[gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Colleen Beamer]

Hi,
Yesterday, I updated my system.  On reboot, I get to my login screen,
but then everything is frozen - the cursor blinks in the box where I
am supposed to enter my password, but the keyboard doesn't work and my
mouse is frozen.  I don't know if this has something do do with the
xorg update that happened in connection with my nvidia driver.

I can't even kill X because, stupid me didn't configure the
Ctrl-Alt-Backspace when it was no longer automatically configured.

Right now, I have booted from a Kubuntu live CD so was able to get
into the system to write this.

Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Hazen Valliant-Saunders]

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Disable your xdm login script;

Regards,
Hazen.


On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 9:31 AM, Colleen Beamer <colleen.beamer@gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi,
> Yesterday, I updated my system.  On reboot, I get to my login screen,
> but then everything is frozen - the cursor blinks in the box where I
> am supposed to enter my password, but the keyboard doesn't work and my
> mouse is frozen.  I don't know if this has something do do with the
> xorg update that happened in connection with my nvidia driver.
>
> I can't even kill X because, stupid me didn't configure the
> Ctrl-Alt-Backspace when it was no longer automatically configured.
>
> Right now, I have booted from a Kubuntu live CD so was able to get
> into the system to write this.
>
> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?
>
>


-- 
Hazen Valliant-Saunders
IT/IS Consultant
(613) 355-5977

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Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Indexer]

On 03/05/2010, at 11:01 PM, Colleen Beamer wrote:

> Hi,
> Yesterday, I updated my system.  On reboot, I get to my login screen,
> but then everything is frozen - the cursor blinks in the box where I
> am supposed to enter my password, but the keyboard doesn't work and my
> mouse is frozen.  I don't know if this has something do do with the
> xorg update that happened in connection with my nvidia driver.
> 
> I can't even kill X because, stupid me didn't configure the
> Ctrl-Alt-Backspace when it was no longer automatically configured.
> 
> Right now, I have booted from a Kubuntu live CD so was able to get
> into the system to write this.
> 
> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?
> 

I would be checking my Xorg.conf to see if you have evdev enabled, set evdev in your make.conf just in case, and make sure you have hald set to start on boot as xorg now needs it for keyboard and mouse.  

William

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Colleen Beamer]

On 5/3/10, Hazen Valliant-Saunders <hazenvs@gmail.com> wrote:
> Disable your xdm login script;

I can't disable my xdm login script.  My computer boots to the login
screen and the keyboard doesn't work so I can'l login to get a
terminal session.

>
> Regards,
> Hazen.
>
>
> On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 9:31 AM, Colleen Beamer
> <colleen.beamer@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> Yesterday, I updated my system.  On reboot, I get to my login screen,
>> but then everything is frozen - the cursor blinks in the box where I
>> am supposed to enter my password, but the keyboard doesn't work and my
>> mouse is frozen.  I don't know if this has something do do with the
>> xorg update that happened in connection with my nvidia driver.
>>
>> I can't even kill X because, stupid me didn't configure the
>> Ctrl-Alt-Backspace when it was no longer automatically configured.
>>
>> Right now, I have booted from a Kubuntu live CD so was able to get
>> into the system to write this.
>>
>> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Hazen Valliant-Saunders
> IT/IS Consultant
> (613) 355-5977
>

[gentoo-user] Re: Frozen after Upgrade

[Remy Blank]

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> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?

I would start by re-emerging xf86-input-keyboard and xf86-input-mouse,
as suggested in the xorg-server ebuild messages.

-- Remy


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Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Colleen Beamer]

On 5/3/10, Indexer <indexer@internode.on.net> wrote:
>
> On 03/05/2010, at 11:01 PM, Colleen Beamer wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> Yesterday, I updated my system.  On reboot, I get to my login screen,
>> but then everything is frozen - the cursor blinks in the box where I
>> am supposed to enter my password, but the keyboard doesn't work and my
>> mouse is frozen.  I don't know if this has something do do with the
>> xorg update that happened in connection with my nvidia driver.
>>
>> I can't even kill X because, stupid me didn't configure the
>> Ctrl-Alt-Backspace when it was no longer automatically configured.
>>
>> Right now, I have booted from a Kubuntu live CD so was able to get
>> into the system to write this.
>>
>> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?
>>
>
> I would be checking my Xorg.conf to see if you have evdev enabled, set evdev
> in your make.conf just in case, and make sure you have hald set to start on
> boot as xorg now needs it for keyboard and mouse.

