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#1 2014-03-18 20:50:35

SilverOne
Member
From: Portugal
Registered: 2013-08-22
Posts: 69

[SOLVED] Can't boot : failed to start login service

Dear Arch Community,

Since the last update i cannot start my computer, i cant even switch to a TTY to revert the last pacman update.

Heres how the boot screen shows up : 

http://i62.tinypic.com/14c5gu0.jpg

I really have no idea what to do here... if any one could offer assistance id be a very happy man.

Last edited by SilverOne (2014-03-21 23:47:14)


Best Regards,
SilverOne

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#2 2014-03-18 21:01:36

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 19,739

Re: [SOLVED] Can't boot : failed to start login service

You say you cannot switch to a TTY, please confirm you tried Ctrl-Alt-F2  (or F3 through F6).

If that does not work, boot from an installation disk, chroot in to your arch system, and disable gdm using systemctl.  Then reboot.
Alternately, from within the chroot (or the tty if that worked) and ensure your system is fully up to date with a pacman -Syu.  It is possible you caught a mirror in the middle of its updating.


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
---
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#3 2014-03-18 21:49:00

SilverOne
Member
From: Portugal
Registered: 2013-08-22
Posts: 69

Re: [SOLVED] Can't boot : failed to start login service

Hello,

Thank you so much for your fast reply. I managed to chroot into the drive and disabled gdm, i can now login. I ran pacman -Syu i got a  failed to initialize alpm library error (could not find or read the directory).  The directory /var/cache/pacman/pkg does exit and contains packages.

pacman updated the following packages:
bash(4.2.05-5 to 4.3-2)
acpid(2.0.21-1 to 2.0.22-1)
freetype2(2.5.3-1 to 2.5.3-2)
libwbclient(4.1.5-1 to 4.1.6-1)
mpg123 (1.18-1-1 o 1.19.0-1)
netctl(1.4-2 to 1.6-1)
openssh (6.5p1-2 to 6.6p1-2)
python2-pillow (2.3.0-3 to 2.3.1-1)
talloc(2.0.8-2 to 2.1.0-1)
tevent (0.9.19-2 to 0.9.21-2)
smbclient (4.1.5-1 to 4.1.6-1)
soundtouch (1.7.1.1 to 1.8.0-1)
thunderbird(24.3.0-1 to 24.4.0-1)

When the system was working , i mistakenly wrote the following command:

sudo rsync -aAXv /*--exclude={/dev/*,/proc/*,/sys/*,/tmp/*,/run/*,/mnt/*,/media/*,/lost+found} --delete

notice i forgot to add a destination... im thinking this might have something to do with the state my system is currently in.

At this point im guessing only a reinstall will fix this.

systemd reports the following units fail:
avahi-daemon.service
bluetooth.service
networkmanager.service
systemd-logind.service

Last edited by SilverOne (2014-03-18 21:53:53)


Best Regards,
SilverOne

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#4 2014-03-18 21:51:00

jasonwryan
Anarchist
From: .nz
Registered: 2009-05-09
Posts: 30,424
Website

Re: [SOLVED] Can't boot : failed to start login service

Not including a destination for rsync is not an issue: it will just print the files that are included in the command parameters:

man rsync wrote:

As a special case, if a single source arg is specified without a destination, the files are listed in an output format  similar  to
       "ls -l".


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#5 2014-03-18 22:00:57

SilverOne
Member
From: Portugal
Registered: 2013-08-22
Posts: 69

Re: [SOLVED] Can't boot : failed to start login service

Hello jason,

thank you for your input,  i have noticed the /var/lib/pacman folder is missing. I have gone through my terminal history but cannot find any other threathening commands ran today... What could have happened to the pacman library :S ?


Best Regards,
SilverOne

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#6 2014-03-18 22:13:14

jasonwryan
Anarchist
From: .nz
Registered: 2009-05-09
Posts: 30,424
Website

Re: [SOLVED] Can't boot : failed to start login service

I don't know; look in root's shell history to see if you did something unwise there. Otherwise, chroot in and reinstall pacman.


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#7 2014-03-18 22:23:54

SilverOne
Member
From: Portugal
Registered: 2013-08-22
Posts: 69

Re: [SOLVED] Can't boot : failed to start login service

Hello again smile

I have not, the root commands where echo IGD to vgaswitcheroo which ran over 2 weeks ago.

I checked the logs and i rebooted after the last pacman upgrade. I don't know what to think, maybe the --delete command caused it to delete some files.

I like your advice however i don't have a backup of the pacman database(i have a backup of the latest "broken' install), without it re-installing pacman would be like a "fresh" start but with packages untracked correct ?


Best Regards,
SilverOne

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#8 2014-03-19 07:04:17

Gcool
Member
Registered: 2011-08-16
Posts: 1,456

Re: [SOLVED] Can't boot : failed to start login service

Try giving the following a read:

Reinstall pacman.
Restoring the database.


Burninate!

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#9 2014-03-21 23:39:04

SilverOne
Member
From: Portugal
Registered: 2013-08-22
Posts: 69

Re: [SOLVED] Can't boot : failed to start login service

thanks Gcool, i have followed your advise and got a nice list of installed packages.

Unfortunately, i lost trust in my system and decided to start anew. I formatted the entire drive, which is similar to re-installing all packages. My system is now up and running so thank you all.

As a token of appreciation i have made a small donation to arch.

Last edited by SilverOne (2014-03-21 23:40:47)


Best Regards,
SilverOne

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#10 2014-03-21 23:42:01

jasonwryan
Anarchist
From: .nz
Registered: 2009-05-09
Posts: 30,424
Website

Re: [SOLVED] Can't boot : failed to start login service

SilverOne wrote:

As a token of appreciation i have made a small donation to arch.

Nice one: thank you.

Please remember to mark your thread as [Solved] by editing your first post and prepending it to the title.


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