System no longer starts

Adam33 · 2020-02-11 15:58

I'm not sure if it was an update yesterday or what, but as of this morning, the computer will not properly boot. It starts to load Q4OS and then directs me to a terminal login. There is no desktop available. Was something changed or updated?

It seems like this happened a few weeks ago when I tried to update the kernel. That led to the same kind of issue.

Is anyone else having problems? Is there a way in this terminal, outside of any display, to undo any updates or changes that were made yesterday?

Tomsonas · 2020-02-11 17:00

I kind of fixed by logging in and running

sudo rm -rf /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Got this after installing Nvidia drivers from their site. You may backup your xorg.conf file by running

cd /etc/X11/ && cp xorg.conf ~/Documents

before running the command above. This will save it in Documents directory.

Last edited by Tomsonas (2020-02-11 17:04)

Adam33 · 2020-02-12 04:59

Tomsonas wrote:

Got this after installing Nvidia drivers from their site.

Thanks, and I will try when I'm on that computer, but I do question whether this will work given that I have only the Intel integrated graphics. I specifically wanted to avoid any issues having to do with graphics cards that weren't well supported out of the box.

I was having issues with my monitor being recognized from the beginning though, so it may just be that either Trinity or Q4OS is not compatible with the Intel i5-9600K.

Otherwise, I will check to see if I can capture any log information from any Synaptic updates yesterday to see what was last applied and whether I can revert it. Obviously, something was changed or updated yesterday that caused this to happen.

Adam33 · 2020-02-12 06:12

I figured this out. It was in fact exactly the same problem I had before.

The Linux 4.19.0-8-amd64 kernel DOES NOT WORK!!!!

When I boot, i get multiple lines saying "Failed to open Display." preceding a command line login prompt.

I purged the kernel and got back to the working 4.19.0-6 version. I have locked this version in Synaptic until there is a fix.

Unless I'm doing something wrong (and I haven't really done that much), can someone explain why this kernel upgrade would break the GUI?

Has anyone else had any such issue resulting from a kernel upgrade?

Dai_trying · 2020-02-12 09:45

You would likely need the newer kernel from Debian-backports as you cpu is too new for the stable version, I use it with my Ryzen cpu and so far has worked just fine.
For mine I also needed to install firmware-misc-nonfree from backports too.

Adam33 · 2020-02-12 15:58

I don't think that is the problem.

First, I tried a live USB with Debian stable on the MATE desktop with 4.19.0-8, and it had no issues. So it's not the kernel itself so much as it is the interaction of the kernel with Q4OS/Trinity. It makes no sense though if my CPU is too new that 4.19.0-6 would work whereas an upgraded version would not.

Additionally, even now, there is something wrong with the way the display is being handled as it will not rotate or accept any non-native resolutions. I can't help but think there is a relationship there. If Q4OS is nothing more than Debian stable with the Trinity desktop, than the problem likely lies with Trinity.

I can try updating, but I won't get my hopes up. Perhaps I will need to open up a bug with Trinity.

Dai_trying · 2020-02-12 17:14

It could be a bug, I also grabbed firmware-[amd-graphics|linux|misc-nonfree|realtek] and all the required header files from the backports repo to give me best results. And my cpu was launched early 2018 so before yours. I can't remember exactly what issue(s) I had but I know it definitely appeared to run smoother after installing them..

Adam33 · 2020-02-13 06:54

I did try upgrading the kernel to the newer 5.4.0-0 version, and it failed yet again with the same "Failed to open display" messages. All of the latest available firmware packages from backports were already installed from my last attempt and had no upgrades to offer.

I seem to recall a similar issue with a different distribution where upgrading the kernel caused the exact same failure. I wonder if it doesn't have something to do with the upgrade process as opposed to the particular version. Is it possible one or more major dependencies aren't fully documented or recognized by Synaptic?

Reading various posts, I can't seem to find anyone who has experienced this same issue.

Dai_trying · 2020-02-13 09:33

Could you post the output of inxi -F so we can see some specs?

