no login screen

English Install/Boot/Login
1

This is about Machine #1 [signature]

Have lost my login screen. When I start the computer all I get is the list of prechecks and service starts [all OK’d]. It hangs then at “Started X Display Manager”.
If I choose “Advanced Options for openSUSE” >openSUSE, with linux3.16.7-21 {recovery mode} I can sign in under my user name and password but my own desktop does not come up. If I use “su” and then type “startx” I get the KDE desktop 4.14.6, but it is a generic one, not my own. I can access my user [dabud] files and see all my software.
I don’t seem to be able to change the screen resolution [not sure if this is part of the problem] I am using the onboard video of the Asus P8Z77. Could there be a driver file corrupted or missing?
I did updates thru zypper, just before I rebooted, there did not seem to be anything unusual there, that I noted at the time.
I read in a prior post:
https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/496697-Lost-KDE-GUI-after-trying-out-KDE-4-13?highlight=lost+login+screen
that something called xdm might be a problem, but that is for KDE 4.13 so I don’t know if any of that information is pertinent.
Is there a way to get the user login screen back? Hopefully, without having to reinstall?
Thank You

2

On Tue, 12 May 2015 01:26:06 +0000, LaQuirrELL wrote:

> If I use “su” and then type “startx”

This is no longer something you should use. startx is deprecated, and
you shouldn’t run your desktop as root.

What video card do you have, and have you installed any extra drivers for
it?

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

3

On 2015-05-12 03:26, LaQuirrELL wrote:
>
> This is about Machine #1 [signature]
>
> Have lost my login screen. When I start the computer all I get is the
> list of prechecks and service starts [all OK’d]. It hangs then at
> “Started X Display Manager”.

Mmm.

> If I choose “Advanced Options for openSUSE” >openSUSE, with
> linux3.16.7-21 {recovery mode} I can sign in under my user name and
> password but my own desktop does not come up. If I use “su” and then
> type “startx”

Huh Oh :frowning:

“su” gives you root permissions, but it leaves you still with your user
profile and home directory, so that the programs you run (startx) run as
root but in your user home directory. The result is that your user now
will have a number of files owned by root, which he (you) can not delete
nor modify.

You will have to find them out and change their permissions back to your
user — and no, this is not related to your original problem, but a new
one you caused.

Next time: either use “su -” (that’s a dash after the su), or directly
login as root in text mode (yes, it is allowed).

Alternatively, you can do certain changes to your system so that
“startx” does run as user. Have a look at the file
/etc/permissions.local, last lines.

> I did updates thru zypper, just before I rebooted, there did not seem
> to be anything unusual there, that I noted at the time.

What repos do you have? (zypper lr --details)
You did zypper, what? patch, up, dup?

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

4

Thank you both for replying.

@hendersj](https://forums.opensuse.org/member.php/5442-hendersj) - using the onboard Integrated Graphics Processor
Multi-VGA output support : HDMI/DVI/RGB/DisplayPort ports
I just used whatever drivers were assigned at the time of OS installation [video/graphics seemed to work fine and I was able to set a good screen resolution.1900 x 1200].
Now my screen resolution is 640 x 480 and no options to change it.

@robin_listas

or directly
login as root in text mode

I did this the 1st time, don’t know why I didn’t continue on subsequent times.

What repos do you have? (zypper lr --details)
You did zypper, what? patch, up, dup?

I did “zypper up” to do updates.
I am writing this from my other machine[windows], so I can’t do

(zypper lr --details)

My repos are: Packman, Update Non-OSS, Non-OSS, OSS, Update, libdvdcss, google-chrome all for openSUSE 13.2

You will have to find them out and change their permissions back to your
user — and no, this is not related to your original problem, but a new
one you caused.

I have not tried running anything [programs]. I checked a few files in my user[dabud] and found no permissions changed.

5

On Tue, 12 May 2015 03:06:01 +0000, LaQuirrELL wrote:

> @‘hendersj’ (https://forums.opensuse.org/member.php/5442-hendersj) -
> using the onboard Integrated Graphics Processor Multi-VGA output support
> :
> HDMI/DVI/RGB/DisplayPort ports I just used whatever drivers were
> assigned at the time of OS installation [video/graphics seemed to work
> fine and I was able to set a good screen resolution.1900 x 1200].
> Now my screen resolution is 640 x 480 and no options to change it.

I should have specified:

lspci | grep -i vga

Use the above command to determine what the controller is. Anything
other than that doesn’t really tell us what we need to know.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

6

This is in recovery mode, right?
That’s because you are not using the appropriate driver for your card any more, but rather a generic one (fbdev most likely).
But this might cause KDE failing to start (in particular if you have a proprietary graphics driver installed) because of your user’s graphics/desktop effect settings. (root probably worked fine because it started with the default settings)
Probably deleting ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc might make it possible to login in recovery mode, but that’s of course not the solution to your actual problem, or select a different session on the login screen (IceWM should be installed by default).

