Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[John Aldrich]

On Mon October 17 2011, suvayu ali wrote:
> 
> I don't mean to insist, but I had a similar problem and I was able to
> replicate the old drive along with the partition table and LVM onto
> the replacement drive using ddrescue. The procedure is documented in
> this post.
> 
>  377478>
> 
> Just thought this might be an appropriate (and simple) way to tackle
> your situation.
> 
Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. I've got several drives so I need to make 
sure I know which one I'm copying from and to. :D

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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[suvayu ali]

Hi John,

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 9:58 PM, John Aldrich  wrote:
> On Mon October 17 2011, suvayu ali wrote:
>>
>> If you want to salvage your data, I would recommend ddrescue. It
>> worked wonderfully for me.
>>
> Thanks. It's not that bad. Yet. I just know that SMARTD is apparently
> telling me that the drive is failing. I don't have a replacement yet, but
> hopefully I'll have one in the next day or so. Then I have to figure out how
> to get the data to the new drive and make it the boot drive (my boot drive
> is a small PATA drive and it's the one that is failing!)

I don't mean to insist, but I had a similar problem and I was able to
replicate the old drive along with the partition table and LVM onto
the replacement drive using ddrescue. The procedure is documented in
this post.



Just thought this might be an appropriate (and simple) way to tackle
your situation.

GL

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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[John Aldrich]

On Mon October 17 2011, Tim wrote:
> Usually, you can CTRL+ALT+F2 (or one of the other F keys), over to a
> text console, on the same computer, to use the command line.  If that
> works, then it saves you a bit of hassle to work through this problem.
> Though, it can happen that the graphics system gets so screwed up you
> will have to SSH in.
> 
> You should probably post the xorg.conf file for some other people to
> look for anything wrong with it.
> 
> The other suggestion of removing and reinstalling X is usually bad
> advice.  If there's a problem with the package, you'll be back at square
> one.  The re-install will fail, just the same.
> 
> Likewise, if the package is fine, but a configuration file isn't.  Most
> configuration files that are not provided directly in the package, such
> as ones created later on, or ones that were modified, will not be
> removed during a package removal.  A re-install will use the same
> configuration file.
> 
> If you think the installation of a package is broken, you can check for
> that using the rpm tools own verification options.
>
yeah...things were b0rked so badly I couldn't CTL+ALT+F2. I did manage to 
SSH in from another box on the LAN and went to runlevel 3, deleted the 
config file and went back to runlevel 5. Switching to the nVidia driver 
helped a LOT. I don't know the noveau driver was updated recently or not, 
but something was definitely hosed. Also, the nVidia driver didn't fix it 
100%. I'm still having issues with the keyboard and mouse not responding 
100% in xfce4. I wish I knew where that config file was kept as I might try 
renaming the config file and doing a repair install and see if that came with 
a new config file. I did find some default settings files for xfce, but I don't 
know if there is a per-user file somewhere that might be more important.
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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[John Aldrich]

On Mon October 17 2011, suvayu ali wrote:
> 
> If you want to salvage your data, I would recommend ddrescue. It
> worked wonderfully for me.
>
Thanks. It's not that bad. Yet. I just know that SMARTD is apparently 
telling me that the drive is failing. I don't have a replacement yet, but 
hopefully I'll have one in the next day or so. Then I have to figure out how 
to get the data to the new drive and make it the boot drive (my boot drive 
is a small PATA drive and it's the one that is failing!)
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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[suvayu ali]

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 7:18 PM, John Aldrich  wrote:
> Could be part of my disk is trashed. I logged into Gnome as a test (didn't
> like the lack of desktop icons, another reason I don't use KDE any more!)
> and got notification of a hard drive error. I'm working on getting a new
> hard drive, so hopefully I'll be up and running 100% in a few days. Might
> have to do a refresh install of xfce4 or something and see if that helps.

If you want to salvage your data, I would recommend ddrescue. It
worked wonderfully for me.

