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Thread: HELP! I screwed up my boot-loader

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    The Oort Cloud
    Beans
    65
    Distro
    Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa

    Exclamation HELP! I screwed up my boot-loader

    Hi Folks,

    I messed up. I was trying to change the image on my login screen (which I had done previously without a problem). I copied the image file to the proper directory (/usr/share/backgrounds) and then I edited the gdm.css (or something like that) file. Well, apparently, I didn't copy-paste something correctly and now my PC will not boot. The boot process stops at the point where the login screen would load - it gets caught in some kind of loop and just sits there.

    I can still access the BIOS and I can hit Esc during boot and get the Ubuntu rescue menu. Is there a way I can restore this corrupted file to default and save my data? The good news is, I backed up my data. The bad news is, my backup failed. So, if I cannot somehow get this PC to successfully boot, I will lose a lot of personal and business data.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    MikeG
    Lenovo Ideapad Laptop (81CW) - Linux User #624832
    Pentium CPU 4415U (2.30GHz, x4) - 4G RAM
    Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    SW Forida
    Beans
    Hidden!
    Distro
    Kubuntu

    Re: HELP! I screwed up my boot-loader

    You should be able to boot with your Ubuntu live installer and mount install or do a full chroot into install.

    Or can you boot second line or recovery mode and get to terminal command line. That does not automatically start gui, so you can manually edit files. I use nano which is installed by default and is command line only, but old school arrow keys and control keys use is required.
    UEFI boot install & repair info - Regularly Updated :
    https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295
    Please use Thread Tools above first post to change to [Solved] when/if answered completely.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    The Oort Cloud
    Beans
    65
    Distro
    Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa

    Re: HELP! I screwed up my boot-loader

    Update :

    I got in through the grub menu and edited the boot options to include a single boot to root. Once I had root, I reinstalled the gnome shell and rebooted. Works fine now and back to default.

    I won't go tinkering willy nilly with critical config files again. LOL.
    Lenovo Ideapad Laptop (81CW) - Linux User #624832
    Pentium CPU 4415U (2.30GHz, x4) - 4G RAM
    Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS

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