Can you please to a normal boot, then reboot to recovery mode after it failed, and post the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old?

7

ty for your patience hendersj

linux-l77p:~ # lspci | grep -i vga
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
linux-l77p:~ #
8

ty@wolfi323

Can you please to a normal boot, then reboot to recovery mode after it failed, and post the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old?

It said it was too long so I put it here:

http://paste.opensuse.org/28419690

9

Yes, that’s the preferred way anyway.

But this seems to be from recovery mode.
Did you do as I wrote? I.e. a normal boot, then reboot (without running startx first) to recovery mode and take Xorg.0.log.old?
If yes, then Xorg seems to crash before it creates the log or it is not even started.

For the sake of narrowing down the problem: please set DISPLAYMANAGER=“xdm” in /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager. Do you get a login screen then when doing a normal (i.e. not recovery mode) boot?

And please also post the file /boot/grub2/grub.cfg, it might be that you actually have all those failsafe options in the normal boot entry, thus causing the problem…

10

Did you do as I wrote? I.e. a normal boot, then reboot (without running startx first) to recovery mode and take Xorg.0.log.old?

I’m sorry Wolfi323, in my haste to do as bid, I misread your directions.
Now, in this order,
I checked

/etc/sysconfig/displaymanager

and it said

DISPLAYMANAGER="kdm

so I changed it to “xdm” and rebooted.
I now have a login screen, although, it is not the same as the one I usually have. It allows me to login in, but as it progresses, it shows symbol for Harddrive, symbol for settings, symbol for internet and there it hangs.
I rebooted back into recovery mode and was able to log in as root [through a login screen, which I didn’t have before I changed "DISPLAYMANAGER=“xdm”, all I had before was command line and that was the reason I was using “startx”]. Now, it opens a desktop and I didn’t have to do “startx” to get GUI.
I went to /var/log and copied Xorg.O.log.old and pasted it: ***. Here is the correct one.
[SUSE Paste](http://please also post the file /boot/grub2/grub.cfg)

please also post the file /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

http://paste.opensuse.org/87954700

My apologies for misreading your 1st post and requests, Wolfi323.*

11

Yes, that was the purpose of that action.
I wanted to find out whether Xorg (the graphical system) itself is crashing or kdm.
Apparently it’s the latter.

It allows me to login in, but as it progresses, it shows symbol for Harddrive, symbol for settings, symbol for internet and there it hangs.
I rebooted back into recovery mode and was able to log in as root [through a login screen, which I didn’t have before I changed "DISPLAYMANAGER=“xdm”, all I had before was command line and that was the reason I was using “startx”]. Now, it opens a desktop and I didn’t have to do “startx” to get GUI.

So KDE still works fine as root, but doesn’t as user?
Hm. If both kdm and the KDE session don’t work I would rather suspect a general (installation) problem. But then it shouldn’t work for root either.

Does it help if you remove the file ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc (in your user’s home directory)?

Does it work if you create a fresh user account (in YaST->Security and Users->User and Group Management) and login as that one?

I went to /var/log and copied Xorg.O.log.old and pasted it: ***. Here is the correct one.
[SUSE Paste](http://please also post the file /boot/grub2/grub.cfg)

I don’t see anything suspicious in there.
Everything seems to work.

My apologies for misreading your 1st post and requests, Wolfi323.

No problem.*

12

Does it help if you remove the file ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc (in your user’s home directory)?

No, apparently not. I deleted it and when I rebooted things were still the same:

It allows me to login in, but as it progresses, it shows symbol for Harddrive, symbol for settings, symbol for internet and there it hangs.

When I rentered recovery mode “kwinrc” had recreated itself.

I am going to add a new user and reboot.

biab

13

Does it work if you create a fresh user account

I created a new user and if I look in /home I see the new user[hugo] folder and the old user[dabud] folder, but when I rebooted, I was not able to login it still hangs as before for normal login], except in recovery [as root].

NOTE: For some reason, momentarily, I was able to change the screen resolution, just after I created the new user, but when I rebooted it was back to 640 x 480.

14

@wolfi323
Is it possible to reinstall kde4 or would it be better to do a fresh install of openSUSE 13.2?

I wanted to find out whether Xorg (the graphical system) itself is crashing or kdm

Is it possible to replace just kdm?

15

Yes, that’s normal. When kwin starts it recreates its config file with the default values.
But the point was to reset the config with the default.