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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[John Aldrich]

On Mon October 17 2011, Robert Myers wrote:
> 
> VNC apparently correctly anticipates what's on the other end.  Your
> system is confused about either your video card or the monitor for
> your console.  Were it me, I'd be plugging in other video cards and/or
> monitors just to see what happens.  I would also take seriously the
> possibility that part of your disk is trashed.
> 
Could be part of my disk is trashed. I logged into Gnome as a test (didn't 
like the lack of desktop icons, another reason I don't use KDE any more!) 
and got notification of a hard drive error. I'm working on getting a new 
hard drive, so hopefully I'll be up and running 100% in a few days. Might 
have to do a refresh install of xfce4 or something and see if that helps.

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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[Robert Myers]

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 11:17 AM, John Aldrich  wrote:
> Ok... I have switched from noveau driver to the nVidia driver. That helps.
> Except I use XFCE4 as my window manager and the main bar at the top of
> every window is missing on the local console. HOWEVER, it works fine in VNC.
> I don't understand why, since both the local console and the VNC session
> use xfce4 as the window manager.
> How do I figure out WHY VNC works but not local console?

VNC apparently correctly anticipates what's on the other end.  Your
system is confused about either your video card or the monitor for
your console.  Were it me, I'd be plugging in other video cards and/or
monitors just to see what happens.  I would also take seriously the
possibility that part of your disk is trashed.

Robert.
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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[John Aldrich]

Ok... I have switched from noveau driver to the nVidia driver. That helps. 
Except I use XFCE4 as my window manager and the main bar at the top of 
every window is missing on the local console. HOWEVER, it works fine in VNC. 
I don't understand why, since both the local console and the VNC session 
use xfce4 as the window manager.
How do I figure out WHY VNC works but not local console?
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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[John Aldrich]

On Mon October 17 2011, Mike Chambers wrote:
> On Mon, 2011-10-17 at 00:28 -0400, D. Marshall Lemcoe Jr. wrote:
> > You might just completely remove Xorg and then completely reinstall it
> > to fix your xorg.conf issue.
> 
> What xorg.conf issue?  The *way* Fedora/X Org works now is you DON"T
> need the .conf file anymore.  It's suppose to just work.  Not sure of
> his problem, but he shouldn't need an xorg.conf file to fix it.
>
Right... if I go into "systemsettings" and try and specify any of the 
settings, it creates an xorg.conf file which pretty much messes everything 
up... no X, etc.
What happened was I'm on a KVM, and I let the system boot up while the KVM 
was switched to another computer. As usually happens the screen was HUGE! I 
tried rebooting, I tried specifying the settings, nothing worked. Now my 
best resolution is 1024x768 and I need to go to 1280x1024.
Any time I try and specify any settings in systemsettings, it messes things 
up as mentioned, so I'm at a loss.
Any suggestions?
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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[Tim]

On Mon, 2011-10-17 at 00:26 -0400, John Aldrich wrote:
> If I have an xorg.conf file it REALLY hoses the system and I don't get
> ANY graphics whatsoever and I have to rely on SSH-ing into the box to
> init 3, delete the xorg.conf and restart x, at which time it's  
> somewhat normal.

Usually, you can CTRL+ALT+F2 (or one of the other F keys), over to a
text console, on the same computer, to use the command line.  If that
works, then it saves you a bit of hassle to work through this problem.
Though, it can happen that the graphics system gets so screwed up you
will have to SSH in.

You should probably post the xorg.conf file for some other people to
look for anything wrong with it.

The other suggestion of removing and reinstalling X is usually bad
advice.  If there's a problem with the package, you'll be back at square
one.  The re-install will fail, just the same.

Likewise, if the package is fine, but a configuration file isn't.  Most
configuration files that are not provided directly in the package, such
as ones created later on, or ones that were modified, will not be
removed during a package removal.  A re-install will use the same
configuration file.

If you think the installation of a package is broken, you can check for
that using the rpm tools own verification options.

-- 
[tim@localhost ~]$ uname -r
2.6.27.25-78.2.56.fc9.i686

Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored.  I
read messages from the public lists.



