[SOLVED!!] - Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

[dibl]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

No, leave the xorg.conf file alone for the moment. Those errors starting and stopping KDM tell me that Barbolani is on the right trail -- it should not do that. Better look in that direction first -- I'm away from my system, so I'm not sure whether "kdm" is a separate package that can be re-installed, or exactly how to advise you. But that definitely needs fixed.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

It is, Dibl! I just looked it up.

[bag]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

OK Dibl, so I've got another error here - and since you seem to be an "X"pert (sorry, couldn't resist that one), maybe you can give me a quick pointer before I reboot...

I've reinstalled hal, and it no longer shows that error. However, the terminal still shows the message about the original problems with X - but also some additional info...

X.Org X server 1.6.4
Release Date: 2009-9-27
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.24-23-server i686 Ubuntu
Current operating system: Linux kubuntu 2.6.31-14-generic #48-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 16 14:04:26 UTC 2009 i686
Kernel command line: root=UUID=faaa3c7c-93e3-4b24-a03f-8f95a1f616f2 ro single
Build date: 26 October 2009 05:15:02PM
xorg-server 2:1.6.4-2ubuntu4 (buildd@)
      Before reporting problems, check hhtp://wiki.x.org
      to make sure that you have the latest version.
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", time: Thu Nov 12 20:24:57 2009
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
Freetype: couldn't open face /var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType/wqy-zenhei.ttf: 1
Freetype: couldn't open face /var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType/wqy-zenhei.ttf: 1
Freetype: couldn't open face /var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType/wqy-zenhei.ttf: 1

waiting for X server to shut down ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log

So, I reinstalled the package "x-ttcidfont-conf". But this last "ddxSigGiveUp" - is that related to the font problems, or something different?

What would be your suggestion?

Thanks

Bag.

[dibl]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

Yep, that issue is all about fonts.

Have you intentionally installed extra font packages? I'm thinking Defoma is one you get with the msttcorefonts package, but I wouldn't swear to it. If you installed msttcorefonts, I'd say remove --purge and then reinstall it. Then after you do that, do the same (again) with the x-ttcidfont-conf package. Wouldn't hurt to do the same with the xfonts-base package. Also here's something relevant:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=679432

[bag]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

OK, thanks for that. Will have a look and purge and reinstall those.

Yes - I had installed msttcorefonts (I think!). Will let you know how I get on with the purge and reinstallation.

Interesting info about the fonts on that link... Will see what happens when its booted - hopefully back in to a graphical environment this time...

Will have a pop at it as soon as I get home from work.

Cheers.

bag

[bag]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

Hmmm.... why do I get the feeling that I'm going a bit backwards now...

Have purged and reinstalled both the msfonts and also the x-ttcidfont-conf. The second one required an uninstall and reinstall of kubuntu-desktop and all the associated dependencies...

So then, I rebooted and hit another problem... The KDE GUI becomes unstable somehow and shuts off all output to the monitor.

This is what happens. As it starts, it brings up the lovely new splash screen with the "Kit 2000 side-to-side light trail" thingy... Then as it approaches the time for a log-in screen, the light trails split into two separate instances positioned above the original position, and they overwrite the log-in screen, like it was redrawing it again and again but that the routine had not been stopped.

It all looks a bit "broken" really. Doesn't stop me logging in though. So I log in and the usual suspects start - Skype, Yakuake etc. But as the log-in screen gives way to the KDE start-up splash the split trails get overdrawn. It doesn't last though. A couple of seconds later, it comes back...

Then as the KDE start-up splash gives way to the desktop, the desktop wins again, and the split trails are overdrawn once more. Doesn't last though... although they come back as only a couple of pixels wide this time, they still come back, moving left to right on the screen...

And then about five to ten seconds later, the screen goes blank. Completely. The monitor pops up it's own little OSD to show me that it is no longer receiving a signal and then I'm stuck...

Using the magic sys-rq keys gets me out of the system and back to a log-in screen - but I no longer have control of the keyboard within kdm since I've wrested control away from the X server. Ctrl-Alt-F1 doesn't seem to drop me to a terminal so I'm left with finishing the Alt-SysRq-R S E I U B routine which reboots me.

I have now chosen the recovery kernel option and booted back into command line with networking. So, here we go again...!

So then, how do I fix the X server issues? Is there a meta-package that allows me to uninstall and reinstall all the relevant packages?

Cheers.

Mark.

