[Solved] Buster freezes at "Started Gnome Display Manager"

[Prairie]

This post is dual purpose: first, to provide me with future reference & second, to help other newbies solve an issue that took me lots of trial & error mistakes before this post.

Was running Stretch happily for years on a desktop until my video card failed. Replaced card but had driver issue (worked but poorly). When discovered Buster was out, made more sense to upgrade than to search for a fix for the older release.

Used an AMD64 iso DVD to install. Upon rebooting, start up froze/hung at "Started Gnome Display Manager".

Tired re-installing, nope. Searched via google & here. Tried many things (installing haveged, purging/re-installng nvidia, adjusting grub, etc, etc, etc). But solution, for me, was as follows.

So at the freeze, interrupted with "Ctrl F2" to get to command prompt.
Logged in as root.
Used an editor (I chose Vi) to edit sources.list to ensure 'main contrib non-free' were listed. Saved & closed.
Performed update.
Installed AMD drivers for my older Asus video card EN8800GS (# apt install firmware-linux firmware-linux-nonfree libdrm-amdgpu1 xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu).
Performed another update.
Rebooted.
Buster now working flawlessly for me.

Thus, for others, make sure you know what video card you are using, install the correct driver & it *should* solve your issue (if it was like mine).

Hope this helps someone!

[Head_on_a_Stick]

start up froze/hung at "Started Gnome Display Manager"

It wasn't "hung" at all, the machine was functional

And did you not bother searching before posting?

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=142974

FFS...

[Prairie]

start up froze/hung at "Started Gnome Display Manager"

It wasn't "hung" at all, the machine was functional

And did you not bother searching before posting?

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=142974

FFS...

Rule 5: Be polite. Remember that the skill level of the forum members ranges from the absolute beginner to the very seasoned Linux user and what might be obvious to you might be very hard to understand for others. It's OK to point someone to other resources or suggest means of learning but do so politely; 'RTFM' has no place on this board.

Thus HOAS please get off your high horse. If you actually read my post, you'd have realized I did search (ie when someone knows exactly what the problem is, or exactly what to search for, it isn't really a problem is it?); I spent over a week trying to solve before I found my answer. Not everyone knows debian as well as you obviously do so perhaps if you want to be helpful next time, post some alternative wording on your solution, so that us newbies can first find your solution before trying to understand it. Or alternatively, just skip the threads you don't want to be helpful with--rather than being rude!

Personally I'd rather help someone than act superior.

PS, mods, I apologize for replying to what I see as a troll but I don't want a comment like HOAS' scaring off possible newbies from commenting legitimately on my, or anyone else's thread. I joined to learn and teach not be bullied or tolerate it.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Rule 5: Be polite. Remember that the skill level of the forum members ranges from the absolute beginner to the very seasoned Linux user and what might be obvious to you might be very hard to understand for others. It's OK to point someone to other resources or suggest means of learning but do so politely; 'RTFM' has no place on this board.

I did search (ie when someone knows exactly what the problem is, or exactly what to search for, it isn't really a problem is it?); I spent over a week trying to solve before I found my answer.

Your search-fu is poor. Work on it, you'll get better with practice.

[notavirus]

This is my first post, so please go easy on me!

Prairie, thank you for posting this. I find myself in a similar situation to yours. I have been searching for a solution to this problem for a couple of days now and everyone seems to have similar non-functional solutions.
Just as you mentioned, all of the forum posts I could find only suggested purging nvidia/amd drivers, making grub changes, or switching to a different desktop environment entirely (which in my case misses the point entirely). Your post was the first solution which made mention of non-free video drivers. I believe this may be the solution I have been looking for.

Also, I can confirm that your machine was, in fact, "hung." Although some may claim that the machine was functional, most of us understand "functional" to mean that something is working as we would expect it to or is otherwise properly serving its purpose. If a computer becomes unresponsive entirely (no, Ctrl+Alt+F# is not doing anything), most of the intelligent population would agree that, as it is not working as we would expect it to, and it's not properly serving its purpose, it is not in fact functional. It's stuck, locked up, dare I say... hung/frozen.

