AVL-MXE live gives half desktop on only one screen [Solved]

[GordonS]

Please run Quick System Info and post your system information whenever asking for help as per the forum rules (which please read.) Just run it then right-click paste in a reply, don't copy/paste. Instructions are here if you need them. Thanks.

Most or all of my posts so far, including this one, have been from other PCs or other operating systems and were prior to installation, so generally the quick-system-info was not available. What I've reported has generally been from memory or notes,


It occurs to me that the PC in question may have multiple network ports and MX may have set up on a non-connected port. Again of course, with no network, I can't just paste it into a reply as I can't reply from the machine I'm building. I may be able to paste to a memory stick and copy it later from another machine or OS, in this case I'm posting from Windows10 on the same machine.

[GordonS]

Hmm,

I have to crawl around under my desk to check for a second Ethernet port. There isn't one, but the act of crawling forced a sudden power-down and reboot, as I accidentally pulled the power lead.

After reboot, I have network again. In the preceding boot, I'd tried to fix it by setting the port data manually in case DHCP wasn't working. Maybe it needed the reboot to apply? ifconfig and route -n both seemed sane and I could ping my own interface, but not the other machines I tried on my local network. I'll keep an eye out for clues.

Meanwhile, as requested...

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Snapshot created on: 20210617_0214
System:    Host: <filter> Kernel: 5.9.1-rt20avl1 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.9.1-rt20avl1 
           root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet threadirqs noresume 
           efi=runtime 
           Desktop: Openbox 3.6.1 info: xfce4-panel dm: SLiM 1.3.6 Distro: AVL-MXE 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: NOVATECH product: PC-2184 v: V1.0 serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 3 v: 1.0 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Gigabyte model: H110M-S2H-CF v: x.x serial: <filter> 
           UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends v: F25a date: 01/11/2018 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-7400 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Kaby Lake 
           family: 6 model-id: 9E (158) stepping: 9 microcode: DE L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 24000 
           Speed: 3400 MHz min/max: 800/3500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3432 2: 3446 3: 3439 
           4: 3458 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled 
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT disabled 
           Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: spec_store_bypass 
           mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, 
           STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
           Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: AMD Juniper XT [Radeon HD 5770] vendor: PC Partner Limited driver: radeon 
           v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1002:68b8 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.10 driver: ati,radeon 
           unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa compositor: compton v: 0.1~beta2+20150922 
           resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: AMD JUNIPER (DRM 2.50.0 / 5.9.1-rt20avl1 LLVM 11.0.1) 
           v: 3.3 Mesa 20.3.4 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: AMD Juniper HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5700 Series] vendor: PC Partner Limited 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 1002:aa58 
           Device-2: Asuscom Network Edis EC83 1080P Webcam type: USB 
           driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus ID: 1-5.1:4 chip ID: 0735:0269 serial: <filter> 
           Device-3: Focusrite-Novation Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio 
           bus ID: 1-6.1:6 chip ID: 1235:8006 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.9.1-rt20avl1 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Gigabyte 
           driver: r8169 v: kernel port: d000 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Asuscom Network Edis EC83 1080P Webcam type: USB 
           driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus ID: 1-5.1:4 chip ID: 0735:0269 serial: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 3.64 TiB used: 13.10 GiB (0.4%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: HDWD110 size: 931.51 GiB block size: 
           physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> 
           rev: A8J0 scheme: MBR 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Hitachi model: HDT721010SLA360 size: 931.51 GiB block size: 
           physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> 
           rev: A3AA scheme: GPT 
           ID-3: /dev/sdc type: USB vendor: Western Digital model: WD My Passport 2626 
           size: 1.82 TiB block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B serial: <filter> rev: 1028 
           scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / raw size: 224.61 GiB size: 220.08 GiB (97.99%) used: 13.10 GiB (6.0%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb6 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 29 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           1: deb http://liquorix.net/debian/ buster main
           2: deb http://www.bandshed.net/kernels/apt/ buster main
           3: deb [trusted=yes] https://cinelerra-gg.org/download/pkgs/debian10/ buster main
           4: deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/debian/ buster main
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/connectify.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ buster/updates main contrib non-free
           3: deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kxstudio-debian-ppas.list 
           1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kxstudio-debian/libs/ubuntu/ bionic main
           2: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kxstudio-debian/music/ubuntu/ bionic main
           3: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kxstudio-debian/plugins/ubuntu/ bionic main
           4: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kxstudio-debian/apps/ubuntu/ bionic main
           5: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kxstudio-debian/kxstudio/ubuntu/ bionic main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kxstudio-external.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64,i386] https://kx.studio/repo/ stable free
           2: deb [arch=amd64,i386] https://kx.studio/repo/ gcc5 free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ buster main non-free
           2: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ buster ahs
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list 
           1: deb http://repository.spotify.com/ stable non-free
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list 
Info:      Processes: 201 Uptime: 14m Memory: 7.74 GiB used: 879.6 MiB (11.1%) Init: SysVinit 
           v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 alt: 8 Shell: quick-system-in 
           running in: quick-system-in inxi: 3.0.36 

Trying MK Boot Repair. It offers MBR but not ESP, though this is an EFI (or UEFI) machine.

