Can't log in: blank login screen after reconfigure

Can't log in: blank login screen after reconfigure

[Chris Marusich]

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Hi,

I recently ran "guix pull" and then "guix system reconfigure" on a
GuixSD installation in a VirtualBox VM.  Since doing that, I can't log
in.  While booting, everything proceeds as usual, with normal output,
until the SLiM login screen is supposed to appear.  But instead of the
SLiM login screen, I get a blank screen with a small white cursor in the
upper left, and I can't log in.

Has anyone seen anything like this in the past?  Here are some
observations I've made about the situation:

* GuixSD shuts down normally if I issue the "shutdown signal" from
  VirtualBox.  This indicates the OS is actually still running.

* I waited over 8 hours, and the login screen did not appear.

* I tried blind-typing my user name and password, but the blank screen
  remained.

* When I boot from the previous system generation, there is no problem.

* When I replace SLiM with SDDM in my OS configuration and reconfigure,
  the same problem occurs.

* However, one time only, while trying to boot using SDDM instead of
  SLiM, I got to the SDDM login screen.  But when I typed in my username
  and password and hit enter, I received the same blank screen as before
  and ultimately could not log in.  Every other time I've booted the VM,
  I didn't even get to the SDDM login screen, so I don't know why I was
  able to reach the login screen that one time.

* I tried pressing control+alt+F2 etc. to switch to different virtual
  tty, but it didn't work.  The blank screen remained.

* I examined various system logs, but I could not find anything that
  jumped out at me as causing the problem.  It's entirely possible I
  missed something important, though; I just checked a few places.

There is more that I could try - for example, I could try starting an
ssh server in my VM and logging in that way.  I could also try drilling
deeper into the X server logs, since that seems like the obvious next
step, since the problem occurs for both SDDM and SLiM.  I could also try
reinstalling GuixSD in a new VM.  But I haven't tried any of this yet
due to lack of time.

If anyone has any advice or has seen this before, please let me know.
Thank you!

-- 
Chris

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Re: Can't log in: blank login screen after reconfigure

[znavko]

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Hello! I think always you get trouble after update need to roll-back. Here I've got the solution http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-guix/2018-09/msg00153.html <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-guix/2018-09/msg00153.html>
Try to boot with other options, choosing previous kernel and then roll-back.

20. Oct 2018 22:21 by cmmarusich@gmail.com <mailto:cmmarusich@gmail.com>:


> Hi,
>
> I recently ran "guix pull" and then "guix system reconfigure" on a
> GuixSD installation in a VirtualBox VM.  Since doing that, I can't log
> in.  While booting, everything proceeds as usual, with normal output,
> until the SLiM login screen is supposed to appear.  But instead of the
> SLiM login screen, I get a blank screen with a small white cursor in the
> upper left, and I can't log in.
>
> Has anyone seen anything like this in the past?  Here are some
> observations I've made about the situation:
>
> * GuixSD shuts down normally if I issue the "shutdown signal" from
>   VirtualBox.  This indicates the OS is actually still running.
>
> * I waited over 8 hours, and the login screen did not appear.
>
> * I tried blind-typing my user name and password, but the blank screen
>   remained.
>
> * When I boot from the previous system generation, there is no problem.
>
> * When I replace SLiM with SDDM in my OS configuration and reconfigure,
>   the same problem occurs.
>
> * However, one time only, while trying to boot using SDDM instead of
>   SLiM, I got to the SDDM login screen.  But when I typed in my username
>   and password and hit enter, I received the same blank screen as before
>   and ultimately could not log in.  Every other time I've booted the VM,
>   I didn't even get to the SDDM login screen, so I don't know why I was
>   able to reach the login screen that one time.
>
> * I tried pressing control+alt+F2 etc. to switch to different virtual
>   tty, but it didn't work.  The blank screen remained.
>
> * I examined various system logs, but I could not find anything that
>   jumped out at me as causing the problem.  It's entirely possible I
>   missed something important, though; I just checked a few places.
>
> There is more that I could try - for example, I could try starting an
> ssh server in my VM and logging in that way.  I could also try drilling
> deeper into the X server logs, since that seems like the obvious next
> step, since the problem occurs for both SDDM and SLiM.  I could also try
> reinstalling GuixSD in a new VM.  But I haven't tried any of this yet
> due to lack of time.
>
> If anyone has any advice or has seen this before, please let me know.
> Thank you!
>
> -- 
> Chris

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Re: Can't log in: blank login screen after reconfigure

[Björn Höfling]

