v9.10 Desktop Environment Won't Load at Startup

[kc5rbx]

Problem--

Ubuntu v9.10
Dell A680 Laptop
No new app adds/changes.
Has been running very smoothly for last couple weeks since installation.

Performed HARD REBOOT of system.

Ubuntu begins startup, shows Ubuntu loading bar and blue/purple screen, then

presents the User Login page. Select User Login, enter PW and Enter.

Ubuntu begins accepts authentication, starts processing profile BUT never completes session. Instead system stalls on blue/purple screen displaying a terminal editor box with the system prompt displayed at the UserID home directory.

This problem has never occurred in previous hard reboots.

Could someone please advise as to what happened and more importantly-- what can be done to repair the startup to active desktop.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

-G

[3Miro]

I am not sure if it will help, but you can try the recovery mode. When the system boots, right when the GRUB message flashes (it may flash too fast for you see), press and hold shift and you will get several boot options. You can try the recovery mode to see if it will help (boot in recovery mode, then reboot properly).

Other than that, the only thing that comes to mind is that something in the settings gets messed up. You should be able to boot from a LiveCD and change some .gnome_something files in your home folder, but I wouldn't know which ones.

If after boot you press Ctr + Alt + F1, you will go to Terminal mode and you can log in and change files from there as well. Just make sure you are skilled enough with the termina, Ctr + Alt + F1 leaves only the shell working.

[kc5rbx]

Thanks for the suggestion of using Recovery mode--- gave it a couple tries, but unfortunately still ends up with the terminal editor window instead of the desktop. Will look into your other suggestions, but not sure of which settings file(s) would have to be edited and what values changed/added.

Thanks again.

-G

[3Miro]

OK, this is a guess, since I am not savvy enough with Gnome to be sure.

Option 1:

Since you are in terminal mode, look for all folders .gnome or .gtk or .gstreamer and back them up one by one to see if anyone helps. That is:


mv .gnome2 .gnome2_backup
mv .gnome2_private .gnome2_private_backup

Then reboot


sudo shutdown -r now

If this doesn't help, go to the next set with .gtk_something, I have the folders


mv .gtk-bookmarks .gtk-bookmarks_backup
mv .gtkrc-2.0-kde4 .gtkrc-2.0-kde4_backup

Then reboot again. Then if this doesn't work, try .gstreamer something.

First I am not sure this will work, second if it does, you will lose some of your settings. The purpose of the backup folders is that you don't actually remove anything. You can move the backup folders back into their original position if you need.

Option 2:

Here, I am running under the assumption that it is Gnome that is causing the trouble (and more specifically some setting under Gnome that broke down during the reboot). The issue might actually be with the X server, and that is beyond my skill level.

What you can try is to install XFCE, it is a different Desktop Environment, somewhat similar to Gnome, but very lightweight. To install it you need about 100 - 200MB of space and then during Log in, you can select either Gnome or XFCE session. To install XFCE:


sudo apt-get install xfce4

If you are going to use XFCE a lot, you probably also want to install a bunch of applets, themes and utilities:


sudo apt-get install xfce4-goodies


Basically, if the issue is with the X server, XFCE will not work, if the issue is with Gnome, then XFCE will work and you will be able to log in and use your computer.

[kc5rbx]

Thanks a lot for alternate solutions. I'm not Gnome savvy either, but will press ahead with your suggestions, and possible use of XFC environment. Will advise.

Thanks again.
-G

[kc5rbx]

Wasn't able to repair using the .gnome or .gtk suggestions-- was able to use XFC environment. Can at least use system. Thanks for your time and help. I'm still interested to know what happened to cause the desktop bootup settings to change after having worked without issue for several weeks-- the mystery beckons-- the answer is out there. :) Thanks again.

-G

[3Miro]

Glad to help, although not happy that I could only help part of the way. I guess we can put this into my rant on "XFCE is currently the only stable Ubuntu DE", both KDE and Gnome have major issues.

One question: do the .gnome and .gtk folders get created again after you have renamed them. If not, then you might have to manually reset them? There should be default copies somewhere in /usr/something or alternatively you can create a new user and copy that user's folders (just be careful not to overwrite something that is yours and important, such as Downloads and Documents).

In the same context, you can try to create a new user on your machine and try to log in as that one under Gnome. The issue might actually might be with Gnome itself and not the settings.

To create a user, from the xfce menu, go to System -> Users and Groups.

[<mike>]

Did you recently change screen res? Or anything else which might have caused an issue?

[kc5rbx]

I'm not sure -- but I believe I've replicated the cause. On another laptop (same model) I got the same problem after using the Computer Janitor utility to delete "supposedly" unused files, kernel headers. It may be that this deletion actually deleted a settings profile. On the original system, I ended up having to reinstall the entire OS as I was unable to rebuild lost gnome directories and files.

No changes to display settings or simialr.

Thanks for your time and help, much appreciated.

[SalahTr]

Maybe this thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=8619598#post8619598) will help you