Black screen login woes.
 

I have searched all Linux forums for an answer before I started this thread, so I'm not lazy as someone suggested.
I am assisting my daughter in 'getting into' her HP Pavilion machine running Mint 14, after repairing a broken package the next re-boot turned ugly.
Just a black screen, all sorts of machine and OS info and a login cursor. After adding the login info all she got was another black screen with a flashing cursor.
We don't have any idea what or where to add.
Can anyone help, please, we're desperate.

You might want to try to upgrading to Mint 16. Free and easy thing to try. Also, try to boot into single use mode.