How do I restore my system to boot with KDE?
 

Greetings, I have had Kubuntu installed for quite some time, I very rarely use it because of my dependanacy on windows but frequently boot up Kubuntu to do updates.

A few days ago, I tried to boot Kubuntu and it comes up in command line only, I login but it stays at the command line, no KDE.

On the boot list I have Ubuntu 2.6.32-21-generic.

I have gotten used to using KDE and now I need to use Linux but am not command line fluent.

How do I restore my system to boot with KDE?

Thank You.

Try entering the command startkde after you log in.

For the command line fluency part, see the tutorial links in my sig.

And what is it that keeps you dependant on Windows? If it's because you are more comfortable with it, read more Linux tutorials! If it's because of some programs, you have 3 options, ordered from most to least preferable:

1) Look for a Linux-native alternative.

2) Install the Windows application in WINE.

3) Install VirtualBox (basically a whole PC emulated in software) in Linux. Install Windows in VirtualBox. Optionally, install VirtualBox Guest Additions in Windows so that the Windows windows and clipboard can integrate seamlessly into your Linux desktop!

Being on the command line type startx and than enter.
If kde does not start post the error message .
Knowing the error message it might be possible to repair or to reinstall kde.

The usual command to start a Linux GUI session from a terminal is startx, so you could try entering that command after you log in.

From your description of your problem it sounds to me that it may be a problem with the video driver that Ubuntu is using for your system. If that's the case, when you run startx, you should see some error messages. If you can read then, tell us what they say and we might be able to help. If the messages go by too fast for you to read them, enter this command:(The output is from my laptop, and is posted for illustration purposes only. If you're interested, the first two errors were generated because the second screen I use is not turned on, and the last is because I'm using a old Gyration mouse.)

Do you know what version of Ubuntu you're using? The command uname -r should tell you that, or cat /etc/*release if you want more information.

To paraphrase what MTK already said: The best way to learn Linux--including terminal commands--is to not use Windows.

If your Ubuntu was set up to boot into KDE, then something obviously has changed. One of the first things to do is look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log Towards the end, there should be some clue.

To help read the file:

This finds each line starting with (WW) (warning), and then prints the line and the 5 preceding. To find errors, change WW to EE.

PTrenholme and I were typing concurrently---we almost came up with identical answers!!!

I remember a long time ago I tried unsuccessfully to switch to Linux. It was strange and alien. There was no antivirus available (remember, I still was a clueless Windows user who thought that antivirus is a must). These weird things called "packages" really scared me because I had no idea how they worked. I didn't know how to use the command line. It was a feeling of pure helplessness. I even kind of felt sorry for the developers wasting their time on this strange system that hardly anyone uses.

Here's what was different about the final and successful attempt: I used a VM, so there was zero risk. I actually just found out about VMs and thought it was a good time to give Linux another shot. I spent the whole day, from when I got up from bed to late in the evening, reading Linux tutorials. When I started Linux up in a VM, I actually knew what to do. I even did a little programming in it! After a few days, I reformatted my drive and got rid of Windows.

In addition to startx, and startkde, you could also try:
or possibly:
This should start the kdm or gdm login window that will allow you to login to the graphical desktop.

My main dependancy on windows is from the following
I Program microcontrollers using a programmer connected to a PCI card parallel port, I have trouble getting Linux to see the parallel port, I have run the programmer's aplication using WINE but being that the harware isn't found I can't use it.
I have downloaded many diferent distros, from time to time I download the latest distros I have tried to use ex. Debian Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Knoppix I even had Suse.
I wish I could get rid of this dependancy faster but I haven't had much time to tinker with Linux.
I believe the "free" philosophy of Linux is great, by free I don't mean free of charge, alot of people have spent countless hours writing countless lines of code to benefit averyone.

I think my KDE problem has to do with the NVIDIA display, the stratup sreen looks wierd, I will run startx again and write down the errors.

I would like to thank everyone for their replies

Thanks again for all those replies.
The problem must have been an update for NVIDIA, I am now posting using Kubuntu and Firefox. I tried to boot yesterday and it said there were 40 packages that could be updated, of the few commands that I remembered was "sudo apt-get update", after I ran the update another problem arose but, the system told me what to enter and I had to restart the system.

I really need to read the manual for this if I'm gonna learn Linux.
So much to read, so little time.

Thanks again

http://linuxcommand.org/

http://rute.2038bug.com/