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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[suvayu ali]

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 6:57 AM, John Aldrich  wrote:
> Quoting "D. Marshall Lemcoe Jr." :
>
>> You might just completely remove Xorg and then completely reinstall it
>> to fix your xorg.conf issue.
>>
> So you think I ought to try "yum remove Xorg" and let it go? Will that
> mess up any of my personal settings or will those likely not be touched?

Please don't do that, I would thing that would cause you a whole lot
of more troubles. I would first try to boot by removing the old
xorg.conf out of the way (I'm assuming you use xorg.conf since you
mention nvidia-xconfig). Xorg these days doesn't need an xorg.conf, so
might as well start with that. Also have you run fsck on your disk? As
root `touch /forcefsck` and reboot to do that.

Hopefully that gets you started.

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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[suvayu ali]

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 6:50 AM, Mike Chambers  wrote:
> On Mon, 2011-10-17 at 00:28 -0400, D. Marshall Lemcoe Jr. wrote:
>> You might just completely remove Xorg and then completely reinstall it
>> to fix your xorg.conf issue.
>
> What xorg.conf issue?  The *way* Fedora/X Org works now is you DON"T
> need the .conf file anymore.  It's suppose to just work.  Not sure of
> his problem, but he shouldn't need an xorg.conf file to fix it.
>

Because the OP said he has an xorg.conf file. :)

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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[John Aldrich]

Quoting "D. Marshall Lemcoe Jr." :

> You might just completely remove Xorg and then completely reinstall it
> to fix your xorg.conf issue.
>
So you think I ought to try "yum remove Xorg" and let it go? Will that  
mess up any of my personal settings or will those likely not be touched?
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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[Mike Chambers]

On Mon, 2011-10-17 at 00:28 -0400, D. Marshall Lemcoe Jr. wrote:
> You might just completely remove Xorg and then completely reinstall it
> to fix your xorg.conf issue.

What xorg.conf issue?  The *way* Fedora/X Org works now is you DON"T
need the .conf file anymore.  It's suppose to just work.  Not sure of
his problem, but he shouldn't need an xorg.conf file to fix it.  


-- 
Mike Chambers
Madisonville, KY

"The best town on Earth!"

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Re: HELP!!! System messed up!

[D. Marshall Lemcoe Jr.]

You might just completely remove Xorg and then completely reinstall it
to fix your xorg.conf issue.

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 12:26 AM, John Aldrich  wrote:
> A little while ago I inadvertently killed power to my F15 box. Now I'm
> unable to get a better screen size than 1024X768 (previous was
> 1280x1024) as well I'm having problems with my keyboard and mouse. The
> keyboard will suddenly not work any more (i.e. I can't type) and the
> mouse will somewhat work -- I can open a new console, etc, but I can't
> make that the "active" window.
>
> I have already tried using the nvidia-xconfig, but that screws it up
> worse. (yes, I have an nVidia graphics chipset -- driver is noveau
> according to /proc/modules)
>
> If I have an xorg.conf file it REALLY hoses the system and I don't get
> ANY graphics whatsoever and I have to rely on SSH-ing into the box to
> init 3, delete the xorg.conf and restart x, at which time it's
> somewhat normal.
>
> Anyone got any ideas what the heck I did and how to fix it?
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HELP!!! System messed up!

[John Aldrich]

A little while ago I inadvertently killed power to my F15 box. Now I'm  
unable to get a better screen size than 1024X768 (previous was  
1280x1024) as well I'm having problems with my keyboard and mouse. The  
keyboard will suddenly not work any more (i.e. I can't type) and the  
mouse will somewhat work -- I can open a new console, etc, but I can't  
make that the "active" window.

I have already tried using the nvidia-xconfig, but that screws it up  
worse. (yes, I have an nVidia graphics chipset -- driver is noveau  
according to /proc/modules)

If I have an xorg.conf file it REALLY hoses the system and I don't get  
ANY graphics whatsoever and I have to rely on SSH-ing into the box to  
init 3, delete the xorg.conf and restart x, at which time it's  
somewhat normal.

Anyone got any ideas what the heck I did and how to fix it?
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