pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

esteeven · 2011-04-11 16:33:18

Hello
I have just done a pacman -Syu : my system now won't boot into X. It's clearly trying to ---- the monitor looks as though it is trying to find the correct "mode" ie the screen is a patchwork of lines of colours. Normally I log in via gdm.

My video card is an Intel.

I can't access a tty!

Any ideas?

PS I have a sort of square "shadow" mouse on screen.

Last edited by esteeven (2011-04-11 16:35:44)

esteeven · 2011-04-11 16:43:37

My hardware has not failed. I have booted using a live Ubuntu CD without issues.

Last edited by esteeven (2011-04-11 16:44:51)

siriusb · 2011-04-11 17:06:59

What does Xorg.0.log tell you?

esteeven · 2011-04-11 17:15:42

siriusb wrote:

What does Xorg.0.log tell you?

I can't get to it. The system is inaccessible (to me!) I tried editing /etc/rc.conf to remove gdm via Ubuntu but the boot effect was the same. I may boot using Ubuntu again and remove my xorg.conf to see what that does. Not sure what else to try.

esteeven · 2011-04-11 17:25:21

Well. That didn't help. Same issue.

losl · 2011-04-11 17:54:00

Why don't you use your ubuntu Live CD to get access to Xorg.0.log?

esteeven · 2011-04-11 18:33:36

losl wrote:

Why don't you use your ubuntu Live CD to get access to Xorg.0.log?

Fair point but if the same error occurs with no X ie gdm isn't in my daemons array, isn't the issue somewhere else? Problem is, I don't know where

jasonwryan · 2011-04-11 18:41:25

Boot into a console and look through pacman's log to see what packages were upgraded - that will at least give you a starting point for correctly diagnosing your issue...

You could then try selectively downgrading any of the obvious ones.

esteeven · 2011-04-11 18:45:22

jasonwryan wrote:

You could then try selectively downgrading any of the obvious ones.

Good idea but how can I do that if I can't actually log in to my Arch install?

Arjann · 2011-04-11 18:49:59

Did you try a ctrl-alt-F1 to get to a tty and login from there?

jasonwryan · 2011-04-11 18:54:08

Switch your run level:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Runlevels

esteeven · 2011-04-11 19:20:06

Hmmmm! Appending 1 in grub to boot in to run level 1 still gives the same error.

tavianator · 2011-04-11 21:16:23

You have hit a DRM bug most likely and downgrading the kernel should fix it. For the record, you can access your Arch installation from Ubuntu by doing "chroot /mount/point/of/arch"

esteeven · 2011-04-11 22:15:12

Okay. I will try to chroot to my Arch install and then downgrade my kernel (or whatever was upgraded at my last pacman -Syu) Could I achieve a rescue by waiting and then doing pacman -Syu from the chrooted environment in a few days?

tavianator · 2011-04-12 00:50:10

Oh I almost forgot: you can probably boot into your Arch install (but X may not work) with i915.modeset=0 on the kernel line.

And it's possible that an upgrade will fix it, but if I were you I'd downgrade to get a usable system and then report the bug (to the kernel).

esteeven · 2011-04-12 06:44:54

nope. this left me with the same issue.

esteeven · 2011-04-12 07:19:17

I am all for downgrading the kernel but I am one of those idiot new Arch users that did pacman -Scc (because I could?) and don't have a local package to install. I tried to install the lts kernel from my chrooted environment but this failed.

Doehni · 2011-04-12 08:01:20

Check the wiki

esteeven · 2011-04-12 08:10:19

I am reading the wiki but there is something I don't understand. "pacman -S kernel-lts" should install the LTS kernel. I was unable to do this from the chrooted environment - something to do with /dev/null and permissions. Will I not hit the same issue if I find an earlier kernel on an out of sync mirror. How do I get past this?

siriusb · 2011-04-12 12:14:15

Try it with arch linux cd instead od ubuntu liveCD.

rowdog · 2011-04-12 13:58:28

You'll want to mount the special file systems before you chroot. See https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Chroot

esteeven · 2011-04-12 14:00:51

siriusb wrote:

Try it with arch linux cd instead od ubuntu liveCD.

Is that with a normal arch install cd or some live cd?

.:B:. · 2011-04-12 14:41:55

The Arch Linux installation discs *are* live CDs.

esteeven · 2011-04-12 14:48:51

.:B:. wrote:

The Arch Linux installation discs *are* live CDs.

I have just found that out.

"pacman -S kernel26-lts" sorted the issue. Clearly, kernel 2.6.38 was causing the problem. I'll stick with LTS for now -- unless someone tells me why this is a bad idea. Otherwise, I'll hunt down 2.6.37

Thanks for all of your help.

.:B:. · 2011-04-12 16:37:15

There's something to diagnosing your problem and not being able to solve it, and resorting to a workaround. But you didn't even diagnose your problem. People told you repeatedly to check your logs. Please do that. If you want to run Arch, you need to be able to fix your problems - or learn how to do it.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-04-11 16:33:18

pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#2 2011-04-11 16:43:37

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#3 2011-04-11 17:06:59

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#4 2011-04-11 17:15:42

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#5 2011-04-11 17:25:21

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#6 2011-04-11 17:54:00

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#7 2011-04-11 18:33:36

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#8 2011-04-11 18:41:25

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#9 2011-04-11 18:45:22

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#10 2011-04-11 18:49:59

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#11 2011-04-11 18:54:08

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#12 2011-04-11 19:20:06

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#13 2011-04-11 21:16:23

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#14 2011-04-11 22:15:12

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#15 2011-04-12 00:50:10

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#16 2011-04-12 06:44:54

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#17 2011-04-12 07:19:17

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#18 2011-04-12 08:01:20

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#19 2011-04-12 08:10:19

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#20 2011-04-12 12:14:15

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#21 2011-04-12 13:58:28

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#22 2011-04-12 14:00:51

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#23 2011-04-12 14:41:55

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#24 2011-04-12 14:48:51

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

#25 2011-04-12 16:37:15

Re: pacman -Syu today and now my system fails to log in to X

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