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Conversation started Jul 8, 2012 at 7:04.

Dave M G

Jul 8, 2012 07:04

Hey there. Is it cool to ask for help here? I can't login to my computer that I need to work on, so I'm in a bit of a desperate spot.

jokerdino

well you can. but whether or not someone can help you is another matter =)

as in, we (read I) might not have enough expertise

@DaveMG so any error or any particular issues that you observe?

Dave M G

Fair enough. The issue is this one: askubuntu.com/q/161037/17041 I keep getting bounced back to the login screen after entering my password. Any tips or advice on what I can do, even if it's just how to flesh out my question to increase the chance of getting an answer would be much appreciated.

jokerdino

it might be a problem in the sessions file.

Dave M G

@jokerdino: Sessions file? I can log into that computer via the command line on my laptop, so what sessions file should I be looking at?

jokerdino

you see, i can't tell for sure. i am sorta just speculating.

files in /usr/share/xsessions

blah.

Dave M G

Jul 8, 2012 07:12

Okay... there are a bunch of files in there with a .desktop extension.

jokerdino

look for the gnome-classic.desktop if there is any

izx

That's a rare combo....what happens if you login in text mode, and then startx?

i.e. forget the desktop manager

Dave M G

Yeah... if I do startx, it says I already have a session running on desktop 0.

@jokerdino: $ cat gnome-classic.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Name=GNOME Classic
Comment=This session logs you into GNOME with the traditional panel
Exec=gnome-session --session=gnome-classic
TryExec=gnome-session
Icon=
Type=Application
X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=gnome-session-3.0

izx

You need to boot into the console via kernel CLI parameter; or type sudo service lightdm stop then startx

Dave M G

@izx: Okay... I guess I have to run that right on the machine, not via ssh on the laptop. Give me a few moments to try that.

jokerdino

Jul 8, 2012 07:15

@dave you can stop x using sudo service lightdm stop thingie

izx

startx is usually on the actual machine, yes :) but @jokerdino that

jokerdino

that.

Dave M G

@izx: Okay, I stopped lightdm, and then ran startx, and now the screen is completely black. No command prompt.

izx

switch back to tty1, provide latest Xorg log, tellings us what timestamps correspond to this latest attempt

I think it may be your nvidia drivers - can you boot into the old kernel and see if the problem persists?

Dave M G

@izx: Now I hit CTRL+ALT+F1, and there'S a bunch of text streaming down the screen. It's repeating "No protocol specificed" over and over.

izx

Jul 8, 2012 07:18

Ctrl-C

Dave M G

@izx: CTRL+C isn't killing it. Refuses to die.

jokerdino

i have been there =)

stop x again maybe

izx

You ran startx from the actual desktop, right? not over ssh?

Try Ctrl-Break, else open VT2

Dave M G

Oh... it just died of it's own accord. Says:

xinit: giving up.
xinit: unable to connect to X server: resource temporarily unavailable
waiting for X server to shut down. ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log
Server terminated successfully (0). closing log file
xinit: expected signal 2

(Had to type that out since I can't trap the output via SSH).

I have a command prompt back, though.

izx

You DID run this from the actual desktop, right?

Dave M G

Jul 8, 2012 07:25

@isx: Yeah, everything you suggested I'm doing at the actual desktop.

izx

Jul 8, 2012 07:37

OK, then try DISPLAY=:0.0 startx

Dave M G

@isx: Okay, tried that, it says:
Fatal server error:

Server is already active for display 0
If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0-lock
and start again.

jokerdino

stop x once again and retry

Dave M G

I also looked up "no proptocol specified" on the web, and found some advice that said remove a file called .Xauthority in the home directory. I found that file and deleted it, and rebooted, but it didn't fix it.

Okay, I tried DISPLAY=:0.0 startx after stopping lightgdm first, but that gives me the black screen.

jokerdino

tut tut

Dave M G

"tut tut"...? What does that mean?

jokerdino

Jul 8, 2012 07:42

just looking for bugs in LP now. tut tut meaning good luck

anyway, @DaveMG does logging into other DE work?

Dave M G

What's a "DE"?

jokerdino

desktop environment. like try Unity or something

Dave M G

Oh... yeah, I tried all the available options - compiz no effects, Gnome regular, Ubuntu, and Ubuntu 2D. Same issue with all of them.

I also just tried dpkg-reconfigure lightgdm, but that doesn't seem to have done anything.

jokerdino

install gdm then.

it might be a problem with unity-greeter

Dave M G

Okay.. installing gdm... just gave me the interface to select default display manager...

jokerdino

Jul 8, 2012 07:48

select gdm

Dave M G

selected gdm...

jokerdino

stop lightdm and start gdm, like this :

sudo service lightdm stop
sudo service gdm start

and good luck

Dave M G

okay... it changed my login screen... that's fine... and...
I'm in!

Changing to gdm worked!

Oh man, you're a life saver.

jokerdino

arrrgh. someone fix that stupid lightdm bug already

Dave M G

That's awesome.

Question before I go:

Should I care that I'm on gdm and not lightdm now? Like, are there implications I should be aware of?

jokerdino

Jul 8, 2012 07:51

well, i'll find a fix for lightdm and you can be happy thereafter.

but there aren't very many bad things using gdm..

it could be a problem with unity-greeter. so let's look that up.

cat /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

Dave M G

$ cat /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

[SeatDefaults]
greeter-session=unity-greeter
user-session=ubuntu

jokerdino

nothing else?

Dave M G

That's the whole output.

jokerdino

interesting.

Dave M G

Hey... is there a way I can link to this chat so that it can be incorporated into my question?

Conversation ended Jul 8, 2012 at 7:56.

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