The problem is that Xorg hasn't registered the igfx as the boot-vga device and so is looking for a primary display and fails (it loads the -intel as a secondary GPU only screen).
What is the value in '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/boot_vga' ? You can manually specify: Section "Device" Identifier "Device0" Driver "intel" EndSection in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/intel.conf to workaround the issue. ** Changed in: xserver-xorg-video-intel (Ubuntu) Status: Incomplete => New -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to xserver-xorg-video-intel in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1161371 Title: X server sometimes fails to start on MacBook Air 5,2: no screens found Status in “xserver-xorg-video-intel” package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: I'm running Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring) on a MacBook Air 5,2. The machine has an Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivybridge Mobile) graphics chip. I have xserver-xorg-core version 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu4. On approximately every other boot, the X server fails to start and I'm left in an unusuable low-graphics mode. When this happens, the X log contains these error lines: (EE) No devices detected. ... Fatal server error: ... no screens found To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/1161371/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp