systemd no longer starts; sysV still ok [Solved]

[quackser]

@quackser wrote:

I have no pressing reason not to change out the HDD. I can get a 500GB SSD for almost nothing these days, and it'd run a LONG time for sure. I hate to start over on the system, but maybe the snapshot / Live USB i created a few days ago would put me back in business on the SSD?

That's the idea, but how much time you have to spend configuring stuff at the other end will largely depend on how complete you made the snapshot.

So far as I know the snapshot is absolutely complete. My concern with it is that systemd was not working when I made it.

As I said: I can change out the drive, and should; yet: the drive tests good. This makes me doubt the drive is causing the systemd issue.

[j2mcgreg]

@quackser wrote:

I have no pressing reason not to change out the HDD. I can get a 500GB SSD for almost nothing these days, and it'd run a LONG time for sure. I hate to start over on the system, but maybe the snapshot / Live USB i created a few days ago would put me back in business on the SSD?

That's the idea, but how much time you have to spend configuring stuff at the other end will largely depend on how complete you made the snapshot.

So far as I know the snapshot is absolutely complete. My concern with it is that systemd was not working when I made it.

As I said: I can change out the drive, and should; yet: the drive tests good. This makes me doubt the drive is causing the systemd issue.

MX's Live USB Maker uses SysV init. You would have to enable SystemD after the install is complete.

Edited to add that you could try one of the SystemD based distros temporarily to see if SystemD is the problem.

[quackser]

@Charlie Brown disabling nginx gave me a couple of [OK] messages related to Plymouth, then simply sat there.
Alt-F2 to get a CLI. I can mount /home from there by name, but it's not mounted when I get there.
When I re-enabled nginx I got this:

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$ sudo systemctl enable nginx.service
Synchronizing state of nginx.service with SysV service script with /lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install.
Executing: /lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install enable nginx
insserv: warning: current start runlevel(s) (empty) of script `nginx' overrides LSB defaults (2 3 4 5).
insserv: warning: current stop runlevel(s) (0 1 2 3 4 5 6) of script `nginx' overrides LSB defaults (0 1 6).
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/nginx.service → /lib/systemd/system/nginx.service.

[Charlie Brown]

That "insserv: warning"s are normal, it just says currently it's not set to default runlevels for that service (which's normal... and then it's done)

[quackser]

Well... I read that nvidia drivers could gum up the works, and I had installed one - the 470 one - sometime ... I've lost track of when that happened vs the systemd issue.
Anyway, so I decided to remove the nvidia driver, and now all I get is CLI... startx is telling me No Screens Found... it doesn't seem to matter which GRUB entry I choose; neither systemd nor sysV is coming up to GUI level at this point.
I'm at the point I would reinstall from a snapshot if I knew how. I do have the live usb I created from the snapshot, but don't know how to proceed.
If you guys are tired of me I will try to muddle about on my own... surely there must be a "how to do that" online somewhere.
Thanks for your patience.
Oh, and even with just the CLI, my nginx web server still runs / works. Happy about that...

[Charlie Brown]

Just .. how did you remove the Nvidia driver? Manually (apt/apt-get/dpkg remove/purge etc..) or with ddm-mx ?

Cause there may stay blacklist files for Nouveau and that's not being loaded (whereas ddm-mx does them all automatically). Just do this once you login manually:

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sudo ddm-mx -p nvidia

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sudo reboot

Installing from snapshot is the same as the official installation. In case you can't see an "install" icon on desktop, open a terminal:

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minstall-launcher

... Also you can select "preserve home" during installation.

Or, if you don't hurry, you can first save home folder to somewhere via live session, also you can make a list of installed packages "by you" .. (we'll go on if you like)...

P.S. Have you done this when on live session?.
(No, that's not the same thing as GSmart etc.. please just do that, that one is to check (and correct) the filesystem, not the disk. Especially needed after such sudden shutdowns.)

[quackser]

Just .. how did you remove the Nvidia driver? Manually (apt/apt-get/dpkg remove/purge etc..) or with ddm-mx ?

Installing from snapshot is the same as the official installation. In case you can't see an "install" icon on desktop, open a terminal:

Code: Select all

minstall-launcher

... Also you can select "preserve home" during installation.

Or, if you don't hurry, you can first save home folder to somewhere via live session, also you can make a list of installed packages "by you" .. (we'll go on if you like)...

P.S. Have you done this when on live session?.
(No, that's not the same thing as GSmart etc.. please just do that, that one is to check (and correct) the filesystem, not the disk. Especially needed after such sudden shutdowns.)

@Charlie Brown
I used ddm-mx to remove the Nvidia driver, as described in a textfile that was put on the system when I installed it.
The boot-up MX logo is the 2-dimensional old graphic, then it goes to CLI, that's where it stays...

I have not yet booted the live session stick; I've been nervous over losing something important, and don't quite understand how to address the current system drive from the live USB. Perhaps once I boot it, it'll be more obvious.

Happily though, I saved all my website files to a USB stick (in addition to having the live USB on a different stick), and that is all the content that REALLY matters.
I need to go through and see what nginx configuration changes I may have made - all this from CLI, since I have no gui - and save those files as well, though I'm not sure they aren't part of the systemd problem.

Thank you for the advice on the reinstall. I'm considering taking @j2mcgreg 's advice about replacing the HDD and simply starting over with a SATA SSD replacing it, and hoping to use the live USB to install onto it.

I will boot the live USB today and see what happens.

Here's one question: is it worth considering re-installing the NVidia driver in hopes of having a GUI again?

[Charlie Brown]

... is it worth considering re-installing the NVidia driver in hopes of having a GUI again?..

At least nothing to lose, you can use the same command (assuming it's connected to internet) just with -i instead of -p ... I would do it :)

Nothing to worry and/or hurry , when you boot with your live usb (you don't have to click install) you'll see you can do almost everything, you can copy your files and folders to somewhere, you'll feel at ease ... (Also with the "Chroot Rescue Scan" tool you can make operations on the installed MX as if you booted with that...)

[quackser]

lost me at Chroot Rescue Scan... I'll see what happens when I boot it.

And I'll try reinstalling NVidia ...

[quackser]

reinstall is complaining of missing Debconf::FrontEnd::Qt module, I'll install that when the reinstall finishes, it's also complaining about something related to KDE desktop (my preference, and how I installed the MX-Linux Libretto system to begin with). Not sure what needs done about KDE, or whether the Nvidia reinstall is dependent on the Qt module... anyway, those together probably explain why all I have is CLI.