X (gdm) black screen, nouveau [SOLVED]

Progman3K · l33t Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 773

Hi,

I can't get X to start on a new install.

uname -a
Linux svt 4.19.23-gentoo #4 SMP Tue Mar 5 08:46:00 EST 2019 x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

Running
Xorg :0 -configure

gives this output:
https://pastebin.com/FSvwsDXd

dmesg output:
https://pastebin.com/DWZxz8HL

However, if I run
X -config /root/xorg.conf.new -retro

I get a screen with the old-style XWindows grey (black/white moiré) background and the old-style X mouse-pointer. I can move the mouse pointer OK.

X applications CAN be run remotely over ssh.

X just won't start locally.

EDIT
The machine is a DELL desktop. Here is the output of lspci -v

https://pastebin.com/QjbjRBVy

Any help welcome, thank you

Jaglover · Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 1:52 pm Post subject:

Progman3K · l33t Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 773

You mean the 20th century, we're in the 21st century now :-)

All the same, you're right, but I'm not sure how to get X running properly, so I tried the old method.

I've edited the parent with more information in case someone else reads the thread, so they won't have to piece too much of it together.

Jaglover · Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 2:06 pm Post subject:

I meant 19th century, to emphasize how outdated this approach is.

Anyhow, make sure your kernel is configured properly (Gentoo Wiki), log in as user and start X. Make sure there is something set up to run on X, otherwise it will find there is nothing to do and terminate. Do not generate any conf files, these are needed only for fine tuning and you can do it later if needed. Also, make sure you have libinput enabled. It will handle both keyboard and mouse.
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Progman3K · l33t Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 773

Hi Jaglover,

Oddly enough, even if gdm won't start X, running the startx command results in a graphical screen with three xterms and one xclock running in it with the mouse and keyboard also working...

So it must be close to functional...

I don't get why the greeter won't come up...

EDIT: One thing; the windows that open when I invoke startx, none of them have titlebars... Like if there is no window-manager...

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 3:55 pm Post subject:

Progman3K,

That's Xorg working then.

How do you intend to start gdm?

There are two ways.
Edit your ~/.xinitrc, so startx brings up gdm.
Configure xdm to start gdm and add xdm to the default runlevel.

The former is per user, the latter is system wide.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

Progman3K · l33t Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 773

Hi Neddy!

I've added gdm to the default runlevel with

systemctl enable gdm

but

systemctl status gdm

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 7:06 pm Post subject:

Progman3K,

I'm not a systemd user.

Is there anything in dmesg or in Xorg.0.log after gdm fails to start?
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

Progman3K · l33t Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 773

Hi Neddy!

Even under systemd, there is an Xorg.0.log created in /var/log, here are the contents

https://pastebin.com/CtEJi7nT

I'm not seeing any EE codes in there...

Here's the dmesg log

https://pastebin.com/1NrcQ7wY

Longshot, but here are the groups the user belongs to:
tty wheel uucp audio dialout video kvm users locate plugdev svt

As you pointed out, X does start, so it's something to do with GDM, but I can't imagine what

EDIT

There does seem to be problems though, I've copied the last few pages of the systemd log and there are a bunch of errors in there, I just don't know what the root-cause is

https://pastebin.com/2zZ2UxKr

EDIT 2

Since startx does work, and installing twm (along with font-adobe-100dpi and font-adobe-75dpi), I can get along. It's not Gnome, which was the original target, but X with twm isn't half-bad :-)

Leio · Developer Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 494 Location: Estonia

Progman3K · l33t Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Posts: 773

Hello!

I'm marking this post as SOLVED, even though I don't know what the solution was:

I've kept updating the system with
emerge --sync
and
emerge -u world

And after restarting, GDM now starts as it should, I can log in and Gnome starts as expected.

I didn't change anything...

In any case, thanks to all for helping