lightdm does no longer start after kernel-upgrade

[morgon]

Hi,

I have a GT 1030 GPU and run lightdm+i3.
With kernel 5.6 everything works fine (I still have that).

But I just installed 5.9 via aptiture and with that kernel the system boots (I can login via the virtual terminals) but there is a problem with X it seems.

I've tried

Code: Select all

systemctrl isolate multi-user.target

but that does not change anything but does not produce any errors either.

Trying to start the lightdm-service manually all I get is a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner.

Any tips on how to debug this?

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Are you using the proprietary NVIDIA driver? If so was it rebuilt successfully for the new kernel version?

Debian testing does break sometimes. The clue is in the name

[morgon]

Are you using the proprietary NVIDIA driver?

Yes.

If so was it rebuilt successfully for the new kernel version?

I don't know. How can I check?

Debian testing does break sometimes. The clue is in the name

I have no problem with that.

[morgon]

I've tried to run "dpkg-reconfigure nvidia-kernel-dkms".

It seems to work for my old (5.6) kernel, but fails for the new kernel.

I assume this is the problem - how can I fix that?

The output is:

Code: Select all

Loading new nvidia-current-450.80.02 DKMS files...
Building for 5.6.0-1-amd64 5.9.0-3-amd64
Building initial module for 5.6.0-1-amd64
Done.

nvidia-current.ko:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/5.6.0-1-amd64/updates/dkms/

nvidia-current-modeset.ko:
DKMS make.log for nvidia-current-450.80.02 for kernel 5.9.0-3-amd64 (x86_64)
Tue 01 Dec 2020 11:19:29 AM CET
make KBUILD_OUTPUT=/lib/modules/5.9.0-3-amd64/build V=1 -C /lib/modules/5.9.0-3-amd64/source M=/var/lib/dkms/nvidia-current/450.80.02/build ARCH=x86_64 NV_KERNEL_SOURCES=/lib/modules/5.9.0-3-amd64/source NV_KERNEL_OUTPUT=/lib/modules/5.9.0
-3-amd64/build NV_KERNEL_MODULES="nvidia nvidia-uvm nvidia-modeset nvidia-drm" INSTALL_MOD_DIR=kernel/drivers/video NV_SPECTRE_V2=0 modules
make[1]: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-5.9.0-3-common'
make -C /usr/src/linux-headers-5.9.0-3-amd64 -f /usr/src/linux-headers-5.9.0-3-common/Makefile modules
make[2]: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-5.9.0-3-amd64'
test -e include/generated/autoconf.h -a -e include/config/auto.conf || (                \
echo >&2;                                                       \
echo >&2 "  ERROR: Kernel configuration is invalid.";           \
echo >&2 "         include/generated/autoconf.h or include/config/auto.conf are missing.";\
echo >&2 "         Run 'make oldconfig && make prepare' on kernel src to fix it.";      \
echo >&2 ;                                                      \
/bin/false)

  ERROR: Kernel configuration is invalid.
         include/generated/autoconf.h or include/config/auto.conf are missing.
         Run 'make oldconfig && make prepare' on kernel src to fix it.

make[2]: *** [/usr/src/linux-headers-5.9.0-3-common/Makefile:718: include/config/auto.conf] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-5.9.0-3-amd64'
make[1]: *** [Makefile:185: __sub-make] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-5.9.0-3-common'
make: *** [Makefile:81: modules] Error 2

[milomak]

what kernel are you using?

[morgon]

It's in the output above:

Building for 5.6.0-1-amd64 5.9.0-3-amd64

these are the two kernels I have currently installed. The 5.9 is where I have the problem.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

how can I fix that?

Persuade NVIDIA to start co-operating with Linux. Or throw that POS card away and buy something decent instead (ie, anything not made by NVIDIA).

[morgon]

Not sure if this is the way to do it, but this is what I did (for my reference when I upgrade the kernel again):

First I tried "dkms install -m nvidia-current -v 450.80.02 -k 5.9.0-3-amd64".
That should build the module only for this one kernel but failed with the above error.

Then I installed the kernel-sources and in the kernel-sources copied /boot/config-5.9.0-3-amd64 into .config.
Now I can run "make prepare".
This generates a file "autoconf.h" in incude/generated. This file has to be copied over to the header-directory.

Now you can run the dmks install again and now it works.

UPDATE: Just booted into the new kernel and voila, graphics works. All good.

However all this looks extremely suspicious to me - I would be grateful if someone who really understands these things could tell me how to do it properly...

[morgon]

how can I fix that?

Or throw that POS card away and buy something decent instead (ie, anything not made by NVIDIA).

This card (I only need it as an opencl device) has extended the lifetime of my 10 year old PC by at least a year.