Black Screen + Cursor (Linux)

Hi folks,

I've been using my A150 Linspire powered Aspire One for a while. It's not had any software or hardware hacks done to it, just the vanilla A150.

Recently it has not been booting up correctly into the OS.

It loads BIOS, shows the Linspire splash screen and then just a black screen with a movable white arrow cursor on it.
The hard drive light blinks away for a few seconds as if it is still loading the OS but all I get is this black screen.

I've tired booting up with an external monitor and I still get the same thing.

Any helps will be most appreciated.

QuincyMd

 

Ok,

I solved this myself without having to perform a full system install and wiping out all my own files.

The problem is with the xfce init file. located at /etc/xdg/xfce4/ xinitrc. I restored a backup of the default file and am now writing this on my AS1.

I used Slax on a 1GB usb drive to restore the backup file into the Aspire One. Here is the default file if anyone needs it:

Code:

#!/bin/sh

# fix broken $UID on some system...
if test "x$UID" = "x"; then
	if test -x /usr/xpg4/bin/id; then
		UID=`/usr/xpg4/bin/id -u`;
	else
		UID=`id -u`;
	fi
fi

# $XDG_CONFIG_HOME defines the base directory relative to which user specific 
# configuration files should be stored. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is either not set 
# or empty, a default equal to $HOME/.config should be used.
if test "x$XDG_CONFIG_HOME" = "x" ; then
  XDG_CONFIG_HOME=$HOME/.config
fi
[ -d "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME" ] || mkdir "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"

# $XDG_CACHE_HOME defines the base directory relative to which user specific 
# non-essential data files should be stored. If $XDG_CACHE_HOME is either not 
# set or empty, a default equal to $HOME/.cache should be used.
if test "x$XDG_CACHE_HOME" = "x" ; then
  XDG_CACHE_HOME=$HOME/.cache
fi
[ -d "$XDG_CACHE_HOME" ] || mkdir "$XDG_CACHE_HOME"

# For now, start with an empty list
XRESOURCES=""

# Has to go prior to merging Xft.xrdb, as its the "Defaults" file
test -r "/etc/xdg/xfce4/Xft.xrdb" && XRESOURCES="$XRESOURCES /etc/xdg/xfce4/Xft.xrdb"
test -r $HOME/.Xdefaults && XRESOURCES="$XRESOURCES $HOME/.Xdefaults"

BASEDIR=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/xfce4
if test -r "$BASEDIR/Xft.xrdb"; then
  XRESOURCES="$XRESOURCES $BASEDIR/Xft.xrdb"
elif test -r "$XFCE4HOME/Xft.xrdb"; then
  mkdir -p "$BASEDIR"
  cp "$XFCE4HOME/Xft.xrdb" "$BASEDIR"/
  XRESOURCES="$XRESOURCES $BASEDIR/Xft.xrdb"
fi

# merge in X cursor settings
test -r "$BASEDIR/Xcursor.xrdb" && XRESOURCES="$XRESOURCES $BASEDIR/Xcursor.xrdb"

# ~/.Xresources contains overrides to the above
test -r "$HOME/.Xresources" && XRESOURCES="$XRESOURCES $HOME/.Xresources"

# load all X resources (adds /dev/null to avoid an empty list that would hang the process)
cat /dev/null $XRESOURCES | xrdb -nocpp -merge -

# load local modmap
test -r $HOME/.Xmodmap && xmodmap $HOME/.Xmodmap

# Launch xscreensaver (if available), but only as non-root user
if test $UID -gt 0 -a -z "$VNCSESSION"; then 
    if test x"`which xscreensaver 2>/dev/null`" != x""; then
        xscreensaver -no-splash &
    elif test x"`which gnome-screensaver 2>/dev/null`" != x""; then
        gnome-screensaver &
    fi
fi 

# Use ssh-agent if installed and not already running.  Run it separately
# so it populates the environment here, so we can clean it up later.
sshagent=`which ssh-agent`
kill_sshagent=0
if test -z "$SSH_AGENT_PID" -a "$sshagent" -a "x$sshagent" != "xno"; then
	eval `$sshagent -s`
	kill_sshagent=1
fi

