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

Just to be sure I uninstalled xorg and then reinstalled. Everything seems fine. Just that there's a black screen with an unresponsive keyboard.

I tried sudo service kdm start, but no joy. I also tried sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg. Also no joy.

Any ideas while I wait & hope for updates?

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

Try sudo service kdm stop before starting. Sometimes it's process is actually running, albeit failing to run properly.

Try editing /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc, look for the line that says, UseTheme=true and change it to UseTheme=false

If you are actually able to log into kde, but the screen then goes black, hit ALT-F2, then type in plasma-desktop

As a last ditch effort, you could install gdm (or xdm for that matter) and start a kde session from that. Some things won't work using gdm, such as shutdown -- you have to log out to gdm, and shut down from there. But at least you will have a session.

[dibl]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

Everything seems fine. Just that there's a black screen with an unresponsive keyboard.

I got the same result, after running updates this morning, and getting the new 2.6.38 kernel. I can boot recovery console and it will "drop to root with networking", but nothing I've tried, including the other recovery console options, will get me to an X window. I'm going to try doc's suggestion, for fun, but I think we're waiting for more updates.

EDIT: nope, changing UseTheme to "false" makes no difference. Also, by interrupting grub with the shift key, and getting the boot menu, you can choose "prior Linux versions", which will let you boot the 2.6.37-12 kernel. But it hangs on the Kubuntu plymouth screen, too. So I tried booting 2.6.37-12 "recovery console", and again I can boot to "root with networking". But, if I issue "service kdm start" from there, it locks up. If, from the recovery console, I choose "resume normal boot", then I get my login prompt, and can log in to the tty console. Once there, if I issue "startx", it locks (same as 2.6.38). So, we wait.

[timek718]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

GDM doesn't work either. The "Kubuntu" screen with the dots stays & stays. Like the setup is waiting for something. But at least now I can alt-fx to another console and reboot without using the restart button.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Safe to install Todays updates

Only other thing I can suggest is get rid of the splash screen, at least temporarily. The bootup text may be ugly, but then again it might give you a clue as to what is failing. At the grub screen, hit e and then rub out the splash option on the kernel line. The CTRL-X to boot.

PS I have always had problems with plymouth, so I never use it.