[Bug 1450155] [NEW] If X fails to start, Plymouth should redirect to a command line login

[Julien Aubin]

Public bug reported:

Hi,

After latest kernel upgrade on Trusty 14.04.2 LTS on two of my systems,
the system did not boot, it was locked on Plymouth splash screen.

The culprit is that for a reason I don't know symlink /etc/X11/X was
removed during the upgrade, and X failed to start.

In that case Plymouth should just fall back to a prompt shell login,
otherwise there's no way to log onto the machine except SSH...

Steps to reproduce :
DO : Remove symlink /etc/X11/X (it occurs sometimes during kernel upgrades, I did not identify the culprit but this is not the first time I see this)
DO : Reboot
EXPECT : After a failed attempt to start X, Plymouth should fall back to the command prompt
ACTUAL : The user is locked up and the only ways to recover are to log via SSH or in failsafe mode.

It should obviously be better that the strange thing with the X link
removed would be fixed, but anyway this would be a safeguard.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: plymouth 0.8.8-0ubuntu17.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.16.0-36.48~14.04.1-generic 3.16.7-ckt9
Uname: Linux 3.16.0-36-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.10
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: KDE
Date: Wed Apr 29 20:28:50 2015
DefaultPlymouth: /lib/plymouth/themes/kubuntu-logo/kubuntu-logo.plymouth
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-09-08 (233 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140416.1)
MachineType: ASUS All Series
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-36-generic root=UUID=ef1513cf-ddee-4714-bc0b-a7f84529908e ro quiet splash
ProcFB:
 
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-36-generic root=UUID=ef1513cf-ddee-4714-bc0b-a7f84529908e ro quiet splash
SourcePackage: plymouth
TextPlymouth: /lib/plymouth/themes/kubuntu-text/kubuntu-text.plymouth
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 02/12/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 2205
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: Z97-A
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr2205:bd02/12/2015:svnASUS:pnAllSeries:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnZ97-A:rvrRev1.xx:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.name: All Series
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUS

** Affects: plymouth (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: amd64 apport-bug trusty

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1450155

Title:
  If X fails to start, Plymouth should redirect to a command line login

Status in plymouth package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Hi,

  After latest kernel upgrade on Trusty 14.04.2 LTS on two of my
  systems, the system did not boot, it was locked on Plymouth splash
  screen.

  The culprit is that for a reason I don't know symlink /etc/X11/X was
  removed during the upgrade, and X failed to start.

  In that case Plymouth should just fall back to a prompt shell login,
  otherwise there's no way to log onto the machine except SSH...

  Steps to reproduce :
  DO : Remove symlink /etc/X11/X (it occurs sometimes during kernel upgrades, I did not identify the culprit but this is not the first time I see this)
  DO : Reboot
  EXPECT : After a failed attempt to start X, Plymouth should fall back to the command prompt
  ACTUAL : The user is locked up and the only ways to recover are to log via SSH or in failsafe mode.

  It should obviously be better that the strange thing with the X link
  removed would be fixed, but anyway this would be a safeguard.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: plymouth 0.8.8-0ubuntu17.1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.16.0-36.48~14.04.1-generic 3.16.7-ckt9
  Uname: Linux 3.16.0-36-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.10
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: KDE
  Date: Wed Apr 29 20:28:50 2015
  DefaultPlymouth: /lib/plymouth/themes/kubuntu-logo/kubuntu-logo.plymouth
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-09-08 (233 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140416.1)
  MachineType: ASUS All Series
  ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-36-generic root=UUID=ef1513cf-ddee-4714-bc0b-a7f84529908e ro quiet splash
  ProcFB:
   
  ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-36-generic root=UUID=ef1513cf-ddee-4714-bc0b-a7f84529908e ro quiet splash
  SourcePackage: plymouth
  TextPlymouth: /lib/plymouth/themes/kubuntu-text/kubuntu-text.plymouth
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
  dmi.bios.date: 02/12/2015
  dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
  dmi.bios.version: 2205
  dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
  dmi.board.name: Z97-A
  dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
  dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
  dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
  dmi.chassis.type: 3
  dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
  dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
  dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr2205:bd02/12/2015:svnASUS:pnAllSeries:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnZ97-A:rvrRev1.xx:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
  dmi.product.name: All Series
  dmi.product.version: System Version
  dmi.sys.vendor: ASUS

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