Failed to parse existing X config file '/etc/X11/xorg.conf'!

[Νίκος Αλεξανδρής]

On a MacBookPro 5,1 and a clean install of Karmic, 64-bit the steps to repeat are:

System > Administration > NVIDIA X Settings > X Server Display Configuration > (Set things for external LCD... ) > Apply > Save to X Configuration File

will result in:

Failed to parse existing X config file '/etc/X11/xorg.conf'!

The same when launching from the terminal as a superuser. In the past (under Jaunty 64-bit, at least) the superuser "method" was working.

Output of:

[1] uname - a: Linux vertical 2.6.31-14-generic #48-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 16 14:05:01 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux
[2] cat /proc/version_signature, [3] dmesg and [4] sudo lspci -vnvn (will be) attached as files.

[Marko Mikulicic (marko-mikulicic)]

I solved this problem by first recreating the xorg.conf using nvidia xconfig tool:

sudo nvidia-xconfig

and then executing nvidia-settings as root (or setting write permissions to xorg.conf and possibly the /etc/X11 directory itself to your user, perhaps using posix acl)

[Νίκος Αλεξανδρής (nikos.alexandris)]

I, also, use "sudo nvidia-settings" and it worked/ works and I don't really mind about not having a (practically) working GUI. IMHO, the point is that _any_ user should be able to use the GUI and don't mess with any "sudo" at any time.

[Marko Mikulicic (marko-mikulicic)]

yes, of course, I just pasted here so that people can find a quick workaround by browsing around the web, especially the xorg.conf regeneration with nvidia-xconfig which wasn't obvious for me when I searched for a solution.

 It's indeed an issue which has to be fixed for end users.

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Hi Νίκος,

This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ .

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux 469729

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

    [This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Νίκος Αλεξανδρής (nikos.alexandris)]

Jeremy,

unfortunately I don't have currently the time to do a detailed testing. Under Kubuntu Karmic (no more Gnome here right now) the error message I get following the same steps as described in the bug report is: "Unable to open X config file '/etc/X11/xorg.conf' for writing."

I installed the latest upstream kernel, namely "linux-image-2.6.34-020634rc5-generic" and the machine does not boot at all.

Apologies that I can't be of any help right now.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug was filed against a series that is no longer supported and so is being marked as Won't Fix. If this issue still exists in a supported series, please file a new bug.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.