14.04 won't boot after update

[dale-maynor]

Ubuntu Novice here.

Installed update yesterday, restart required, comp hangs at loading screen (ubuntu logo w/5 dots).

no error messages or other feedback from screen.

please help. thanks in advance.

-dale

[Bashing-om]

dale-maynor; Hi ! Welcome to the forum.

On your system, do you have proprietary drivers for graphics in use ?
What 3rd party software is presently installed ?

What results when you boot an older kernel:
Cold boot the machine, as soon as the bios screen clears, depress and hold the right shift key -> grub boot menu
Advanced options menu -> highlight an earlier kernel version and press the enter key.

Do you now boot ?



when we know more,



we can tell more

[dale-maynor]

dale-maynor; Hi ! Welcome to the forum.

Thanks.


On your system, do you have proprietary drivers for graphics in use ?

no, only the drivers that came with Ubuntu install.


What 3rd party software is presently installed ?

none, unless you mean Wine or something like that.


What results when you boot an older kernel:
Cold boot the machine, as soon as the bios screen clears, depress and help the right shift key -> grub boot menu
Advanced options menu -> highlight an earlier kernel version and press the enter key.

Do you now boot ?

In Grub->Advanced menu-> i have the following:

Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-27-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-27-generic (recovery mode)
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-24-generic
Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-24-generic(recovery mode)

In 0-24 computer hangs on loading screen.

when i select 0-24 (recovery mode), computer loading hangs on *Stopping Samba Auto Reload Integration






when we know more,



we can tell more








woot!

-thanks

[Bashing-om]

dale-maynor; Yuk !

Well, that is not what I had hoped for.

This says the file xfer protocol "samba"


*Stopping Samba Auto Reload Integration

is at play here. Out of my sphere of knowledge.

Rather then muddying up these waters even more so, let's await for those who do know "samba" to pick up on this thread.

You will not be forgotten by me, just put off for a spell.


Even if I can not help



I will hold your hand

[Bashing-om]

dale-maynor; Hello,

"we" are still looking at this as a graphics issue.
Let's try this and see what results:
Boot up through grub's boot options to the advance screen and with the Linux 3.13.0-24-generic entry highlighted -> press the 'e' key for edit mode ->
boot parameters screen; arrow down and across in this screen to the terms "quiet splash" and replace the terms with the term "text" - with out the quotes - ; key combo ctl+x to continue the boot process -> to a textual terminal Interface.

Log in here with user name and pass word ( here when the pass word is entered there is no response to the screen, security reasons ) - just enter the pass word blindly and hit the enter key.
Presently we want to know what graphics card(s) are installed in the box and if there is a driver loaded.

What returns from terminal commands:


lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 vga
sudo lshw -C display


we be try'n to do this.



ain't no step for a stepper

[dale-maynor]

dale-maynor; Hello, "we" are still looking at this as a graphics issue. Let's try this and see what results: Boot up through grub's boot options to the advance screen and with the Linux 3.13.0-24-generic entry highlighted -> press the 'e' key for edit mode -> boot parameters screen; arrow down and across in this screen to the terms "quiet splash" and replace the terms with the term "text" - with out the quotes - ; key combo ctl+x to continue the boot process -> to a textual terminal Interface. Log in here with user name and pass word ( here when the pass word is entered there is no response to the screen, security reasons ) - just enter the pass word blindly and hit the enter key. Presently we want to know what graphics card(s) are installed in the box and if there is a driver loaded. What returns from terminal commands:
lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 vga sudo lshw -C display we be try'n to do this.


ain't no step for a stepper from: lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 vga I get: 01:05.0 VGA compatible controller [0300] : Advaned Micro devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RS780 [Radeon HD 3200] [1002:9610] Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0155] kernel driver in use: radeon 01:05.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RS780 HDMI Audio [Radeon (hHD) 3000 Series ]1002:960F] -- 02:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300] : Advaned Micro devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV730 PRO [Radeon HD 4650] [1002:9610] Subsystem: PC Partner Limited / Sapphire Technology Device [174b:e109] Kernel driver in use: radeon 02:00.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV710/730 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4000 Series [1002:aa38] from: sudo lshw -C display *-display description: VGA compatible controller Produce: RS780 [RADEON HD 3200] vendor: Advanced micro Devices, Inc. {AMD/ATI] physical id: 5 bus info: pci@0000:01:05.0 version: 00 width: 32 bits clock: 33mhz capabilities: pm msi vga-controller bus_master cap_list configuration: driver=radeon latency=0 resources: irq:18 memory: c0000000-cfffffff ioport: b000(size=256) memory: fe4fffff memory:fe300000 *-display description: VGA compatible controller produce: RV730 PRO [RADEON HD 4650] vendor: Advanced micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] physical id: 0 bus info: pci@0000:02.0 version: 00 width: 64 bits clock: 33mhz capabilities: pm pciexpress msi vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom configuration: driver=radeon latency=0 resources: irq:46 memory: d0000000-dfffffff memory: fe5f0000-fe5fffff ioport:c000(size=256) memory:fe5c0000-fe5dffff

[Bashing-om]

dale-maynor; Well,

Not a graphics issue; per outputs :
" [AMD/ATI] RS780 [Radeon HD 3200] " -> "kernel driver in use: radeon" ->> "configuration: driver=radeon " ...
The open source driver 'radeon' is the only viable option for this card and it is loaded

So, let's see what results with starting the GUI manually.
Do this whole routine once more ( if you have shut the system down -- oh shoots, I forgot to tell you how !

