I performed a dist upgrade from 11.3 to 11.4 on my laptop and it killed Xorg. None of my backup xorg.conf files work. The weird thing is, xorg will start, but the screen will be composed of tesselations of fractured parts of the picture, but the mouse cursor looks FINE. I have rewritten the xorg.conf based on the appropriate graphics settings in the xorg log. I have tried booting in failsafe. I can run pure console fine. I have tried VESA, nv, and nouveau drivers (dist-upgrade uninstalled nvidia drivers and I can’t get wireless working without KNetworkManager )
Actually, on my computer I didn’t need the xorg.conf file. One thing I did need to do though, was to set the suid bit on xwindows.
The process I went through on my work laptop (upgrading from 11.2) was to install the latest ATI video driver, then do a chmod u+s on /usr/bin/startx and /usr/bin/Xorg . After doing that, everything went back to normal
Its possible you can get the nv driver working if you :
[list=a]
[li]run “yast” (you can run yast in text mode with root permissions if X window not available) and navigate to yast > System > /etc/sysconfig Editor > System > Kernel > NO_KMS_IN_INITRD and change it to “yes”. This takes a minute or two to save once changed is submitted. (there are example on the web page I referenced). Note you can navigate in the text mode YasT with the tab, arrow keys, spacebar and return key.
[/li][li]then after ‘step-a’ boot with the boot code ‘nomodeset’. That might allow the ‘nv’ driver to boot.
[/li][/list]
but first try to follow that guide I referenced.
Mine did the same. I fixed it by typing nomodeset at the end of the additional input line on the boot menu screen. It boots properly and then I played around with my graphics once I was in.
Hooray! I fixed it by using ‘fbdev’ as the driver in xorg.conf and running startx that way…I got a scrunched little display with weird colors but I could see it well enough to connect to my wireless and install nvidia drivers, then reboot into terminal and run nvidia-xconfig.
That sounds related to this bug relating to a garbled or distorted display (of X windows) when using an NVIDIA graphics chipset and the nouveau driver. You can tell if this bug affects you simply by running the live CD.
A workaround, from the bug report, is to put the following two parameters -
Option “NoAccel” “on”
Option “ShadowFB” “on”
in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf (in the “Device” section) and then restart xdm.
Actually, on my computer I didn’t need the xorg.conf file. One thing I did need to do though, was to set the suid bit on xwindows.
The process I went through on my work laptop (upgrading from 11.2) was to install the latest ATI video driver, then do a chmod u+s on /usr/bin/startx and /usr/bin/Xorg . After doing that, everything went back to normal
I’m not exactly a newbie anymore (the following might prove me wrong), but I’m not familiar with this information about the suid bit on xwindows. What does the above procedure do? I know I read about this a long time ago but I don’t recall.
To oldcpu:
I had already gone through that guide. using “nomodeset” didn’t work, and booting failsafe did the exact same thing - garbled X display (with the mouse looking fine! so weird). Actually I just realized I didn’t perform the “NO_KMS_IN_INITRD” step. Strangely enough, running yast in console mode didn’t work. I mean I knew you can do that, and it comes up, but the keyboard wouldn’t work to expand and select things (using arrow keys, tab, space, etc didn’t do anything).
I am now going through this exact same process on my desktop, and the system isn’t recognizing the nvidia drivers although I already installed them. Also I have realized that my laptop problem isn’t completely fixed - it still doesn’t automatically load X, it boots into console and I have to su and run startx. Which is odd because I thought it did work fine before.
There are a few other problems I’m having also, such as network not working automatically (need to /etc/init.d/network restart after boot). I think I might compile a list of problems and solutions to the 11.3 -> 11.4 upgrade process. It would take far less time of course to have simply fresh installed 11.4 and back up /home but I have to do things this way because I’m a linux geek.
eco2geek - I’ll check that out and see if it pertains to my situation.
Don’t forget in addition to “arrow keys, tab, space” there is also <return> that may need to be pressed dependent on where one is in the menu. It is a bit tricky to navigate to that menu, but it IS possible. If your keyboard is functioning, then this way of running YaST and selecting that menu item does work … I’ve tested it many times.
sp3wn, did you advise us as to EXACTLY what graphic hardware you have on this PC ? I’ve looked thru this thread a few times and I keep missing it.
Please if you have not put that information in this thread, can you do so ? That way the information is more useful for others who ‘may’ have the identical hardware.
The command (from terminal) :
/sbin/lspci -nnk
and then provide the line with VGA in it and the next ~3 lines is one way to provide that information.
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