# Use dbus-launch if installed.
if test x"$DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS" = x""; then
	dbuslaunch=`which dbus-launch`
	if test x"$dbuslaunch" != x"" -a x"$dbuslaunch" != x"no"; then
		eval `$dbuslaunch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session`
	fi
fi

# Run xfce4-session if installed
xfcesm=`which xfce4-session`
case "x$xfcesm" in
	x|xno*)
		;;
	*)
		$xfcesm

		if test $kill_sshagent -eq 1; then
			eval `$sshagent -k`
		fi
		exit 0
		;;
esac


##################
# IMPORTANT NOTE #
##################

# Everything below here ONLY gets executed if you are NOT using xfce4-session
# (Xfce's session manager).  If you are using the session manager, everything
# below is handled by it, and the code below is not executed at all.  If you're
# not sure if you're using the session manager, type 'ps -e|grep xfce4-session'
# in a terminal while Xfce is running.

##################


# this is only necessary when running w/o xfce4-session
xsetroot -solid black -cursor_name watch

# or use old-fashioned startup script otherwise

xfce-mcs-manager
xfwm4 --daemon

# start up stuff in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/autostart/, as that looks to be
# the new standard.  if that directory doesn't exist, try the old
# ~/Desktop/Autostart method.  we're not going to do any migration here.
if test -d "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/autostart"; then
  for i in ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/autostart/*.desktop; do
    grep -q -E "^Hidden=true" "$i" && continue
    if grep -q -E "^OnlyShowIn=" "$i"; then
      # need to test twice, as lack of the line entirely means we still run it
      grep -E "^OnlyShowIn=" "$i" | grep -q 'XFCE;' || continue
    fi
    grep -E "^NotShowIn=" "$i" | grep -q 'XFCE;' && continue
    
    # check for TryExec
    trycmd=`grep -E "^TryExec=" "$i" | cut -d'=' -f2`
    if test "$trycmd"; then
      type "$trycmd" >/dev/null 2>&1 || continue
    fi
    
    cmd=`grep -E "^Exec=" "$i" | cut -d'=' -f2`
    if test "$cmd" && type "$cmd" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
      $cmd &
    fi
  done
elif test -d "$HOME/Desktop/Autostart"; then
  for i in `ls -1 -L ${HOME}/Desktop/Autostart/ 2>/dev/null`; do
    if test -x $HOME/Desktop/Autostart/$i; then
      $HOME/Desktop/Autostart/$i &
    fi
  done
fi

xfdesktop&
orage &

panel=`which xfce4-panel`
case "x$panel" in
	x|xno*)
		;;
	*)
		$panel
		ret=$?
		while test $ret -ne 0; do
			xmessage -center -file - -timeout 20 -title Error <<EOF
A crash occured in the panel
Please report this to the [email][email protected][/email] list
or on [url]http://bugs.xfce.org[/url]
Meanwhile the panel will be restarted
EOF
			cat >&2 <<EOF
A crash occured in the panel
Please report this to the [email][email protected][/email] list
or on [url]http://bugs.xfce.org[/url]
Meanwhile the panel will be restarted
EOF
			$panel
			ret=$?
		done
		;;
esac

if test $kill_sshagent -eq 1; then
	eval `$sshagent -k`
fi

xsetroot -bg white -fg red  -solid black -cursor_name watch

 

I have exactly the same symptoms as you on my A110. I too have booted using Slax, but your version of the xinitrc file is obviously incompatible with mine, as a reboot shows the same symptoms, but with an "X" cursor, rather than the usual mouse pointer - the thing still hangs. I'll have to investigate the xfce4 thing a little more... just out of interest, what made you look at the xfce4 side of things in the first place?

/UF

 

Okey dokey, all sorted. Just needed to boot up using LINUX on a USB drive, and run fsck on the internal SSD (unmount it first, mind!). It ran through a few checks, but booted OK after that.

/UF

 

Glad to hear that somebody else got their machine up and running again.

I looked at xcfe because I reckoned the machine had booted up the OS but there was a problem with the GUI.
Everything else was working, like caps + num lock, function keys for screen brightness/external monitor/trackpad.
Just no GUI.

No idea if what I did was treating a symptom or the actual problem but it worked for me.

 

Just thought I'd add my thanks to this one. Downloaded Slax and e2fsck /dev/disk_by_label/linpus sorted it out nicely! All Acer could suggest was blanking the whole HDD and starting again - this is much better!