To shut the system down from the terminal:
Terminal commands:


sudo shutdown -h now
sudo shutdown -r now ##to re-boot- ##

).
Anyway, to start manual the GUI, once more logged into that terminal interface;
Terminal command:


sudo service lightdm start

If the GUI fails to start, please post back the errors generated to the screen so we get an idea of where the fault lies.
Else we will have to find out why plymoth fails to start.

If the GUI does start:
to return to that terminal -> key combo ctl+alt+F1
if the GUI starts, and you have reverted back to TTY1 (terminal) to get back to the GUI -> key combo ctl+alt+F7

-----------------
Please place your return codes to us between code tags ( as I have done) to maintain the formatting:
code tag tutorial:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2171721&p=12776168#post12776168
-------------------



making progress



slowly

[dale-maynor]

The GUI did start. what do i do next?

[Bashing-om]

dale-maynor; Well, well !

OK, from that GUI desk top -> key combo ctl+alt+t to get a terminal;
Terminal codes:


sudo apt-get autoclean # only removes files that cannot be downloaded anymore (obsolete)
sudo apt-get autoremove
sudo apt-get clean
#refresh the data bases

sudo apt-get update #resync package index
sudo apt-get upgrade #newest versions of all packages, update must be run first

#would upgrade you to the latest kernel in the repositories
#dist-upgrade is also able to remove existing packages if required/and install held back packages,A dist-upgrade will install new dependencies for packages already installed and may remove packages if they are no longer needed. This will not bring you to a new release of ubuntu.apt-cache search
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

## now. let's see if the package manager will fix us up
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo dpkg --configure -a
##All that does is update it again. ##


Now reboot the system, see if you start normally.




hey. it could happen

[dale-maynor]

still hung at loading screen :(

[Bashing-om]

dale-maynor; Humm ...

Let's see if the log files will tell us anything;
Log files are often too large to post, so ->


sudo apt-get install pastebinit
cat ~/.xsession-errors | pastebinit
cat /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log | pastebinit

Post back the resulting URL(s) that is in your terminal. We can then have a look at your log files.

Maybe then we know to reset lightdm and the 'greeter'.

As you can log in to the terminal, we know it is not a system problem, just configuration - somewhere.



which way did he go, George

[dale-maynor]

from:


sudo apt-get install pastebinit


i got:


>>> /etc/sudoers: syntax error near line 21 <<<
>>> /etc/sudoers: syntax error near line 22 <<<
sudo: parse error in /etc/sudoers near line 21
sudo: no valid sudoers sources found, quitting
sudo: unable to initialize policy plugin

[Bashing-om]

dale-maynor; Humm,

Corrupted "sudoers" file (??) Must be handled with kid gloves;
The tutorials to properly manipulate that file:
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/sudo
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/fixsudo

Fix your access rights and we see then where we stand.



sometimes it is



2 steps forward and 3 back

[Miriel_of_Chaos]

Hi!
I've got what seems to be an identical problem.
I.e. I ran into

*Stopping Samba Auto Reload Integration when booting.
And the GUI did start with

sudo service lightdm start

After hours and hours of searching I finally found this thread and was very happy. Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived as the investigation into the problem just ended abruptly.
I've gotten as far as getting the log http://paste.ubuntu.com/8270559/

But the
pastebinit /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log returned the "Unable to read from..."

I would really appreciate if someone could help me to solve the problem or at least to learn more.

Sorry, if I did or wrote something lame, I am a beginner with ubuntu and with the forums.

[Bashing-om]

Miriel_of_Chaos; Hi !

What release are you running ? looks like re-configuring 'compiz' would be a good place to start looking from.
How 'compiz' is handled is dependent on the release.

Will see if we can muddle through this together.



all in the process

[Miriel_of_Chaos]

Hi!
Thanks for your prompt reply!
Just like the topic starter, I've just upgraded to Ubuntu 14.04.
Some additional info: I tried running
startx and that would bring my desktop background with icons, but nothing else.

[Bashing-om]

Miriel_of_Chaos; Welp;

Taking into consideration:


I've just upgraded to Ubuntu 14.04.

Make sure the package manager is in a consistent state:


sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo dpkg -C


Any errors we stop right here and deal with them as the 1st priority.

In this instance the command 'startx' is not the correct means to start this desktop environment, the appropriate command is:


sudo service lightdm start

"Assuming" you have a standard 14.04 install with unity as the DE ->
Let's try this and see what results:


sudo apt-get install dconf-tools
dconf reset -f /org/compiz/
unity --reset-icons
setsid unity

Paying attention to catch whatever errors the system may generate to get a hint on what to look at next.

