Can't run KDE4

[The Liquidator]

Hi

Have just upgraded to 8.10 and installed all updates. Thank goodness I had gnome installed. I have a couple of problem issues:

firstly during the upgrade I got the error message "unable to upgrade pips-scx4450". Basically that appears to be a .deb file that was created by an install script for my printer, an Epson DX4400 (by the way guys don't touch it with a barge-pole unless you are fond of buying ink cartridges!).

I get error messages when I try to remove it and whenever I install other packages synaptic tries to configure it every time and produces an error message.

Anyway, that' s trivia. I can't get KDE4 to run, or at least show on my desktop. On upgrade after logging in on kdm I get the typical splash screen. It got up to the 4th icon (the blue filing cabinet) then the screen flickered and I then got a black screen (with working cursor) and a few seconds later I am notified that an application has crashed. I'm invited to click on the message that appeared in the top left hand corner which then disappears. I'm afraid that's it.

From a thread elsewhere I concluded it might be compiz that was the villain so I uninstalled that together with desktop effects. I now get that magic 5th icon (the kde emblem on the splash screen) but then the same error message and now a white (or very light grey) screen

I suspect it might be plasma or the entire desktop that is crashing (because I can move the cursor I assume it's not the x-server) but I don't know how to diagnose this or what, if anything, I can do about it. As the upgrade seems to have upgraded gnome without issue I guess I'm better plodding on with that than reinstalling hardy. Does anyone have an idea what may have happened? Is there anywhere I will be able to find the error messages so I can post them?

Thanks

ian

[dibl]

Re: Can't run KDE4

KDE4 is producing some "video issues" for many users, and the upgrade from 8.04 seems to be particularly fraught with these kinds of problems.

First, to make sure your hardware actually will run it correctly, I'd advise you to make an 8.10 Live CD, and boot that. You might need (like me) to use F4 "Safe Graphics" mode to get it to boot directly to the GUI. If that works, you'll know it's not a lost cause.

You could use the released Beta image, or better yet download one from the daily build, which will be more current:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/daily-live/current/

If it turns out that KDE4 actually does run reasonably well, which I expect, then we can talk about what it would take to install it correctly.

[natman2007]

Re: Can't run KDE4

Hey, I am using the beta Live CD and i have the exact same problem. Boot from cd as far as splash screen 3rd icon and blank screen and it goes back to splash screen again. I will try the daily build cd and "F4"., and report back.

[The Liquidator]

Re: Can't run KDE4

Thanks

I downloaded the beta at the end of last week and the upgrade ran smoothly apart from the issue with my printer driver. KDE 4 worked. So I then did a reinstall and got the printer driver error I referred to before. So I did an install and got the same symptoms I've got now.

As I've got gnome running properly I guess my best bet is going to be to run with that for a while as it must surely be fixed some time soon. Shame though.

By the way machine is a dell 630m laptop with an intel 915 graphics card, so nothing too fancy.

Ian

[dibl]

Re: Can't run KDE4

Yep, you're not the only one presently experiencing issues with the GMA915:

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3098015.0

:P

But I'd still try booting the current daily build Live CD. If it happens to look OK, after you do F4 "Safe Graphics", then you want to take a look at /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and maybe copy it off to a USB stick or something like that. Then you'd know what it takes to run your video correctly.

[natman2007]

Re: Can't run KDE4

I am after running the daily build (8/10) and ran it in both normal and safe graphics modes. Still the same problem, gets to the KDE4.1 splash screen 3 icons then black and start again over and over. Im using a Dell optiplex 260 1.8 ghz 1024 ram dell i845 graphics

[The Liquidator]

Re: Can't run KDE4 (partial success!)

I have stumbled upon the fix for this. Bear in mind this was an upgrade rather than a new install.

I remembered with kde4 in hardy that if I messed up and couldn't boot I could always get a clean start by deleting the kde4 config file.

From within gnome I checked what was in that file. There was a resource folder that contained my Kontact, kmail and korganiser data so instead of deleting kdeconfig I renamed it kdeconfig-old. Log into kde and hey presto I am up and running. Copy the resource folder from the old folder into into the new one and I'm back on track.

I can only assume that there was something in my kde3.5.10 settings that the upgrade path could not convert properly.

Now it's just the flickering that moonrise complained of in the thread referred to below by dibl. Moonrise mate, you are dead right- it is annoying! At least I am now off the blocks though!

Hope this helps someone

Ian

[andybleaden]

Re: Can't run KDE4

Interesting and thanks for sharing your pan and success...it has made me put the brakes on upgrading just for now