# Kubuntu 5.10 - X won't start



## Mr. Ksoft (Oct 13, 2005)

I would be posting this at the Kubuntu forums but they're no help.

I installed Kubuntu Linux 5.10 on my hard drive. When I first booted the OS, I got the command line for some reason. Consecutive boots failed to boot at all, except in recovery mode. I narrowed the problem down to X not booting. If I type "startx", it seems to start booting, but then drops me back down to the commandline. The error is as follows:

```
[stuff above this is off screen]
Skipping "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libGLcore.a:m_debug_xform.o": No symbols found
(EE) Unable to find a valid framebuffer device
(EE) RADEON(0): Failed to open framebuffer device, consult warnings and or errors above for possible reasons
(You may have to look at the server log to see warnings)
Skipping "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/libfb.a:fbmmx.o": No symbols found
(EE) RADEON (0): [dri] DRI ScreenInit failed.  Disabling DRI.
***If unresolved symbols were reported above, they might not
***be the reason for the server aborting.
Fatal server error:
Caught signal 4. Server aborting
[contact the X.org foundation, blahblahblah]
```
I was told to do a "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg" and did, many times with different options. Nothing worked. I saw the error said something about DRI, so I disabled the module. Nope. More errors.
I think my hardware isn't supported. My computer is an HP Pavilion desktop PC with the following hardware:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2 Ghz
1GB DDR SDRAM
250GB SATA hard drive (partitioned with 10GB for linux and about 230 for Windows XP MCE2005)
Radeon Xpress 200 (integrated chipset graphics card)
Realtek AC97 Sound

I think the Radeon Xpress is the problem, but I can't see how to fix it. I haven't tried the x86_64 version, which could help, but I'm afraid that it will lack support for 32-bit applications (sort of like Windows 64 bit has)

What is wrong? If you need to, I can post my X log file (if I knew how to mount my USB key drive... how do I do that by command-line?)


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## Aeuzent (Sep 4, 2004)

I'd try installing the newest drivers from ATI and then reconfigure X

Here's the linux drivers page from ATI
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=27


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## Skie (Mar 15, 2003)

When you boot, try using these options: "noapic nolapic".


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## Mr. Ksoft (Oct 13, 2005)

OK, but how am I supposed to do that? I use GRUB as a boot manager, and when a choose Kubuntu, it goes right into the boot sequence without a chance to pass it any options.

And @ Auezent: It looks like you have to be in X to install the drivers >_<. I'm having trouble mounting my USB key drive, so I can't say I've actually tried though.


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## Aeuzent (Sep 4, 2004)

You shouldn't have to be in X to install drivers... infact that defeats the purpose of the driver. It looks like a shell script so just chmod it to be executable and run the sucker.


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## QTraXQ (Dec 19, 2005)

Im having the same sort of issue concerning the system not fully booting..Im using Fedora Core 4. the system boots to the point of te Gui beginning to load but as soon as it pops up it freezes. the point at which it freezes is when the GUI first pops up and shows a status bar(This is right before the point of the log in box coming up)


The last thing I did was Install my NVIDIA 7800GT video drivers and I also installed several updates using the Update2(?) application.

I have tried bringing up the CLI befoe the gui starts to load but all I get is the "grub" cli. Anyway to get to the last known config? how do I get to a CLI that will allow this?


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## LoneWolf071 (Nov 10, 2004)

ok, to bring up a terminal, just, when booted, press CTRL-ALT-<F1-6>, I.E. CTRL-ALT-F1 And It Will Drop You Into A console...


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## Mr. Ksoft (Oct 13, 2005)

Ah, it's been a while since I lasted posted in this topic, but here's the result.

Still nothing! I got the drivers onto the machine, ran the installer, but at the end it tells me there were errors during the installation. The log says something about the kernel (i'll edit this with the message later)

If I turn off all the modules in the setup of X and then run it, it doesn't start, but I get a different error: "Screens found, but none have a usable configuration". According the the X.org FAQ, it means it can't find valid settings for my monitor. Oddly, I set it up to use screen resolutions I'm CERTAIN work in Windows XP (like 1280x1024). Anyone know the proper settings for X.org for the HP mx705 monitor? It might help me get in.


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## LoneWolf071 (Nov 10, 2004)

did you try the terminal?


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## QTraXQ (Dec 19, 2005)

I have tried CTRL+ALT+F1 right as the GUI is starting, when the processes/drivers are starting and Fedora givs you the option to press I for interactive setup. I have also tried it at the Grub CLI. It never give me a normal BASH terminal.


Any ideas??


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## fhj52 (Dec 21, 2005)

The most important line is the last:


> contact the X.org foundation


Did you?


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## fhj52 (Dec 21, 2005)

fhj52 said:


> The most important line is the last:
> 
> 
> Did you?


What I meant to say ( and was trying to edit the "Quick Reply" but got whacked upside the head because THIS FORUM DOES NOT ALLOW EDITS AFTER 30 MINUTES! grrrrr!!! ) is below

Mr. Ksoft:
The most important line to consider _first_ is the last:


> contact the X.org foundation


Did you?