Reboot and let's see if you now boot to the desktop.




give it a poke



see what bites

[Miriel_of_Chaos]

While waiting for your answer, I have tried something else. I removed the /etc/X11/xorg.conf and then installed gdm. I was able to boot and the Gnome Display Manager worked just fine, then I used
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm to revert to lightdm.


sudo apt-get update worked just fine

sudo apt-get upgrade
and
sudo apt-get -f install returned 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
I've already executed those commands several times before.

sudo dpkg -C reported 2 missing translational package for google-chrome-stable, but nothing else.

dconf-tools was up to date.


dconf reset -f /org/compiz/ returned

error: Cannot autolaunch D-Bus without X11 $DISPLAY


unity --reset-icons returned

WARNING: no DISPLAY variable set, setting it to :0
stop: Unknown job: unity-panel-service
compiz (core) - Info: Loading plugin: core
compiz (core) - Info: Starting plugin: core
compiz (core) - Fatal: Couldn't open display :0
compiz (core) - Info: Stopping plugin: core
compiz (core) - Info: Unloading plugin: core
and the
setsid unity also returned

WARNING: no DISPLAY variable set, setting it to :0
stop: Unknown job: unity-panel-service
compiz (core) - Info: Loading plugin: core
compiz (core) - Info: Starting plugin: core
compiz (core) - Fatal: Couldn't open display :0
compiz (core) - Info: Stopping plugin: core
compiz (core) - Info: Unloading plugin: core

and the
sudo service lightdm start behaves oddly:
1. it brings up the screen where I can select login and password
2. after a split second my screen blinks and changes to a similar login screen, but with a different colour scheme
If I try to enter my password, steps 1 and 2 are repeated.

[Miriel_of_Chaos]

One more thing: when I now try to boot without using the "text" option, the same "odd" login screen appears that keeps blinking and changing colour scheme as I enter password.
If I press
Ctrl+Alt+F1, I see

*Starting Mount network filesystems [OK]
*Starting Samba Winbind [OK]
*Stopping Mount network filesystems [OK]
*Starting NetBIOS name server [OK]

[Bashing-om]

Miriel_of_Chaos; Don't know, but

Maybe the system does not know what you want to do ?
Let's stick with GDM for now,
What results:


sudo service lightdm stop
sudo service gdm start

post back the contents:


cat /etc/X11/default-display-manager
and let's see what the display manager is set to.

Depending on which display manager you want to run is what we do next.



Which way did he go, George

[Miriel_of_Chaos]

The result of
cat /etc/X11/default-display-manager was
/usr/sbin/lightdm

Also I've googled the "dconf reset -f /org/compiz" a bit and stumbled over some posts claiming that this can only be run from the terminal. So I started gdm and then used the terminal.
The
unity --reset-icons
setsid unity
however returned

ERROR 2014-09-07 00:41:59 unity.glib.dbus.server DlibDbusServer.cpp:579 Can't register object 'org.gnome.Session.Manager.EndSessionDialog as we don't have a connection, waiting for it...
and so on.

But I installed gnome-session-flashback and indicator-applet-appmenu, and after that when I start gdm it looks more like Gnome2, which I'm content with.
The only remaining problem is that I have to boot in "text" mode, but I can use my system now, so I can live with that until any better solution can be found :)
Thanks a lot for your help and support so far!

[Bashing-om]

Miriel_of_Chaos; Well, then;

The news is not all bad !


this can only be run from the terminal.

Yeah, true, I thought you were in terminal, as the GUI would not start. Even so, things are looking up.

As you are now using 'gnome-session-flashback' and the GUI is not staring. What is in:


cat /etc/gdm/gdm.conf

And:
maybe Edit ' /etc/X11/default-display-manager ' and set it to "/usr/sbin/gdm" .



we just want the desktop to start

[Miriel_of_Chaos]

Hi again! :)
I was running all commands in tty1, which is indeed a terminal to the best of my understanding. I still know next to nothing (though a lot more then I knew just yesterday morning), so I might be saying something silly here :) Anyways the "dconf reset -f /org/compiz" did not return the "Cannot autolaunch D-Bus without X11 $DISPLAY" error only after I started gdm, started "terminal" and executed it there.

Turns out, I don't have gdm.conf and the only files available are:
custom.conf greeter.gsettings PostLogin PreSession gdm-cdd.conf Init PostSession Xsession

Just in case, the content of gdm-cdd.conf looks as follows:



