I wish!
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Sander_Marechal Feb 04, 2009 4:52 AM EDT |
I wish you'd get dumped to a console! Last weekend I had to troubleshoot an Ubuntu issue on my parent's machine. After a bunch of updates they restarted the machine as suggested but X.org wouldn't start. Instead of a nice console they get "Bulletproof X.org" which is an 800x600 GUI that lets you reconfigure the display setting. The problem with it is that you don't get *any* helpful messages as to what is wrong. I mucked about in it for about 15 minutes to no avail. So I jumped to a VT, took one look at the X.org log and was able to fix the issue in under a minute: # aptitude remove nvidia-glx-new # aptitude install nvidia-glx # /etc/init.d/gdm restart |
| hkwint Feb 04, 2009 1:56 PM EDT |
Indeed, one of the problems of Ubuntu IIRC; Ctrl+Alt+Backspace doesn't work. Well, it does, but some DM spawns Xorg again. Frustrating if you don't know how to stop it. And why would you know if your default runlevel is 3 and if it that three-finger salute has always worked for you? This is especially a PITA if your X-output is borked and you cannot see what you type, in such a case that escape sequence should really work. Circumventing this 'problem' is quite easy if you don't use a DM: I put 'startx' in my .profile (actually, conditional so it doesn't start if X already runs); so when I log in using the console, X + wm starts, but if I log in as root, nothing happens, and if X fails, nothing happens either and I can use the console; in which I can read the error message X nicely raises at me. This works quite well for me, and I wonder why people use graphical log-in at all? |
| techiem2 Feb 04, 2009 2:01 PM EDT |
Yeah, I never have my own machines start X by default. On my laptop I have scripts setup to replace my .xinitrc with the one for the desktop environment I want to use. startX for xfce, startF for fluxbox, startK for kde (so I can try out that shiny kde4 everyone is talking about) I've always found login managers and booting directly into X to be a hassle for myself. Especially since I'm usually firing up my laptop at work and need to do a few console things before I do anything else anyway. And the fact that I know that when I upgrade my kernel I'm going to need to re-emerge the nvidia drivers anyway, so why wait for X to fail to tell me that? |
| tuxchick Feb 04, 2009 2:07 PM EDT |
Ohhhh such relentless carping!! You don't need to get under the hood, nooo, that's for old grouchy geekbeard weirdos, the kind who do binary math in their heads. If you must insist on messing with the guts of your system then go use Gentoo or Linux From Scratch like all the other anal-retentive, obsessive-compulsive geeks. All eight of them. Meanwhile, us Real Humans are using Ubuntu as shipped. It is Perfect! It is Polished! Change Nothing or Else! |
| ColonelPanik Feb 04, 2009 5:05 PM EDT |
Ah, just what do you do TC when x does not start? Or don't you ever do the updates? |
| tuxchick Feb 04, 2009 5:26 PM EDT |
Colonel, I tell you it is PERFECT!! Dissent will be punished. Seriously, I am so fed up with cussed NVidia I could kick things. Way back at the end of the last millennium there were several different 3D video card brands to choose from, and they had FOSS drivers in X. I recall S3 and Trident, and I know there were others. They usually required some manual tweaking of x.conf, or whatever it was called then, but it wasn't any big deal-- just keep a copy tucked away and then you always had a reference. K/Ubuntu has this flashy graphical configurator that does not work very well. It can hobble its way through simple changes for a 2D configuration, but it keels over at any attempt to install and configure the NVidia driver and get 3D acceleration, even though it has options to do that. I've used Envy with better success, but even that is not reliable all of the time, and I end up downloading and installing the domnable NVidia binaries manually, and kernel headers too. All my other hardware has genuine 100% FOSS drivers; the only holdout is 3D video, and I use NVidia because I am weak-willed and like the fancy OpenGL screensavers. So after every kernel upgrade I do the fix-crap-from-the-console dance. Download this, configure that, make burnt offerings, and weep in frustration a lot. A. Lizard's article has some neat tricks I haven't tried before, so next time I'll use them. |
| ColonelPanik Feb 04, 2009 9:18 PM EDT |
Mrs. Panik always updates ASAP.
