My MX23ahs Linux would not boot tonight. I get a blank screen after I choose MX on the grub menu.
Everything else (Void and Devuan) boots OK
So grub is OK and the hardware is OK.
I tried editing the grub menu and adding ‘nomodeset’ as a boot parameter for MX.
Then it boots, and I get a low resolution (VGA) screen.
So there has to be something wrong with the ‘amdgpu’ graphics driver.
There were some updates waiting, so I did those … no difference, it still will not boot without ‘nomodeset’
I did update-grub and it made a new initramfs, but that did not help.
There must have been an update yesterday ( I cant remember) that caused this.
There is only one kernel 6.5.0. Maybe I should install another kernel.
Cant think of what to try next. Trying to reverse the updates is something I have never practiced.
I think if it does not self fix, I will be changing to something that works. MX was supposed to be my reliable base distro.
No snapshots. I have clonezilla images, quite recent.
That is certainly one option.
Another option is to get out of MXahs and do a fresh install of normal MX.
I went to ahs originally because of issues with a new amd graphics card. That problem is gone, I should be able to use normal MX today.
Create your list, and check which were installed recently.
You may downgrade those packages you suspect to be the culprit.
One-by-one, and whenever you find the package, which is really the cause of the problem, you can apt-mark hold the previous, still working package.
But I guess Neville wouldn´t benfit from it at that point because he would´ve had to create a “snapshot” with it before the problem materialized, right?
Simple system backup and restore application with extra features
Systemback makes it easy to create backups of the system and the users configuration files.
In case of problems you can easily restore the previous state of the system. There are extra features like system copying, system installation and Live system creation.
In your opinion: does it offer more functionality that timeshift?
From what you said I gather your prefer systemback.
It’s “just” a script, so it’s useful for all my desktops, laptops, as well as for servers, be it a VPS or the headless Odroid.
I can script the creation of restore points.
What you found is an ancient previous thing.
Right.
Well, I don’t know really Timeshift.
But this script can run on different architectures (I use it on amd64, armhf, arm64), does not depend on GUI, is scriptable, configurable what to back up, what not, the flexibility is infinite…
Yes, I prefer systemback
I’m glad it is not just my MX that went from perfect working to not working. Mine did boot, it’s just everything was gone from my workspace settings. I have 6 desktops and there was now only one labeled “workspace.” Mine had names.
I tried using Timeshift all the way back to over a week prior, both daily & hourly and that did not change anything. Cannot figure out why. My last image (CZ) was August 1, so I may have no choice but to use that.
Like you, I may have to switch distros as I cannot have the system just lose settings after updates. I did not look at any of the other settings yet, so not sure what else was affected. I was beginning to think hardware failure on one of my newest laptops, but I don’t think so.
Hi Sheila,
It may not be that drastic.
I solved my issue by changing kernels
I had 6.5.0-1mx-ahs-amd64
I changed to 6.9.12-am64
ie
to non-ahs and a later kernel.
That got me a new set of amdgpu drivers, and it seems to have solved
the issue.
So, before you dispair, try another kernel.
Regards
Neville
Thank you to all who responded @Rosika, @kovacslt , did I miss anyone?
I tried your script Laszlo… 2450 lines of output
I think this was the culprit
Do you mean Xfce session saving was gone?
It should not lose settings with updates, I agree.
Today I had an issue with Void , where an update changed the name of the ethernet interface ( enp12s0 became enp17s0). That mucked up my network settings.
So it can happen.
Did you install anything new? That might do it… eg a whole new DE would chsnge everything.
In an other thread there was discussion about plagirarism , so to credit: it’s not my script, I found it online somewhere before, but can’t remember where it is from…
But it’s in my collection of scripts and snippets
I think the ethics would say that is OK. We all copy bits of code and it is easy to lose track. The Australian expression is
“it fell off the back of a truck”
Anyway , it is a really useful script, thank you.
Yes. All of my desktop items did not open on their individual spaces, but one thing, a MAJOR thing I forgot to mention: all windows opened in the uppermost left corner where the menu bar was hidden. There was no way to get out of the windows as even opening Task Manager and clicking on the PID to kill did not work. They all stacked on top of one another and left me with an unusable system. Start menu worked, but I had to scroll and use the mouse to select anything as trying to type in an item to search for, nothing typed.
I did not try a different kernel. I will have to check which one is the current. And I had made no changes, only updated as I always do when alerted that some are available. I only use the Xfce desktop and I do have the AHS install as this laptop has the Nvidia 3060.
I found it strange that timeshift could not resolve the desktop issue. Each reboot after rolling back in time–the same issues remained. I have not booted into it since the last of 6 attempts failed. I was debating on restoring the image, but not sure if I have installed any other apps since then. Thankfully, my home folders reside on a separate disk, so the image restore would not affect personal files.
Which log would I find useful for tracking down the culprit?
Hi Sheila,
That is indeed strange… you rolled back to a snapshot of a working system… and it did not work?
I can only think of a few things that might do that
hardware problem
something changed in the BIOS
CMOS battery failing
Can you do a test… Try MX from a live flash drive that you know works… eg the one you installed from.
I dont think a new kernel will help, but it is easy to try
and I dont think it is an upgrade problem either
I chose the 2nd one 6.5 and still had the issue. The issue with the windows all lying on top of each other is below. When this happens, the header bar at the top is unreachable so you cannot right click to close, move, etc. and the min/max/close are also hidden. Each new window opened moves to the same spot on top of the last one making all those behind it invisible/inaccessible.
The Barrier window is over the Firefox (which opened in a tiny rectangle) and even if I select the menu Barrier and Exit, that window stays there. As you can see half of my panel is hidden, so those icons I can access, I can right click and close the Barrier window. And for some reason, the Firefox window has the header available to click X to close. But after that, no getting rid of those hiding the upper portion of my panel.
I can boot into a live session, anything from the USB cause that is how I accessed Clonezilla thinking I might need to restore the image. And I do have a dual boot system, so from Arch I was able to access folders on the external drive where home folders & images are saved, so that is how I knew the most recent MX image was a month old.
I am going to see how far back I can go with Timeshift and the issue remain. I’d rather lay the image back on than do a fresh install and have to set it up all over again, but I took that image before installing Arch as dual boot, so it will wipe that off of the drive. I have an image of the Arch partition itself, but I don’t think I can restore that alongside the restored MX Linux. I did not want to take a complete disk image with MX messed up like this.
You mean a live usb does not have the window manager problems? Right?
OK… if that is right you do not have a hardware problem
It seems your window manager has been interfered with somehow…
but
I dont understand how a timeshift rollback would not fix it… does timeshift not restore the settings in your home directory?.. if that is the case you need to go to Clonezilla… you may be able to sekectively restore just your home directory if it is on a separate partition… otherwise you have to restore the lot.
and
in future, think about having your dot files included in timeshift… that is rather useless without the dot files… they are part of the system.
