X-Server/graphical issue->system doesn't work

[Minzen]

Hello,

yesterday I updated my LMDE and when I restarted I didn't see my normal desktop. Instead I got these warnings which I'll translate into English because I use the German version:
The X-Server is now deactivated. Please restart MDM when it is correctly configurated.I only had the oppportunity to press OK.
I was also able to look at the log:
Loading extension GLX
ERROR: could not insert 'nvidia_current' : No such device
(EE)
Fatal server error:
(EE) no screens found (EE)
(EE)
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation at.......
Another log opened:
[FAIL] startpar: service(s) returned failure: plymouth ... failed!


Are there any further informations you need to know?
Hopefully you can help me and I want to thank you for your help in advance!

[GeneBenson]

Hi Minzen,

A little more information would help. Do you remember what got updated? Also, what video drivers are you using?
It looks like you may need to reinstall your video drivers. Guess a guess at this point.

[Minzen]

Hello,

I opened the update programm and I searched if there are any new updates. Then about 600 updates appeared and I installed them all.


I tried starting my system in the recovery mode and I was able to get this output out of inxi -Gx:

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Graphics: Card: NVIDIA C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] bus-ID: 00:0d.0 
Card-2: NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce 210] bus-ID: 02:00.0 
X.Org: 1.14.3 drivers: FAILED: nvidia tty size: 80x30 Advanced Data: N/A for root out of X

It looks like my ndvidia driver broke. Is there a way to reinstall it out of the console in the recovery mode?

Thanks again in advance for all your help!

EDIT: I tried to execute this code in the terminal in the recovery mode:

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apt install nvidia-kernel-legacy-173xx-dkms nvidia-glx-legacy-173xx build-essential 
nvidia-settings nvidia-xconfig

Unfortunately, I got several error messages which told me: "E: Failed to fetch http://tux.rainside.......deb Could not resolve 'tux.rainside.sk'"
I also tried "apt-get update" but the terminal told me "Could not resolve 'packages.linuxmint.com'"

How should I proceed? Is it possible that my internet connection doesn't work in the recovery mode? Although, it is working normally if I start LMDE with my life CD. If I start the terminal in the life-CD mode, I'm not able to enter all these commands because I don't know how to switch to the username with the rootpassword.

[GeneBenson]

Hi Minzen,

I have two options for you to try:
1. Boot into Recovery mode and try this command: dhclient eth0
See if you get a network connection

2. Boot normally. Eventually you will get a login screen on a tty. Login as root. You should have a network connection.

If/once you have a network connection try your apt install command again. Also, if hal is still installed you should remove it.

Hope this helps.

[Minzen]

Hello,

I could establish a network connection with "dhclient eth0".
Then I executed my code and when (I thought) it was done I restarted my system. Unfortunately, I'm not able to get into the normal system or recovery mode. These are my error messages:

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[many numbers] Call Trace:
[other numbers] [<c13959b4>] ? dumb_stack+0xa/0x13

And this goes on for 11 times.
For example the last line:

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[1.341556]   [<c138fcf0>] ? rest_init+0x60/0x60

Thanks in advance for your help - I'm pretty desperate at the moment because now I can't even use the terminal...

EDIT1: Now I was able to install the other packages but when I boot I get again the message:
[FAIL] startpar: service(s) returned failure: plymouth ... failed!

When I execute the "apt install nvidia...."-phrase in the recovery mode the terminal tells me that all 5 of them are already the newest version. You mentioned that I should remove "hal". I've searched the Internet but I couldn't find a tutorial on how to delete it. Maybe the removal of hal will also remove the whole problem?

I also ran "nvidia-detect" and this was the output:
[code....NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430]
Your card is only supported up to the 304 legacy drivers servies. It is recommended to install the nvidia-legacy-304xx driver package.][/code]
Now I've installed the 304-xx package but it still doesn't work. Should I remove all graphic drivers (with which command? )and which one should I install (with which commands)?

Thank you again for your responses and that you use your time to help me to fix this serious problem!

EDIT 2 I took the installation CD and started LMDE from the CD to answer some important mails. But the reason why I'm telling you this is that I don't understand why I can use and see the desktop with the live-CD but not in the normal system. Can't I just transfer the divers of the CD to my system so I can also use my documents again?
What is the reason that my drivers don't work? Was it the updating process?

[GeneBenson]

Hi Minzen,

One more go. Boot into recovery mode and get a network connection. Once this is done stay in the tty and enter: smxi
This is probably the first time you have run smxi so it's going to ask you a series of questions. The really important ones are about which repositories to use.
When it asks about Sid Testing Stable or Other then choose Other (option 4). When it asks if you want to add non-free answer No.
When you have gone through all that you will be presented with a list of options. Choose option 7 (video drivers). You will then have a list of drivers you can install. Choose option 1 (Nouveau).
That is the default driver and should work. After that you should reboot.

To remove hal enter this is a terminal: sudo apt-get remove hal

[Minzen]

Hello

Thanks for your detailled information on how to run smxi! I installed it without any problems and then my system start. Unfortunately, the screen resolution was very small and I couldn't change it to over 470*xxx and after a few minutes I got a graphic problem. So I did the following:

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apt install nvidia-kernel-legacy-173xx-dkms nvidia-glx-legacy-173xx build-essential 
nvidia-settings nvidia-xconfig

then:

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sudo nvidia-xconfig

and finally:

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sudo echo blacklist nouveau > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf 

But it didn't work....

Now I tried to remove hal but it didn't improve anything either.

The problem is, that I think using the nouveau driver doesn't work for me (or is there a way to configure it that I can change the screen resolution for my 21' monitor or to fix this graphic problem).
What should I do now because the live-CD works and I don't know how to find out the driver of the live-CD to install it on my main system. Because of the working live-CD-system it must be possible to use this driver also on my normal OS, or am I wrong?


Thanks again for your response and your time which you take to help me! It means a lot to me

[GeneBenson]

Hi Minzen,

I booted up the LMDE 201403 dvd and checked which driver was being used. It was, as expected: Nouveau

One last thing to try. Boot into recovery mode and get a network connection. Once this is done stay in the tty and enter: sgfxi -n
This:

• Automatically installs correct native xorg nouveau, intel, or ati driver for your
  system. Cleans up old binary driver stuff, updates xorg.conf with new driver
  information, and cleans nvidia and fgrlx stuff out of xorg.conf

If that doesn work then I'm all out of ideas. Good luck.