The Colonel waits a few days, if we don't
have to fiddle with her machines it seems
like the update is a go. If you work in an enterprise situation, just update the bosses machine first. After losing a machine when a Debian Etch update borked X (before I learned how to reboot with a lesser kernel {Lt. Kernel}) I never do the automatic update, never. |
| Bob_Robertson Feb 04, 2009 9:27 PM EDT |
Ok, let me just say that being "dumped" into the fully functional and robust Linux command line is ONE HECK OF A LOT BETTER than "Windows has encountered an error, you system will now be rebooted" over, and over, and over..... |
| jdixon Feb 04, 2009 9:33 PM EDT |
> ...you system will now be rebooted" over, and over, and over..... Only if you forget to disable the automatic reboot. Which you really should do, otherwise you miss seeing the nice blue screen. :) |
| Bob_Robertson Feb 05, 2009 2:41 PM EDT |
So easy to say, but I have to admit I've never seen the button to turn it off! I'm not a Windows guru. |
| hkwint Feb 05, 2009 6:14 PM EDT |
Quoting:After losing a machine when a Debian Etch update borked X Here, you see, that's what happens when you disobey the Party. You were warned Ubuntu is PERFECT, but you choose not to listen. I'm really sorry to say this Colonel, but you're a shame to the Party! Quoting:You don't need to get under the hood, nooo, that's for old grouchy geekbeard weirdos Quoting:. Way back at the end of the last millennium there were several different 3D video card brands to choose from, and they had FOSS drivers in X Aha, so now I know what I did wrong. Back when there were more 3D video card brands I should have stopped shaving, than nowadays I would have a geekbeard. Already using Gentoo, and anal-retentive may refer to my obsession of trying to learn some functional language, while at the same time the Party recommends 'Programming for human beings' otherwise known as .NET. Well, at least my watch isn't binary and my shopping list isn't in brainfuck which is the only reason I don't qualify for Oberste-ubernerd. |
| azerthoth Feb 05, 2009 6:28 PM EDT |
Gack, that just brought on a whole slew of non-sequitor thought process which ended with the question of which party? Obamtu or Obamtoo? |
| ColonelPanik Feb 05, 2009 6:39 PM EDT |
az said: ..."the question of which party?" Its at Scott's, Fri. from happy hour until Sunday. |
| azerthoth Feb 05, 2009 6:47 PM EDT |
Noooooooo, I'm not going to be in the states until the 17th. Darn it I missed another one. |
| gus3 Feb 05, 2009 7:09 PM EDT |
The 17th of February? You get to see the panic afoot as the NTSC signals disappear. |
| Scott_Ruecker Feb 05, 2009 8:18 PM EDT |
Party at my place? Awesome! Who's coming out to the desert to "feel the heat" with me? |
| techiem2 Feb 05, 2009 8:36 PM EDT |
Oh how I wish I could hop on out to the desert for a few months... Stuck here in PA with snow, snow, and more snow. *shiver* |
| gus3 Feb 05, 2009 8:38 PM EDT |
Hang in there, techiem2. A heat wave (well, for February) is on the way. |
| Bob_Robertson Feb 05, 2009 8:38 PM EDT |
Tech, I'm in North Carolina. All the cold, no snow. |
| theboomboomcars Feb 05, 2009 10:45 PM EDT |
Hey I'll bring the chips and dip. |
| rijelkentaurus Feb 05, 2009 11:04 PM EDT |
Quoting: Tech, I'm in North Carolina. All the cold, no snow. We actually got some snow in the Greensboro area, almost a half inch. Most snow we've had in several years. Everything shut down completely, it's so funny. Techiem2 would think we were all crazy if he came down from PA. |
| jdixon Feb 06, 2009 9:13 AM EDT |
> ...but I have to admit I've never seen the button to turn it off! They don't make it easy. Let's see: Start/Control Panel/Performance and Maintenance/System/Advanced (tab)/Startup and Recovery/Settings (button)/System Failure (category). Uncheck the Automatically restart checkbox. I love the way Microsoft buries such things 6 layers deep or more in their system. And changes the way you get to it with every release. It makes support so much fun. :( > Techiem2 would think we were all crazy if he came down from PA. You mean you're not! What are you doing posting here? :) |
| Bob_Robertson Feb 06, 2009 10:35 AM EDT |
> almost a half inch. Most snow we've had in several years. I grew up in Upstate New York. That wasn't snow. That was a short, heavy flurry with nothing left on the ground by noon. And yeah, I've never seen such desperation. Schools opening 2 hours late. Sheesh. I think people should get SNOWED IN at least once in their life, just to put things in perspective. |
| jdixon Feb 06, 2009 10:55 AM EDT |
> I think people should get SNOWED IN at least once in their life, Well, now you have to define snowed in. For some people that's probably anything over two inches. For others, it takes two feet. Since I'm dependent on a two wheel drive car, I'm pretty much stuck if we get over six inches of snow. |
| NoDough Feb 06, 2009 1:49 PM EDT |
>>The 17th of February?
>>
>>You get to see the panic afoot as the NTSC signals disappear. No, sorry. They pushed it back to June. http://www.dtv.gov/ Edit: If they couldn't get ready in six years, will four months more really make a difference? |
| theboomboomcars Feb 06, 2009 2:34 PM EDT |
I am pretty sure than the 2% of the population who is not ready now will not be ready until after the switch, if ever. I am among that 2%, but I don't have a TV so I am not ready for the analogue signal either. |
| techiem2 Feb 06, 2009 3:29 PM EDT |
Who needs a tv when you have a computer with a tv tuner? :) |
| jdixon Feb 06, 2009 3:35 PM EDT |
> I am among that 2%, but I don't have a TV so I am not ready for the analogue signal either. We're also in that 2%. We have a TV (two of them in fact) but we can't get any reception where we live, so we've never bothered picking up one of the converters. If we can't pick up any analog signals, I guarantee that we won't get any of the digital ones. |
| TxtEdMacs Feb 06, 2009 4:18 PM EDT |
[serious] The problem for many will not be solved by a converter. At least some may need a new aerial to receive the signal. Moreover, even with both hardware fixes some are just out of luck, because the digital signal will miss former marginal analog signal areas. Those requiring an aerial fix will have less problem if the work is done in the Spring [see above caveat]. Finally, the hard deadline is NOT June 12 for everyone, as written it is a floating date determined locally with the aforementioned date the last date possible. [/serious] |
| Bob_Robertson Feb 06, 2009 5:04 PM EDT |
> The problem for many will not be solved by a converter. No, certainly not. The problems would be solved if the Federal Government would keep its averacious claws off of commercial technology. Abolishing the FCC and sowing the ruins of its office buildings with salt would be a good start. |
| jdixon Feb 06, 2009 5:41 PM EDT |
> Abolishing the FCC and sowing the ruins of its office buildings with salt would be a good start. The FCC, the FAA, the EPA, OSHA, et.al. All of whom craft regulations with the force of law, which only Congress is authorized to do by the Constitution. :( But, as I've noted before, that's a battle which was lost a long time ago. |
| Bob_Robertson Feb 06, 2009 5:43 PM EDT |
> But, as I've noted before, that's a battle which was lost a long time ago. Yeah, 1789. Aaron Burr was several years too late. Well, with the USSA going down with the dollar, we might get to do it all over again. |
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