This would be good if I could get to a terminal seesion, but I can't.
The keyboard doesn't work and I can't login.

Right now, I am using a Kubuntu live CD and mounting is disabled.
>
> William
>

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Frozen after Upgrade

[Colleen Beamer]

On 5/3/10, Remy Blank <remy.blank@pobox.com> wrote:
>> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?
>
> I would start by re-emerging xf86-input-keyboard and xf86-input-mouse,
> as suggested in the xorg-server ebuild messages.
>
> -- Remy

How am I supposed to do this when I can't login and I can't kill X?
>

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Philip Webb]

100503 Colleen Beamer wrote:
> I can't disable my xdm login script.
> My computer boots to the login screen
> and the keyboard doesn't work so I can'l login to get a terminal session.

Yes, it happened to me long ago,
after which I decided always to boot to a raw terminal, then do 'startx'.

You need to use System Rescue or similar to get into the box,
then change your boot procedure to boot to a raw terminal.

-- 
========================,,============================================
SUPPORT     ___________//___,   Philip Webb
ELECTRIC   /] [] [] [] [] []|   Cities Centre, University of Toronto
TRANSIT    `-O----------O---'   purslowatchassdotutorontodotca

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Indexer]

On 03/05/2010, at 11:17 PM, Colleen Beamer wrote:

> On 5/3/10, Indexer <indexer@internode.on.net> wrote:
>> 
>> On 03/05/2010, at 11:01 PM, Colleen Beamer wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi,
>>> Yesterday, I updated my system.  On reboot, I get to my login screen,
>>> but then everything is frozen - the cursor blinks in the box where I
>>> am supposed to enter my password, but the keyboard doesn't work and my
>>> mouse is frozen.  I don't know if this has something do do with the
>>> xorg update that happened in connection with my nvidia driver.
>>> 
>>> I can't even kill X because, stupid me didn't configure the
>>> Ctrl-Alt-Backspace when it was no longer automatically configured.
>>> 
>>> Right now, I have booted from a Kubuntu live CD so was able to get
>>> into the system to write this.
>>> 
>>> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?
>>> 
>> 
>> I would be checking my Xorg.conf to see if you have evdev enabled, set evdev
>> in your make.conf just in case, and make sure you have hald set to start on
>> boot as xorg now needs it for keyboard and mouse.
> 
> This would be good if I could get to a terminal seesion, but I can't.
> The keyboard doesn't work and I can't login.
> 
> Right now, I am using a Kubuntu live CD and mounting is disabled.


 How do you mean mounting is disabled? Open a terminal and type sudo mount /dev/sd<blah> ???

From there you can either chroot in, or you can manually stop xdm by removing the file /etc/runlevels/default/xdm (instead of using rc-update)

>> 
>> William
>> 
> 

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Alan McKinnon]

On Monday 03 May 2010 15:47:41 Colleen Beamer wrote:
> On 5/3/10, Indexer <indexer@internode.on.net> wrote:
> > On 03/05/2010, at 11:01 PM, Colleen Beamer wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >> Yesterday, I updated my system.  On reboot, I get to my login screen,
> >> but then everything is frozen - the cursor blinks in the box where I
> >> am supposed to enter my password, but the keyboard doesn't work and my
> >> mouse is frozen.  I don't know if this has something do do with the
> >> xorg update that happened in connection with my nvidia driver.
> >> 
> >> I can't even kill X because, stupid me didn't configure the
> >> Ctrl-Alt-Backspace when it was no longer automatically configured.
> >> 
> >> Right now, I have booted from a Kubuntu live CD so was able to get
> >> into the system to write this.
> >> 
> >> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?
> > 
> > I would be checking my Xorg.conf to see if you have evdev enabled, set
> > evdev in your make.conf just in case, and make sure you have hald set to
> > start on boot as xorg now needs it for keyboard and mouse.
> 
> This would be good if I could get to a terminal seesion, but I can't.
> The keyboard doesn't work and I can't login.
> 
> Right now, I am using a Kubuntu live CD and mounting is disabled.


