Did something stupid, now sort of locked out.

**lazlow13** · August 14th, 2019

Ok, I was trying to redesign my basic desktop. I still prefer the old gnome 2 style. Been down the mate/cinnamon routes and there were issues(just don't ask). So I installed gnome-tweaks (? or something close to it) and added a couple of extensions (dock something, workspace something)(standard repos, nothing squirely) . I noticed that after I turned them on I had lost the workspaces on the right(hit activities to get them to show) and everywhere else(everything else still worked fine). So I figure it had disable the stock one and a log out would activate the new one. Lets me log in, mouse moves around but does nothing, and the keyboard is the same. Tried a reboot to same effect. It will let me "deactivate" the screen saver (un-blank it to show desktop).So, how do I get out of this one?ThanksEdit: 18.04

**cruzer001** · August 14th, 2019

So I installed gnome-tweaks (? or something close to it) and added a couple of extensions (dock something, workspace something)(standard repos, nothing squirely) .

Way too many somethings in your request. Disable all extensions and see if that helps.

**lazlow13** · August 14th, 2019

So how do you disable the extensions without access to the desktop?

**cruzer001** · August 14th, 2019

Ctrl + Alt + t
Will that bring up a terminal?
I use FireFox, so here's how it's done in FF.
In terminal enter:

Code:

firefox

Go to gnome extensions site and disable from there.
This wont work without the gnome ext plugin in FF or whatever browser you use.

**lazlow13** · August 14th, 2019

As I stated in my original post. Keyboard and mouse are dead once you have logged in. The extensions were installed via the package manager.

**cruzer001** · August 14th, 2019

Are you familiar with recovery mode?

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RecoveryMode

**cruzer001** · August 14th, 2019

Here we go, reconfigure the shell

https://askubuntu.com/questions/6776...-3/67771#67771

Edit
One last thing and I got to go,

At the login screen you can also press "Ctrl+Alt+F1" and that will take you to Console. To leave console "Ctrl+Alt+F7" or just reboot code: sudo reboot.

Its text only, but thats all you need to run commands.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/5065...d-command-line

**lazlow13** · August 14th, 2019

I got into a session at the login screen (never thought about trying there, just at the desktop).When I enter gnome-tweaks or firefox it spits out a xwindows(xorg?) error. Went to find the install disk. Found my Redhat 3.0 (not RHEL 3.0, but the earlier one, 1996?). Found my Os/2 2.4 beta floppies. By the time I found the Bionic disks, I decided with all the different desktops that I had installed and removed that I would be better off just doing a clean install. Now the trick will be trying to make the changes I want without repeating whatever happened. Hopefully it was just a conflict with some ruminant from one of the other desktops. Thanks for the help.

**lazlow13** · August 15th, 2019

So wound up with the same lockout after the fresh install. Eventually I discovered that two packages were needed but not installed for some reason.[.......]"python-q-text-as-data"{........]"python3-q-text-as-data"[........}installed those and regained control(normal). Now lets see how many more times I can shoot myself in the foot.{.......}As a side note, how do I keep this forum from reformatting my posts? Of all the forums I use, this is the only one that does this.

**cruzer001** · August 15th, 2019

It's a learning process, too many desktops can have ill effects. A reinstall is a sure way to clean it all out. I show those two python packages as not installed, don't know whats up with that.

Maybe something like GnomeBoxes would be of interest to you. With virtual machines you can test and experiment without ever putting your primary installation at risk.

Code: