I’ve tried switching a few graphics drivers to see what their functions were, but when trying to switch to Mesa (with SAX2 -r -m command), it gave me the command line (with the infamous “Have a lot of fun…”) instead. Well, I thought the driver wasn’t installed properly, so I tried switching back to RadeonHD. SAX couldn’t load the GUI, so I rebooted into failsafe mode. There everything went good, but… Still the command line only mode. Then I tried switching to FGLRX, I even reinstalled that driver, still nothing! Even switching to Vesa won’t work. Only the failsafe xorg.conf.install works, but it has very bad resolution.
So, is there something wrong in my xorg.conf, SAX2 generation or the driver installations conflicting with each other?
My current xorg.conf (well, I’m in failsafe mode, this one’s what it tries to load usually):
INI pastebin - collaborative debugging tool
GreatEmerald wrote:
> I’ve tried switching a few graphics drivers to see what their functions
> were
just revert to the backup of your operating system and its
configuration which you made before beginning the uncharted
experiments…(or just revert back to the xorg.conf which WAS working
ok…you kept a safe copy of that one file, at least…right?)
–
DenverD (Linux Counter 282315) via NNTP, Thunderbird 2.0.0.14, KDE
3.5.7, SUSE Linux 10.3, 2.6.22.18-0.2-default #1 SMP i686 athlon
Yes, I did (actually FGLRX makes them automatically), but strangely that didn’t work too.
And what do you mean, backup of OS?
> And what do you mean, backup of OS?
for example my “operating system” (everything outside of /home) is
just about 7GB, so it is not so difficult nor time consuming to copy
that over to an /archive partition…(i’m sure one could get away
with less than all of that…i mean, no real utility in keeping a
copy of all the docs, man pages,stuff in /proc and etc)
i use rsync to do that…but, there are free and commercial backup
programs available…in fact, there is one built into YaST, but as
i’ve never used it i can’t tell you much about it, other than how to
get there:
YaST > System > System Backup
–
DenverD (Linux Counter 282315) via NNTP, Thunderbird 2.0.0.14, KDE
3.5.7, SUSE Linux 10.3, 2.6.22.18-0.2-default #1 SMP i686 athlon
No, I don’t have a full backup… But if it gets too worse I can always do a fresh install!
Anything that might cause problems in the current XORG.conf file?
> No, I don’t have a full backup… But if it gets too worse I can always
> do a fresh install!
yep…i know that is (imo) a bad habit many picked up during their
stay in Redmond’s Jail…but, re-install is not actually a good
strategy for maintaining a stable/reliable system…
and, just think of ALL the updates and programs you will have to add
again just to get back to were you were yesterday…
sure, i know many only back up their /home, but with the level of
updates driven ever higher by the six month release cycle (and the
number of adds i make to a standard install) it becomes quite a
time-sink to reinstall every time an experiment goes ary
> Anything that might cause problems in the current XORG.conf file?
sorry, i didn’t look at it, and probably wouldn’t be able to spot the
problems anyway…
one habit you might consider, do as i do and BEFORE you do anything
that MIGHT wiggle the contents of xorg.conf make copy/backup of that
file…
–
see caveat: http://tinyurl.com/6aagco
DenverD (Linux Counter 282315) via NNTP, Thunderbird 2.0.0.14, KDE
3.5.7, SUSE Linux 10.3, 2.6.22.18-0.2-default #1 SMP i686 athlon
Yes, I know it takes a long time to reinstall, yet there’s nothing that could go wrong in a vanilla install.
So anyway, what should I do if I don’t like reinstalling? I can use the fallback xorg.conf and change it by hand and see if that works, but what should I actually change?
