I have just run an update for Debian Testing, the first update for 5 days, and when I start X I have no keyboard and no mouse.
The mouse pointer is displayed but won't move and using the keyboard has no effect including the alt-sysrq combinations and I can't get to a terminal using alt-F(n).
I can run and close an X application remotely using ssh and I can kill the unresponsive X server remotely using ssh. I can also kill individual X applications remotely. It doesn't look as though the system is locked in any way as the clock on the bottom bar (xfce) updates and the cpu load meter also appears to be updating.
I haven't the remotest idea where to start looking for this problem. Could someone please help?
Richard Bensley - 07540878285
Sent from my Unix-like phone.
On 28 Sep 2009, at 14:15, Barry Samuels <bjsamuels@beenthere-donethat.org.uk
wrote:
I have just run an update for Debian Testing, the first update for 5 days, and when I start X I have no keyboard and no mouse.
The mouse pointer is displayed but won't move and using the keyboard has no effect including the alt-sysrq combinations and I can't get to a terminal using alt-F(n).
I can run and close an X application remotely using ssh and I can kill the unresponsive X server remotely using ssh. I can also kill individual X applications remotely. It doesn't look as though the system is locked in any way as the clock on the bottom bar (xfce) updates and the cpu load meter also appears to be updating.
I haven't the remotest idea where to start looking for this problem. Could someone please help?
-- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain
main@lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!
On 28-Sep-09 13:15:28, Barry Samuels wrote:
I have just run an update for Debian Testing, the first update for 5 days, and when I start X I have no keyboard and no mouse.
The mouse pointer is displayed but won't move and using the keyboard has no effect including the alt-sysrq combinations and I can't get to a terminal using alt-F(n).
I can run and close an X application remotely using ssh and I can kill the unresponsive X server remotely using ssh. I can also kill individual X applications remotely. It doesn't look as though the system is locked in any way as the clock on the bottom bar (xfce) updates and the cpu load meter also appears to be updating.
I haven't the remotest idea where to start looking for this problem. Could someone please help?
-- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain
It could be that the upgrade has over-written the /etc/xorg.conf file with one which has keyboard and mouse entries (in the "Input Devices" section) which don't match your hardware -- or even a corrupt file which has no entries for keyboard and mouse.
Or it might be that it has installed a new kernel which does not recognise your hardware.
The fact that it's both keyboard and mouse suggests that it is more probably an X problem than a basic system problem.
Can you use the keyboard in "console" mode? If your system starts X automatically without an explicit command (as is usually the case these days), you can get it into console mode at boot by waiting for the GRUB listing to appear during the boot process, and choosing a "single-user mode" boot option. Then you will eventually get an "enter root password" request, after which you would be in plain console mode (if the boot succeeded).
If that didn't succeed, then it's presumably not reading the password from your keyboard, and if that is the cases then the problem is at kernel level (or even at the BIOS level), since X has not been initiated.
If you are OK in console mode, then it is really likely to be an X problem. If it is coming from xorg.conf, then you should also find "xorg.conf.bak.*" files with previous versions of xorg.conf. Copy your current xorg.conf to something like "xorg.conf.original", and replace it with the most recent xorg.conf.bak file, and see how you get on.
Hoping this helps, and wishing you luck! This one looks tricky. Ted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) Ted.Harding@manchester.ac.uk Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 28-Sep-09 Time: 15:28:35 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
On 28/09/09 15:28:45, Ted.Harding@manchester.ac.uk wrote:
On 28-Sep-09 13:15:28, Barry Samuels wrote:
I have just run an update for Debian Testing, the first update for 5 days, and when I start X I have no keyboard and no mouse.
The mouse pointer is displayed but won't move and using the keyboard has no effect including the alt-sysrq combinations and I can't get to a terminal using alt-F(n).
I can run and close an X application remotely using ssh and I can kill the unresponsive X server remotely using ssh. I can also kill individual X applications remotely. It doesn't look as though the system is locked in any way as the clock on the bottom bar (xfce) updates and the cpu load meter also appears to be updating.
I haven't the remotest idea where to start looking for this problem. Could someone please help?
-- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain
It could be that the upgrade has over-written the /etc/xorg.conf file with one which has keyboard and mouse entries (in the "Input Devices" section) which don't match your hardware -- or even a corrupt file which has no entries for keyboard and mouse.
Or it might be that it has installed a new kernel which does not recognise your hardware.
The fact that it's both keyboard and mouse suggests that it is more probably an X problem than a basic system problem.
Can you use the keyboard in "console" mode? If your system starts X automatically without an explicit command (as is usually the case these days), you can get it into console mode at boot by waiting for the GRUB listing to appear during the boot process, and choosing a "single-user mode" boot option. Then you will eventually get an "enter root password" request, after which you would be in plain console mode (if the boot succeeded).
