Help with troubleshooting

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Hi,

I have a problem that when rebooting my desktop hangs quite frequently, my guess is that it is KDE since there is no problems in runlevel 3.
If I reboot 2-5 times it comes up nicely so it is a bit random and when it works it continues to work until I reboot (a week later or so).

I have tried to just switch from init 3 to init 5 back and forth but that does not seem to work.

How do I go about troubleshooting this?
What log files would be the interesting ones to read etc?

I’m running 12.3 64 bit and only use KDE even if I have Gnome installed and it is updated to the latest edition since one of my main tools is Evolution.
Might change to Gnome but I really like KDE better.

2

That sounds like a possible hardware problem.

Do you get to the login screen? If auto=login try setting it to login

What video hardware do you have and what drivers?

3

For some reason I do have auto login, will set it to login and see what happens.
When you mention hardware it springs to mind that I have a Hauppenauge TV card (that I don’t use) that I in the passed diabled in some way. It might be good to physically remove it.

Some hw info:

Accept-123:~ # hwinfo --gfxcard
35: PCI 200.0: 0300 VGA compatible controller (VGA)             
  [Created at pci.319]
  Unique ID: B35A.Z1K5+Ql+lc9
  Parent ID: 3hqH._4Jk6Hys5IC
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/0000:02:00.0
  SysFS BusID: 0000:02:00.0
  Hardware Class: graphics card
  Model: "nVidia GT200 [GeForce GTX 260]"
  Vendor: pci 0x10de "nVidia Corporation"
  Device: pci 0x05e2 "GT200 [GeForce GTX 260]"
  Revision: 0xa1
  Driver: "nvidia"
  Driver Modules: "nvidia"
  Memory Range: 0xf5000000-0xf5ffffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
  Memory Range: 0xd0000000-0xdfffffff (ro,non-prefetchable)
  Memory Range: 0xf2000000-0xf3ffffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
  I/O Ports: 0xac00-0xac7f (rw)
  Memory Range: 0xf6c80000-0xf6cfffff (ro,non-prefetchable,disabled)
  IRQ: 24 (78206 events)
  I/O Ports: 0x3c0-0x3df (rw)
  Module Alias: "pci:v000010DEd000005E2sv00000000sd00000000bc03sc00i00"
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: nvidiafb is not active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe nvidiafb"
  Driver Info #1:
    Driver Status: nouveau is not active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe nouveau"
  Driver Info #2:
    Driver Status: nvidia is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe nvidia"
  Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #11 (PCI bridge)

Primary display adapter: #35
Accept-123:~ # 



Accept-123:~ # hwinfo --tv
31: PCI 801.0: 11200 TV Card                                    
  [Created at pci.319]
  Unique ID: KILV.qd+lvzHCRd6
  Parent ID: 6NW+.mTebKEmhWYA
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1e.0/0000:08:01.0
  SysFS BusID: 0000:08:01.0
  Hardware Class: tv card
  Model: "Hauppauge computer works WinTV HVR-4000-HD"
  Vendor: pci 0x14f1 "Conexant Systems, Inc."
  Device: pci 0x8800 "CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder"
  SubVendor: pci 0x0070 "Hauppauge computer works Inc."
  SubDevice: pci 0x6902 "WinTV HVR-4000-HD"
  Revision: 0x05
  Driver: "cx8800"
  Driver Modules: "cx8800"
  Memory Range: 0xf7000000-0xf7ffffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
  IRQ: 17 (no events)
  Module Alias: "pci:v000014F1d00008800sv00000070sd00006902bc04sc00i00"
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: cx8800 is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe cx8800"
  Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #22 (PCI bridge)