You said you did a system upgrade. Did this involve a kernel upgrade too?

If so, you are likely running into missing nvidia drivers in your new 
/lib/modules/. So:

- reboot to single user maintenance mode.
- disable /etc/init.d/xdm
- remerge nvidia-drivers, making sure that /usr/src/linux point s to the new 
kernel that is to be configured
- reboot
- enable /etc/init.d/xdm
- start xdm



-- 
alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Dale]

Colleen Beamer wrote:
> On 5/3/10, Indexer<indexer@internode.on.net>  wrote:
>    
>> On 03/05/2010, at 11:01 PM, Colleen Beamer wrote:
>>
>>      
>>> Hi,
>>> Yesterday, I updated my system.  On reboot, I get to my login screen,
>>> but then everything is frozen - the cursor blinks in the box where I
>>> am supposed to enter my password, but the keyboard doesn't work and my
>>> mouse is frozen.  I don't know if this has something do do with the
>>> xorg update that happened in connection with my nvidia driver.
>>>
>>> I can't even kill X because, stupid me didn't configure the
>>> Ctrl-Alt-Backspace when it was no longer automatically configured.
>>>
>>> Right now, I have booted from a Kubuntu live CD so was able to get
>>> into the system to write this.
>>>
>>> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?
>>>
>>>        
>> I would be checking my Xorg.conf to see if you have evdev enabled, set evdev
>> in your make.conf just in case, and make sure you have hald set to start on
>> boot as xorg now needs it for keyboard and mouse.
>>      
> This would be good if I could get to a terminal seesion, but I can't.
> The keyboard doesn't work and I can't login.
>
> Right now, I am using a Kubuntu live CD and mounting is disabled.
>    
>> William
>>
>>      

Try this:

Hold down Atl, hold down SysRq, press each of the keys in turn. The usual
full sequence is R-E-I-S-U-B

Reboot
Even
If
System
Utterly
Broken

When I had this issue, I would get a console when I got to the E or I.  This is what each keystroke does tho:

e sends TERM to all processes (except init)
i kills all processes (except init)
s syncs partitions
u remounts everything ro
b boots a box
o turns off a box
k saks a box - kills all processes on that vt
r unraws the keyboard - takes it away from X.


I hope that will get you back to a console at least.  Then you can start doing the things others have suggested you try.

Dale

:-)  :-)

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Dale]

Philip Webb wrote:
> 100503 Colleen Beamer wrote:
>    
>> I can't disable my xdm login script.
>> My computer boots to the login screen
>> and the keyboard doesn't work so I can'l login to get a terminal session.
>>      
> Yes, it happened to me long ago,
> after which I decided always to boot to a raw terminal, then do 'startx'.
>
> You need to use System Rescue or similar to get into the box,
> then change your boot procedure to boot to a raw terminal.
>
>    

Or add softlevel=single to the boot line in grub.  That would be, edit 
the grub line before booting.

I think there is a interactive mode or something too.  It is done by 
hitting the "I" key during the first part of the boot up.  Just say No 
to xdm or whatever starts your GUI.

Lots of options here.  lol

Dale

:-)  :-)

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Colleen Beamer]

On 5/3/10, Philip Webb <purslow@ca.inter.net> wrote:
> 100503 Colleen Beamer wrote:
>> I can't disable my xdm login script.
>> My computer boots to the login screen
>> and the keyboard doesn't work so I can'l login to get a terminal session.
>
> Yes, it happened to me long ago,
> after which I decided always to boot to a raw terminal, then do 'startx'.
>
> You need to use System Rescue or similar to get into the box,
> then change your boot procedure to boot to a raw terminal.

How do I do that?