X.org might know about the problem and be working on it. IOW, X.org may have a solution or at least a work around. They might also say there is no problem with the ATI 200 chipset on your ?? motherboard which means we (all) might be able to get things working. 
If you have not been there before, there is a published list of VGA cards/chipsets that are known to work. If the ATI is not on the list, there's a small chance it will work in some limited capacity and a huge likelyhood that it will not at all.
I have not ventured to X.org in quite a while so cannot give you URL for the list, sorry.

I have seen reports, a couple anyway, that using XFree resolves some problems that are seemingly intractable with Xorg. Google is your friend in that instance to find info... 

IF this is a real bug and not a config error, (k)ubuntu people should be told about it. Have you checked the Bugzilla Bug Reports to see if someone else is having the same problem? If there is a report, there might even be a solution. 

There's a timeout function for loading the default OS in GrUB. GrUB can be edited by pressing "e" as soon as the bootloader screen appears. If you are not fast enough(it is TOO fast) or it is setup to automatically load KDE as the default desktop(so you wont see a bootloader options screen) there is another way(there are always options w/ Linux...) to edit the boot file after you are in a terminal. I can assist but there is little point if X.org and XFree state that the ATI ... 200 is not one of the supported chipsets.

Will you check that first?

HTH


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## fhj52 (Dec 21, 2005)

QTraXQ said:


> I have tried CTRL+ALT+F1 right as the GUI is starting, when the processes/drivers are starting and Fedora givs you the option to press I for interactive setup. I have also tried it at the Grub CLI. It never give me a normal BASH terminal.
> 
> Any ideas??


 CTRL+ALT+F2
Last time I checked(I'm using some older versions of the Linux OS) , the GUI used #7 so F1 - F6 were all available at any time after the GUI(X) was loaded. However, X does not have to load for those to be available. 
I.e., just press & hold CTRL+ALT and select the terminal # of choice by using one of the function keys F2 - F6 . 
I have never tried that in a GUI shell but, thinking about it, it probably would not work since the shell would interpret the key sequence for its own use... dunno. Try CTRL+ALT+F2 from the desktop. It should also work on the login screen.
If it and the others don't work then the alternate terminals are not available(which would be a first for a Linux *desktop* provider and I, for one, like to know about it). It could be a new security implementation...


You cannot get a BASH terminal until the Linux OS (& BASH) is loaded. It will not be loaded at the GrUB boot options screen. However, there is an option to get a CLI, sort-of mini-terminal, with non-BASH shell during the GrUB boot options display. You cannot do much with it... it is mostly there to fix GrUB should it be broken in some way, which it never is( except by configuration errors in the boot file ).

Using the "I" during boot is pretty tough 2do. It did not work for the last five years with RH clone Mandrakesoft but has been since 10.0 ithink(it does for 10.1... and the Mandriva2005). If pressing "i" or "I" doesn't work to give you bootup choices immediately, then it is broken, again. 
It does _not_ drop you to a terminal; never has that I know about. If it works, it is similar to what one gets in WinXX by F8 & choosing to view each line before the driver loads to select which you do or do not want to load. It can be useful to stop loading some driver that is borking the boot.


HTH


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## LoneWolf071 (Nov 10, 2004)

Ok, Not While It's Booting, But After It's Done, Then You Do The CTRL-ALT-F1. that is BASH and you can do what you need from there...


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## Mr. Ksoft (Oct 13, 2005)

*I've found a solution!*

After a lot of looking around, I finally found a way to get it working. I downloaded an X.org configuration file and replaced my current one. It allowed me to boot into X in VESA mode so I could install the ATI driver. It works great now.


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## QTraXQ (Dec 19, 2005)

Still no good for me.. You see I have tried all CTRL+ALT+F1-F9 combinations (i.e, Ctrl+ALT+F2)

... What is occurring is Linux does not actually fully load the login screen, instead it pop up a Status bar which never changes. The status Bar says "Show Details" underneath it.. The Mouse still moves but I can do nothing else at this point.


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## Aeuzent (Sep 4, 2004)

QTraXQ said:


> Still no good for me.. You see I have tried all CTRL+ALT+F1-F9 combinations (i.e, Ctrl+ALT+F2)


The "CTRL+ALT+F2" trick may only work in Debain based systems. I had never tried it back when I used Fedora. It should (if it works) switch the user window as soon as you hit it. Sort of a way for multiple people to sign in. All the function keys are empty terminals except F7 which would take you back to the GUI.

However your running a Red Hat system so I don't know if it's even an option.


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## batty_professor (Jul 29, 2004)

Your whole issue seems to be that X is not configured correctly. If it were me, I would run the install disk again, select the upgrade option, that gets you through the process again without package selection, which makes the process go quickly. 3-5 mins or so. At the end of the install, if graphical, there should be some sort of summary page. You should be able to configure X there, and test the configuration before rebooting. You may need to scroll the summary page to find the configure button for the graphics (X)


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## Aeuzent (Sep 4, 2004)

If this is Fedora there is no special setup. The installer hides all of this from you and auto configures everything. There's a chance you have a video card that doesn't have bundled drivers with this release of Fedora. I'd check around online for special install insturctions or just try another distro.


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