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My Ubuntu 12.04 system hung. I had to force power it off. It now boots only into console mode.

On booting, I catch a glimpse of "cannot write bytes", but there is nothing in the boot log.

I have tried booting recovery mode from grub, and when I run graphics in failsafe mode, I'm getting a Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.

I have read this post, and applied the instructions, but I still don't boot into the desktop. I have looked in syslog and cannot find an obvious culprit.

unity --reset fails indicating a bunch of errors, including D-BUS not running and "did I just try to reset in a tty".

I like to think I can diagnose a lot of Linux problems, so I am asking more for things to check than necessarily an answer to fix this, but an answer would also be helpful.

Here is the log requested in the comment:

[    17.224] (II) Loading /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/xorg/extra-modules/nvidia_drv.so
[    17.224] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libwfb.so
[    17.224] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfb.so
[    17.224] (**) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
[    17.224] (==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888
[    17.224] (==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
[    17.224] (==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[    17.224] (**) NVIDIA(0): Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-0"
[    17.224] (**) NVIDIA(0): Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024 +0+0; 1280x960 +0+0"
[    17.224] (**) NVIDIA(0): Enabling 2D acceleration
[    17.225] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA kernel module. Please see the
[    17.225] (EE) NVIDIA(0):     system's kernel log for additional error messages and
[    17.225] (EE) NVIDIA(0):     consult the NVIDIA README for details.
[    17.225] (EE) NVIDIA(0):  *** Aborting ***
[    17.225] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failing initialization of X screen 0
[    17.225] (II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
[    17.225] (II) Unloading nvidia
[    17.225] (II) UnloadModule: "wfb"
[    17.225] (II) Unloading wfb
[    17.225] (II) UnloadModule: "fb"
[    17.225] (II) Unloading fb
[    17.225] (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
[    17.225] 
Fatal server error:
[    17.225] no screens found
[    17.225] 
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support 
     at http://wiki.x.org
 for help. 
[    17.226] Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
[    17.226] 
[    17.226]  ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log
[    17.226] Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.

After resetting the X11 config file, rebooting, and running gksudo nvidia-settings, I get an error

(gksudo:1993): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:

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octopusgrabbus
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  • Try to remove (after a backup, obviously) your /etc/X11/xorg.conf. It could have been tweaked by some driver and it is not removed when re-installing a modern X. Moreover, you should add some information to the question, like for example the graphic card/drivers used and the X log in /var/log/Xorg.0.log --- in this file you should have the error that makes the X server crash. – Rmano Feb 05 '14 at 19:16
  • I'm confused about the last part of your instructions involving adding info to the log file, and the removeal of xorg.conf didn't fix the problem. – octopusgrabbus Feb 05 '14 at 19:19
  • @Rmano is asking you to include information to your question (by editing your post) from your log file, not to the log file. – hmayag Feb 05 '14 at 19:38
  • did you try to: sudo nvidia-xconfig then reboot and run gksudo nvidia-settings and reply what you got. – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 20:27
  • @JohnyD. (gksudo:1993): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display: – octopusgrabbus Feb 05 '14 at 20:39
  • try with sudo nano nvidia-settings – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 20:42
  • The file is blank. Is nvidia-settings in /etc/X11? – octopusgrabbus Feb 05 '14 at 20:46
  • could you bring the output of jockey-text -l – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 20:49
  • yes it is in X11 and it should be configured with command sudo nvidia-xconfig – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 20:51
  • @JohnyD.It's saying the NVIDIA driver is disabled. – octopusgrabbus Feb 05 '14 at 20:51
  • you have to wait a while for output – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 20:52
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    ok but I asked you if you could bring the output here. You need to activate Nvidia driver and the command sudo nvidia-xconfig activates it and after you need to restart X the best way to reboot. If the restricted driver remains unactivated after attempting to activate it in the Additional Drivers dialog, you may not have the appropriate linux headers installed to compile the driver. Ensure that the linux-headers-XXX and linux-restricted-modules-XXX packages are installed, where XXX matches the version of the kernel you are using. To check linux kernel type uname -a – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 21:04
  • He has no graphic environment, so the Additional Driver dialog is out of reach. I would a) remove proprietary drivers (remember to remove again xorg.conf) b) reboot in failsafe graphic mode maybe with nomodeset and c) reinstall the proprietary drivers. http://askubuntu.com/questions/192025/ubuntu-12-04-terminal-only-after-nvidia-driver-upgrade – Rmano Feb 05 '14 at 21:08
  • xorg:nvidia_173 - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Disabled, Not in use) xorg:nvidia_304 - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Disabled, Not in use) xorg:nvidia_304_updates - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (post-release updates) (Proprietary, Disabled, Not in use) xorg:nvidia_331 - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Disabled, Not in use) xorg:nvidia_331_updates - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (post-release updates) (Proprietary, Disabled, Not in use) I've lost the nvidia-xconf command trying to re-install everything. – octopusgrabbus Feb 05 '14 at 21:11
  • ok run jockey-text -e xorg:nvidia_current – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 21:14
  • @JohnyD. unknwon driver xorg:nvidia_current --list outputs the last comment I entered. – octopusgrabbus Feb 05 '14 at 21:24
  • ok you need to purge and remove Nvidia drivers and install it with a clean install follow this topic how to http://askubuntu.com/questions/206283/how-can-i-uninstall-a-nvidia-driver-completely – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 21:35
  • after you've done this procedure go to system settings/additional drivers and choose and activate the recommended driver. – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 21:44
  • @JohnyD. Please put this in as an answer. I'll accept it. The instructions at the link worked like a charm. – octopusgrabbus Feb 05 '14 at 21:44
  • I'm glad I could help. – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 22:03
  • @octopusgrabbus I guess you can accept the answer now if it really helped you usually it takes 10 mins. – JoKeR Feb 05 '14 at 22:15

1 Answers1

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the solution lies herein purge/remove/reinstall nvidia driver, also do not forget to check additional drivers and choose and activate the right one. And you can check it with:

jockey-text -l

to activate and config the driver:

sudo nvidia-xconfig

to start it:

gksudo nvidia-settings

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JoKeR
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