Regards,

Colleen

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Colleen Beamer]

On 5/3/10, Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Monday 03 May 2010 15:47:41 Colleen Beamer wrote:
>> On 5/3/10, Indexer <indexer@internode.on.net> wrote:
>> > On 03/05/2010, at 11:01 PM, Colleen Beamer wrote:
>> >> Hi,
>> >> Yesterday, I updated my system.  On reboot, I get to my login screen,
>> >> but then everything is frozen - the cursor blinks in the box where I
>> >> am supposed to enter my password, but the keyboard doesn't work and my
>> >> mouse is frozen.  I don't know if this has something do do with the
>> >> xorg update that happened in connection with my nvidia driver.
>> >>
>> >> I can't even kill X because, stupid me didn't configure the
>> >> Ctrl-Alt-Backspace when it was no longer automatically configured.
>> >>
>> >> Right now, I have booted from a Kubuntu live CD so was able to get
>> >> into the system to write this.
>> >>
>> >> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete
>> >> reinstall?
>> >
>> > I would be checking my Xorg.conf to see if you have evdev enabled, set
>> > evdev in your make.conf just in case, and make sure you have hald set to
>> > start on boot as xorg now needs it for keyboard and mouse.
>>
>> This would be good if I could get to a terminal seesion, but I can't.
>> The keyboard doesn't work and I can't login.
>>
>> Right now, I am using a Kubuntu live CD and mounting is disabled.
>
>
> You said you did a system upgrade. Did this involve a kernel upgrade too?
>
> If so, you are likely running into missing nvidia drivers in your new
> /lib/modules/. So:
>
> - reboot to single user maintenance mode.
> - disable /etc/init.d/xdm
> - remerge nvidia-drivers, making sure that /usr/src/linux point s to the new
> kernel that is to be configured
> - reboot
> - enable /etc/init.d/xdm
> - start xdm

New kernel was downloaded, but I did not upgrade the kernel.  If that
was the situation, I wouldn't be able to load to my login screen - I
would be booted back to the command line.  I get to the login screen,
but then, everything is frozen - keyboard and mouse.

I don't understand what you mean by booting to a single user
maintenance mode.  How do I do that?

Colleen

[gentoo-user] Re: Frozen after Upgrade

[Remy Blank]

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Colleen Beamer wrote:
> How am I supposed to do this when I can't login and I can't kill X?

Boot from a live CD, then perform a chroot into your system as described
in the Gentoo handbook[1] or on the Gentoo wiki[2], then you should be
able to emerge as if you were running your system normally.

-- Remy

[1] http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=6
[2] http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Chroot_from_a_livecd


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Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Alan McKinnon]

On Monday 03 May 2010 16:30:53 Colleen Beamer wrote:
> > You said you did a system upgrade. Did this involve a kernel upgrade too?
> > 
> > If so, you are likely running into missing nvidia drivers in your new
> > /lib/modules/. So:
> > 
> > - reboot to single user maintenance mode.
> > - disable /etc/init.d/xdm
> > - remerge nvidia-drivers, making sure that /usr/src/linux point s to the
> > new kernel that is to be configured
> > - reboot
> > - enable /etc/init.d/xdm
> > - start xdm
> 
> New kernel was downloaded, but I did not upgrade the kernel.  If that
> was the situation, I wouldn't be able to load to my login screen - I
> would be booted back to the command line.  I get to the login screen,
> but then, everything is frozen - keyboard and mouse.

Oh yes, of course. Obvious in retrospect

> I don't understand what you mean by booting to a single user
> maintenance mode.  How do I do that?

At the grub menu, select the kernel you wish to boot. 
Press "e"
Move cursor to the "kernel" line
Press "e"
Move cursor to the end of the line. Append " 1" or " single"
Press <enter>
Press "b"

This will load the kernel and run a modified start-up sequence (not the 
regular init command). You get a root shell which is quite limited but usually 
adequate for repairing broken system. 

In a way, it's very similar to booting into a LiveCD without having to go and 
find the CD first



-- 
alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Hazen Valliant-Saunders]

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Singe User (is from the kernel) you select the boot option via grub

People refer to this as "Maintenance Mode" although to be frank every gentoo
system is always in maintenence mode (kinda like perpetual beta)

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.3-Manual/custom-guide/s1-rescuemode-booting-single.html

It's the same idea just a diffrent distro;


Once you are in single user mode verify all mounted partitions:
#mount

Then navigate to your xorg.conf; (under /etc/)
and edit it to fix your issues or

Navigate to your home directory
/home/~username# and change the way you login by editing the approriate
files (depending on your x display manager)

Or conversly, if you are using a live cd:

1. mount your partitions a
2. ch root into your Gentoo install (you are now in single user mode)
3. Make the appropriate edits

as always your milage may vary; HTH



On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 10:30 AM, Colleen Beamer <colleen.beamer@gmail.com>wrote:

> On 5/3/10, Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Monday 03 May 2010 15:47:41 Colleen Beamer wrote:
> >> On 5/3/10, Indexer <indexer@internode.on.net> wrote:
> >> > On 03/05/2010, at 11:01 PM, Colleen Beamer wrote:
> >> >> Hi,
> >> >> Yesterday, I updated my system.  On reboot, I get to my login screen,
> >> >> but then everything is frozen - the cursor blinks in the box where I
> >> >> am supposed to enter my password, but the keyboard doesn't work and
> my
> >> >> mouse is frozen.  I don't know if this has something do do with the
> >> >> xorg update that happened in connection with my nvidia driver.
> >> >>
> >> >> I can't even kill X because, stupid me didn't configure the
> >> >> Ctrl-Alt-Backspace when it was no longer automatically configured.
> >> >>
> >> >> Right now, I have booted from a Kubuntu live CD so was able to get
> >> >> into the system to write this.
> >> >>
> >> >> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete
> >> >> reinstall?
> >> >
> >> > I would be checking my Xorg.conf to see if you have evdev enabled, set
> >> > evdev in your make.conf just in case, and make sure you have hald set
> to
> >> > start on boot as xorg now needs it for keyboard and mouse.
> >>
> >> This would be good if I could get to a terminal seesion, but I can't.
> >> The keyboard doesn't work and I can't login.
> >>
> >> Right now, I am using a Kubuntu live CD and mounting is disabled.
> >
> >
> > You said you did a system upgrade. Did this involve a kernel upgrade too?
> >
> > If so, you are likely running into missing nvidia drivers in your new
> > /lib/modules/. So:
> >
> > - reboot to single user maintenance mode.
> > - disable /etc/init.d/xdm
> > - remerge nvidia-drivers, making sure that /usr/src/linux point s to the
> new
> > kernel that is to be configured
> > - reboot
> > - enable /etc/init.d/xdm
> > - start xdm
>
> New kernel was downloaded, but I did not upgrade the kernel.  If that
> was the situation, I wouldn't be able to load to my login screen - I
> would be booted back to the command line.  I get to the login screen,
> but then, everything is frozen - keyboard and mouse.
>
> I don't understand what you mean by booting to a single user
> maintenance mode.  How do I do that?
>
> Colleen
>
>


-- 
Hazen Valliant-Saunders
IT/IS Consultant
(613) 355-5977

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Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[KH]

Am 03.05.2010 16:56, schrieb Alan McKinnon:
> On Monday 03 May 2010 16:30:53 Colleen Beamer wrote:
[...]
>
>> I don't understand what you mean by booting to a single user
>> maintenance mode.  How do I do that?
>
> At the grub menu, select the kernel you wish to boot.
> Press "e"
> Move cursor to the "kernel" line
> Press "e"
> Move cursor to the end of the line. Append " 1" or " single"
> Press<enter>
> Press "b"
>
> This will load the kernel and run a modified start-up sequence (not the
> regular init command). You get a root shell which is quite limited but usually
> adequate for repairing broken system.
>
> In a way, it's very similar to booting into a LiveCD without having to go and
> find the CD first
>

Hi,

and again I learnd something I didn't know, jet.

Anyway I also would try to follow Dales advise with pressing "i" during 
boot.

Also some time ago I had a problem after an upgrade with my keyboard. 
Changing to usb was the workaround for me (the keyboard has usb and the 
ps2?). Anyway I never fixed the problem.

Regards
kh

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Frozen after Upgrade

[Peter Humphrey]

On Monday 03 May 2010 14:49:24 Colleen Beamer wrote:
> On 5/3/10, Remy Blank <remy.blank@pobox.com> wrote:
> >> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete
> >> reinstall?
> > 
> > I would start by re-emerging xf86-input-keyboard and
> > xf86-input-mouse, as suggested in the xorg-server ebuild messages.
> > 
> > -- Remy
> 
> How am I supposed to do this when I can't login and I can't kill X?

