unable to connect to xserver after upgrade to debian 11

[tagal4]

I'm still trying to get my black screen after grub after upgrading my operating system problem solved, and like I mention in my previous post I get the "unable to connect to x server" message when I try to start my computer with "startx" from the command line. In my previous post one member thought it was a problem with my graphics and I mentioned that I thought I had an nvidia graphics card; after looking it up using the lspci command it turns out I have "AMD/ATI RV516 Radeon x1300/x1550" graphics. I tried installing the drivers for this using the debian manual but I got a mess agethe the drivers aren't available.

My computer worked just fine with debian 10 and it works just fine booting from a live install dvd (lubuntu). Any help with this would be much appreciated.

[mrmazda]

You haven't given here much information to go on.

Looks like my GPU is the same or very similar to yours. It works just fine, with two connected displays no less:

Code: Select all

# inxi -GSaz --za --hostname
System:
  Host: gx28b Kernel: 5.10.0-32-686 arch: i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc
    v: 10.2.1 clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: root=LABEL=<filter> ipv6.disable=1 noresume consoleblank=0
    mitigations=off
  Desktop: TDE (Trinity) v: R14.1.2 tk: Qt v: 3.5.0 wm: Twin v: 3.0
    with: kicker vt: 7 dm: 1: TDM 2: XDM Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD RV516 [Radeon X1300/X1550 Series] vendor: Dell driver: radeon
    v: kernel arch: Rage-7 code: R200 process: TSMC 150nm built: 2001-06 pcie:
    gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: DVI-I-1,VGA-1
    empty: SVIDEO-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:7183 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.20.11 compositor: Twin v: 3.0 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting dri: swrast gpu: radeon display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3600x1200 s-dpi: 120 s-size: 761x253mm (29.96x9.96")
    s-diag: 802mm (31.57")
  Monitor-1: DVI-I-1 pos: primary,left model: NEC EA243WM serial: <filter>
    built: 2011 res: 1920x1200 hz: 60 dpi: 94 gamma: 1.2
    size: 519x324mm (20.43x12.76") diag: 612mm (24.1") ratio: 16:10 modes:
    max: 1920x1200 min: 640x480
  Monitor-2: VGA-1 pos: right model: Dell P2213 serial: <filter> built: 2012
    res: 1680x1050 hz: 60 dpi: 90 gamma: 1.2 size: 473x296mm (18.62x11.65")
    diag: 558mm (22") ratio: 16:10 modes: max: 1680x1050 min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 3.1 vendor: x.org mesa v: 20.3.5 glx-v: 1.4
    es-v: 3.2 direct-render: yes renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 11.0.1 128 bits)
    device-ID: ffffffff:ffffffff memory: 1.43 GiB unified: no
#

If you are able to boot to multi-user.target, and your GPU isn't bad, it should be able to be made to work. I don't have plymouth installed. If you have it installed, try purging it. I do not have xserver-xorg-video-radeon or xserver-xorg-video-ati installed. Inxi shows it's the modesetting Xorg driver in use here. The radeon kernel driver comes with each kernel. Thus, it works without installing any more drivers than shipped in the original 11.0 installation. Drivers for your GPU are "not available" because they are part of the original Debian Bullseye OS.

If you had an NVidia card previously installed, then swapped for the ATI, then you may have been using proprietary drivers from NVidia. If so, then they would probably have to be purged according to their original installation instructions before drivers for rv516 could work.

What does systemctl get-default report? Normally it should report graphical.target. If that's not happening, it needs switching to it.

Debian Bullseye went from normal support to LTS last month. It could be good to try upgrading. This can be done from the same login where you tried to use startx, if logged in as root.

[tagal4]

systemctl get-default reported graphical.target like you said it should. I do get an error of "failed to raise network interfaces" when the long list of status reports the computer lists when it boots up is taking place. Is there any risk in making matters worse if I remove plymouth?

The problem I'm trying to fix is I can't get to my desktop after I boot the computer. I just get a black screen with a little dash in the upper left hand corner.

[mrmazda]

Is there any risk in making matters worse if I remove plymouth

Plymouth is a bootsplash. Bootsplash is bloatware that makes Linux resemble Windows by hiding the boot process messages, unnecessary software that can break and cause black screen. I have hundreds of Linux installations. The only distro that it is installed on here is Mageia, due to Mageia's peculiar packaging system that prohibits its absence. There, I simply disable it. I'm unaware of any trouble its absence here may produce. https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/Plymouth/ explains it.

It's not necessary to remove it in order to not use it. It can be disabled for a current boot only at the Grub menu by striking the E key and appending to the end of the linu line one of the following (I don't know which, as it apparently varies among distributions and/or versions): noplymouth; plymouth=0; plymouth.enable=0. Once you know you don't need it, you can "permanently" disable it, if purging it seems bothersome, via GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT= in file /etc/default/grub. Doing so only takes effect after an update of /boot/grub/grub.cfg.