turns out the folder “/lib/modules/4.12.14-lp150.11-default” was a leftover that I can not explain or I can not recall why.
My system is up and running for a few years, so, who knows.
Anyway, “rpm -qf /lib/modules/4.12.14-lp150.11-default/*” returns “file whatever is not owned by any package” for every single file in that folder.
After removing the folder and forcing the re-install of nvidia-gfxG05-kmp-default the initrd was created and the installation ended with no errrors.
But…
After the reboot, the X didn’t started as expected. I mean, it not started at all, since there is no log file.
I zeroed (cp /dev/null ) the file “/var/log/Xorg.0.log” an reboot and after the system boot, i logged in as root at console (no X) and verified the file size is still zero.
At that point, “lsmod | grep -i nvidia” returned nothing, and
kimera:~ # ls -l /var/log/Xorg.0.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Nov 6 17:24 /var/log/Xorg.0.log
kimera:~ # lsmod | grep -i nvidia
kimera:~ # lsinitrd | grep -i nvidia
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 129 Oct 20 15:44 usr/lib/modprobe.d/09-nvidia-modprobe-bbswitch-G04.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 49 Oct 20 15:44 usr/lib/modprobe.d/09-nvidia-modprobe-pm-G05.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1513 Oct 20 15:44 usr/lib/modprobe.d/50-nvidia-default.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 18 Oct 20 15:44 usr/lib/modprobe.d/nvidia-default.conf
kimera:~ # lspci | grep -i nvidia
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM204 [GeForce GTX 970] (rev a1)
kimera:~ # systemctl get-default
graphical.target
kimera:~ #
However if I reboot and add “nomodeset” to kernel cmd line, then the X come in as expected, showing the login manager to the user log in.
This is strange. It didn’t needed “nomodeset” to boot before. Why it needs now to X start ?
Wait ! It comes even more strange…
Then I reboot again, (zeroing the /var/log/Xorg.0.log as before) this time without modeset, and as before, the system reached the graphical target but no X running, no output in /var/log/Xorg.0.log.
Then I log in as root in console and run “startx” and the X comes in, presenting to me the root DE (KDE) completely functional, but with a twist: It is running on virtual console 1 and not 7 as one expect.
In fact if I switch to virtual desktop 7 (CTRL+ALT+F7) I found the login manager, ready to a normal user logs in. I log in as my normal user and again, everything looks right.
Then I switch to virtual desktop 1 (remember, where the root’s DE was running) just to see it closing and returning to the text console. Back to virtual console 7 and everything is still there.
Summary:
-
Without nomodeset the system boots to graphical target but no X, not even errors or output on /var/log/Xorg.0.log.
1a) At this point, root can start X, the root’s DE is loaded on vt1 and the graphical login manager on vt7; switching to vt1 closes the root’s DE, and return to console.
-
Booting with nomodeset, the system boots as expected, except that nomodeset is unexpected.
I’ve preserved the X log in this 2 situations, and compare it using diff (I had to remove the time index at beginning of every line to this work):
The file tmp/Xorg_nomodeset_absent.log refers to situation 1 above; the other to situation 2:
miguel $ diff tmp/Xorg_nomodeset_absent.log tmp/Xorg_nomodeset_present.log
1c1
< ] (--) Log file renamed from "/var/log/Xorg.pid-1384.log" to "/var/log/Xorg.0.log"
---
> ] (--) Log file renamed from "/var/log/Xorg.pid-1385.log" to "/var/log/Xorg.0.log"
16c16
< ] (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Sat Nov 6 18:15:46 2021
---
> ] (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Sat Nov 6 18:20:13 2021
46c46
< ] (II) Loader magic: 0x562468dbea00
---
> ] (II) Loader magic: 0x56210ef91a00
501,511d500
< ] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
< ] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
< ] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
< ] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
< ] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
< ] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
< ] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
< ] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
< ] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
< ] (II) NVIDIA(GPU-0): Deleting GPU-0
< ] (II) Server terminated successfully (0). Closing log file.
miguel $
Another experiment I did: Booting on level 3 without nomodeset; got the text console as expected; log in as root and switch to graphical target (systemctl isolate graphical.target). The system reaches the graphical target but no X. No logs on Xorg.0.log either. Inconclusive. It is the same as situation 1, with an extra step.
I really dodn’t know what is going on here.
This started when I upgraded my system from 20211029 to 20211102 as I described in this related post https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/561947-X-does-not-start-automatically
And yes, I always use “zypper dist-upgrade”.
I appreciate any comments that shed light on this mystery.