[security]
# Allow root to login. It makes sense to turn this off for kiosk use, when
# you want to minimize the possibility of break in.
AllowRoot=false
# Allow login as root via XDMCP. This value will be overridden and set to
# false if the /etc/default/login file exists and contains
# "CONSOLE=/dev/login", and set to true if the /etc/default/login file exists
# and contains any other value or no value for CONSOLE.
AllowRemoteRoot=false
# This will allow remote timed login.
AllowRemoteAutoLogin=false
# 0 is the most restrictive, 1 allows group write permissions, 2 allows all
# write permissions.
RelaxPermissions=1
# Check if directories are owned by logon user. Set to false, if you have, for
# example, home directories owned by some other user.
CheckDirOwner=true
# If your HOME is managed by automounter, set to true
SupportAutomount=false
# Number of seconds to wait after a failed login
#RetryDelay=1
# Maximum size of a file we wish to read. This makes it hard for a user to DoS
# us by using a large file.
#UserMaxFile=65536
# If true this will basically append -nolisten tcp to every X command line, a
# good default to have (why is this a "negative" setting? because if it is
# false, you could still not allow it by setting command line of any particular
# server). It's probably better to ship with this on since most users will not
# need this and it's more of a security risk then anything else.
# Note: Anytime we find a -query or -indirect on the command line we do not add
# a "-nolisten tcp", as then the query just wouldn't work, so this setting only
# affects truly attached sessions.
DisallowTCP=true
# By default never place cookies if we "detect" NFS. We detect NFS by
# detecting "root-squashing". It seems bad practice to place cookies on things
# that go over the network by default and thus we do not do it by default.
# Sometimes you can however use safe remote filesystems where this is OK and
# you may want to have the cookie in your home directory.
#NeverPlaceCookiesOnNFS=true
# Will cause PAM_DISALLOW_NULL_AUTHTOK to be passed as a flag to
# pam_authenticate and pam_acct_mgmt, disallowing NULL password. This setting
# will only take effect if PAM is being used by GDM. This value will be
# overridden with the value from /etc/default/login if it contains
# "PASSREQ=[YES|NO]"
#PasswordRequired=false
# Specifies the PAM Stack to use, "gdm" by default.
PamStack=gdm
# GDM allows configuration of how ut_line is set when it does utmp/wtmp and
# audit processing. If VT is being used, then ut_line will be set to the
# device associated with the VT. If the console is attached and has a device
# name specified in the [servers] section, then this value will be used.
# Otherwise the value is defaulted to the value specified in UtmpLineAttached
# for attached displays and UtmpLineRemote for remote displays. The value
# can be left empty which means that ut_line will be set to an empty value
# (if not VT and no value specified in the [servers] section. The values
# can contain "%d" which is translated to the DISPLAY value or %h which
# is translated to the hostname. The values for both keys must begin with
# "/dev/".
UtmpLineAttached=/dev/console
UtmpLineRemote=
# If true and the specified UtmpLineAttached or UtmpLineRemote does not exist,
# then create a pseudo-device filename that will be touched when the utmp
# record is updated. Creating such a psuedo-device ensures that programs
# that stat the utmp device associated with ut_line such as finger, last,
# etc. work in a reasonable way.
UtmpPseudoDevice=false


# XDMCP is the protocol that allows remote login. If you want to log into GDM
# remotely (I'd never turn this on on open network, use ssh for such remote
# usage). You can then run X with -query <thishost> to log in, or
# -indirect <thishost> to run a chooser. Look for the 'Terminal' server type
# at the bottom of this config file.
[xdmcp]
# Distributions: Ship with this off. It is never a safe thing to leave out on
# the net. Setting up /etc/hosts.allow and /etc/hosts.deny to only allow local
# access is another alternative but not the safest. Firewalling port 177 is
# the safest if you wish to have xdmcp on. Read the manual for more notes on
# the security of XDMCP.
Enable=false
# Honor indirect queries, we run a chooser for these, and then redirect the
# user to the chosen host. Otherwise we just log the user in locally.
#HonorIndirect=true
# Maximum pending requests.
#MaxPending=4
#MaxPendingIndirect=4
# Maximum open XDMCP sessions at any point in time.
#MaxSessions=16
# Maximum wait times.
#MaxWait=15
#MaxWaitIndirect=15
# How many times can a person log in from a single host. Usually better to
# keep low to fend off DoS attacks by running many logins from a single host.
# This is now set at 2 since if the server crashes then GDM doesn't know for
# some time and wouldn't allow another session.
#DisplaysPerHost=2
# The number of seconds after which a non-responsive session is logged off.
# Better keep this low.
#PingIntervalSeconds=15
# The port. 177 is the standard port so better keep it that way.
#Port=177
# Willing script, none is shipped and by default we'll send hostname system id.
# But if you supply something here, the output of this script will be sent as
# status of this host so that the chooser can display it. You could for
# example send load, or mail details for some user, or some such.
#Willing=/etc/gdm/Xwilling


[gui]
# The specific gtkrc file we use. It should be the full path to the gtkrc that
# we need. Unless you need a specific gtkrc that doesn't correspond to a
# specific theme, then just use the GtkTheme key.
#GtkRC=/usr/share/themes/Default/gtk-2.0/gtkrc


# The GTK+ theme to use for the GUI.
GtkTheme=HumanME
# If to allow changing the GTK+ (widget) theme from the greeter. Currently
# this only affects the standard greeter as the graphical greeter does not yet
# have this ability.
#AllowGtkThemeChange=true
# Comma separated list of themes to allow. These must be the names of the
# themes installed in the standard locations for gtk themes. You can also
# specify 'all' to allow all installed themes. These should be just the
# basenames of the themes such as 'Thinice' or 'LowContrast'.
#GtkThemesToAllow=all


