x server won't start on Centos 6.2

[AnonimKorus]

Hello everyone, I am learning the basics of Linux administration and I have a training task to
to fix a broken Centos image for VMWare and run it in graphical mode.
. The problem is this - when the OS boots, the X Server does not start, the screen just turns black and you cannot take any action. You can log into the system only through single mode (by writing the appropriate setting in GRUB), when you try to press startx (forced start of the graphical system), such an error pops up

Screenshot 2 shows information about the installed X Server

Can you tell me which way to look for a solution? Is additional data needed to understand where the error is

 

[f33dm3bits]

I would start by looking at that error message:

/usr/bin/startx: line 197: /usr/bin/xauth: Permission denied

What does line 197 say in the file /usr/bin/startx?

 

[AnonimKorus]

I would start by looking at that error message:

/usr/bin/startx: line 197: /usr/bin/xauth: Permission denied

What does line 197 say in the file /usr/bin/startx?

Hello, here is a screenshot of the last lines, in 197 it says xauth remove $ removelist

The permissions for the xauth file are the same as in screenshot 2

 

[f33dm3bits]

Can you do.

ls -lZ xauth

 

[AnonimKorus]

Can you do.

ls -lZ xauth

 

[f33dm3bits]

The permissions are different from what I have but don't think that should matter. You can try changing the permissions to.

-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 37520 May 12  2016 /usr/bin/xauth

And also check the Xorg log file for errors: /var/log/Xorg.0.log

 

[AnonimKorus]

I changed the permissions and it didn't help, the screen is also black. As for the log file - I don't know how to transfer it from the virtual machine, since in single mode there is no network, and the system boots only in it. From the lines marked EE I noticed such

 

[f33dm3bits]

Can you try booting with nomodeset as kernel boot parameter in grub.

 

[AnonimKorus]

Can you try booting with nomodeset as kernel boot parameter in grub.

I wrote nomodeset at the end of the kernel line in grub, didn't notice any changes

 

[f33dm3bits]

You need to do the following:
1. Press e to enter edit mode.
2. Select kernel and press e again.
3. At the end of that line type nomodeset and press enter.
4. Press b to boot.
What happens now?

 

[AnonimKorus]

You need to do the following:
1. Press e to enter edit mode.
2. Select kernel and press e again.
3. At the end of that line type nomodeset and press enter.
4. Press b to boot.
What happens now?

I just did these actions, I forgot to write that I pressed the b button at the end. I did not see any differences (also a black screen after loading), but now there is nothing in the log files (/var/log/Xorg.0.log)

 

[f33dm3bits]

Try this then:
1. Make a snapshot of your machine.
2. Turn it on and boot until it comes with that xorg crash error.
3. Go to the console and press ctrl+alt+f6(or send that key combination to your console)
4. Then you will get a login prompt, login with your credentials.
5. As root do the following: yum groupinstall "X Window System" "Desktop Platform"
6. Reboot and see what happens this time.
7. If the crash happens again repeat steps 1-4.
8. Then do the following as root: yum groupinstall "Desktop"

 

[AnonimKorus]

I couldn't login, when I press ctrl + alt + f6 this type of window appears (dark screen with blinking cursor)

But I also realized that starting X, there is a transition to 1 display (if we count from 0). When I press ctrl alt f1 I go back to the run window, it looks like this

I looked at the logs of 1 display (Xorg.1.log) and at the end of the file I saw that the configuration failed(entered there in single mode) I also noticed that /var/log contains the Xorg.9.log file

 

[f33dm3bits]

ctrl+alt+f1 is the virtual console where xorg is started normally, even though xorg isn't started pressing ctrl+alt+f6(or try f4) should work and get you to a login screen, I tried it a test vm with C6 installed. If not try one of the other f numbers: ctrl+alt+(f2-f12). If that doesn't work there should be a way to send a key combination to the vm within vmware. Otherwise you could just reinstall, since sysadmins mostly work in a terminal and rarely use an X environment when working on remote systems.

 

[AnonimKorus]

Here is a link to the OS image.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1j57uPgBfAfqI60m9WbLc6VZiGI-YqyEt?usp=sharing
When using other combinations (not ctrl alt f6), the result is the same as in 1 screenshot of my last post

 

[f33dm3bits]

Here is a link to the OS image.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1j57uPgBfAfqI60m9WbLc6VZiGI-YqyEt?usp=sharing
When using other combinations (not ctrl alt f6), the result is the same as in 1 screenshot of my last post

Thanks I'll try and see if I can get it to boot.

 

[f33dm3bits]

I couldn't get it to work but I think the machine needs updates because it's a really old release(6.2) with newer versions you would get newer xorg and drivers which could solve your problem with xorg. Since RHEL6 is EOL there are no more update mirrors available anymore for CentOS6, I would spend your time with CentOS7 or 8 which are still supported and otherwise use the latest release, 6.10 but I wouldn't recommend running an unsupported version anyways.