3

Upon login, I get the following message:

GNOME 3 Failed to Load

Unfortunately GNOME 3 failed to start properly and started in the fallback mode.

This most likely means your system (graphics hardware or driver) is not capable of delivering the full GNOME 3 experience.

Here's some more information:

$ grep EE /var/log/Xorg.0.log
[     2.866] (EE) FBDEV(0): FBIOPUTCMAP: Invalid argument

(the error message actually shows some tens of times).

$ sudo lspci -vk|grep -A 10 VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Device 041e (rev 06) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 8534
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 45
        Memory at f7800000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
        Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        I/O ports at f000 [size=64]
        Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
        Capabilities: [90] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit-
        Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [a4] PCI Advanced Features
        Kernel driver in use: i915

$ uname -a
Linux orestis 3.10-0.bpo.3-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.10.11-1~bpo70+1 (2013-09-24) x86_64 GNU/Linux

I seem to have all required packages installed (xserver-xorg-video-intel and i965-va-driver).

Improve this question
2

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
0

Try as follows:

 sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get -d install --reinstall gdm
 sudo apt-get remove --purge gdm
 sudo apt-get install gdm

(now you may be asked to choose your wm, I do not remember exactly, if so choose gdm)

 sudo reboot
Improve this answer
5
  • I did the above, using gdm3 instead of gdm, and also, for the fourth command, I told it sudo apt-get install task-gnome-desktop instead, which installed gdm3 (and gnome and gnome-core, which had been uninstalled together with gdm3). No luck. (This is a fresh clean install of Wheezy, so I didn't think this could work.)
    – Antonis Christofides
    Nov 29, 2013 at 14:56
  • @AntonisChristofides Try lightdm?
    – MariusMatutiae
    Nov 29, 2013 at 14:57
  • Since I have the same symptoms with startx, isn't it unlikely that the problem is the display manager?
    – Antonis Christofides
    Nov 29, 2013 at 14:59
  • @AntonisChristofides yes, but unlikely, not certain, is the key word. It takes 30 seconds to try. The alternative is to re-install, google around and you'll see no other way around this error.
    – MariusMatutiae
    Nov 29, 2013 at 15:01
  • Tried it. Same symptoms, same messages in log.
    – Antonis Christofides
    Nov 29, 2013 at 15:29
0

Obviously which Display Manager you use has zero to do with this issue.

Try a 3.12 kernel and if that does not work do the following:

  1. First try a kernel built from intel hd 4400 linux http://cgit.freedesktop.org/~danvet/drm-intel/?h=drm-intel-next

  2. If the solution above fails, bring it up on the developer list intel-gfx at freedesktop

Improve this answer
2
0

I had the same issue with wheezy and i3-4130 CPU. I switched to testing and gnome 3 started to work out of the box, without any configuration.

Improve this answer
0

I had to install a bunch of packages from backports:

sudo apt-get install -t wheezy-backports linux-image-3.16.0-0.bpo.4-amd64 firmware-linux i965-va-driver xserver-xorg-video-intel
sudo service gdm3 restart

I also rebooted a few times and i'm not sure if all the above are necessary.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.