PS, mods, I apologize for replying to what I see as a troll but I don't want a comment like HOAS' scaring off possible newbies from commenting legitimately on my, or anyone else's thread. I joined to learn and teach not be bullied or tolerate it.

Couldn't avoid commenting on this. Mad respect. Indeed, some other members are pompous and disrespectful, but I'm glad you see them for the trolls that they are and chose to rise above. Here's to you. It's sad that some people find themselves with so little substance in their hearts that they need to fill the void with hate and spite. If it means anything, you were right -- your experience was valid and your solution was helpful, whereas some others here provided no help whatsoever, laughed at forum rules, and made objectively false claims.

Thank you for the quality content. Keep up the good work, and thanks again for the solution!

[cuckooflew]

by Prairie » PS, mods, I apologize for replying to what I see as a troll but I don't want a comment like HOAS' scaring off possible newbies from commenting legitimately on my, or anyone else's thread. I joined to learn and teach not be bullied or tolerate it.

Apparently this entity does not realize:
http://forums.debian.net/memberlist.php?mode=group&g=150

Global moderators

This is a special group, special groups are managed by the board administrators.

Code: Select all

emariz    2922         2008-10-17 07:59    2020-08-27 12:47
dilberts_left_nut    5070    
enzed
   2009-10-05 07:54    2020-09-07 13:45
arochester    1712         2010-12-07 19:55    2020-09-06 19:02
Head_on_a_Stick    12459    
https://head-on-a-stick.github.io
/dev/chair

Prairie wrote:
Rule 5: Be polite. Remember that the skill level of the forum members ranges from the absolute beginner to the very seasoned Linux user and what might be obvious to you might be very hard to understand for others. It's OK to point someone to other resources or suggest means of learning but do so politely; 'RTFM' has no place on this board.

There was nothing rude in what H_O_A_S said, and he did politely refer you to the 1 of many topics where the solution to this common problem is all ready discussed. Also, no where did he tell any one , or say RTFM,... so I don't see the point in quoting that rule.
That is why he, and others are laughing at it...
Also, asking someone if they even tried a search, is not rude, it is a reasonable question when it is obvious they did not search, of course, it is a true statement to say, "your search foo is poor", if they insist they did search, then the reason the found nothing is because the search skill (foo) is poor. We do understand , a newbie probably does not have good search foo skills, and a simple "I know, I am still trying to learn", would have been polite, but when they choose to get on a "high horse", and start crying about how they are being mistreated, and all of that... Besides the solution you posted is nothing new:

Used an editor (I chose Vi) to edit sources.list to ensure 'main contrib non-free' were listed. Saved & closed.
Performed update.

Using the "contrib non-free" in your sources.list, and installing the firmware as needed is the same advice give countless times, and also the advice given in search results. All though sometimes we suggest using a editor like nano, because it is easier.
And then this amazing coincidence, : at
2020-09-07 22:57 ,notavirus comes along, just a few hours later,..and pats Prairie on the back,

Post by notavirus » 2020-09-07 23:35
This is my first post, so please go easy on me!

Prairie, thank you for posting this. I find myself in a similar situation to yours. I have been searching for a solution to this problem for a couple of days now and everyone seems to have similar non-functional solutions.
Just as you mentioned, all of the forum posts I could find only suggested purging nvidia/amd drivers, making grub changes, or switching to a different desktop environment entirely (which in my case misses the point entirely). Your post was the first solution which made mention of non-free video drivers. I believe this may be the solution I have been looking for.

Then:

notavirus>Also, I can confirm that your machine was, in fact, "hung." Although some may claim that the machine was functional, most of us understand "functional" to mean that something is working as we would expect it to or is otherwise properly serving its purpose. If a computer becomes unresponsive entirely (no, Ctrl+Alt+F# is not doing anything)

Maybe this is the case with yours , "notavirus" , but the OP , (Prarie) , stated they did do this:

by Prairie » 2020-02-11 02:05 ---snip----
So at the freeze, interrupted with "Ctrl F2" to get to command prompt.
Logged in as root.

