My sorry laptop with Ubuntu loaded has crashed with file system errors again. Can only run Ubuntu from disk and doesn't retain anything as nothing will actually save in the machine. I'm currently using my ancient Win2k machine to do most things, although there's a lot it can't do. Looks like the last post I made or tried to make got deleted; I can't find any trace of it. Doesn't matter now anyway.

Hello and welcome to LQ!

Check out http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz for some pearls of Wisdom.

I now have a desktop running Ubuntu Studio 14.xx and a "new" reconditioned laptop running Mint 17.x. Been taking classes thru Treehouse and am even flirting with Ruby a bit. So, there's hope for me yet. Oh, I should mention the desktop is dual boot and also runs Windows 7 (I know, boo, hiss, right?) but I almost never use the Win7, just sometimes when I really need the Adobe software stuff. Yes, I do use GIMP too. Getting ready to go to a live local tutorial for web dev stuff in a few days.

I think you're on the right track. I myself have both Photoshop and gimp and while I find that you can do all with gimp, since I have to have W7 around for development purposes, I stick with Adobe for my real intense graphics.

I was wondering if the reason your first system persisted in dying was because the hard drive was kaput. Sounds like you've moved away from that or got some replacement parts. Happy computing and welcome to the forums!

Welcome aboard.

You'll soon feel at home with Linux, because you have the right attitude.

Hello and welcome to a fellow Oregonian.

Your post is showing, normally someone's first post is held back until a moderator reviews it. Happened to me, too.

I agree with rtmistler that your hard drive might be failing. You can test it by using a utility offered by the hard drive manufacturer.

Regards...

It wasn't the hard drive that had died, it was the motherboard. Wasn't worth trying to replace that on an old laptop, so I got a "new" (reconditioned) one, which I'm using now, the one that's running Mint. But, I have another problem. I was trying to make edits to the terminal emulator in Ubuntu Studio on my desktop machine, and got frustrated, so I went to the Ubuntu Software Center, found what looked like a better terminal, and installed that. However, I uninstalled the existing terminal emulator first, not realizing that I was also removing essential elements of the GUI. Now, all I can see when I boot the desktop is the wallpaper. Can't access anything, because there's nowhere/no way to access it. What I had was the xfce interface; what I installed instead is GNOME/unity, but I don't know how to get access to that, or how to get it to start with GNOME instead of the damaged/missing xfce. I can get to the root shell prompt, but don't know what to type in there to accomplish what I need. Can anybody help me with my problem? I have files I need to access that I can't.

Hi...

I'm not sure if this will work but you can try using the solution here, if your system can still access the internet. However, there might be a better way of resolving this problem if you want to wait for someone else to respond.

Regards...

In messing around, trying to get something to work, I have managed to get the operating system to "see" the Ubuntu Studio installation DVD in the drive, that I made some time ago. (It wasn't doing that before.) I can get to most of my existing files by using the "try, but not install" option, but not all programs that were available before. I'm afraid if I actually reinstall from the DVD, I'll lose all my existing files, though. I do also have a portable hard drive attached via usb (it also has an install version of Ubuntu on it, all the same version, Trusty, though not with all the latest updates, of course) and I suppose I could copy the contents of the files on the hard drive to the portable hard drive, and then go ahead and reinstall the Ubuntu Studio from the DVD. Probably should do that anyway, just to have a backup. (As long as the Ubuntu Studio Trusty install that's on the portable drive didn't mess with the files--I'm not sure how to set up a partition on the drive. I guess that would be another learning opportunity...) I'll mess around some more and report my results... Thanks for the suggestion of that link, although in and of itself, it didn't help. (Indirectly, it may have.) But, there's hope...

if you have an old laptop, ubuntu might not be the best of choices. have you tried slackware x32 14.1? give it a try. it runs with acceptable speed at my 1 GHz Pentium III with 256 MB of ram.

After some more experimentation, I've figured out how to access the GNOME/unity desktop, instead of the xfce one, though I "think" I have access to both. I have to pull down the menu for those options AFTER I've typed in my password, but BEFORE I hit <enter> to get to the desktop I want. Minor nuisance, but adjusted to quickly, and I like having the other option, even if a bit less "graceful" than the xfce desktop I had before. I can live with this. (And in the end, I didn't have to reinstall anything from the installation disk. That Ubuntu site really does help, though paying attention helps, too/most. ) My dual-boot desktop is "back in the saddle" with both Win7 and Ubuntu!

Thank you, everybody, for the helpful comments. (Do note, though, that the ORIGINAL laptop is history. There's just no fixing a dead motherboard & replacement for an aged laptop is impractical. The REPLACEMENT laptop is newer and works just fine, running Mint. Thank you, Free Geek!)

Hi...

I took a tour of FreeGeek back in 2001 as I live about 100 miles from Portland. Quite the operation they have there.

If you feel this issue has been resolved, please mark this thread as "SOLVED" by clicking on "Thread Tools" above your initial post. Thanks!

Regards...

...I could get into my desktop machine's Ubuntu profile consistently, using what I've discovered and learned about using GNOME, instead of xfce. I can, and I have, so yes, I'm calling this "solved" and I will so indicate. Thank you all again!

I went to the "Thread Tools" at the top of the thread, but I didn't find a "solved" option in the pulldowns. Perhaps they don't have those for "introduction" post threads? How do I mark it "solved" when I don't have the option?