Intel video testing: It worked for a bit...

[Bob Arendt]

Leon Stringer wrote:
> Robert Arendt wrote:
>> Leon Stringer wrote:
>>> Bob Arendt wrote:
>>>> Leon Stringer wrote:
>>>>> Robert Arendt wrote:
>>>> To get more diagnostics, again try booting with "nomodeset 3"
>>>> (to start at runlevel 3, without X).  Log into a VT and type:
>>>>   startx /usr/bin/xterm -- -logverbose 255
>>>>
>>>> This should start an Xserver and xterm (yum install /usr/bin/xterm)
>>>> on vt7.  This is sort of a failsafe mode - not even a window manager.
>>>> It takes gdm and the rest of the gnome session out of the equation.
>>>> When you exit the xterm, the Xserver will terminate.  The logverbose
>>>> puts maximum debug into the /var/log/Xorg.0.log.
>>>>
>>> However, the basic startx xterm... test worked and I can load Metacity
>>> and glxgears runs.
>>>
>>> So I'm a bit baffled, if I can get a minimal X running, what's missing
>>> that prevents GNOME running?
>>>
>> Great!  Looks like the Xserver is mostly working.  It could be that
>> gdm is having problems starting up, or pulseaudio might be hitting your
>> system and causing it to lock up.
>>
>> If you look in /var/log/messages just prior to the start of the current
>> boot, do you see anything that could indicate a problem?  Also gdm
>> (the login manager) is spitting out *lots* of diagnostics into the log.
>> If it freezes, it's probably somewhere during gdm startup, since it
>> starts X (maybe does sound and animations) before presenting a login box.
>>
>> Instead of this fail-safe login, try starting gnome-session or kde
>> instead of xterm.  As before, boot to runlevel 3, log in, and:
>>   startx /usr/bin/gnome-session -- -logverbose 255
>> or
>>   startx /usr/bin/startkde -- -logverbose 255
>> (I think startkde is the session startup script, not sure ...)
>>
>> You should be able to log in as a non-root user and start a session
>> this way.  If there are problems, you might consider starting from
>> a new user's directory;  Some configuration changes seem to have made
>> some gnome settings incompatible with previous versions.  Also new-users
>> have "Desktop Effects" turned off by default (the "effects" cause a
>> lock-up just as you describe).
>>
>> If these work, then it's certainly something associated with gdm (gnome
>> display manager).  It's the one that starts X, puts up a login screen,
>> and possibly gets fancy with some sound and animation in F11 .. which
>> might be killing you.  Although glxgears works, trying to enable
>> "Desktop effects" froze me completely (no capslocks or network).
>> If gdm is trying to do compositing, that may be the killer.
>>
>> If the gnome-session login doesn't work, maybe it's not X at all ..
>> maybe it's trying to play a sound and it locks up.  To test this,
>> boot to runlevel 3, log in as root, and start pulseaudio manually:
>>    pulseaudio --kill
>>    pulseaudio --start
>> then
>>    paplay /usr/share/sounds/startup*.wav
>>
>> There should be a number of files in that directory.  F10 has startup3.wav.
>> If this works, pulseaudio probably isn't the killer.
>>
> 
> startx gnome-session... loads X, then I'm prompted for my credentials
> for Network Manager but apart from that the screen is black. I tried
> creating a new user to rule out any of my config files but got the same
> results. But, unless you know this should work, I'm wondering if GNOME
> requires some to be launched by GDM to work. I'll see if I can comment
> out the items GNOME runs at startup to see if that makes a difference.
> 
> paplay worked so it's probably not that.
> 
> Not much fun, but thanks for all your suggestions...
You've stumped me at this point.  There do appear to be issues starting
a gnome-session as root;  Lots of gnome desktop bits don't want to run
as root.  For me it will start from runlevel 3 as an ordinary or new user.
But on this laptop the the backlight control is eratic.  Maybe this
translates into some sort of erratic video control for a connected monitor.
Also my laptop screen is a mere 1024x768.

Last parting words - you might check using xrandr through an external
terminal.  To make Xserver authorization work, find the auth file:
   $ ps -eo args |grep X
   xinit /usr/bin/gnome-session -- /usr/bin/X -logverbose 255 -auth /home/me/.serverauth.3625
   /usr/bin/X :0 -logverbose 255 -auth /home/me/.serverauth.3625
   $ export XAUTHORITY=/home/me/.serverauth.3625
   $ export DISPLAY=:0
   $ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1024 x 768, maximum 1024 x 1024
VGA disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
LVDS unknown connection 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
    1024x768       60.0*+   60.0
    800x600        60.3
    640x480        59.9

.. So you can check with xrandr your display modes, and make sure
that X is trying to do something compatible with your monitor.
Also check that /var/log/Xorg.0.log for info that could indicate
an error.

Plus, you can check to see what gnome is doing:
   ps --forest -u newusername -o pid,ppid,args
where "newusername" is your test username that's starting gnome.

Perhaps someone knowledgeable about gnome startup can help
Leon triage this test case?

Cheers,
-Bob Arendt