I sense your frustration! We've all been in a tight spot like this. 
Here's my suggestion:

Don't allow X to start at boot time. When you see the grub boot menu, 
select the kernel you want to boot and press "e" for Edit. Then select 
the kernel command line and press "e" again to edit it. Add
softlevel=nonetwork
to the end of the line, press Enter and then B. You will then start up 
with a full set of six VTs (consoles), at which you can do the remerging 
that's been suggested.

Personally, I'd do this: emerge -av1 `qlist -I -C x11-drivers`

With any luck you'll then be able to reboot and run as usual.

HTH

-- 
Rgds
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Alan McKinnon]

On Monday 03 May 2010 17:06:19 KH wrote:
> Am 03.05.2010 16:56, schrieb Alan McKinnon:
> > On Monday 03 May 2010 16:30:53 Colleen Beamer wrote:
> [...]
> 
> >> I don't understand what you mean by booting to a single user
> >> maintenance mode.  How do I do that?
> > 
> > At the grub menu, select the kernel you wish to boot.
> > Press "e"
> > Move cursor to the "kernel" line
> > Press "e"
> > Move cursor to the end of the line. Append " 1" or " single"
> > Press<enter>
> > Press "b"
> > 
> > This will load the kernel and run a modified start-up sequence (not the
> > regular init command). You get a root shell which is quite limited but
> > usually adequate for repairing broken system.
> > 
> > In a way, it's very similar to booting into a LiveCD without having to go
> > and find the CD first
> 
> Hi,
> 
> and again I learnd something I didn't know, jet.
> 
> Anyway I also would try to follow Dales advise with pressing "i" during
> boot.

There's all kinds of neat tricks you can do when booting or starting up. grub 
passes parameters and options to the kernel just like your shell passes 
parameters and options to a program you start. There's docs about it in 
/usr/src/linux/Documentation but be warned - they are written by kernel devs 
and most of them seem to assume the reader also knows as much as a kernel dev. 
So it can be hard going sometimes.

A neat trick I use often is to append "init=/bin/bash" to the grub line. This 
runs bash after the kernel is loaded, not the usual init. You can't logout as 
normal though - try it and see :-)



-- 
alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Frozen after Upgrade

[Frank Steinmetzger]

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Am Montag, 3. Mai 2010 schrieb Colleen Beamer:
> On 5/3/10, Remy Blank <remy.blank@pobox.com> wrote:
> >> Is there a way I can fix this without having to do a complete reinstall?
> > 
> > I would start by re-emerging xf86-input-keyboard and xf86-input-mouse,
> > as suggested in the xorg-server ebuild messages.
> > 
> > -- Remy
> 
> How am I supposed to do this when I can't login and I can't kill X?

Dale already told you a way I also do it if my laptop hangs at X:
during the boot process it tells you "hit I to enter interactive mode".
Then, just say no when it asks you whether to start xdm/kdm/whatever.

Also, you can chroot into your system from your kubuntu cd just like it's done 
in the installation handbook. Start your live cd, open a konsole, mount your 
system and chroot into it.
env-update && source /etc/profile and you're goot to go for emerging stuff.
-- 
Gruß | Greetings | Qapla'
Windows: reboot. Linux: be root.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Willie Wong]

On Mon, May 03, 2010 at 04:56:04PM +0200, Alan McKinnon wrote:
> > I don't understand what you mean by booting to a single user
> > maintenance mode.  How do I do that?
> 
> At the grub menu, select the kernel you wish to boot. 
> Press "e"
> Move cursor to the "kernel" line
> Press "e"
> Move cursor to the end of the line. Append " 1" or " single"

Uh, I thought that, per discussions a few weeks ago, we've concluded
that in Gentoo that will still land you in the default runlevel.
Instead you should append
  softlevel=single
to the end of the line, and continue from hereon. 

