Suse 10.2 no GUI?

[Wifi_is_evil]

Hi. I just installed 10.2 using Update and it all seemed to go well until I rebooted and got a command prompt.

I typed "init 5" and it said "reached" but nothing happened.

I tried going into

$ cd /opt/kde3/bin

$ ./startkde

and it gave some errors, something about $xwidth not set? I'm confused :'(.

I would reinstall completely but my backup drive failed just at the last minute and I didn't think it would stuff up enough for me to not be able to get into KDE at all.

I need the suse iso so that I could reburn if it is the dvd.

I am pretty sure I selected kde and gnome in package selection.

[oldcpu]

Try re-booting, and this time, when the grub menu appears, type "level 3" in the boot options of the grub menu.

Then at the text log in, log in as a regular user (NOT as root). Once logged in, type "su" to get root permissions, followed by typing "sax2". If "sax2" won't run, try "sax2 -m 0=vesa". (That is zero equals vesa. Also note I am assuming you have only one graphics device and not two).

Once sax2 is running, select a conservative graphics setup. Test it. When happy, exit sax2.

Once you have exitted sax2, type "exit" to get rid of root permission. Type "whoami" to confirm you have done this. If you still have root, type "exit" again.

Then type "startx" to try out xwindows (kde or gnome, dependant on what you installed). If xwindows starts up ok, giving you your GUI, exit immediately. This will take you back to a text prompt.

Now reboot. You can do this by typing "su" to get root permissions, followed by typing "shutdown -r now". This time when it reboots, do NOT type "level 3" in the grub boot menu.

Note the above may not work. You provided NO information on your motherboard, nor on your graphics device, so its virtually impossible to provide a definitive answer.

[hedrick]

If no one can come up with a solution, you may want to try a clean install. I just upgraded from 10.0 to 10.2. The startup process was unable to start X. It was trying to run /usr/X11R6/bin/X, which didn't exist. I symlinked it to /usr/bin/Xorg, and things mostly work. I'm not saying this is your problem. I think it's not. But this is almost certainly the result of an upgrade that didn't update something it should have. And that might well be your problem also.

[Wifi_is_evil]

Thanks, I'm sure this will help other people but this wasn't the problem. The problem was as Hedrick said, updating is not the way to go. Backing up then clean installing is the way to go.

I couldn't even get into run level 3, so I couldn't try what you said but hopefully some newbie in the future will see this

[oldcpu]

Hi. I just installed 10.2 using Update and it all seemed to go well until I rebooted and got a command prompt .... snipped ....
I would reinstall completely but my backup drive failed just at the last minute and I didn't think it would stuff up enough for me to not be able to get into KDE at all. ...

Thanks, I'm sure this will help other people but this wasn't the problem. The problem was as Hedrick said, updating is not the way to go. Backing up then clean installing is the way to go.

I couldn't even get into run level 3, so I couldn't try what you said but hopefully some newbie in the future will see this

OK, ... it was difficult to determine your problem from the information given. Typically, when one gets a command prompt at boot (which is what you got) one IS in run level 3. However it is possible you were only in run level 1.

Your criteria in your first message was that you could not re-install. That doesn't provide a lot of options in trying to provide help.

But if I interpret your last post correctly, you now have an understandable way forward, which IS to re-install.

Good luck in your efforts.

[Wifi_is_evil]

Yes, after reading it again you are right. I didn't really describe well enough.

Thanks.