If that didn't succeed, then it's presumably not reading the password from your keyboard, and if that is the cases then the problem is at kernel level (or even at the BIOS level), since X has not been initiated.
If you are OK in console mode, then it is really likely to be an X problem. If it is coming from xorg.conf, then you should also find "xorg.conf.bak.*" files with previous versions of xorg.conf. Copy your current xorg.conf to something like "xorg.conf.original", and replace it with the most recent xorg.conf.bak file, and see how you get on.
Hoping this helps, and wishing you luck! This one looks tricky. Ted.
I have my system set up to boot into console mode and this problem occurs only in X. The current xorg.conf is correct and I've tried without an xorg.conf at all with no improvement.
I compile my own kernels so the one I was using before the update is still the current kernel (2.6.30) and I've also tried 2.6.26 with no change.
I can use the system from a text console without any keyboard problems but, of course, there's no mouse in that mode anyway.
On 28/09/2009 14:15, Barry Samuels wrote:
I have just run an update for Debian Testing, the first update for 5 days, and when I start X I have no keyboard and no mouse.
The mouse pointer is displayed but won't move and using the keyboard has no effect including the alt-sysrq combinations and I can't get to a terminal using alt-F(n).
I can run and close an X application remotely using ssh and I can kill the unresponsive X server remotely using ssh. I can also kill individual X applications remotely. It doesn't look as though the system is locked in any way as the clock on the bottom bar (xfce) updates and the cpu load meter also appears to be updating.
I haven't the remotest idea where to start looking for this problem. Could someone please help?
I think you will find this is a bug in the x-server.
What card are you using?
I had a similar problem in X and ended up having to downgrade to the xserver from stable to get round it. There have been some kernel issues and its just been resolved in unstable.
Ben
On 28/09/09 15:43:30, Ben Whyte wrote:
On 28/09/2009 14:15, Barry Samuels wrote:
I have just run an update for Debian Testing, the first update for 5 days, and when I start X I have no keyboard and no mouse.
The mouse pointer is displayed but won't move and using the keyboard has no effect including the alt-sysrq combinations and I can't get to a terminal using alt-F(n).
I can run and close an X application remotely using ssh and I can kill the unresponsive X server remotely using ssh. I can also kill individual X applications remotely. It doesn't look as though the system is locked in any way as the clock on the bottom bar (xfce) updates and the cpu load meter also appears to be updating.
I haven't the remotest idea where to start looking for this problem. Could someone please help?
I think you will find this is a bug in the x-server.
What card are you using?
I had a similar problem in X and ended up having to downgrade to the xserver from stable to get round it. There have been some kernel issues and its just been resolved in unstable.
Ben
It's a Gainward (GeForce) 7300 which uses the nv driver and I've also tried the vesa driver with no change.
Are you able to say which packages I'd need to downgrade?
On 28/09/2009 14:15, Barry Samuels wrote:
I have just run an update for Debian Testing, the first update for 5 days, and when I start X I have no keyboard and no mouse.
The mouse pointer is displayed but won't move and using the keyboard has no effect including the alt-sysrq combinations and I can't get to a terminal using alt-F(n).
I can run and close an X application remotely using ssh and I can kill the unresponsive X server remotely using ssh. I can also kill individual X applications remotely. It doesn't look as though the system is locked in any way as the clock on the bottom bar (xfce) updates and the cpu load meter also appears to be updating.
I haven't the remotest idea where to start looking for this problem. Could someone please help?
I think you will find this is a bug in the x-server.
What card are you using?
I had a similar problem in X and ended up having to downgrade to the xserver from stable to get round it. There have been some kernel issues and its just been resolved in unstable.
Ben
On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 02:15:28PM +0100, Barry Samuels wrote:
I have just run an update for Debian Testing, the first update for 5 days, and when I start X I have no keyboard and no mouse.
Are you running a custom kernel without INPUT_EVDEV support or do you perhaps not have xserver-xorg-input-evdev installed?
J.
On 28/09/09 17:18:32, Jonathan McDowell wrote:
On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 02:15:28PM +0100, Barry Samuels wrote:
I have just run an update for Debian Testing, the first update for 5 days, and when I start X I have no keyboard and no mouse.
Are you running a custom kernel without INPUT_EVDEV support or do you perhaps not have xserver-xorg-input-evdev installed?
J.
-- Revd. Jonathan McDowell, ULC | Are you out of my mind?
Oh! Well done that man. A little tip with BIG results. You were right in that I didn't have INPUT_EVDEV enabled in my kernel - but I have now and X works as it should once again.
Thank you VERY much Jonathan.
-
Barry Samuels -
Ben Whyte -
Jonathan McDowell -
Richard Bensley -
Ted.Harding＠manchester.ac.uk