[GordonS]

I can see why grub isn't booting the Xubuntu OS. My Xubuntu install has /boot on it's own partition (/dev/sda1), but the MX installed grub tries, I think, to run the kernel image on the root partition (/dev/sda5). I see no reference to /dev/sda1.

I have to admit to being quite confused sometimes about exactly how grub works.

A relevant clip from grub.cfg:

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### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
        menuentry 'Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS (20.04) (on /dev/sda5)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/vmlinuz-4.15.0-29-generic--0a176ac5-c90e-469b-bc73-9ff653c372ac' {
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd0,msdos1'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1  235c636c-ecbd-411b-9146-4672404c8fb7
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 235c636c-ecbd-411b-9146-4672404c8fb7
                fi
                linux /vmlinuz-4.15.0-29-generic root=/dev/sda5
                initrd /initrd.img-4.15.0-29-generic
        }

Ahh there's a clue: All of the kernels in that boot partition are -5.4.0-something. On /dev/sda5 there is a /boot that contains older and presumably obsolete kernels. I guess I can remove them and also the vmlinuz links in the root that point to (different) old images. IIRC the image it's complaining it can't fine is one in that directory, so does perhaps the separate /boot filesystem get mounted over the /boot directory before grub actually tries to run the kernel?

Grub is a bit of a mystery to me ... the more I learn about it, the less I think I know about it.

[GordonS]

Things went worse shortly after that and I'm back posting from a different OS.

I set the file manager to not automatically start browsing filesystems as with 14, it gets crazy. I also set the transparency to 1.0 as I find multiple tranmsparent windows hard to follow.

I clicked Apply for that latter and nothing seemed top happen. I tried again and again nothing seemed to happen. I tried to move a window ... it won't move. I try some more; the same. I try menus, right-clicking the desktop, escape, Ctrl-Alt-Del, Windows key, Alt-F1; Nothing. Eventually I force a shutdown and reboot.

MX boots up with an unsupported disply or the R/H window, probably that unsupported refresh rate again. The L/H screen starts up OK, but it takes some time for the mouse cursor to appear. Just before it does, that screen changes to a kind-of white-noise checkerboard.

I try forced shutdown and reboot again, get both screens this time, but again, just prior to the mouse cursor appearing, both screen go checkerboard. The mouse cursor continues OK, but I can't. AFAICS, access anything. Forced shutdown, reboot to Windows from where I'm writing this.

I need to think of a strategy here. Maybe I install again.

I still need that Xubuntu system back more pressingly than MX or AVL-MXE. It's usually Windows that gives me grief. Ho Hum ... tomorrow.

[AVLinux]

Hi,

OK I'm a bit lost now... are you having problems with AVL-MXE or regular MX? (as far as the installer/grub etc. there is no difference between the two). Which OS is are the Video issues and Window moving problems occurring on? Also during this installation of one or the other you've lost the ability to boot an existing Xubuntu install?

[GordonS]

It's AVL-MXE. I was working on the assuption that there was no difference between the two for grub, and that much of the core OS was common.

The window trails have disappeared since a reboot.
The video issues are on the newly installed AVL-MXE. They started after the above reboot when I tried to remove transparency. They persist after reboots. I may just have to reinstall unless there's a way to fix it via ssh or telnet.

BTW, for me AVL-MXE's login screen is that right-hand half-screen on just one terminal, but it accepts username and password OK and then goes on to use the two screens. That looks rather clumsy at login, but it works fine. Most OSs I have have the login on only one screen, but they centre on that one screen. It's no real issue, but might be an aesthetic you'd want to consider.

I've lost the ability to boot the Xubuntu on the same system, both as normal boot and as the reduced functiojnality "safe boot". I suspect MX's configuration of the grub builder fails to see the separate /boot filesystem. I have a couple or more options on that ... no need to clutter here.

[GordonS]

Well, I have my Xubuntu back, though at the moment I have to manually edit the boot entry to get it to boot. Running update-grub in Xubuntu appears to rewrite a grub somewhere, but obviously it isn't the grub that's now booting the OSs. As I've obsoleted that separate /boot filesystem, hopefully a re-install of AVL-MXE, or running the one accidentally on /dev/sda6, will resolve both the video issues and that boot issue.

In the meantime, I have some proper work to do, so I'll not get to that for a day or so.

[GordonS]

following the update-grub on my Xubuntu system with an grub-install /dev/sda restored the grub boot to correct.
I suspect that would also have worked in AVL-MXE once I'd removed the separate boot partition, but I didn't try that as I still have to sort a solution to the graphics issue.

Yes, it works also on AVL-MXE.

[GordonS]

Probably a final update for this after a hiatus.
I installed again using the method: unplug second screen; Install; boot; plug-in second screen; configure second screen.
Again I then had the screen trails on the original screen, but this time, rather than trying to fix that via settings of some kind, I first tried a plain old reboot.
Both screens now seem to behave sensibly.