# Maximum size of an icon, larger icons are scaled down.
#MaxIconWidth=128
#MaxIconHeight=128


[greeter]
# The following options for setting titlebar and setting window position are
# only useful for the standard login (gdmlogin) and are not used by the
# themed login (gdmgreeter).
#
# The standard login has a title bar that the user can move.
#TitleBar=true
# Don't allow user to move the standard login window. Only makes sense if
# TitleBar is on.
#LockPosition=false
# Set a position for the standard login window rather then just centering the
# window. If you enter negative values for the position it is taken as an
# offset from the right or bottom edge.
#SetPosition=false
#PositionX=0
#PositionY=0


# Enable the Face browser. Note that the Browser key is only used by the
# standard login (gdmlogin) program. The Face Browser is enabled in
# the Graphical greeter by selecting a theme that includes the Face
# Browser, such as happygnome-list. The other configuration values that
# affect the Face Browser (MinimalUID, DefaultFace, Include, Exclude,
# IncludeAll, GlobalFaceDir) are used by both the Standard and Themed
# greeter.
Browser=true
# The default picture in the browser.
#DefaultFace=/usr/share/pixmaps/nobody.png
# User ID's less than the MinimalUID value will not be included in the face
# browser or in the gdmselection list for Automatic/Timed login. They will not
# be displayed regardless of the settings for Include and Exclude.
MinimalUID=1000
# Users listed in Include will be included in the face browser and in the
# gdmsetup selection list for Automatic/Timed login. Users should be separated
# by commas.
#Include=
# Users listed in Exclude are excluded from the face browser and from the
# gdmsetup selection list for Automatic/Timed login. Excluded users will still
# be able to log in, but will have to type their username. Users should be
# separated by commas.
Exclude=nobody
# By default, an empty include list means display no users. By setting
# IncludeAll to true, the password file will be scanned and all users will be
# displayed except users excluded via the Exclude setting and user ID's less
# than MinimalUID. Scanning the password file can be slow on systems with
# large numbers of users and this feature should not be used in such
# environments. The setting of IncludeAll does nothing if Include is set to a
# non-empty value.
IncludeAll=true
# If user or user.png exists in this dir it will be used as his picture.
#GlobalFaceDir=/usr/share/pixmaps/faces/


# File which contains the locale we show to the user. Likely you want to use
# the one shipped with GDM and edit it. It is not a standard locale.alias
# file, although GDM will be able to read a standard locale.alias file as well.
LocaleFile=/etc/gdm/locale.conf
# Logo shown in the standard greeter.
Logo=/usr/share/pixmaps/gdmDebianLogo.xpm
# Logo shown on file chooser button in gdmsetup (do not modify this value).
#ChooserButtonLogo=/usr/share/pixmaps/gdm-foot-logo.png
# The standard greeter should shake if a user entered the wrong username or
# password. Kind of cool looking
#Quiver=true


# The Actions menu (formerly system menu) is shown in the greeter, this is the
# menu that contains reboot, shutdown, suspend, config and chooser. None of
# these is available if this is off. They can be turned off individually
# however.
#SystemMenu=true
# Configuration is available from the system menu of the greeter.
ConfigAvailable=false
# Should the chooser button be shown. If this is shown, GDM can drop into
# chooser mode which will run the xdmcp chooser locally and allow the user to
# connect to some remote host. Local XDMCP does not need to be enabled,
# however.
#ChooserButton=true


# Welcome is for all console logins and RemoteWelcome is for remote logins
# (through XDMCP).
# DefaultWelcome and DefaultRemoteWelcome set the string for Welcome to
# "Welcome" and for DefaultWelcome to "Welcome to %n", and properly translate
# the message to the appropriate language. Note that %n gets translated to the
# hostname of the machine. These default values can be overridden by setting
# DefaultWelcome and/or DefaultRemoteWelcome to false, and setting the Welcome
# and DefaultWelcome values as desired. Just make sure the strings are in
# utf-8 Note to distributors, if you wish to have a different Welcome string
# and wish to have this translated you can have entries such as
# "Welcome[cs]=Vitejte na %n".
DefaultWelcome=true
DefaultRemoteWelcome=true
Welcome=As-salamu alaykom
Welcome[ar]=السلام عليكم
#RemoteWelcome=Welcome to %n


# Xinerama screen we use to display the greeter on. Not for true multihead,
# currently only works for Xinerama.
#XineramaScreen=0
# Background settings for the standard greeter:
# Type can be 0=None, 1=Image & Color, 2=Color, 3=Image
#BackgroundType=2
#BackgroundImage=
#BackgroundScaleToFit=true
# The Standard greeter (gdmlogin) uses BackgroundColor as the background
# color, while the themed greeter (gdmgreeter) uses GraphicalThemedColor
# as the background color.
BackgroundColor=#095401
GraphicalThemedColor=#095401
# XDMCP session should only get a color, this is the sanest setting since you
# don't want to take up too much bandwidth
#BackgroundRemoteOnlyColor=true


# Program to run to draw the background in the standard greeter. Perhaps
# something like an xscreensaver hack or some such.
#BackgroundProgram=
# If this is true then the background program is run always, otherwise it is
# only run when the BackgroundType is 0 (None).
#RunBackgroundProgramAlways=false
# Delay before starting background program
#BackgroundProgramInitialDelay=30
# Should the background program be restarted if it is exited.
#RestartBackgroundProgram=true
# Delay before restarting background program
#BackgroundProgramRestartDelay=30


