KDE/Xorg no longer starts with system

[Spadge]

Hi everyone.

I just got back from holiday yesterday and ran all the updates that had come up over the last couple of weeks ... and now KDE/Xorg don't start when the system starts up. I have to type 'startx' after logging in on the CLI.

Also, muon won't let me do anything, it says "this operation cannot continue as proper authorisation was not provided" when I click Check For Updates.

spadge@Jupiter:/var/log$ cat Xorg.0.log.old | grep \(EE\)
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[     4.942] (EE) 
[     4.942] (EE) Backtrace:
[     4.942] (EE) 0: /usr/bin/X (xorg_backtrace+0x48) [0x7fc858848d28]
[     4.942] (EE) 1: /usr/bin/X (0x7fc8586a0000+0x1aca19) [0x7fc85884ca19]
[     4.942] (EE) 2: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0 (0x7fc85779d000+0x10340) [0x7fc8577ad340]
[     4.942] (EE) 3: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpciaccess.so.0 (pci_device_next+0x100) [0x7fc8579bda00]
[     4.942] (EE) 4: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpciaccess.so.0 (pci_device_find_by_slot+0x2b) [0x7fc8579bda8b]
[     4.942] (EE) 5: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpciaccess.so.0 (pci_device_vgaarb_init+0xaf) [0x7fc8579bf59f]
[     4.942] (EE) 6: /usr/bin/X (0x7fc8586a0000+0xb4189) [0x7fc858754189]
[     4.942] (EE) 7: /usr/bin/X (xf86BusConfig+0x62) [0x7fc8587293f2]
[     4.942] (EE) 8: /usr/bin/X (InitOutput+0x993) [0x7fc8587372b3]
[     4.942] (EE) 9: /usr/bin/X (0x7fc8586a0000+0x596bb) [0x7fc8586f96bb]
[     4.942] (EE) 10: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (__libc_start_main+0xf5) [0x7fc8561dcec5]
[     4.942] (EE) 11: /usr/bin/X (0x7fc8586a0000+0x44dde) [0x7fc8586e4dde]
[     4.942] (EE) 
[     4.942] (EE) Segmentation fault at address 0x0
[     4.942] (EE) 
[     4.942] (EE) Caught signal 11 (Segmentation fault). Server aborting
[     4.943] (EE) 
[     4.943] (EE) 
[     4.943] (EE) Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
[     4.943] (EE) 
[     4.943] (EE) Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.

There are no errors in /var/log/Xorg.0.log

Please help, I don't know what's gone wrong.

[Spadge]

...

Something else I have noticed - I only have dummy audio output available. The real sound chip is greyed out of the selection options.

[millusions]

ah, the achilles heel of Kubuntu!

i would suggest not running apt-get dist-upgrade too often, my experience with it has been just like yours, you have to fix things afterwards.

i found that when things are broken after an update, its a matter of re-installing relevant packages.
for me it was bluetooth,

in your case it might be kdm, have a look in configuration tool/ Login ..

[Spadge]

KDE does work though when I start it manually, but when I do I get all sorts of problems with audio not playing and muon not authenticating.

And since I rolled back to the previous kernel version, KDE now starts OK (with working audio and muon) if I let the grub menu 10 second countdown expire ...

Something's not right and I don't know what.

[Spadge]

I'm still plagued and stumped by the problem. The computer won't boot into kde reliably. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I can't work out how to make it not.

Booting into recovery mode and selecting resume makes it work.

I got rid of lightdm and switched over to kdm, thinking that might fix it. It didn't.

$ cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old

[     7.620] (II) LoadModule: "glx"
[     7.620] (II) Loading /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xorg/extra-modules/libglx.so
[     7.627] (II) Module glx: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"
[     7.627]    compiled for 4.0.2, module version = 1.0.0
[     7.627]    Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[     7.627] (II) NVIDIA GLX Module  340.46  Wed Sep 24 13:54:14 PDT 2014
[     7.627] Loading extension GLX
[     7.627] (II) LoadModule: "nvidia"
[     7.627] (II) Loading /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xorg/extra-modules/nvidia_drv.so
[     7.627] (II) Module nvidia: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"
[     7.627]    compiled for 4.0.2, module version = 1.0.0
[     7.627]    Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[     7.627] (II) NVIDIA dlloader X Driver  340.46  Wed Sep 24 13:34:03 PDT 2014
[     7.627] (II) NVIDIA Unified Driver for all Supported NVIDIA GPUs
[     7.627] (++) using VT number 7

