Arch Linux

needmoreram

Member

Registered: 2012-02-13

Posts: 8

Blank screen on quitting awesome

I run Arch 32-bit on my old computer running on a P4 processor. Awesome works fine but when I quit it, I don't see anything - it's just blank. But, I'm sure it goes back to the tty from which it was launched as I'm able to run commands (like halt or xinit). So it looks like it's just the display that is not working. Why is this happening and what can I do about it?

lagagnon

Member

From: an Island in the Pacific...

Registered: 2009-12-10

Posts: 1,087

Website

Re: Blank screen on quitting awesome

Show us your ~/.xinitrc file and your /etc/inittab file.

---

Philosophy is looking for a black cat in a dark room. Metaphysics is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there. Religion is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there and shouting "I found it!". Science is looking for a black cat in a dark room with a flashlight.

needmoreram

Member

Registered: 2012-02-13

Posts: 8

Re: Blank screen on quitting awesome

#
# /etc/inittab
#

#  Runlevels:
#    0    Halt
#    1(S)	Single-user
#    2    Not used
#    3    Multi-user
#    4    Not used
#    5    X11
#    6    Reboot

## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented!
# Boot to console
id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
#id:5:initdefault:

rc::sysinit:/etc/rc.sysinit
rs:S1:wait:/etc/rc.single
rm:2345:wait:/etc/rc.multi
rh:06:wait:/etc/rc.shutdown
su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin -p

# -8 options fixes umlauts problem on login
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty1 linux
c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty2 linux
c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty3 linux
c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty4 linux
c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty5 linux
c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty6 linux

# Serial Virtual Console for KVM and others VMs
#s0:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 9600 ttyS0 linux

# Hypervisor Virtual Console for Xen and KVM
#h0:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 hvc0 linux

ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now

# Example lines for starting a login manager
x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/gdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/kdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/slim >/dev/null 2>&1

# End of file

.xinitrc:

exec awesome

Last edited by needmoreram (2012-02-13 22:12:04)

3])

Member

From: Netherlands

Registered: 2009-10-12

Posts: 215

Re: Blank screen on quitting awesome

What graphics card are you using btw?

My inittab is the same as yours, and 'exec awesome' shouldn't be at fault(even when used so simply).

Does this issue persist only with Awesome or with other window managers as well (Openbox for example...)

---

“There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.”-- C.A.R. Hoare

needmoreram

Member

Registered: 2012-02-13

Posts: 8

Re: Blank screen on quitting awesome

Looks like this issues is with all window managers. My graphics card: ATI Radeon RV100 QY [Radeon 7000/VE]

needmoreram

Member

Registered: 2012-02-13

Posts: 8

Re: Blank screen on quitting awesome

I managed to dig up more info about frame buffer and this is what I found:

My WM runs at 1280x1024 resolution. So I added vga=0x0324 (1280x1024 32bit) to menu.lst. Now when I quit X, I can see the text but it has been displaced to the right i.e.

bcabcabcabcabcabc [rms@unity ~]$ abcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabca

I changed it to vga=0x031b. This time, The text is not legible at all and is repeat four times across the screen. I tried couple of other modes but they are, too, illegible.

Here are the available modes:

02: None 00.0: 11001 VESA Framebuffer                           
  [Created at bios.459]
  Unique ID: rdCR.F1E3GTUDf40
  Hardware Class: framebuffer
  Model: "ATI R100"
  Vendor: "ATI Technologies Inc."
  Device: "R100"
  SubVendor: "ATI RADEON VE"
  SubDevice: 
  Revision: "01.00"
  Memory Size: 64 MB
  Memory Range: 0xe0000000-0xe3ffffff (rw)
  Mode 0x0382: 320x200 (+320), 8 bits
  Mode 0x030d: 320x200 (+640), 15 bits
  Mode 0x030e: 320x200 (+640), 16 bits
  Mode 0x030f: 320x200 (+960), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0320: 320x200 (+1280), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0392: 320x240 (+320), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0393: 320x240 (+640), 15 bits
  Mode 0x0394: 320x240 (+640), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0395: 320x240 (+960), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0396: 320x240 (+1280), 24 bits
  Mode 0x03a2: 400x300 (+400), 8 bits
  Mode 0x03a3: 400x300 (+800), 15 bits
  Mode 0x03a4: 400x300 (+800), 16 bits
  Mode 0x03a5: 400x300 (+1200), 24 bits
  Mode 0x03a6: 400x300 (+1600), 24 bits
  Mode 0x03b2: 512x384 (+512), 8 bits
  Mode 0x03b3: 512x384 (+1024), 15 bits
  Mode 0x03b4: 512x384 (+1024), 16 bits
  Mode 0x03b5: 512x384 (+1536), 24 bits
  Mode 0x03b6: 512x384 (+2048), 24 bits
  Mode 0x03c2: 640x350 (+640), 8 bits
  Mode 0x03c3: 640x350 (+1280), 15 bits
  Mode 0x03c4: 640x350 (+1280), 16 bits
  Mode 0x03c5: 640x350 (+1920), 24 bits
  Mode 0x03c6: 640x350 (+2560), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0300: 640x400 (+640), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0383: 640x400 (+1280), 15 bits
  Mode 0x0384: 640x400 (+1280), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0385: 640x400 (+1920), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0386: 640x400 (+2560), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0301: 640x480 (+640), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0310: 640x480 (+1280), 15 bits
  Mode 0x0311: 640x480 (+1280), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0312: 640x480 (+1920), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0321: 640x480 (+2560), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0303: 800x600 (+800), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0313: 800x600 (+1600), 15 bits
  Mode 0x0314: 800x600 (+1600), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0315: 800x600 (+2400), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0322: 800x600 (+3200), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0305: 1024x768 (+1024), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0316: 1024x768 (+2048), 15 bits
  Mode 0x0317: 1024x768 (+2048), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0318: 1024x768 (+3072), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0323: 1024x768 (+4096), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0307: 1280x1024 (+1280), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0319: 1280x1024 (+2560), 15 bits
  Mode 0x031a: 1280x1024 (+2560), 16 bits
  Mode 0x031b: 1280x1024 (+3840), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0324: 1280x1024 (+5120), 24 bits
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

Last edited by needmoreram (2012-02-14 17:55:15)

needmoreram

Member

Registered: 2012-02-13

Posts: 8

Re: Blank screen on quitting awesome

Update:

I had long given up with X and just used the console. But I need a graphical environment now and so I started changing settings by trial and error.

This picture may perhaps better explain what happens when I quit X currently. I started meddling with the resolutions settings of xorg.

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-monitor.conf:

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier  "Monitor0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Device0"
    Driver      "vesa"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier      "Screen0"
    Device          "Device0"
    Monitor         "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    16
    SubSection      "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes       "1024x768_60.00"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

If I change vesa to fbdev, x is now illegible with extraneous colors here and there BUT if I quit back to console, the display is normal!
Example

Additionally, I get these errors:

(EE) FBDEV(0): FBIOPUTCMAP: Invalid Argument
(EE) FBDEV(0): FBIOPUTCMAP: Invalid Argument
(EE) FBDEV(0): FBIOPUTCMAP: Invalid Argument
(some more of invalid argument errors)
W: awesome: a_dbus_connect:598: D-Bus session bus system failed: Failed to connect to socket /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket: No such file or directory

What do you think?

Last edited by needmoreram (2012-03-09 17:43:22)