Adam33 · 2020-02-13 15:49

System:
Host: adam-pc Kernel: 4.19.0-6-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: Trinity R14.0.6 Distro: Q4OS 3.10.3-n1
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: Z390 Taichi serial: <root required>
UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends v: P4.30 date: 11/26/2019
CPU:
Topology: 6-Core model: Intel Core i5-9600K bits: 64 type: MCP
L2 cache: 9216 KiB
Speed: 1200 MHz min/max: 800/4600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1200 2: 1200
3: 1200 4: 1200 5: 1200 6: 1200
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel driver: N/A
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: vesa unloaded: fbdev,modesetting
resolution: 3840x2160~N/A
OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 7.0 256 bits) v: 3.3 Mesa 18.3.6
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS driver: snd_hda_intel
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-6-amd64
Network:
Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V driver: e1000e
IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 70:85:c2:cc:57:b5
Device-2: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak] driver: iwlwifi
IF: wlp3s0 state: down mac: d4:3b:04:a2:06:9d
Device-3: Intel I211 Gigabit Network driver: igb
IF: enp4s0 state: down mac: 70:85:c2:cc:57:b7
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 2.27 TiB used: 15.79 GiB (0.7%)
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB
size: 465.76 GiB
ID-2: /dev/sda type: USB vendor: Western Digital model: WD Elements 25A2
size: 1.82 TiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 440.84 GiB used: 15.79 GiB (3.6%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
ID-2: swap-1 size: 16.87 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 182 Uptime: 19m Memory: 15.34 GiB used: 1.81 GiB (11.8%)
Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.32

Dai_trying · 2020-02-13 15:55

Adam33 wrote:

Device-1: Intel driver: N/A

This could be part of the problem, do you have xserver-xorg-video-intel installed? If you have this installed then you will very likely need to upgrade the kernel, and video packages to get it working properly.

Adam33 · 2020-02-14 03:21

I do have it installed, and it is the latest available version. There isn't anything newer in backports. What packages do I need to upgrade?

Interestingly, the notes in the repo show:
"The use of this driver is discouraged if your hw is new enough (ca.
2007 and newer). You can try uninstalling this driver and let the
server use it's builtin modesetting driver instead."

Do I simply need to uninstall this?

Last edited by Adam33 (2020-02-14 03:24)

Dai_trying · 2020-02-14 09:06

Adam33 wrote:

"You can try uninstalling this driver and let the
server use it's builtin modesetting driver instead."
Do I simply need to uninstall this?

You could try, but I would guess that this will not work, but trying it is the only way to find out really.

If I recall correctly Q4OS used to have a kernel upgrade script and I think it installed any required drivers/firmware too, but I cannot remember what the command was or even if it is still available...

q4osteam · 2020-02-14 09:10

Yes, if you want to install kernel from Debian-backports repository, you can use command:
$ qinst-kernel-bpo
It installs the kernel, modules as well as firmware related, however it doesn't install Xorg video drivers. The original Debian kernel will not be uninstalled, so you will have an option to choose it at the boot time as a Grub boot table entry.

Last edited by q4osteam (2020-02-14 09:11)

Dai_trying · 2020-02-14 09:46

Thanks guys, I was sure it would be there somewhere.

Adam33 · 2020-02-14 15:21

Is that command any different from installing with Synaptic (with the backports repository enabled) or installing the automatic updates?

q4osteam · 2020-02-14 15:28

The command installs kernel explicitly from the backports repository. You need to manually enable backports prior to run this command, see https://backports.debian.org/Instructions/

q4osteam · 2020-02-14 15:31

The command just simplifies the install process and takes care about firmware installation as well. You can use the traditional ways to install kernel from backports, the result will be the same.

Dai_trying · 2020-02-14 15:40

If you have concerns about the script you can locate it with the following command

which qinst-kernel-bpo

and if you want to view the code you can use this command

cat $(which qinst-kernel-bpo)

Although if you are not familiar with Linux and/or Bash it might not be of much use to you.

Adam33 · 2020-02-15 05:29

I've tried everything posted here. Backports were fully enabled, and the kernel updated. All of the latest firmware was already in place from my last attempt. There were no new updates or packages there. Again, it booted to a command line interface. It is just Trinity that won't start. "Failed to open display ." appeared multiple times after login. From there, I once again purged the updated image and started the old version without issue.

I came across this issue attempting to upgrade the kernel on a distro with MATE (and a much newer kernel), and the same thing happened. That and the fact that I was able to use a live USB to boot into a distro with the same newer kernel make me more inclined to suspect a missing dependency than anything specific to any kernel version.