[     7.628] (EE) No devices detected.
[     7.628] (==) Matched modesetting as autoconfigured driver 0
[     7.628] (==) Matched fbdev as autoconfigured driver 1
[     7.628] (==) Matched vesa as autoconfigured driver 2
[     7.628] (==) Assigned the driver to the xf86ConfigLayout
[     7.628] (II) LoadModule: "modesetting"
[     7.629] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/modesetting_drv.so
[     7.629] (II) Module modesetting: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[     7.629]    compiled for 1.15.0, module version = 0.8.1
[     7.629]    Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[     7.629]    ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 15.0
[     7.629] (II) LoadModule: "fbdev"
[     7.630] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/fbdev_drv.so
[     7.630] (II) Module fbdev: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[     7.630]    compiled for 1.15.0, module version = 0.4.4
[     7.630]    Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[     7.630]    ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 15.0
[     7.630] (II) LoadModule: "vesa"
[     7.630] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
[     7.631] (II) Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[     7.631]    compiled for 1.15.0, module version = 2.3.3
[     7.631]    Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[     7.631]    ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 15.0
[     7.631] (II) NVIDIA dlloader X Driver  340.46  Wed Sep 24 13:34:03 PDT 2014
[     7.631] (II) NVIDIA Unified Driver for all Supported NVIDIA GPUs
[     7.631] (II) modesetting: Driver for Modesetting Kernel Drivers: kms
[     7.631] (II) FBDEV: driver for framebuffer: fbdev
[     7.631] (II) VESA: driver for VESA chipsets: vesa
[     7.631] (++) using VT number 7

[     7.631] (WW) xf86OpenConsole: setpgid failed: Operation not permitted
[     7.631] (WW) xf86OpenConsole: setsid failed: Operation not permitted
[     7.631] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for modesetting
[     7.631] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbdev
[     7.631] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
[     7.631] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
[     7.631] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfbdevhw.so
[     7.631] (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[     7.631]    compiled for 1.15.1, module version = 0.0.2
[     7.631]    ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 15.0
[     7.631] (II) FBDEV(0): using default device
[     7.631] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for vesa
[     7.631] (EE) 
[     7.631] (EE) Backtrace:
[     7.631] (EE) 0: /usr/bin/X (xorg_backtrace+0x48) [0x7f27da91ad28]
[     7.631] (EE) 1: /usr/bin/X (0x7f27da772000+0x1aca19) [0x7f27da91ea19]
[     7.631] (EE) 2: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0 (0x7f27d986f000+0x10340) [0x7f27d987f340]
[     7.631] (EE) 3: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpciaccess.so.0 (pci_device_next+0x100) [0x7f27d9a8fa00]
[     7.631] (EE) 4: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpciaccess.so.0 (pci_device_find_by_slot+0x2b) [0x7f27d9a8fa8b]
[     7.631] (EE) 5: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpciaccess.so.0 (pci_device_vgaarb_init+0xaf) [0x7f27d9a9159f]
[     7.631] (EE) 6: /usr/bin/X (0x7f27da772000+0xb4189) [0x7f27da826189]
[     7.632] (EE) 7: /usr/bin/X (xf86BusConfig+0x62) [0x7f27da7fb3f2]
[     7.632] (EE) 8: /usr/bin/X (InitOutput+0x993) [0x7f27da8092b3]
[     7.632] (EE) 9: /usr/bin/X (0x7f27da772000+0x596bb) [0x7f27da7cb6bb]
[     7.632] (EE) 10: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (__libc_start_main+0xf5) [0x7f27d82aeec5]
[     7.632] (EE) 11: /usr/bin/X (0x7f27da772000+0x44dde) [0x7f27da7b6dde]
[     7.632] (EE) 
[     7.632] (EE) Segmentation fault at address 0x0
[     7.632] (EE) 
Fatal server error:
[     7.632] (EE) Caught signal 11 (Segmentation fault). Server aborting
[     7.632] (EE) 
[     7.632] (EE) 
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support 
         at http://wiki.x.org
 for help. 
[     7.632] (EE) Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
[     7.632] (EE) 
[     7.633] (EE) Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.

[SteveRiley]

This line...

[     7.628] (EE) No devices detected.

...makes me think that kernel modules aren't getting loaded. Without the correct kernel modules, X won't be able to load the corresponding graphical drivers. And for some reason X itself is also crapping out.

What's the output of lsmod | grep nv?

[millusions]

I'd be very surprised if there were a common problem with this standard upgrade command, this and other fora would be flooded with reports!

well, there are plenty of posts like that, not specific to one single problem..

ive upgraded ubuntu now xxx doesnt work, one of the updates i did early removed all bluetooth relevant files. ( by the way, the Vaio hinges were broked after a trip away, no accident or misshandling, the warranty people gave me a full refund after 2 years of owning it as they couldnt source the parts - you were right! )

to the OP.

i would purge nvidia drivers and start from there..

[Snowhog]

ah, the achilles heel of Kubuntu!

i would suggest not running apt-get dist-upgrade too often, my experience with it has been just like yours, you have to fix things afterwards.

