[arch-general] GDM Locked - is Gnome locked

[Guillermo Leira]

> -----Mensaje original-----
> De: arch-general-bounces at archlinux.org [mailto:arch-general-
> bounces at archlinux.org] En nombre de Guillermo Leira
> Enviado el: sábado, 30 de octubre de 2010 16:03
> Para: 'General Discussion about Arch Linux'
> Asunto: Re: [arch-general] GDM Locked - is Gnome locked
> 
> > > On 06:51 Tue 19 Oct     , Guillermo Leira wrote:
> > > > > After the last Pacman -Syu, I can't login with gdm. As soon as I click on my
> > > > > username, the system seems to freeze... Although not completely: I can ping
> > > > > from other computer, but I can't ssh.
> > > > >
> > > > > Before I click on the username, the "switch off" icon at the right down corner
> > > > > works. Once I click on the username, nothing else works, and I neither can
> > > > > ctrl-alt-F1 to the console...
> > > > >
> > > > > Any suggestions/questions?
> > > >
> > > > I have removed GDM and installed SLIM. Now I can login, but the screen
> > > shows nothing... And if I try to CTRL-ALT-F1 to the console, the system
> > > locks again. It is not a GDM problem.
> > > >
> > > > If I run startx from the command line, X starts.
> > > >
> > > > Any advice?
> > > >
> > > > Best regards,
> > > >
> > > > Guillermo
> > > >
> > >
> > > Hi Guillermo,
> > >
> > > try and make yourself a new user. If that one can work with the X-part of
> > > your system - then some rights in your local $HOME directory are broken
> > > (.xinitrc
> > > would be a candidate for this kind of weird behaviour, but also
> > > .ICEauthority or .Xauthority).
> > > If of cause the new user account does have the same problems, your
> /etx/X11
> > > or worse might have wrong user rights.
> > > Have also a look i a file called .xerrors, .xsession-errors  - or
> something
> > > like that (can't remember the correct name anymore), there could be some
> > > hints in
> > > it, if it does exist, what your problem is.
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > >
> > > Karl
> > >
> > >
> > When you run Slim, you also get a /var/log/slim.log to look at.
> 
> I have tried to make a new user, but it has the same problem. I have started X
> as root, and works. Then I installed xfce, and it hangs as well. Twm runs fine
> for all users. Gnome and xfce hang even for root.
> 
> The .xsession-errors file is not updated. It is dated a couple of months
> ago...
> 
> I have created an .xinitrc for root, and it also gets locked when I select
> gnome or xfce.
> 
> As the system gets completely locked, I have to power cycle it, and the Xorg
> log files have 0 bytes when I reboot...
> 
> I checked KMS. I included intel_agp and i915 in mkinitcpio.conf, but it seems
> to be unrelated to the problem, as twm works.
> 
> Help... :-(
> 
> I don't even know what to look for. And I wouldn't like to reinstall the
> system (that would be too easy).
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> Guillermo Leira
> 

Just FYI. The issue is solved, but I don't like very much how...

I enabled the testing repository, run pacman -Syu, and I everything was working fine again. I'm sorry, there where 33 packages, I don't know which one did the magic.

I have updated another computer that had not been updated for a couple of weeks, and it died the same way. And the cure was the same: Enable the testing repository.

I have another six computers running Arch, and some virtual machines, and I have had no problem with them.

The two computers with problems are completely different: A laptop with Intel graphics, and a desktop with Nvidia. But they also have some things in common and different of the other computers: Both of them boot from an external USB drive (the internal hard drive has XP installed), and they are the only ones with x86_64.

Best Regards,

Guillermo Leira