So it’s a general problem, if kdm and KDE is affected, and the latter even with a new user.
Still, I don’t see anything wrong in the Xorg.0.log you posted.

Let’s try something else:
Login to IceWM, and start KDE manually. As you only have xdm now which doesn’t support choosing the session at the login screen, you’d have to change the file /etc/sysconfig/windowmanager for that. Set DEFAULT_WM=“icewm” there.
Then, when inside IceWM, open an xterm and run “startkde”.
What happens? Does KDE start successfully? If not, please post the last lines you get in the xterm.

And please, also install the package “Mesa-demo-x” and post the output of:

glxinfo | grep render

This should show whether OpenGL support is working (if not, it might explain the kdm/KDE crashes).

NOTE: For some reason, momentarily, I was able to change the screen resolution, just after I created the new user, but when I rebooted it was back to 640 x 480.

So you also get 640 x 480 when doing a normal boot, i.e. not recovery mode?
But the Xorg.0.log mentioned a resolution of 1920x1080… :\

And another thing that isn’t quite clear for me still: did it ever work with 13.2?

16

Well yes, it is possible to reinstall kde4, but that probably won’t help at all.

If it ever worked on 13.2, a fresh install should help (unless it is a hardware issue). But depending on why you have the problem it might reappear.

Is it possible to replace just kdm?

You mean, use something else?
Yes, you are already doing that and using xdm instead.

But replacing kdm won’t fix your problem with KDE.

17

@wolfi323 thanks for giving me your time and knowledge.

Let’s try something else:
Login to IceWM, and start KDE manually. As you only have xdm now which doesn’t support choosing the session at the login screen, you’d have to change the file /etc/sysconfig/windowmanager for that. Set DEFAULT_WM=“icewm” there.
Then, when inside IceWM, open an xterm and run “startkde”.
What happens? Does KDE start successfully? If not, please post the last lines you get in the xterm.

I did this and was able to login to my user[dabud] old account. There seem to be a few errors listed in xterm. I can’t seem to copy them [right click or ctrl C] so I am attaching a Ksnapshot of xterm.
http://paste.opensuse.org/60664135

And please, also install the package “Mesa-demo-x” and post the output of:

dabud@linux-l77p:~> glxinfo | grep render
direct rendering: Yes
    GLX_MESA_multithread_makecurrent, GLX_MESA_query_renderer, 
    GLX_MESA_multithread_makecurrent, GLX_MESA_query_renderer, 
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Desktop 
    GL_ARB_conditional_render_inverted, GL_ARB_conservative_depth, 
    GL_MESA_texture_signed_rgba, GL_NV_conditional_render, GL_NV_depth_clamp, 
    GL_ARB_conditional_render_inverted, GL_ARB_conservative_depth, 
    GL_NV_conditional_render, GL_NV_depth_clamp, GL_NV_light_max_exponent, 
    GL_OES_element_index_uint, GL_OES_fbo_render_mipmap, 
dabud@linux-l77p:~>

So you also get 640 x 480 when doing a normal boot, i.e. not recovery mode?
But the Xorg.0.log mentioned a resolution of 1920x1080…

No, I was only getting the 640 x 480 after this problem ocurred and it was only in recovery mode. Maybe that was because I was using “startx”?
I was normally getting the 1920 x 1080 in my user[dabud] account.
As I am able to log in, through IceWorm now and start kde through xterm, I get the 1920 x 1080.
I am writing this in my user[dabud] account now.

And another thing that isn’t quite clear for me still: did it ever work with 13.2?

Yes it was all working well under 13.2 for about 6 months, since I did the 13.2 install.

Since I can get at my old user account do you think there is a fix for this problem?

18

If a second account works it may be a config file problem in your home. Note normally it is best to create a new clean account. I suspect you were starting things in your old account that no longer exist or have changes thus the errors.

As root (not in the gui and a command line) rename yout home .kde4 directory that will set KDE back to default settings (note the period in front of the name) Then try logging in as your regular user.

19

On 2015-05-14 02:56, LaQuirrELL wrote:

> I did this and was able to login to my user[dabud] old account. There
> seem to be a few errors listed in xterm. I can’t seem to copy them
> [right click or ctrl C]

It is left click and drag the mouse, in xterm. Then go to firefox and
middle click to paste.

ctrl-c, ctrl-v will not work. Different clipboard.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

20

On 2015-05-14 03:16, gogalthorp wrote:
>
> If a second account works it may be a config file problem in your home.
> Note normally it is best to create a new clean account. I suspect you
> were starting things in your old account that no longer exist or have
> changes thus the errors.

He used “su” instead of “su -” and run startx, meaning it probably wrote
things as root in his home (see the first post).

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))