An achilles heel, dist-upgrade is not; for Kubuntu or other. One just needs to understand the difference between upgrade and dist-upgrade.

       upgrade
           upgrade is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in /etc/apt/sources.list. Packages currently
           installed with new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already installed
           retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package will be left at their
           current version. An update must be performed first so that apt-get knows that new versions of packages are available.

       dist-upgrade
           dist-upgrade in addition to performing the function of upgrade, also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions of packages; apt-get has a "smart"
           conflict resolution system, and it will attempt to upgrade the most important packages at the expense of less important ones if necessary. The dist-upgrade command may
           therefore remove some packages. The /etc/apt/sources.list file contains a list of locations from which to retrieve desired package files. See also apt_preferences(5) for a
           mechanism for overriding the general settings for individual packages.

dist-upgrade is the only thing I use, and my system is, has been, and will remain, rock solid stable.

[millusions]

to be honest i didnt know there is a difference!
ill give it a shot, thank you!

[Spadge]

This line...

[     7.628] (EE) No devices detected.

...makes me think that kernel modules aren't getting loaded. Without the correct kernel modules, X won't be able to load the corresponding graphical drivers. And for some reason X itself is also crapping out.

What's the output of lsmod | grep nv?

spadge@Jupiter:~$ lsmod | grep nv
nvidia 10548695 50
drm 303102 2 nvidia

It's intermittent, which means I have pretty much zero chance of nailing this one down.

I use the muon software updater to update software; is that an upgrade or a dist-upgrade?

I have tried rolling back and subsequently re-updating: kernel version, nvidia driver version.

spadge@Jupiter:~$ dpkg -l *nvidia* | grep ^ii | grep binary
ii nvidia-340 340.46-0ubuntu1~xedgers14.04.1 amd64 NVIDIA binary driver - version 340.46

spadge@Jupiter:~$ uname -a
Linux Jupiter 3.13.0-37-generic #64-Ubuntu SMP Mon Sep 22 21:28:38 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Thanks

[Snowhog]

I use the muon software updater to update software; is that an upgrade or a dist-upgrade?

IIRC, Muon uses apt upgrade, not apt dist-upgrade.

       upgrade
           upgrade is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in /etc/apt/sources.list. Packages currently
           installed with new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already installed
           retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package will be left at their
           current version. An update must be performed first so that apt-get knows that new versions of packages are available.

       dist-upgrade
           dist-upgrade in addition to performing the function of upgrade, also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions of packages; apt-get has a "smart"
           conflict resolution system, and it will attempt to upgrade the most important packages at the expense of less important ones if necessary. The dist-upgrade command may
           therefore remove some packages. The /etc/apt/sources.list file contains a list of locations from which to retrieve desired package files. See also apt_preferences(5) for a
           mechanism for overriding the general settings for individual packages.

[ajc00]

I've used kubuntu for years and never had a problem with dist-upgrade. It sounds like the update didn't complete correctly.

Under normal circumstances I'd try to nail down the individual issues but it sounds like you have many. In which case here is what I would do.

1. apt-get update
2. apt-get upgrade
3. apt-get install --reinstall kubuntu-desktop

After which you should be much happier.

I've had to do this before after nuking some files with a rogue script I was writing.

[oshunluvr]

IME, intermittent problems are usually hardware. You don't state PC type: lap or desk?

If you ran sudo update && sudo dist-upgrade and got not errors, then software is at least installed. IMO, those initial errors don't look like nvidia ones, rather X related.

[vinnywright]

OK .....new to this Nvidia stuff @hear ,,, but if I understand what I have been reading ...... if you use a Nvidia driver from Nvidia and not one in the Ubuntu repo it has to be built (it dose this on install) against the running kernel ver. ,,,,,,,and dose not get rebuilt on a kernel upgrade (you probably had one after 2+ weeks of no updates) unless you have "dkms" installed first .

so do/did you have the "dkms" package installed ?

did reinstalling the Nvidia driver help/work ?

+ I would start doing my updates from the cli with

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

,,, I just feal as though the "dist-upgrade" dose a more complete upgrade (read the discription in post #12)

of course I could be all wrong hear as I am new to Nvidia

VINNY

[Spadge]

IME, intermittent problems are usually hardware. You don't state PC type: lap or desk?

If you ran sudo update && sudo dist-upgrade and got not errors, then software is at least installed. IMO, those initial errors don't look like nvidia ones, rather X related.

It's a dual-boot (Win7 + Kubuntu 14.04) desktop with nvidia 660ti graphics. Water cooled CPU with lots of fans, so I know it's not a heat problem. Also, it mostly seems to warm-boot OK and the problem seems to crop up when cold-booting. So normally I'd be thinking PSU, except that's pretty new and well up to the job in hand. Could be something loose inside, but then I'd expect that to manifest itself more if you know what I mean.

I'll try the `apt-get install --reinstall kubuntu-desktop` thing and see how that goes.

The whole thing may remove itself when 14.10 replaces 14.04 anyway. Heck, I might even fresh install that rather than upgrade to it. Although tbh I live in fear of fresh installs ...