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On Sat, 20 Oct 2018 12:21:51 -0700
Chris Marusich <cmmarusich@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I recently ran "guix pull" and then "guix system reconfigure" on a
> GuixSD installation in a VirtualBox VM.  Since doing that, I can't log
> in.  While booting, everything proceeds as usual, with normal output,
> until the SLiM login screen is supposed to appear.  But instead of the
> SLiM login screen, I get a blank screen with a small white cursor in
> the upper left, and I can't log in.
> 
> Has anyone seen anything like this in the past?  Here are some
> observations I've made about the situation:
> 
> * GuixSD shuts down normally if I issue the "shutdown signal" from
>   VirtualBox.  This indicates the OS is actually still running.
> 
> * I waited over 8 hours, and the login screen did not appear.
> 
> * I tried blind-typing my user name and password, but the blank screen
>   remained.
> 
> * When I boot from the previous system generation, there is no
> problem.
> 
> * When I replace SLiM with SDDM in my OS configuration and
> reconfigure, the same problem occurs.
> 
> * However, one time only, while trying to boot using SDDM instead of
>   SLiM, I got to the SDDM login screen.  But when I typed in my
> username and password and hit enter, I received the same blank screen
> as before and ultimately could not log in.  Every other time I've
> booted the VM, I didn't even get to the SDDM login screen, so I don't
> know why I was able to reach the login screen that one time.
> 
> * I tried pressing control+alt+F2 etc. to switch to different virtual
>   tty, but it didn't work.  The blank screen remained.
> 
> * I examined various system logs, but I could not find anything that
>   jumped out at me as causing the problem.  It's entirely possible I
>   missed something important, though; I just checked a few places.
> 
> There is more that I could try - for example, I could try starting an
> ssh server in my VM and logging in that way.  I could also try
> drilling deeper into the X server logs, since that seems like the
> obvious next step, since the problem occurs for both SDDM and SLiM.
> I could also try reinstalling GuixSD in a new VM.  But I haven't
> tried any of this yet due to lack of time.
> 
> If anyone has any advice or has seen this before, please let me know.
> Thank you!
> 

Hi Chris,

to be honest, I have no idea what SlimD and SDDM is.

I'm using a configuration containing a %desktop-services with
xfce-desktop-service added.

I just guix pulled, guix system reconfigured and be on:

2c17bd7b2955beef4130d11b33e07e4fb3b234dc

and it works for me, I see a login, can login, XFCE is working
afterwords.

If I can try out anything specific for you, let me know.

Björn



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Re: Can't log in: blank login screen after reconfigure

[Ricardo Wurmus]

Björn Höfling <bjoern.hoefling@bjoernhoefling.de> writes:

> to be honest, I have no idea what SlimD and SDDM is.

SLiM and SDDM are both display managers.  They are started after booting
into a graphical user interface.  They facilitate user authentication
and hand over the user’s session to be handled by other programs.

--
Ricardo

Re: Can't log in: blank login screen after reconfigure

[Chris Marusich]

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<znavko@tutanota.com> writes:

> Hello! I think always you get trouble after update need to
> roll-back. Here I've got the solution
> http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-guix/2018-09/msg00153.html
> <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-guix/2018-09/msg00153.html>
> Try to boot with other options, choosing previous kernel and then roll-back.

Thank you for the reply!  Yes, I'm able to roll back by choosing a
previous GRUB menu entry.  I love this feature of GuixSD.  :-)

Björn Höfling <bjoern.hoefling@bjoernhoefling.de> writes:

> I'm using a configuration containing a %desktop-services with
> xfce-desktop-service added.

SLiM is included in the %desktop-services (see:
gnu/services/desktop.scm), so anyone who uses %desktop-services without
modifying it is using SLiM.

> I just guix pulled, guix system reconfigured and be on:
>
> 2c17bd7b2955beef4130d11b33e07e4fb3b234dc
>
> and it works for me, I see a login, can login, XFCE is working
> afterwords.

Thank you for the info and offer for help!  I think I need to
investigate a little more on my own first, though.  So far, I haven't
seen or heard any evidence to suggest this is a problem with Guix.  It
sounds more like a problem with my specific situation.

Strangely, this problem only occurs for me in my VirtualBox VM.  On
other bare metal GuixSD installations, I've run "guix pull" and
reconfigured my system without any problems.  I'll keep investigating
and let you know if I find out anything useful.

Just knowing that nobody else has encountered the problem is helpful.

-- 
Chris

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Re: Can't log in: blank login screen after reconfigure

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hello,

Chris Marusich <cmmarusich@gmail.com> skribis:

> * I tried pressing control+alt+F2 etc. to switch to different virtual
>   tty, but it didn't work.  The blank screen remained.

That sounds bad, like perhaps a KMS (“Kernel Mode Setting”) driver issue
or something.

Is the machine entirely dead at that point, or can you still log in via
SSH for instance?

> * I examined various system logs, but I could not find anything that
>   jumped out at me as causing the problem.  It's entirely possible I
>   missed something important, though; I just checked a few places.

Do /var/log/messages and /var/log/Xorg.0.log provide any useful hints?

As an aside, I’d recommend using QEMU (VirtualBox now requires a small
piece of non-free software to be built).  QEMU is known to work well
with Xorg and all (e.g., ‘guix system vm gnu/system/example/desktop.tmpl’).

HTH!

Ludo’.