[flarson]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

We need to find out what your situation currently is.

uname -r

will tell you which kernel is currently running. Then what video card do you have? Actually show me the output of

lspci

Have you actually run

sudo aptitude update

and

sudo aptitude -f full-upgrade

until everything completes with out error? Can you boot into the non-rescue mode of that latest kernel?

[dibl]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

The monitor pops up it's own little OSD to show me that it is no longer receiving a signal and then I'm stuck...

It's starting to look like a problem with the monitor. Can you tell about the monitor?

[bag]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

Right then, so to answer your questions...

uname -a responds with:

Linux kubuntu 2.6.31-14-generic #48-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 16 14:04:26 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux

This, I believe is the new kernel for Karmic Koala.

lspci returns a bunch of stuff, but I presume that the only thing you need to know about here is the video card. For that, it says:

04:00.0 VGA compatible contgroller: nVidia Corporation G73 [GeForce 7600 GS] (rev a1)

An aptitude update tells me that it needs to install some upgrades, and is currently downloading them to install. It is telling me that it needs to upgrade:

libsmbclient
libwbclient0
samba
samba-common
smbclient

There is a package that is recommended, but will NOT be installed - samba-common-bin

Should I be installing recommended packages? What exactly does it mean when it says that it will not install but it recommends a package? And if I should really install them, is there a command for aptitude that allows me to search for all packages that are recommended but not yet installed, and then install them all in one go?

For dibl - I seriously doubt that it is the monitor. It works fine. Booting into a command line with networking is fine, shows the terminal without issues. The monitor works fine when loading the LiveCD etc etc... The fact that it shows me it's own OSD is just to tell me that the graphics card had shut off the signal. It's exactly the same OSD message that I get when the system is booting up / rebooting and it is just about to kick off...

As I say - I really do not think it's the monitor at all - but I could be wrong (it has been known!!). And you seem considerably more expert in such matters. So you should know that my screen is a Benq FP92G, a 19" TFT screen. I've never had any issues with it at all - it's been a star since the day I bought it...

The monitor problems show up when I boot into the new kernel (full version). Booting into the recovery options version and choosing command line with networking I never actually have any monitor problems at all... It's only when I get to the KDE GUI that it all goes a bit pear-shaped...

Any pointers for now would be greatly appreciated. Was almost there - and now seem to have slipped at the last hurdles...

Cheers.

Bag.

[dibl]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

I would reinstall the nVidia driver. I use the downloaded proprietary driver. If the problem is not the monitor, then it's the interface between the GPU and the monitor. Meaning the driver is not doing the job correctly. This may help:

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

[barbolani]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

Bag, those samba packages are regular upgrades, I was notified yesterday that there were updates pending and applied those. Pending upgrades are not related to your problem.

[flarson]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

You do have the latest kernel and your system is up to date. The Nvidia video adaptor is what I wanted to know from lspci. The updated samba is not affecting this. As for installing recommended packages I would say install them if you will be using them, if not, don't.

The problem probably lies either in the nvidia driver or in your .kde directory. When you choose rescue mode some of the init scripts (or similar functionality from upstart) do not get started. If at all possible you should boot to the standard grub line and use "service"to stop and start KDM as required. This should assure that other services are started, unless they are hosed on your system. You may well have some aspects of your system that are not entirely right after the botched upgrade. If you see anything that seems suspect, aptitude reinstall it.

In this case I would start by reinstalling nvidia-glx, nvidia-common, nvidia-185-modaliases, nvidia-185-libvdpau and nvidia-settings. You should look at your xorg.conf file. You probably do need one to load the nvidia driver but it probably needs no more than this

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier   "Default Screen"
    Monitor     "Configured Monitor"
    Device     "Configured Video Device"
    DefaultDepth  24
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load  "glx"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier   "Configured Video Device"
    Driver "nvidia"
    Option "NoLogo"    "True"
EndSection

If that does not solve it, stop kdm, move your ~/.kde to something else, restart kdm and login. It will recreate your .kde directory with defaults.

[bag]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

Folks,

Right then, more info.

I've reinstalled the nvidia proprietary driver, it seemed to go fine (great instructions on that other post dibl).

I also reinstalled all the suggested packages by mando_hacker and checked the updated xorg.conf file - which showed all the right stuff. No hassles.

All this I had to do from a command line before KDE started. I had chosen to boot to command line with networking from the recovery kernel options, but couldn't actually install the nvidia driver at runlevel 1, so had to push up to level 3. Seemed to work fine though.

