X server will not start up after driver "upgrade"
I am running a nearly-current debian testing distribution. This evening I
made the mistake of trying to "upgrade" the driver for my nvidia
integrated video adapter on my motherboard. The appeal of seeing openGL
screensaver hacks outweighed my mistrust of nvidia's software policy. I
downloaded and ran nvidia's user-friendly driver installation program.
Sure enough, the 3d acceleration worked, but the maximum screen size I
could set was vastly reduced (from 1792x1344 maximum to 1400x1050
maximum) with some message about insufficient bandwidth. The nvidia FAQ
said I could disable the bandwidth test using
Option "NoBandWidthTest" "True"
in my XF86Config-4 file, but that it was 'not recommended.'
I did it anyway, and it crashed my computer. So I rebooted into recovery
mode, switched back to the open 'nv' driver instead of the closed 'nvidia'
driver, and rebooted. Now I cannot start an X session. I tried
re-installing the nvidia driver and unfortunately, the situation is the
same. No X session with either driver.
With no X session running, from a console, as myself, I type 'startx'.
The screen flashes, I get the 'X' mouse cursor in the middle of the screen
and the debian splash, but no little icons (gnome-panel, nautilus,
etc...). Shortly thereafter I get dumped back to the console. No errors
are reported. The output of the 'startx' command is included here:
--- start of output ---
XFree86 Version 4.3.0.1 (Debian 4.3.0.dfsg.1-14 20050601051219 fabbione@fabbione.net)
Release Date: 15 August 2003
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 6.6
Build Operating System: Linux 2.4.29-pre2 i686 [ELF]
Build Date: 01 June 2005
This version of XFree86 has been extensively modified by the Debian
Project, and is not supported by the XFree86 Project, Inc., in any
way. Bugs should be reported to the Debian Bug Tracking System; see
<URL: http://www.debian.org/Bugs/Reporting >.
We strongly encourage the use of the "reportbug" package and command
to ensure that bug reports contain as much useful information as
possible.
Before filing a bug report, you may want to consult the Debian X FAQ:
XHTML version: file:///usr/share/doc/xfree86-common/FAQ.xhtml
plain text version: file:///usr/share/doc/xfree86-common/FAQ.gz
Module Loader present
OS Kernel: Linux version 2.6.11-1-k7 (dilinger@mouth) (gcc version 3.3.6 (Debian 1:3.3.6-5)) #1 Fri May 20 06:54:58 UTC 2005 TF
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/XFree86.0.log", Time: Fri Jul 8 01:17:52 2005
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/XF86Config-4"
Skipping "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/fonts/libspeedo.a:spencode.o": No symbols found
Warning: font renderer for ".pcf" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".pcf.Z" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".pcf.gz" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".snf" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".snf.Z" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".snf.gz" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".bdf" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".bdf.Z" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".bdf.gz" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".pmf" already registered at priority 0
Could not init font path element unix/:7100, removing from list!
waiting for X server to shut down
--- end of output ---
The only thing that shows up in any logs is:
/var/log/syslog and /var/log/daemon.log:
Jul 8 01:17:53 localhost udev[7794]: creating device node '/dev/vcs7'
Jul 8 01:17:53 localhost udev[7796]: creating device node '/dev/vcsa7'
Jul 8 01:18:05 localhost udev[7849]: removing device node '/dev/vcs7'
Jul 8 01:18:05 localhost udev[7851]: removing device node '/dev/vcsa7'
Before I got to the console 'startx' level, I was running from within gdm,
and the problem manifested itself in the same way. I would get the
standard greeter, select my username and enter my password, and the same
behavior would happen: Screen flashes, debian splash, but no icons, and
shortly thereafer, the X session would quit. But I would also get the
[not helpful, oxymoronic] log output in syslog:
Jul 7 22:46:19 localhost gdm[5827]: failsafe dialog failed (inhibitions: 0 0)
Jul 7 22:46:22 localhost gdm[5827]: failsafe dialog failed (inhibitions: 0 1)
Jul 7 22:46:24 localhost gdm[5827]: failsafe dialog failed (inhibitions: 1 1)
(you can see, I've been working on this for about 3 hours now ... )
Strangely, root can start an X session. Another local user can start an X
session. But my user cannot. I could create another test user to see if
it could start an X session, but that seems so artificial as to be
useless.
I have a hunch that there's a lock file or something, somewhere, leftover
from the session that crashed the computer, that I need to delete, in
order to enable the server startup. But I haven't found anything.
I tried apt-get remove xserver-xfree86 ; apt-get install xserver-xfree86
but to no avail. I really don't know where to look next. Any help would
be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Brandon
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