> I can use the fallback xorg.conf and change it by hand and see if
> that works, but what should I actually change?
imagine this scenario:
-
everything is running smoothly (and has been for
days/weeks/months) and you decide to “switch a few graphics to see
what their functions were” -
knowing that that might result in a black (white, checkerboard,
whatever) screen OR worse you decide to make yourself a “way back”
to “running smoothly” -
select a “way back” plan:
a. one way to do that is to do a FULL backup of your entire system;
b. another, is to do a FULL backup of all but /home (and maybe some
others, BECAUSE you ALREADY have them protected);
c. a third and MUCH more likely to fail way is to KNOW all the files
that will/might be changed when trying to “switch a few graphics to
see what their functions were”
(d. the SURE way to require a re-install is to make experiments with
NONE of the above as your plan)
- So, you decide to live dangerously (but with SOME chance of “way
back” success) and back up the only file you know will be changed:
xorg.conf, and you can do that in MANY MANY ways…the way i do it is:
a. open a terminal and become root by typing
su - (do NOT forget the -)
b. go to the directory/folder where the file lives (how you
determine that is up to you–there are MANY ways) by typing
cd /etc/X11
c. to make SURE you know the exact name of the file to backup you
command a ‘list’ of files with similar names by typing
ls -al xorg*
which in my case since i HAVE done this before is currently:
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4122 2008-08-19 16:33 xorg.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5325 2008-05-18 09:20 xorg.conf.install
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 36 2008-08-19 16:33 xorg.conf.md5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4122 2008-05-18 10:10 xorg.conf.nvidia-pre
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4122 2008-05-18 10:26 xorg.conf.nvidia-post
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4122 2008-08-19 16:33 xorg.conf.saxsave
here, i see the name of the file is exactly xorg.conf (all the
others are previous backups, some by me, some by script, for example
the one ending in saxsave was made the LAST time i ran sax)
d. copy the file to be backed up by typing CAREFULLY
cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.BAK
where .BAK can be whatever you want it to be, like:
xorg.conf.BAK1
xorg.conf.graphicSwitching-pre
xorg.conf.before19Sep2008
xorg.conf.2008-09-19
e. now, lets CHECK and see if we really MADE a backup, type
ls -al xorg*
yours should now show, at least:
xorg.conf
xorg.conf.BAK
f. do your all your graphic switching magic…if all is well when
you are finished you have used a LITTLE time that you could have
saved–but, with a LOT at risk. if, on the other hand, you now have a
machine you can’t use, you can FIX it by replacing the now corrupt
xorg.conf with a file you KNOW to be good/usable prior to the
experiments by typing (from ‘safe mode’; or whatever option grub
gives you to land on a command line without starting the gui [read
elsewhere]; or using (for example) a Knoppix CD/DVD; or whatever)
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.BAK xorg.conf
g. boot and your machine will work exactly as it did prior to
beginning IF nothing else had changed…
NOTE: i do not know EVERYTHING that was, or might have been changed
by your “when trying to switch to Mesa (with SAX2 -r -m command)”
BUT, maybe maybe maybe if you take a look in /etc/X11 you too will
see a file named xorg.conf.saxsave and, maybe maybe maybe it is a
copy of the last working xorg.conf before your “trying to switch to Mesa”
if it were me, i’d probably (before the pain of re-install) TRY (as
root):
NOTE: before trying this read the caveat in my sig!!!
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.saxsave xorg.conf
if that doesn’t work you might TRY: look at the dates of all the
other /etc/X11/xorg.conf.xxxxxx files, and pick the one nearest to,
but older than the date/time of your experiments, and copy it to
xorg.conf…
if that doesn’t work, i guess you have to fall back to the Redmond
Plan: re-install
good luck and Plan Ahead! (ps: hopefully the above makes sense and i
didn’t make too many typos…i’ve NOT taken the time to proof it)
–
see caveat: http://tinyurl.com/6aagco
DenverD (Linux Counter 282315) via NNTP, Thunderbird 2.0.0.14, KDE
3.5.7, SUSE Linux 10.3, 2.6.22.18-0.2-default #1 SMP i686 athlon
:sarcastic: What a large post, that… Doesn’t quite help. Yes, I now know that I should have made backups, no need to remind that in every word. All that command line stuff is not necessary, you can run konqueror from SU and do everything in a nice GUI. All you’re saying is “try restoring other backups”. I can test all of them, but I doubt that would give results as I already tried a few before. The point is that somehow only Vesa works with the current xorg.conf…
Ah well, guess I should find some time and read xorg.conf(5x) manual page and Xorg.conf - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .
> :sarcastic:
you are welcome.
–
DenverD (Linux Counter 282315) via NNTP, Thunderbird 2.0.0.14, KDE
3.5.7, SUSE Linux 10.3, 2.6.22.18-0.2-default #1 SMP i686 athlon