karmic gdm restarts X infinitely when video driver fails to load
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
gdm |
Invalid
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
gdm (Ubuntu) |
Won't Fix
|
Low
|
Unassigned | ||
Karmic |
Won't Fix
|
Low
|
Ubuntu Desktop Bugs | ||
upstart (Ubuntu) |
Invalid
|
High
|
Unassigned | ||
Karmic |
Invalid
|
High
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
Binary package hint: gdm
If Xorg is misconfigured in a way that prevents the video driver from loading, such as this /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Default Device"
Driver "drunk"
EndSection
(or, more realistically, if you’re using a proprietary driver that failed to compile for the current kernel), then gdm will respawn X repeatedly, many times per second, forever.
When this happens, it is nearly impossible to log into the console to stop gdm, because you cannot tell which characters of your password made it into the password prompt while the screen was flickering wildly. So if you want to test this, make sure you have an open console root shell with ‘stop gdm’ ready to execute.
Changed in gdm (Ubuntu): | |
assignee: | nobody → Ubuntu Desktop Bugs (desktop-bugs) |
importance: | Undecided → Low |
status: | New → Confirmed |
tags: | added: iso-testing |
Changed in gdm (Ubuntu): | |
assignee: | Ubuntu Desktop Bugs (desktop-bugs) → nobody |
Changed in gdm (Ubuntu): | |
status: | Incomplete → Won't Fix |
This might be related to bug https:/ /bugs.launchpad .net/ubuntu/ +source/ fglrx-installer /+bug/392039
X should just fail miserably if it can't find the specified driver, no?