32: PCI 801.1: 11200 TV Card
  [Created at pci.319]
  Unique ID: CdqK.bg2V4gIBO8D
  Parent ID: 6NW+.mTebKEmhWYA
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1e.0/0000:08:01.1
  SysFS BusID: 0000:08:01.1
  Hardware Class: tv card
  Model: "Hauppauge computer works WinTV HVR-4000-HD"
  Vendor: pci 0x14f1 "Conexant Systems, Inc."
  Device: pci 0x8811 "CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [Audio Port]"
  SubVendor: pci 0x0070 "Hauppauge computer works Inc."
  SubDevice: pci 0x6902 "WinTV HVR-4000-HD"
  Revision: 0x05
  Driver: "cx88_audio"
  Driver Modules: "cx88_alsa"
  Memory Range: 0xf8000000-0xf8ffffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
  IRQ: 17 (no events)
  Module Alias: "pci:v000014F1d00008811sv00000070sd00006902bc04sc80i00"
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: cx88-alsa is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe cx88-alsa"
  Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #22 (PCI bridge)

33: PCI 801.2: 11200 TV Card
  [Created at pci.319]
  Unique ID: 3yJA.sSuFt6XcUO7
  Parent ID: 6NW+.mTebKEmhWYA
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1e.0/0000:08:01.2
  SysFS BusID: 0000:08:01.2
  Hardware Class: tv card
  Model: "Hauppauge computer works WinTV HVR-4000-HD"
  Vendor: pci 0x14f1 "Conexant Systems, Inc."
  Device: pci 0x8802 "CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port]"
  SubVendor: pci 0x0070 "Hauppauge computer works Inc."
  SubDevice: pci 0x6902 "WinTV HVR-4000-HD"
  Revision: 0x05
  Driver: "cx88-mpeg driver manager"
  Driver Modules: "cx8802"
  Memory Range: 0xf9000000-0xf9ffffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
  IRQ: 17 (no events)
  Module Alias: "pci:v000014F1d00008802sv00000070sd00006902bc04sc80i00"
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: cx8802 is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe cx8802"
  Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #22 (PCI bridge)



Accept-123:~ # lspci -nnk
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub to ESI Port [8086:3405] (rev 13)
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:836b]
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 1 [8086:3408] (rev 13)
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:03.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 3 [8086:340a] (rev 13)
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:07.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 7 [8086:340e] (rev 13)
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:14.0 PIC [0800]: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub System Management Registers [8086:342e] (rev 13)
        Kernel driver in use: i7core_edac
00:14.1 PIC [0800]: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub GPIO and Scratch Pad Registers [8086:3422] (rev 13)
00:14.2 PIC [0800]: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub Control Status and RAS Registers [8086:3423] (rev 13)
00:14.3 PIC [0800]: Intel Corporation 7500/5520/5500/X58 I/O Hub Throttle Registers [8086:3438] (rev 13)
00:1a.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:3a37]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5Q Deluxe Motherboard [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1a.1 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:3a38]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5Q Deluxe Motherboard [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1a.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 [8086:3a39]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5Q Deluxe Motherboard [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1a.7 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:3a3c]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5Q Deluxe Motherboard [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:3a3e]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:82ea]
        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 1 [8086:3a40]
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 3 [8086:3a44]
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 5 [8086:3a48]
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.5 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Root Port 6 [8086:3a4a]
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:3a34]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5Q Deluxe Motherboard [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:3a35]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5Q Deluxe Motherboard [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:3a36]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5Q Deluxe Motherboard [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:3a3a]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5Q Deluxe Motherboard [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge [8086:244e] (rev 90)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801JIR (ICH10R) LPC Interface Controller [8086:3a16]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5Q Deluxe Motherboard [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: lpc_ich
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) 4 port SATA IDE Controller #1 [8086:3a20]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:3a30]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. P5Q Deluxe Motherboard [1043:82d4]
00:1f.5 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller #2 [8086:3a26]
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:82d4]
        Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GT200 [GeForce GTX 260] [10de:05e2] (rev a1)
        Kernel driver in use: nvidia
04:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller [11ab:4364] (rev 12)
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Motherboard [1043:81f8]
        Kernel driver in use: sky2
05:00.0 IDE interface [0101]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88SE6121 SATA II / PATA Controller [11ab:6121] (rev b2)
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8212]
        Kernel driver in use: pata_marvell
06:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller [11ab:4364] (rev 12)
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Motherboard [1043:81f8]
        Kernel driver in use: sky2
08:01.0 Multimedia video controller [0400]: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [14f1:8800] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. WinTV HVR-4000-HD [0070:6902]
        Kernel driver in use: cx8800
08:01.1 Multimedia controller [0480]: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [Audio Port] [14f1:8811] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. WinTV HVR-4000-HD [0070:6902]
        Kernel driver in use: cx88_audio
08:01.2 Multimedia controller [0480]: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] [14f1:8802] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. WinTV HVR-4000-HD [0070:6902]
        Kernel driver in use: cx88-mpeg driver manager
08:01.4 Multimedia controller [0480]: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [IR Port] [14f1:8804] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. WinTV HVR-4000-HD [0070:6902]
08:02.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6306/7/8 [Fire II(M)] IEEE 1394 OHCI Controller [1106:3044] (rev c0)
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Motherboard [1043:81fe]
        Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
ff:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-Core Registers [8086:2c41] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:00.1 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder [8086:2c01] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:02.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QPI Link 0 [8086:2c10] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:02.1 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 QPI Physical 0 [8086:2c11] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:03.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller [8086:2c18] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:03.1 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Target Address Decoder [8086:2c19] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:03.4 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Test Registers [8086:2c1c] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:04.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Control Registers [8086:2c20] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:04.1 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Address Registers [8086:2c21] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:04.2 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Rank Registers [8086:2c22] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:04.3 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 0 Thermal Control Registers [8086:2c23] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:05.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Control Registers [8086:2c28] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:05.1 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Address Registers [8086:2c29] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:05.2 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Rank Registers [8086:2c2a] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:05.3 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 1 Thermal Control Registers [8086:2c2b] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:06.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Control Registers [8086:2c30] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:06.1 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Address Registers [8086:2c31] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:06.2 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Rank Registers [8086:2c32] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
ff:06.3 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon 5500/Core i7 Integrated Memory Controller Channel 2 Thermal Control Registers [8086:2c33] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:8086]
Accept-123:~ #
4