If that is the case though, what could this undocumented dependency be?

Last edited by Adam33 (2020-02-15 07:08)

Dai_trying · 2020-02-15 09:14

I had a similar issue with my old Dell laptop and had to use a workaround to get it sorted, it went like this...

When you are booted to the console log in with your user credentials, if your system fails to get you to a console use the keys Ctrl+F1 to get you to a fresh one (you can use any F key F1 through to F7 but F7 is usually your desktop)
Then issue the following commands

sudo systemctl stop tdm.service

sudo X -configure

sudo mv xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf

sudo systemctl start tdm.service

This might work as it creates a fresh xorg.conf from the available hardware, hopefully it will help.

For reference the issue I had (after upgrading kernel) is in this post and the resolution is in this post

Adam33 · 2020-02-16 08:28

Well, we're halfway there! That DID start the desktop without issue (and resolved the monitor issues at the same time), BUT it doesn't stick. I have to retype the first and last command on each reboot to get it to work.

On the third one, xorg.conf.new is within the user's directory, but the results were the same whether using root or my own version. It doesn't matter though. That file obviously isn't the issue though because it stays the same, and I found that running the first and last commands alone were sufficient to get things working.

Why would I have to stop and start tdm.service on each boot to get it to work? Shouldn't it do that automatically?

Is this a Debian issue or a Trinity issue?

Last edited by Adam33 (2020-02-16 09:59)

Dai_trying · 2020-02-16 10:15

Adam33 wrote:

Why would I have to stop and start tdm.service on each boot to get it to work? Shouldn't it do that automatically?

Yes it should, maybe there is another issue with your system? (Or it could also be a bug) I am not really sure at this point and would hope the devs might offer some advise here...

Adam33 wrote:

Is this a Debian issue or a Trinity issue?

At this point I would think it is more likely a Trinity bug (if it is a bug) as tdm is part of Trinity.

One thing that might play a part in this is if you are using a saved session, I always start my systems with a fresh session to ensure a cleaner system (IMO) but I'm wondering if you are maybe using a saved session that has something you don't actually want to run. Just a wild guess...

Adam33 · 2020-02-17 03:55

I posted a bug with the Trinity team, and this was their response:

If it worked before you updated the kernel and not after doing that, I don't think it is a problem in tdm, otherwise it would have shown up even before that. Also I would expect tdm to fail even after you restart the service manually if the problem was within tdm.
IMO the problem is somewhere before tdm is started, although I can't say where.

It does make sense though given that tdm starts with no changes. What is responsible for starting tdm? Is there some way to examine or tweak what is being done prior?

q4osteam · 2020-02-17 13:59

Systemd subsystem is responsible. If you suspect TDM from being corrupted, you can try to install another display manager temporarily, for ex. lightdm or sddm and set it default:
$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure sddm
or
$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm
Once you get a result you can uninstall the DM and set TDM back as default
$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure tdm-trinity

Q4OS Forum

#1 2020-02-11 15:58

System no longer starts

#2 2020-02-11 17:00

Re: System no longer starts

#3 2020-02-12 04:59

Re: System no longer starts

#4 2020-02-12 06:12

Re: System no longer starts

#5 2020-02-12 09:45

Re: System no longer starts

#6 2020-02-12 15:58

Re: System no longer starts

#7 2020-02-12 17:14

Re: System no longer starts

#8 2020-02-13 06:54

Re: System no longer starts

#9 2020-02-13 09:33

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#10 2020-02-13 15:49

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#11 2020-02-13 15:55

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#12 2020-02-14 03:21

Re: System no longer starts

#13 2020-02-14 09:06

Re: System no longer starts

#14 2020-02-14 09:10

Re: System no longer starts

#15 2020-02-14 09:46

Re: System no longer starts

#16 2020-02-14 15:21

Re: System no longer starts

#17 2020-02-14 15:28

Re: System no longer starts

#18 2020-02-14 15:31

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#19 2020-02-14 15:40

Re: System no longer starts

#20 2020-02-15 05:29

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#21 2020-02-15 09:14

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#22 2020-02-16 08:28

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#23 2020-02-16 10:15

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#24 2020-02-17 03:55

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