fglrx fails to load causing black screen on boot

Question

I've updated my system, the system boots but I never get to the graphic interface. It seems to hang.

I get a black screen, at the end of the screen, I got my cursor _ blinking and I don't know what to do.

I believe the system is OK somehow, because I notice the screen saver activation after a while but nothing more. If I press any key, the screen savers vanishes but I just don't know how to leave from this state.

I've tried Ctrl + C, entering exit but I just get the letters there, nothing happens.

At the end, my /var/log/Xorg.0.log has:

DRI Initialization failed kernel module (fglrx.ko) may be missing or incompatible 2D and 3D acceleration disabked

glesx __g1ESXExtensionInit: No GL ES2.0 Capable screen found!

Caught signal 11 (Segmentation fault). Server Aborting Please consult the X.org Foundadion Support (EE) fglrx(0): fireg1_SetSuspendeResumeState FAILED -9

ddxSigGiveUp: closing log

UPDATE:

I've done:

sudo apt-get remove --purge fglrx

after which I've rebooted. Now I got nothing on my screen. Not even the command line.

What can I do? How can I fix this problem?

Solution

You shouldn't have purged flgrx, really.

I experienced exactly same problem after updating to 11.04 (booted fine with old kernel 2.6.35, but trying to boot with default kernel of 11.04 I had blank screen and blinking cursor)
All I had to do is add radeon.modeset=0 to grub options (along with quiet splash) once you can add this option pressing E in grub menu for permanently editing and updating grub.

If anything, you can edit grub options doing

gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub

The line will look like something ... ="radeon.modeset=0 quiet splash".

Save the grub file then update the grub config using sudo update-grub.

Comments

[Oli]

The udev message is almost certainly a dead end. udev spews out all sorts of stuff on perfectly working machines. Same with ureadahead. The content of ~/.xsession-errors and /var/log/Xorg.0.log would be helpful.

[MEM]

@Oli - I've just searched and if I do alt+f2 I get the possibility to login. I have done that. But I don't know what to do more then this. :((

[MEM]

How can I see those lines. I tried vim filename . but I haven't installed and when I do apt-get I got some mirror errors. I've tried gnome-open filename but I get some errors as well... how can I see those files?

[Oli]

nano should be installed by default and is a fairly good editor. Failing that less <filename> should show you the file.

[MEM]

Oli I'm seeing the first file. It's to big. I have no clue how to paste it here. Perhaps the end of te file corresponds to something ?

[Oli]

sudo apt-get install pastebinit and then pastebinit <filename> will upload a file to Ubuntu's PasteBin service and give you back a small URL that you could post here.

[MEM]

I'm not sure if the mirror errors are due the fact that I don't have internet. I will give it a try. (thanks a lot for being there, I'm so stuck here. :( )

[MEM]

Cannot resolve mirrors.nfsi.pt - great :s

[MEM]

Is there any way to revert to the previous versions somehow ?

[Oli]

Hmm yes that might be the case. We could battle with this longer but you might do best just to see what /var/log/Xorg.0.log says. The final few lines should give you an idea of why it has crashed.

[MEM]

Oli: i've updated my question with the final part.

[MEM]

Got it... uff... First: 1) sudo apt-get remove --purge fglrx 2) then we get a black screen. Restart your machine and after the bios image, press shift + down arrow key to enter on GRUD mode (at least I recall this name). 3) Then choose enter on low graphics mode (or similar). 4) Then you will see your desktop. Once there, do: apt-get-update and then, apt-get upgrade. 5) Restart your system Great help: ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1602441&page=2 Hope this helps someone one day.

[Oli]

@user15301 You should write that as an answer instead of a comment.