# Show the Failsafe sessions. These are much MUCH nicer (focus for xterm for
# example) and more failsafe then those supplied by scripts so distros should
# use this rather then just running an xterm from a script.
#ShowGnomeFailsafeSession=true
#ShowXtermFailsafeSession=true
# Normally there is a session type called 'Last' that is shown which refers to
# the last session the user used. If off, we will be in 'switchdesk' mode
# where the session saving stuff is disabled in GDM
#ShowLastSession=true
# Always use 24 hour clock no matter what the locale.
#Use24Clock=auto
# Use circles in the password field. Looks kind of cool actually, but only
# works with certain fonts.
UseCirclesInEntry=true
# Do not show any visible feedback in the password field. This is standard for
# instance in console, xdm and ssh.
#UseInvisibleInEntry=false


# These two keys are for the themed greeter (gdmgreeter). Circles is the
# standard shipped theme. If you want GDM to select a random theme from a
# list then provide a list that is delimited by /: to the GraphicalThemes
# key and set GraphicalThemeRand to true. Otherwise use GraphicalTheme
# and specify just one theme.
GraphicalTheme=HumanME
#GraphicalThemes=bijou/:blueswirl/:circles/:debblue-list/:debblue/:ayo/:debian-dawn/:debian-greeter/:debian/:glassfoot/:hantzley/:happygnome/:industrial/:crystal/:linsta
GraphicalThemeDir=/usr/share/gdm/themes/
GraphicalThemeRand=false


# If InfoMsgFile points to a file, the greeter will display the contents of the
# file in a modal dialog box before the user is allowed to log in.
#InfoMsgFile=
# If InfoMsgFile is present then InfoMsgFont can be used to specify the font to
# be used when displaying the contents of the file.
#InfoMsgFont=Sans 24


# If SoundOnLogin is true, then the greeter will beep when login is ready for
# user input. If SoundOnLogin is a file and the greeter finds the 'play'
# executable (see daemon/SoundProgram) it will play that file instead of just
# beeping.
SoundOnLogin=false
#SoundOnLoginFile=/usr/share/sounds/tasmiyah1.wav
# If SoundOnLoginSuccess, then the greeter will play a sound (as above) when a
# user successfully logs in.
#SoundOnLoginSuccess=false
#SoundOnLoginSuccessFile=
# If SoundOnLoginFailure, then the greeter will play a sound (as above) when a
# user fails to log in.
#SoundOnLoginFailure=false
#SoundOnLoginFailureFile=


# Specifies a program to be called by the greeter/login program when the
# initial screen is displayed. The purpose is to provide a hook where files
# used after login can be preloaded to speed performance for the user. The
# program will only be called once only, the first time a greeter is displayed.
# The gdmprefetch command may be used. This utility will load any libraries
# passed in on the command line, or if the argument starts with a "@"
# character, it will process the file assuming it is an ASCII file containing a
# list of libraries, one per line, and load each library in the file.
PreFetchProgram=/usr/lib/gdmprefetch @/etc/gdm/gdmprefetchlist


# The chooser is what's displayed when a user wants an indirect XDMCP session,
# or selects Run XDMCP chooser from the system menu
[chooser]
# Default image for hosts.
#DefaultHostImg=/usr/share/pixmaps/nohost.png
# Directory with host images, they are named by the hosts: host or host.png.
HostImageDir=/usr/share/hosts/
# Time we scan for hosts (well only the time we tell the user we are scanning
# actually, we continue to listen even after this has expired).
#ScanTime=4
# A comma separated lists of hosts to automatically add (if they answer to a
# query of course). You can use this to reach hosts that broadcast cannot
# reach.
Hosts=
# Broadcast a query to get all hosts on the current network that answer.
Broadcast=true
# Set it to true if you want to send a multicast query to hosts.
Multicast=false
# It is an IPv6 multicast address.It is hardcoded here and will be replaced
# when officially registered xdmcp multicast address of TBD will be available.
#Multicast_Addr=ff02::1
# Allow adding random hosts to the list by typing in their names.
#AllowAdd=true


[debug]
# This will cause GDM to send debugging information to the system log, which
# will create a LOT of output. It is not recommended to turn this on for
# normal use, but it can be useful to determine the cause when GDM is not
# working properly.
Enable=false
# This will enable debug messages for accessibilty gesture listeners into the
# syslog. This includes output about key events, mouse button events, and
# pointer motion events. This is useful for figuring out the cause of why the
# gesture listeners may not be working, but is too verbose for general debug.
Gestures=false


