No GUI after upgrade to Ubuntu 9.10 (boots to command line)

Posted by Gathris on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Gathris
Published on 2009-10-31T21:05:36Z Indexed on 2010/03/15 11:50 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 458

Filed under:

ubuntu-9.10

|

graphics

|

upgrade

I have just upgraded to Ubuntu 9.10 (network upgrade using the update manager, from 9.04 which had different graphics related problems) and when I try to boot into it all I get a small Ubuntu logo, flickering text and then the tty1 command line with a logon prompt.

startx gives following error:

Fatal server error: no screens found

I traced down a tutorial that said I needed the latest graphics drivers (Gigabyte ATI Radeon 4650 HD installed with 9.10 catalyst drivers) so I did using the 'sh' command and a USB stick (I have a working Windows partition) and it installed fine but did not fix the problem.

Edit: Thanks to UK and Arjan van Bentem below I was able to understand the full error message of start x:

Parse error on lone 2 of /etc/X11/xorg.conf
'nameserver' is not a valid keyword in this section
Fatal server error: no screens found

This has nothing to do with a graphical error (sorry if I misled anyone) but the xorg.conf file has 3 lines in it and lines 2-3 have an entry 'nameserver'. Using the nano command I commented out (using a # before the entries) the nameservers and can now boot Ubuntu.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about ubuntu-9.10

Installation from Usb

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Want to install ubuntu from usb flash but after i press continue after the install alongside windows button my HP pavillion laptop restarts and boots into vista and starts wubi installer. The wubi installer installation process ends with the following error. 'None Type' object has no attribute… >>> More
Ubuntu 9 & 10 ignore .xinitrc?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
In Ubuntu 9.x, 10.x, the .xinitrc file is apparently not used. So, where do you put your xinit stuff? Note: asking this here, answering it myself, in light of http://serverfault.com/questions/87156/ubuntu-karmic-ignores-xinitrc >>> More
Ubuntu Apache 10 second timeout

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
Hi, I'm debugging an API I'm building using netcat to send raw HTTP requests. The thing is that Apache closes the connection after 10 seconds, giving me very little time to type. I know that I could pipe a file to nc, or use any other workaround, but I'd like it to work as it's supposed to. The… >>> More
With Ubuntu Linux (10+), how do I connect to remote to my machine from Windows

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I tried to to remote into my Ubuntu machine. I enabled the setting on Ubuntu and that side seems to work. But I get a connection time out when I use RealVNC on the Windows box. I believe it is a firewall issue. I disabled the firewall for that application on Windows but I don't know how to check… >>> More
Wireless networking on Gnome on Ubuntu 9 / 10

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
So here's my problem: I have some netbooks (ASUS eee, and ACER Aspire Ones) that I've been tasked to set up as kiosk machines, locked up tight for normal users. I am a command-line, server man, so this gnome malarkey is all a bit new to me. I found a lovely 9.04 kiosk livecd that installs and runs… >>> More

Related posts about graphics

Low graphics performance with Intel HD graphics

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
hey, my laptop should be capable of running some games fine but doesn't. Examples are egoboo and tome. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/237739 this is my laptop. I tried the gears test and i only get 60 FPS, on IRC they said thats a big issue and should try the forums. I am using Ubuntu 11.04 and was… >>> More
Graphics card not working but integrated graphics is working

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have a PCIe Geforce 6600 that I've been using in my PC for a couple years now without problems. Recently though I've not been using the PC and had it unplugged. When I when to use it again I accidentally plugged in the monitor to the VGA port for the integrated graphics instead of the 6600 card… >>> More
how to use my radeon 6950 graphics card instead of Intel Graphics 4000

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have just recently put my build together, and I have installed my graphics card. The problem is that when i look at my computer's display it is saying that I am using the intel graphics that came with my CPU. Is there a way that i can get the Radeon graphics to run instead? Also, I tried plugging… >>> More
ATI graphics card overriding onboard Intel graphics

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have an ATI graphics card with an AGP connection and a DVI port, and an Intel graphics processor on the motherboard with a VGA port. I have two monitors. When the graphics card is unplugged, I get this from lspci: 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller… >>> More
Gnome 3 freezes on logon on samsung RV 509

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have a Samsung NP-RV509 A0FIN and I tried to install GNU/Linux with gnome 3.2 on it. I tried Fedora 16, Ubuntu 11.10 and Linux Mint 12 RC, but with no success. All of these freezes upon login into gnome shell. I think it is the problem with graphics driver, so I tried xorg-edgers ppa on my last… >>> More