After updates login now crashes

[Doug S]

I have dual boot on my main Ubuntu test server. Yesterday, I did updates on the 16.04 version. However, I only did the updates as a tangent task while really wanting to update grub on the 16.04 version so that I could then gain access to a new kernel I had installed on the 14.04.3 partition, so I didn't actually boot into 16.04 again until today (which again I was really only wanting to update grub so that I could boot the 14.04.3 system into yet another new kernel I am wanting to try).

Now when I try to login (either on a local terminal or via SSH), there is some sort of error that flashes on the screen, too fast to read, and I am returned to the login screen.

If I boot the system into 14.04.3, then I can mount the disk partition with 16.04 on it and look at files. The information seems limited, but I did find a crash dump file:

ProblemType: Crash
Architecture: amd64
Date: Mon Nov 23 08:31:54 2015
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
ExecutablePath: /bin/login
ExecutableTimestamp: 1437457457
ProcCmdline: /bin/login --
ProcCwd: /
ProcEnviron:
...

I am not sure how to get my 16.04 system working again. Any suggestions?
Anybody else seeing this issue?

Meanwhile, I will try to figure out how to get the first grub that comes up to be the 14.03.3 one, with a secondary being the 16.04 one. (I have figured this out before, I just don't recall how at the moment.)

[mc4man]

Meanwhile, I will try to figure out how to get the first grub that comes up to be the 14.03.3 one, with a secondary being the 16.04 one. (I have figured this out before, I just don't recall how at the moment.)

The is a reconfigure command you can run on grub from the install you want to be first listed.
Here I don't bother remembering the com., I just boot to install I want first & re-install the appropriate grub package
(in my case, grub-efi-amd64

[QDR06VV9]

I have had good luck with Boot-Repair, But perhaps my Bios are not as complicated as some others.
Good Luck.
Kind Regards

[matt_symes]

Not seeing this crash after installing the daily iso.

I assume you can't get to a root shell from grub ? If not then your best bet maybe a chroot i suspect.

[Doug S]

Thanks for all the replies.

I think I am going down a rat-hole here and might have to start from scratch on my second HDD (the one with 16.04 on it).

I did finally manage to get get the 14.04.3 grub to update and can now at least access the test kernels I want to try. I can not seem to get my BOIS boot order to boot from the 14.04.3 HDD first, it always goes to the 16.04 HDD first.

My procedure (hokey):
1.) boot to 14.04.3, but recovery mode.
2.) update grub
3.) boot to 16.04, but recovery mode.
4.) update grub.
5.) re-boot and select the 14.04.3 advanced options, and now the new kernels appear and I can select the one I want.

I have made no progress on the 16.04 login crash issue. I'll get back to that later.

[Doug S]

I think I am going down a rat-hole here and might have to start from scratch on my second HDD (the one with 16.04 on it).
I have made no progress on the 16.04 login crash issue. I'll get back to that later.

Update: I gave up and started from scratch on the second HDD.
Now I am stuck at the select and install software step. It says there is a problem, and I can not seem to get past it. I have tried a few times now. I have also double checked the md5sum of the USB drive I am using for the Ubuntu 16.04 64 bit server daily iso I am using.

EDIT 1: I went back to the iso of 2015.10.30, which I know worked. It worked this time also. ... Oh ... I see there is already a bug report.

EDIT 2: ... And then after doing updates, the login loop returned.

[syntaxerror74]

EDIT 2: ... And then after doing updates, the login loop returned.

There are many possible reasons for it: some more significant error in your .profile, and soon you may be finding yourself in a fix!

Other than that...I've once managed to read the flashy message by running into recovery mode. Give that GRUB option another try perhaps.
Either you get warped into that (insanely stupid) emergency mode (then use sysctl default after root login), or you will get the ncurses (?) menu as usual.
With the latter, try to login as root, and then...
- either start your login GUI manually (I'm on Lubuntu with its LightDM, so you'll have to call the line accordingly)
- or just type startx and watch what'll happen on screen

Yet another possibility:
If your user login fails, what about logging in as root via terminal after normal boot? (Ctrl-Alt-F1)
If this works, your .profile in /home/yourusername is at fault.

[Doug S]

Thanks for your posting.

- either start your login GUI manually

This is a server installation, no GUI.
As far as I can determine, this issue is with the current 16.04 server edition.
I looked back as far as I could on the QA tracker, and nobody has succeeded with any recent daily 16.04 server installation (not that there is much data, really).

[syntaxerror74]

Rats!

This is somewhat embarrassing...now that I see the server tag, everything falls into place...Presumably I wouldn't have posted, had I spotted the 'server' bit a little earlier.

[Doug S]

Rats!

This is somewhat embarrassing...now that I see the server tag, everything falls into place...Presumably I wouldn't have posted, had I spotted the 'server' bit a little earlier.

Truth be known, I only added the "server"tag after your posting. Thanks for chiming in anyhow.

Someone did complete a minimal server install a couple of days ago.