That confirms that the OP's PC was functional, very much so, and H_O_A-S was correct in saying,

Head_on_a_Stick » 2020-02-11 05:08

Prairie wrote:
start up froze/hung at "Started Gnome Display Manager"

It wasn't "hung" at all, the machine was functional

It is pretty obvious to me what is going on here,

Prairie >>PS, mods, I apologize for replying to what I see as a troll but I don't want a comment like HOAS' scaring off possible newbies from commenting legitimately on my, or anyone else's thread. I joined to learn and teach not be bullied or tolerate it.

Don't worry, H_O_A_S has helped many newbies, and experienced users as well, and I am sure a few will jump in here as well, nobody will be scared off by this, It is clearly an attempt at trolling, and possibly bullying as well, considering your buddy, "notavirus" miraculously jumps in to defend you. Neither one of you have been around here long enough to have a clue as to how this forum works, and who the active helpers are.
You really blew it dude, the topic you started might have been helpful to some, but you choose to start all of this and attack H_O_A_S, one of our moderators, and best helpers,...
Besides , you should have read: Forum guidelines. Please read before first post!
It says clearly, the proper way to contact admins and mods.

6. Do not engage in flame wars. Threads that evolve into flaming will be locked. If you feel attacked; be the better person and ignore it. The moderators are not omnipresent, so if you feel some actions need to be taken please e-mail the moderator team on team@forums.debian.net

Since you did not read it, and you choose to start a flame war, well really , the best thing to do now is just end it here, and lock the thread. Another mod can do that, in order to avoid any one saying H_O_A-S did it. Any way, I certainly see no point in discussing this further.

[sickpig]

Also, I can confirm that your machine was, in fact, "hung."

yeah but was it well hung then?

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Indeed, some other members are pompous and disrespectful, but I'm glad you see them for the trolls that they are and chose to rise above.

Right, fine, I've read your report and I am henceforth banning myself from these boards for a week. I could do with a holiday anyway...

[Prairie]

After cuckcoflew decided to add no value to this thread, I decided an explanation was in order.

I took the ending of HOAS's first response -- ffs -- to be unnecessarily rude to a new forum user. I had searched, using tight parameters. As hanging, etc, was too broad, I narrowed down slowly, ending with "started gnome display manager". Seeing my post was in Feb 2020, prior to that, my issue was not showing up (ie. search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&keywords=%22started+gnome+display+manager%22&start=15 ). Thus I posted. The reasoning being my perceived issue was not worded as HOAS felt it should be (explained in his thread, which btw also made sense to me after seeing it). I now know better, thank-you HOAS. Likewise I know know 'search-fu' is not swearing (but just now searched & discovered it) but to be slang I had never seen before.

I only learnt HOAS was a mod/admin when I tried to place him on my block list & couldn't, as I was disappointed in his second response (& am now glad I couldn't). Though against my choice, it also means I am unable to with cuckooflew (ps I know no one on the forum lol, so maybe read the timestamps correctly next time bc notavirus did not post a few hours after me but months later...). Next time, unless your're adding value, don't post captain obvious 'to you', or should it be captain assumptions...

Regardless though, I do beileve you, HOAS, deserve some thanks (however please keep in mind some of us newer members may find you way more computer literate than our more commonly referred to phrases or knowledge). Questions that may be dumb or repetative to one may simply not be understood to another so I try to post as plainly, & basically, as I see the situation (& searches are likewise until better knowlodge is attained). A few decades ago I would not have attempted most what is required to use linux variants.

Lastly, no hard feelings HOAS. I'd also not care if you, or anyone else locked the thread, as it is solved & is can be located by others that may need my simplified subject.

ps, I am glad my post helped you notavirus because that is half the reason I posted it (the other half being to remind me five years from now when I forget lol!).

[sunrat]

What a strange thread. Welcome to the internet!