{"id":2148,"date":"2015-07-30T13:48:44","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T13:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johncanning.net\/wp\/?p=2148"},"modified":"2015-07-30T13:50:53","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T13:50:53","slug":"linux-mint-17-2-booting-problem-seemingly-solved-by-installing-gdm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/johncanning.net\/wp\/?p=2148","title":{"rendered":"Linux Mint 17.2 booting problem seemingly solved by installing gdm."},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tI installed R and R-studio onto my Linux Mint 17.2<\/a> installation last night – I have no idea if this related to my present problem. All seemed to go fine with the installation of the packages, but when I turned the computer on this morning it would not boot up. Stubborn as I am I have sought a solution high and low. Whenever I turned on the computer the boot-up sequence would freeze at the Mint logo.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI initially thought I had some sort of graphics driver problem <\/a>but the solutions mentioned did not work for me. I inadvertently found a solution on an Ubuntu forum <\/a>(Mint is actually a fork of Ubuntu), by installing gdm (Gnome desktop manager) on Mint.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the computer was booting I got into the command line. Exact procedures for reaching the command line on boot-up may vary by in my case.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t1. Pressed Esc repeatedly on start up
\n\t2. Selected Mint recovery mode.
\n\t3. Selected reboot to get into the command line:
\n\t4. Hold down CTRL+F1\n<\/p>\n

\n\tProbably a good idea to make sure everything is up to date\n<\/p>\n

\r\n\tsudo apt-get update\r\n\tsudo apt-get upgrade\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n\t \n<\/p>\n
\n\tTo install and configure Gnome Desktop: In the terminal type<\/p>\n
\r\n\tsudo agt-get install gdm\r\n\tsudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n\tThen reboot\n<\/p>\n
\n\tE.g.\n<\/p>\n
\r\nsudo reboot\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n\tThe Computer then booted up the Gnome rather than the Mint desktop. You should see a list of the users for the Mint installation.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIf you login with the default the desktop appears for a micro-second then goes back to the login screen. Instead you need to click the settings icon (it looks like a cog) and select 'Mate'. (I'm using Mate rather than Cinnamon).\n<\/p>\n
\n\tGo make to the command terminal to install mdm (Mate Desktop Manager).\n<\/p>\n
\n\tProbably a good idea to make sure everything is up to date\n<\/p>\n
\r\nsudo apt-get update\r\nsudo apt-get upgrade\r\n<\/pre>\n
To install mdm\n<\/p>\n
\r\n\t\r\nsudo agt-get install mdm\r\nsudo dpkg-reconfigure mdm\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n\tAt this point mdm was installed and there was no complaint from the computer that it was not installed.
\n\tI'm starting to suspect that mdm got installed for some reason I don't understand. (If this is the case I suspect I could have installed and configure mdm directly in the boot-up command line stage without having to install gdm!)\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAt this point a message comes up to say that you cannot have two desktop managers. Selected the mdm rather than gdm.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tI've rebooted a few times and everything seems fine (so far). Disclaimer: I'm not a Linux expert and my job is not in software or IT! don't know why it worked or if it will continue to work.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tJust thought I'd share it here anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n