Cannot Login

[cosmarchy]

Great....I cannot log in.

Until about an hour ago, I was using kubuntu desktop but then the problems started. I rebooted and tried to log in. I typed the correct password and then I got a black screen and then it returned me to the login screen again. Ummmm, I thought. So I tried again, and again, and again.....

Every time I get the same thing - a black screen and then it returns me to the login screen.

Can anyone please point me in the right direction to solving this?

Thanks

[steeldriver]

can you log in at one of the virtual terminals (Ctrl-Alt-F1 etc.)? if so, do that then check the ownership of your .Xauthority / .ICEauthority files:

ls -l ~/.{X,ICE}authority

[cosmarchy]

can you log in at one of the virtual terminals (Ctrl-Alt-F1 etc.)? if so, do that then check the ownership of your .Xauthority / .ICEauthority files:

ls -l ~/.{X,ICE}authority

The result is

ls:cannot access /home/user/_Xauthority: No such file or directory
ls:cannot access /home/user/_ICEauthority: No such file or directory

Thanks

[cosmarchy]

Interestingly enough it lets me login as a guest but not as the usual account I was using.

[steeldriver]

the first character should be a dot not an underscore

twiddle slash DOT Xauthority

[cosmarchy]

the first character should be a dot not an underscore

twiddle slash DOT Xauthority

Oh dear What do I do now then?

[steeldriver]

if your .Xauthority file has become root-owned you can just delete it

sudo rm /home/yourusername/.Xauthority

once you've done that, try again logging in at the GUI

[cosmarchy]

if your .Xauthority file has become root-owned you can just delete it

sudo rm /home/yourusername/.Xauthority

once you've done that, try again logging in at the GUI

this didn't do anything as I still had the same problem when I tried to log in. So I thought what the hell and tried

sudo rm /home/yourusername/.ICEauthority

instead; now i'm back in

I am curious however, being a linux numpty and all, but when I do a ls on the

/home/yourusername/

directory, I cannot see .Xauthority or .ICEauthority...why?

thanks for your help

[steeldriver]

files starting with a '.' character are hidden - you need to use 'ls -a' ('all') or 'ls -al' ("all, long") to see them using 'ls'