[SOLVED]Linux Mint 15 XFCE fails to start

[dirac_delta_f]

I am running linux mint 15 xfce and after a recent package update and system reboot, xfce desktop fails to start on startup. The cursor displays on a black screen. I can move the cursor but nothing else. When I switch to tty1 and try to start xfce from the command line with startx, the screen goes black. Does anyone have any bright ideas? Thanks for reading.

[perham]

post the output of

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dmesg

and

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lspci -nnk | grep -i vga -A4

if you want to capture that info from a tty, just run these commands

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dmesg >output1.txt
lspci -nnk | grep -i vga -A4 >output2.txt

and upload output1.txt and output2.txt somewhere.

also upload /etc/X11/xorg.conf if it exists.

[dirac_delta_f]

the outputs of dmseg and lspci -nnk | grep -i vga -A4 are uploaded as attachments output1.pdf and output2.pdf. /etc/X11/xorg.conf did not exist on my filesystem. Thanks for your help.

[perham]

the outputs of dmseg and lspci -nnk | grep -i vga -A4 are uploaded as attachments output1.pdf and output2.pdf. /etc/X11/xorg.conf did not exist on my filesystem. Thanks for your help.

ok, no errors there. let's dig a little deeper. upload these files here:

/var/log/Xorg.0.log
/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
/etc/xdg/xfce4/xinitrc

[dirac_delta_f]

see the attachments, xinitrc.pdf is from /etc/X11/xinit/ and xinitrc_xdg.pdf is from /etc/xdg/xfce4/xinitrc

[perham]

see the attachments, xinitrc.pdf is from /etc/X11/xinit/ and xinitrc_xdg.pdf is from /etc/xdg/xfce4/xinitrc

apparently there has been an issue with lightdm that can cause similar symptoms to your problem.
one guy had it already:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=167183

run

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sudo apt-cache policy lightdm mdm

if mdm is not installed, install mdm and make it default display manager. see if this works.

[dirac_delta_f]

mdm is my dispay manager. I uninstalled it, then reinstalled it but I have the same problem. I will see if I can install a previous version than what is the installation candidate. Any ideas on how to do this?

[perham]

mdm is my dispay manager. I uninstalled it, then reinstalled it but I have the same problem. I will see if I can install a previous version than what is the installation candidate. Any ideas on how to do this?

if you have mdm already the issue seems irrelevant. try switching display managers anyway, install kdm for example, and see if it changes anything.

[dirac_delta_f]

I installed lxdm and it seems to be working. I guess I'll mark this as solved.

[perham]

perfect! fill a bug report though. other users may experience the same problem. seems like a frustrating issue to face.