So, do I understand you correctly?
Sometimes on boot KDE doesn’t start, other times it starts and you don’t have any problems?

Well, this could be related to plymouth.
Please try to uninstall it or add “plymouth.enable=0” to your boot options and see if the problem persists.

5

It always starts, but sometimes it just hangs and never completes the start, such as no start sound, some icons missing or even the whole taskbar missing, it is also extremely slow in those cases.

Will certainly give disabling plymoth a try.

6

No audio could be caused by plymouth, see Access Denied.
Those permission problems could of course also cause other issues, like non-working direct rendering (which probably would slow things down).

But this could also be a different problem.
I would guess either kded, plasma or kactivitymanagerd is hanging.

Do you have any network mounted drives or networks services enabled which are not always reachable at startup?

You could try to disable all kded services in “Configure Desktop”->“Startup and Shutdown”->“Service Manager” (the lower list, “Startup Services”). If the problem disappears, it must be one of those.

And try to rename /usr/bin/kactivitymanagerd, to see if that is the culprit.

Have you tried to create a new user and see if it happens there as well?

7

And another thought:
Maybe nepomuk is indexing and slows down everything.
Try to disable that as well. (in “Configure Desktop”->“Desktop Search”)

And have a look with “top” or KDE’s activity monitor (press Ctrl+ESC) if some running process slows down your system.

8

Great suggestions,

I will go through them one by one next time I’m off work. Yep it’s my work computer and it runs a few virtual servers/clients so I don’t reboot that often.

Thanks

9

Another thing just came to my mind:
I have read reports of KMix’s PulseAudio support causing hangs on startup. (I don’t use PulseAudio myself)

So you could also try to disable PulseAudio in YaST->Hardware->Sound. Just click on “Other…” in the lower-right corner and select “PulseAudio Configuration”.