Ubuntu Gnome 13.04 suddenly won't boot - "DRM: Fill_in_dev failed."

[vaguely_clear]

Well, looking more and more like hardware failure... a couple other instances in the log file where errors were detected...but, let's try a different driver ...what does Additional Drivers have to offer ?

Additional Drivers offers the regular fglrx package, fglrx-updates (installed), and the open-source driver (see attachment).

And while thinking along these lines.... is the on-board graphics disabled in bios ?

The option "Onboard VGA" in BIOS offers the following:

1. Enable If No Ext PEG
2. Always Enable
3. Auto

"Auto" was selected, and I left it that way.

Also what does the system say about the hardware -> terminal code:

lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 vga

That command returns the following:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Barts PRO [Radeon HD 6850] [1002:6739]
    Subsystem: PC Partner Limited Device [174b:174b]
    Kernel driver in use: fglrx_pci
01:00.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Barts HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 6800 Series] [1002:aa88]

Then again, what do you think about switching graphics in software -> switcheroo
--if hardware failure, may present more problems than cures --
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HybridGraphics

I don't believe my hardware (Intel i5 tower with Radeon 6850 card installed) can utilize switcheroo.

Finally, while in BIOS, I did notice another issue. Under one of the menus, I was presented with a big red box that said:

The system has experienced boot failures because of overclocking or changes of voltages.

Last settings in this page may not coincide with current H/W states.

I have no idea what that's about! I haven't touched overclocking. I did do a memtest a few days ago, which passed.

Hmmm.

[Bashing-om]

vaguely_clear;

I am done for the eve...will check your status my next

regards

[Bashing-om]

vaguely_clear;
lemme offer this before I go --getting cloudy in my think'n ...gonna desist .. but
the bios warning .... have you done any changes to your bios ? What I have in mind is to reset the bios to default. I hope there exist an option in the menus to permit this.
Do that and see if the error in bios goes away and also the errors in the log file.
We can think about changing the graphics driver to open source... I have worked a few threads in which the open source driver performed better on their hardware than the proprietary drivers ....open source will certainly integrate into the operating system closer.

something to think about

[Bashing-om]

vaguely_clear;

Just a request for updated status... I will be away from the keyboard for several hours today//I will check back in when I return.

regards

[vaguely_clear]

vaguely_clear;

Just a request for updated status... I will be away from the keyboard for several hours today//I will check back in when I return.

regards

Hi! I'm really sorry about the late reply.

I tried removing my graphics card and using the Intel HD 4000 built onto my processor, but to no avail. I tried a few other things that I can't exactly recall, but the system ultimately became a pretty tragic mess! I was using a Gnome Shell theme that I've heard can introduce some bugs, and I became suspicious that it may have been the culprit, but I've just gotten a bit worn out from the trouble.

I have backed up my personal data on that installation, and I'm planning to reinstall. So, the tl;dr version is: I didn't find a solution.

However, your help was extremely valuable, and I learned a lot. So thank you for all your time!