I rebooted and got _exactly_ the same problems as previously. It went into KDE and then KDE or Xorg crashed about ten seconds after I got the desktop up. No warning or anything, just died and seized up. Needed to magic sysrq key out of there.

So I rebooted, chose the recovery kernel and went in to move the .kde file as also suggested. It reset my settings to default but still, didn't stop the main problem at all. Same again.

As a minor aside, when booting the recovery option I see two things that I should mention:

Firstly, since it shows no splash screen, I'm able to see the text go past - it shows the same problems that I had much earlier, about not being able to mount partitions (or at least struggling to do so)...

Secondly, there's a Recovery Menu text box - with multiple options. I tend to always try the "Repair broken packages" option - and it gives an interesting error message as it works slowly up the screen.

rm: cannot remove `/var/lib/apt/lists/partial/*`: No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove `/var/cache/apt/archives/partial/*`: No such file or directory

Is this important?

So - I'm now stumped. Any more bright ideas about why my desktop suddenly just dies on me? We've done all the obvious stuff... so is there anything more obscure that might be the root cause of the dying desktop?

Thanks.

Bag

[flarson]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

Why runlevel 3 instead of 2? Exactly the same as before, which was what? Is X running? is KDM running? Is the nvidia module loaded? What does /var/log/Xorg.0.log say? Does /var/log/syslog give any indication of something failing? You are now seeing problems with disc mounting? What is in /etc/fstab? What is the output from mount? Can you boot without the recovery option?

[bag]

Re: Katastrophic Koala upgrade - system completely borked...

Wow, that's a whole load of questions in a very short space!!!!

Jumped to Runlevel 3 because that is what the NVIDIA installer requested/suggested when I ran it. It complained about runlevel 1 and suggested moving to 3 to allow full installation of the nVidia driver.

Exactly the same as before means:

It boots but has drawing problems with the splashscreen that then get carried through to the kdm login screen and then beyond into desktop. Then after ten seconds, it dies and the screen goes blank. At this point I've had to do my favourite new trick (thanks dibl) of the magic sysrq key to kill everything off and restart the computer.

To do anything recently, I've had to boot to the recovery mode, choose command line with networking and fix stuff from there. No X. No KDE.

I've been following your suggestions and fixing stuff at this command line before trying to reboot and let it choose the normal kernel options and try to boot into KDE to see if if fixed it.

nVidia module - don't know. How can I check? Should/would it be loaded when I boot the command line in the recovery mode?

/var/log/Xorg.0.log says not a hell of a lot... I presume that you want me to flag warnings, errors etc... There's a warning about a missing font directory (/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic)
There's a warning about the AllowEmptyInput is on and that devices using drivers 'kbd', 'mouse' or 'vmouse' will be disabled, followed by notification that Keyboard0 and Mouse0 are disabled. This doesn't affect the actual keyboard or mouse during the 10 seconds or so that I get a desktop though, so it seems a little odd...

All other lines are informational only, or show the log picking up items from the config files... all seems pretty routine to me... (but what would I know!!!??)

Looking through /var/log/syslog is a bit scary! It's over 9000 lines long - and I'm not really sure what it is that I need to find in there... Is there anything specific that you'd like me to search for?

The problems with the disc partitions not mounting was the very first problem I had back on page one - part of the very first post. Basically, it was the error that was showing when the kernel got stuck booting following my borked upgrade. It is now showing several times during the boot process into the recovery mode - although I wasn't entirely sure whether it gets there in the end or not...

Output from mount shows:

/dev/sdc3 on / type ext3 (rw,relatim,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
none on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
none on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
none on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /lib.init/rw type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
/dev/sdc1 on /boot type ext3 (rw,relatime)
/dev/md1 on /common type ext3 (rw)
/dev/sdc5 on /tmp type ext3 (rw,relatime)
/dev/sdc6 on /restore type ext3 (rw,relatime)
/dev/sdc7 on /distros type ext3 (rw,relatime)
/dev/sdc8 on /home type ext3 (rw,relatime)

This actually gives me the impression that the partitions are mounted OK - even if it struggles to do so during the boot process. What about those 'none' though? Is that normal, or something I need to look at?

Booting from the normal kernel works only in so much that it gets to a desktop inside KDE and then I lose all signal to the monitor... but don't know why.

That's about it for now. Does that give you any more ideas?

Bag.