# Attached DISPLAY Configuration
#
[servers]
# This section defines which attached DISPLAYS should be started by GDM by
# default. You can add as many DISPLAYS as desired and they will always be
# started. The key for each entry must be a unique number that cooresponds to
# the DISPLAY number to start the X server. For a typical single-display
# machine, there will only be one entry "0" for DISPLAY ":0". The first word
# in the value corresponds to an X server definition in the "X Server
# Definitions" section of the configuration file. For example, the entry:
#
# 0=Standard
#
# Means that DISPLAY ":0" will start an X server as defined in the
# [server-Standard] section.
#
# The optional device argument is used to specify the device that is associated
# with the DISPLAY. When using Virtual Terminals (VT), this value is ignored
# and GDM will use the correct device name associated with the VT. If not
# using VT, then GDM will use the value specified by this optional argument.
# If the device argument is not defined, then GDM will use the default setting
# for attached displays defined in the UtmpLineAttached configuration option.
# For the main display (typically DISPLAY ":0"), "/dev/console" is a reasonable
# value. For other displays it is probably best to not include this argument
# unless you know the specific device associated with the DISPLAY. The device
# value can contain "%d" which is translated to the DISPLAY value or %h which
# is translated to the hostname.
#
0=Standard device=/dev/console


# Example of how to set up DISPLAY :1 to also use Standard.
#1=Standard


# If you wish to run the XDMCP chooser on the local display use the following
# line
#0=Chooser


# X Server Definitions
#
# Note: Is your X server not listening to TCP requests? Refer to the
# security/DisallowTCP setting!


[server-Standard]
name=Standard server
command=/usr/bin/X -br -audit 0
flexible=true
# Indicates that the X server should be started at a different process
# priority. Values can be any integer value accepted by the setpriority C
# library function (normally between -20 and 20) with 0 being the default. For
# highly interactive applications, -5 yields good responsiveness. The default
# value is 0 and the setpriority function is not called if the value is 0.


#priority=0


# To use this server type you should add -query host or -indirect host to the
# command line.
[server-Terminal]
name=Terminal server
# Add -terminate to make things behave more nicely
command=/usr/bin/X -br -audit 0 -terminate
# Make this not appear in the flexible servers (we need extra params anyway,
# and terminate would be bad for xdmcp choosing). You can make a terminal
# server flexible, but not with an indirect query. If you need flexible
# indirect query server, then you must get rid of the -terminate and the only
# way to kill the flexible server will then be by Ctrl-Alt-Backspace.
flexible=false
# Do not handle this X server for attached displays.
handled=false


# To use this server type you should add -query host or -indirect host to the
# command line.
[server-Chooser]
name=Chooser server
command=/usr/bin/X -br -audit 0
# Make this not appear in the flexible servers for now, but if you wish to
# allow a chooser server then make this true. This is the only way to make a
# flexible chooser server that behaves nicely.
flexible=false
# Run the chooser instead of the greeter. When the user chooses a machine they
# will get this same server but run with "-terminate -query hostname".
chooser=true


[customcommand]
# This section allows you specify up to 10 custom commands. Each of the
# commands can be defined by the seven parameters listed below. In each of the
# descriptions of the parameters N can take on any values between 0 and 9,
# i.e. CustomCommand0=,CustomCommand1=,...,CustomCommand9 =. The numbers
# can have gaps as long as they fit within predefined set of 10, and their
# placement order within this section and with respect to each other is
# not important.
#
# CustomCommandN, CustomCommandTextN, CustomCommandLabelN,
# CustomCommandLRLabelN, CustomCommandTooltipN, CustomCommandIsPersistentN
# and CustomCommandNoRestartN should all be defined for a given integer N,
# where N can be a number from 0-9 (if not the default values will be
# assigned except CustomCommandN for which no default exists).


# Custom command to run. Multiple commands may be specified separated by
# semicolons. GDM will use the first valid command. Examples:
# /sbin/boot*******;/usr/bin/boot*******, or
# /sbin/runupdate;/usr/local/sbin/runupdate
#
#CustomCommandN=


# Custom command dialog message that will appear on all warning dialogs.
# This will vary depending on what you want to do. Examples:
# Are you sure you want to restart system into *******?, or
# Are you sure you want do do this?
#CustomCommandTextN=


# Custom command label that will appear as stock label on buttons/menu items.
# This option can't contain any semicolon characters (i.e. ";").
# Examples:
# _*******, or
# _Update Me
#CustomCommandLabelN=


# Custom command label that will appear as stock label on radio buttons/list
# items. The underscore indicates the mnemonic used with this item. Examples:
# Restart into _*******
# Perform system _Update
#CustomCommandLRLabelN=


# Custom command tooltip. Examples
# Restarts the computer into *******
# Updates the computer software to the most recent version(s)
#CustomCommandTooltipN=


# Custom command persistence option. Setting it to true will allow this
# command to appear outside the login manager, e.g. on the desktop through
# Log Out/Shut Down dialogs. The default value is false.
#CustomCommandIsPersistentN=


# Custom command gdm/system restart option. Setting it to true will not
# restart gdm after command execution. The default commands (reboot, shut
# down) all reboot the system by default which is why the default setting
# is true.
# In addition when corresponding CustomCommandIsPersistentN option is set to
# true, setting CustomCommandNoRestartN to false will place CustomCommandN
# in the Shut Down dialog set of actions, setting it to true will place
# CustomCommandN in the Log Out dialog set of actions.
#CustomCommandNoRestartN=
#
# Example layout for more than one command:
#CustomCommand0=
#CustomCommandText0=
#CustomCommandLabel0=
#CustomCommandLRLabel0=
#CustomCommandTooltip0=
#CustomCommandIsPersistent0=
#CustomCommandNoRestart0=
#
#CustomCommand1=
#CustomCommandText1=
#CustomCommandLabel1=
#CustomCommandLRLabel1=
#CustomCommandTooltip1=
#CustomCommandIsPersistent1=
#CustomCommandNoRestart1=
#
# and so on


