XFCE4 won't start with nomodeset

11 January 2020, 21:29:25

I just tried nomodeset and nomodeset nouveau.modeset=0 added to the kernel command line and the desktop wouldn't start. Obviously the solution to this as a problem is don't do that, but I thought it was interesting.

Re: XFCE4 won't start with nomodeset

Reply #1 – 11 January 2020, 23:01:48

That's not XFCE's fault, at least Intel GPUs require modesetting to start X.

Re: XFCE4 won't start with nomodeset

Reply #2 – 12 January 2020, 01:37:38

I just tried nomodeset on my backup & testing partition with Devuan Beowulf and a 5.2.0-18.1-liquorix kernel (which could do with updating but I haven't used it recently) and XFCE 4.12 and it booted and the desktop started there. There were a few odd flashes of strange color at start up and shutdown that are not normally there, but otherwise it worked as I expected it should, with no hardware graphics acceleration in the web browser. I think it's another of the XFCE 4.14 odd graphics issues, and it doesn't work at all without hardware graphics, at least here, as this is on the same laptop.
Usually nomodeset fixes problems like that, not causes them.