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waltinator
Asked: 2015-03-13 09:22:57 +0800 CST

`sudo startx` works but `startx` gives low-res screen, no Dash

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After a recent system upgrade, I found I could not login and get my normal screen. The screen I got after typing my password was low-resolution, had no Dash and Ctrl-Alt-T did not open a terminal. lshw -C display shows: 

*-display
   description: VGA compatible controller
   product: 82G33/G31 Express Integrated Graphics Controller

I found that, logging in with Ctrl-Alt-F1, I got the same results with /usr/bin/startx, but sudo /usr/bin/startx gave me my normal screen (but I was logged in as root).

14.04

2 Answers

  1. Update 2015Mar12-2238: NOT SOLVED! I'm still struggling.

    Original (non-)answer:

    Since startx works for root and fails for user, it is a permission problem.

    To answer the question. "In all my installed software, what can root execute that user cannot?", I first collected the data with: 

    #!/bin/bash
#
for pkg in $( dpkg -l | egrep '^ii' | awk '{print $2 }' ) ; do
    echo "$(date '+%F %T') $pkg" >&2
    dpkg -L "$pkg" | \
        sed -e 's/^.*to: //' | \
        while read phile ; do
            sudo /usr/bin/stat  \  
                --printf="=%a,%A %u:%g Chgd: %z = %Z %N\n" ":$clean" | \
                tr -d '‘’'
        done
done  > plan.out

    Then, via egrep '^=...,[dr]..x.....-' plan.out | sort -n -k8 | uniq I saw (truncated for space, only "recent" changes): 

    =700,drwx------ 101:4 Chgd: 2015-01-30 19:11:24.363915087 -0500 = 1422663084 ‘/var/spool/rsyslog’
=700,drwx------ 0:0 Chgd: 2015-01-31 11:21:44.664379962 -0500 = 1422721304 ‘/var/lib/libvirt/sanlock’
=700,drwx------ 0:0 Chgd: 2015-02-22 12:25:22.314994852 -0500 = 1424625922 ‘/root’
=700,drwx------ 0:0 Chgd: 2015-02-23 11:40:00.909677880 -0500 = 1424709600 ‘/var/lib/polkit-1’
=700,drwx------ 0:0 Chgd: 2015-02-23 11:40:00.917677856 -0500 = 1424709600 ‘/etc/polkit-1/localauthority’
=700,drwx------ 154:161 Chgd: 2015-02-24 16:06:58.612884945 -0500 = 1424812018 ‘/var/run/gdm/greeter’
=750,drwxr-x--- 144:128 Chgd: 2015-02-24 16:07:01.015677190 -0500 = 1424812021 ‘/var/cache/libvirt/qemu’
=750,drwxr-x--- 154:161 Chgd: 2015-02-24 16:07:19.838216115 -0500 = 1424812039 ‘/var/lib/gdm’
=700,drwx------ 0:0 Chgd: 2015-02-24 16:07:38.480845470 -0500 = 1424812058 ‘/var/lib/sudo’
=750,drwxr-x--- 144:128 Chgd: 2015-02-24 16:07:45.033551778 -0500 = 1424812065 ‘/var/lib/libvirt/qemu’
=750,drwxr-x--- 134:4 Chgd: 2015-02-25 07:57:51.259376791 -0500 = 1424869071 ‘/var/log/glance’
=750,drwxr-x--- 33:4 Chgd: 2015-02-26 08:08:02.006782269 -0500 = 1424956082 ‘/var/log/nginx’
=750,drwxr-x--- 131:139 Chgd: 2015-03-02 08:32:46.122363558 -0500 = 1425303166 ‘/var/log/couchdb’
=750,drwxr-x--- 128:4 Chgd: 2015-03-02 08:33:02.030331682 -0500 = 1425303182 ‘/var/log/privoxy’
=750,drwxr-x--- 146:4 Chgd: 2015-03-02 08:33:03.322329094 -0500 = 1425303183 ‘/var/log/tomcat7’
=710,drwx--x--- 0:7 Chgd: 2015-03-04 07:53:31.955392233 -0500 = 1425473611 ‘/var/spool/cups’

    The entry that seems most involved with logging in and setting up my display is: 

    =700,drwx------ 154:161 Chgd: 2015-02-24 16:06:58.612884945 -0500 = 1424812018 ‘/var/run/gdm/greeter’

    After I did sudo chmod 755 /var/run/gdm /var/run/gdm/greeter I fixed the problem, and can now log in normally.

    I will file a bug report.

    But, while the above hack fixed the problem once, it reoccurs. NOT SOLVED! I will have to investigate (in /var/cache/apt/archives) to see what got installed around 2015-02-24

    • 2
  2. Best Answer

    SOLVED by simply removing the fglrx driver (with the driver's directions, not just sudo rm), and depending on Ubuntu's built-in driver. fglrx is for advanced graphics cards, and I have an old one.

    • 0