Like you suggested, I've set the ' /etc/X11/default-display-manager ' to "/usr/sbin/gdm". Now the system boots fine (as far as I can tell, of course).
It looks like now I have a running system that uses gdm instead of lightdm, and looks not like unity, but like gnome2 (and the latest part I wanted, if possible, from the very start). I think I can live with that, unless there's something I don't know yet.
And in any case, in a day I've learned about Ubuntu more then I learned in years before that, since I never tried anything as adventurous as upgrading myself, even rarely needed to use the terminal!
I'm very grateful for your help. You are my HERO! :KS

[Miriel_of_Chaos]

Oh, and I feet like a short SUMMARY would be in place as to what the outcome in my case was so far. Just in case someone else stumbles upon this thread.
It actually seems to me, that after my upgrade from 12.10 to 14.04 I had ran into at least two problems, which people keep bringing up:

1. The first one was when trying to boot I was seeing the ubuntu logo with blinking dots forever.
This was solved by changing "ro" parameter to "rw" in the GRUB boot entry when booting. The idea came from this post http://askubuntu.com/questions/468846/permanent-grub-edit-from-ro-to-rw and though some claim this cannot help, it did help me to get to tty1 when logging as "text" (and into *Stopping Samba Auto Reload Integration hanging forever otherwise, just like the topicstarter mentioned.) Btw, I didn't have to make the "rw" change permanent, as the problem disappeared at some point.
Starting lightdm at that point would bring up the login screen, wich would not allow to log in (error message).

2. After I installed gdm, like someone suggested somewhere, I could log in just fine and *Stopping Samba Auto Reload Integration problem was gone. However, after switching back to lightdm, I was stuck with the inability to get past login screen (no error messages this time, I just enter the password, screen gets dark and then I'm back at the login screen again).

[Miriel_of_Chaos]

And this was not the end! :)
Since I had some spare time and just couldn't stop digging (I'm a software tester by trade, it can't be helped), I discovered what seems to be a very likely candidate for the cause of my login screen not allowing me to login when using lightdm.
It now seems to me, that I had a problem with my .xAuthority file. From the post here http://askubuntu.com/questions/300682/what-represent-xauthority-file I got an idea to run the
chown username:username .Xauthority In that thread there is an explanation that if you are not the owner of this file you can't log in since you can't store your credentials there, and that this situation usually arises when you execute a GUI application (for instance "nautilus") with root permissions by typing
sudo nautilus And I did type and execute that.

Now, after changing the ownership of .Xauthority, my problem is SOLVED :grin:
However then booting, I now no longer get a login screen where I have to enter my password at all. This is fine with me, I prefer it this way. But I am wondering, why is it completely skipped now?

[Bashing-om]

Miriel_of_Chaos; Yes indeed ;

A learning process, in which I too have a long way to go -
Only if you do not desire unity as your desktop do we cease trying to find the cause, looks though to be configuration issues with your user account.
What we might do, if you want unity functional is to boot up with unity in that guest account and confirm that unity works in that alternate account. If then unity is functional we know for sure it is a configuration issue in "your" account.
As to the new development:


However then booting, I now no longer get a login screen where I have to enter my password at all. This is fine with me, I prefer it this way. But I am wondering, why is it completely skipped now?

That too is a config file. Right off hand I do not know that location nor how it is parsed. Should not be all that difficult to find out.

See, one has complete access to anything on the system ->


open source




no secrets !

[Miriel_of_Chaos]

Right now it's only the login screen with lightdm which is not functional (for any account), or rather was not functional, as I don't have it any longer, until I log off at which point it behaves correctly.
The unity is perfectly fine, I do not want it for the simple reason I am the sole user of this laptop. And unfortunately, I have to use MS Windows at work and having window control buttons in the opposite corners of the windows is driving me insane :) So no unity for the time being.

But when it comes to getting that login screen when booting, I was just curios, don't feel like spending any more of my or your time on this!
And thanks once again!! I was going to give up, just before I saw your answer to my the plea for help :)

[Bashing-om]

Miriel_of_Chaos; Great !

Though I admire and have a high degree of appreciation for unity, in my work flow I prefer xfce4 ->
Then we leave well enough alone



and continue on our merry way




happy trails to you

[Miriel_of_Chaos]

I can appreciate it, but it's also a matter of habit, and though learning new things is fun, when it come to the tools, I dislike if it takes to much of my energy and time.
Overall I consider this case a positive experience, much due to the amount of available support and patient friendly people eager to give an advice to a noob :)

[Bashing-om]

Miriel_of_Chaos; Believe it !

With your attitude, you will not be a 'noob' for long and you WILL "pass it along" !



'buntu



all of 1 and one for all