gdm broken after today update

[giorsat]

Hi. I noticed that after today update, gdm3 is not starting. it gives me a blank screen so I have to start x inside a shell.. I tried xdm and wdm and they work fine. I wonder what package is giving problems cause I tried to reinstall gdm3 but it gives no possibility to configure it between the debian and the mint version.
anybody else is having the same problem?

[viking777]

The last update to gdm3 that I had was exactly two weeks ago. Perhaps you haven't updated since then? Or maybe you are using non-standard sources?

Tell us what version of gdm3 you are trying to use.

[giorsat]

mine is gdm3 2.30.5.7
could be some lib package? I update from testing but I am using xorg from sid and the liquorix kernel. all went well until this morning when I launched the mint- update (i noticed also a mintsystem update in the list) and I updated the system. after reboot, no more gdm working

[gotjazz]

do you have anything installed that pulls in dependencies form unstable or experimental?
I had gdm problems when i installed banshee 1.9.x form unstable - that also pulled in newer versions of libglib2 and libcairo2 one of which I'm guessing is responsible....

Ah - just read your post again - could easily be some x update in sid.

[CiaW]

I do see a couple of x11 updates (level 3) in today's updates from testing, it's possible there's something that is conflicting with something x related from sid? If I reboot and have issues I'll come back and let y'all know but I'm just using the testing repos.

[viking777]

mine is gdm3 2.30.5.7
could be some lib package? I update from testing but I am using xorg from sid and the liquorix kernel. all went well until this morning when I launched the mint- update (i noticed also a mintsystem update in the list) and I updated the system. after reboot, no more gdm working

Well if you choose to use a non standard kernel and an xorg from a different distro (yes it is a different distro) I guess you should not be at all surprised if you system doesn't work with normal updates that work for everyone else.

Of course it is your installation to do as you wish with, but at least if you want to experiment with it in this way you should keep a standard kernel around. So if you have kept one then boot into it and see if it works. If it doesn't then the answer is probably the non standard xorg. If that is the case you can only uninstall the xorg from sid and replace it with the standard version and see what that does.

In short, my guess is that the problem may of your own making - sorry

[gotjazz]

may i ask why exactly you needed the x packages from sid?

Because if it's nothing important you could try temporarily pinning testing packages to a value over 1000 in /etc/apt/preferences and downgrade everything back to testing with a simple dist-upgrade.

[giorsat]

I used the liquorix kernel because untill 3 days ago the only available kernel in testing sid is 2.6.32 wich doesn't recognize the apple trackpad, nor my audio system sinc my pc is just 2 month old. idem for xorg because the old one was using only the vesa driver.
I mean this was necessary to allow very recent hardware to work flawlessly.
I reinstalled everything and now the problem seems gone.
One last question. If I use mint update, I see some packages on level 4 or 5. I wonder how it works , do they pass to level 3 sometimes in the future by some rule or are they blocked for ever?

[gotjazz]

hrm to be honest I'd rather not use mintupdate at all for the time being on lmde - atm it's set to bloick all kernel and x updates which is fine with the more static ubuntu based mint releases but not fit for a rolling release.
And hey - it's another couple of megs of free ram if you scratch it from autostart

I update using apt-get dist-upgrade or sometimes smxi when I'm feeling cautious

[gorade]

I update using apt-get dist-upgrade or sometimes smxi when I'm feeling cautious

When I do this, it means imediate trouble. The program doesn't start. I have to restore from a copy. I guess it is x-server that stops it.
On the other hand Mint update hasn't had anything to update for weeks.

In my repositories I have:
deb http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports squeeze-backports main contrib non-free,
deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian upstream
deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian upstream
deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free
deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main contrib non-free
deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import
deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import backport romeo

I can't use # deb http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main contrib non-free. If I do, it updates some Samba-related files and then it locks USB-mouse and USB-keyboard.
Yes I can temporarily fix it by unpluging the devices and replug them again. Then Linux recognize them.

Maybe my installation is FUBAR and I should reinstall it all? What do you think?

[thorx89]

I ran a system upgrade and I'm stuck with a nonfunctional gdm3 too. It happened to me twice. First I installed a standard LMDE and ran a system upgrade only to find out that gdm3 doesn't work after it anymore. Now I installed LMDE the second time, changed all the sources to stable and ran an upgrade and again, no graphical login.
I really like LMDE cuz its fast and I'm on an old computer now that my laptop's broken, but this pisses me off.

[Silent Warrior]

Install KDM (or xdm/slim/whatever) until you get an update to GDM, then. True, KDM will bring a good portion of KDE along with it, but it works. Well, then again, so does GDM, in my experience.
Wasn't there a recent update to GDM (or was that when I upgraded to KDE 4.6.1?) that asked to replace some configuration file? You could always try getting back to your desktop, starting Synaptic, and tell it to reinstall gdm3. See if anything happens - and view the details as it installs.