> Press <enter>
> Press "b"
> 

Cheers, 

W
-- 
Willie W. Wong                                     wwong@math.princeton.edu
Data aequatione quotcunque fluentes quantitae involvente fluxiones invenire 
         et vice versa   ~~~  I. Newton

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Dale]

Willie Wong wrote:
> On Mon, May 03, 2010 at 04:56:04PM +0200, Alan McKinnon wrote:
>    
>>> I don't understand what you mean by booting to a single user
>>> maintenance mode.  How do I do that?
>>>        
>> At the grub menu, select the kernel you wish to boot.
>> Press "e"
>> Move cursor to the "kernel" line
>> Press "e"
>> Move cursor to the end of the line. Append " 1" or " single"
>>      
> Uh, I thought that, per discussions a few weeks ago, we've concluded
> that in Gentoo that will still land you in the default runlevel.
> Instead you should append
>    softlevel=single
> to the end of the line, and continue from hereon.
>
>    
>> Press<enter>
>> Press "b"
>>
>>      
> Cheers,
>
> W
>    

I had trouble with that a while back to but I think it was fixed.  Of 
course, this may only be true if you updated whatever it is that fixed 
it.  ;-)

I am up to date here as of last night and softlevel=single worked a 
couple weeks ago and has worked for several months.  I guess you could 
always just try it and see which one works.  If one of them doesn't 
work, it needs to be reported I guess.  I would be willing to bet that 
Alan's way will work.  Adding init=/bin/bash always works from my 
experience.  Just keep in mind that you have to reboot when done and 
make sure you are mounted rw instead of ro.

Dale

:-)  :-)

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[CJoeB]

On 05/03/10 10:10, Dale wrote:
>
> I think there is a interactive mode or something too.  It is done by
> hitting the "I" key during the first part of the boot up.  Just say No
> to xdm or whatever starts your GUI.
>
> Lots of options here.  lol
>
> Dale
Thanks, Dale, for the figurative "whack in the head"!  I knew about
interactive mode, but never even thought of it.   Doing this, I was able
to boot to a command line.  Then, I took Remy's advise and re-emerged
xf86-input-keyboard and xf86-keyboard-mouse.  Turns out that they both
needed updating.  This fixed everything.

Sorry, if I was a little terse.  I panicked.  I keep all responses to
problems I've posted in case I run into the same thing again.  So thanks
guys for coming though for me as always!

Regards,

Colleen
>


-- 

Registered Linux User #411143 with the Linux Counter, http://counter.li.org

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Dale]

CJoeB wrote:
> On 05/03/10 10:10, Dale wrote:
>    
>> I think there is a interactive mode or something too.  It is done by
>> hitting the "I" key during the first part of the boot up.  Just say No
>> to xdm or whatever starts your GUI.
>>
>> Lots of options here.  lol
>>
>> Dale
>>      
> Thanks, Dale, for the figurative "whack in the head"!  I knew about
> interactive mode, but never even thought of it.   Doing this, I was able
> to boot to a command line.  Then, I took Remy's advise and re-emerged
> xf86-input-keyboard and xf86-keyboard-mouse.  Turns out that they both
> needed updating.  This fixed everything.
>
> Sorry, if I was a little terse.  I panicked.  I keep all responses to
> problems I've posted in case I run into the same thing again.  So thanks
> guys for coming though for me as always!
>
> Regards,
>
> Colleen
>    
>>      

Oh trust me, I knew where you were.  I been there.  Anyone want me to 
start talking about the xorg-server upgrade with hal enabled?

I think most people missed the point that your keyboard would not allow 
you to do anything.  I noticed that and knew exactly what position you 
were in.  You also need to make a note about the alt sysrq key sequence 
as well.  That can be a HUGE life saver.  It will at least keep you from 
having to do a hard shutdown.  I have had a couple times that I was 
stuck at the login screen and nothing else would get me back to a 
console.  If you use the alt sysrq sequence, it will at least give you a 
sane shutdown, even if it is done blindly.

Glad you got it working.

Dale

:-)  :-)

Re: [gentoo-user] Frozen after Upgrade

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Mon, 3 May 2010 13:44:50 +0000, Colleen Beamer wrote:

> I can't disable my xdm login script.  My computer boots to the login
> screen and the keyboard doesn't work so I can'l login to get a
> terminal session.

At the GRUB menu, add "gentoo=nox" to the kernel options, using the
method explained by Alan. The advantage of this method is that it gives
you a fully working system, running everything in your default runlevel
except xdm. When you have made the changes and want to test
them, /etc/init.d/xdm restart fires up X with no need to reboot.

Note for the pedants: The xdm init script is run, but it checks for the
nox flag and exits without starting X, that's why to need to restart it
to run X.

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