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frustrated and need some pointers

i downloaded "Ubuntu" and have it on my hard drive but am able to still use XP. but when i want to use ubuntu, i go through the password screens and all, then i come to an orange page and does nothing :S i have a mouse pointer but thats all thats on the screen. if i could get some help tht would be great!

Lets see: --- when you get to that point try pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1, which will hopefully drop you to a virtual console. Then try

Code:

startx

Let the community then see any error messages that comes thereafter.

Best of luck ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isix (Post 3436047)

Lets see: --- when you get to that point try pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1, which will hopefully drop you to a virtual console. Then try

Code:

startx

Let the community then see any error messages that comes thereafter.

Best of luck ...

i did all that, and a message that came after words was as fallows:
Fatal server error:
server is already active for display 0 If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0 lock.

what now?

some one please help!

Quote:

i did all that, and a message that came after words was as fallows:
Fatal server error:
server is already active for display 0 If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0 lock.

what now?

if you use gnome

Code:

sudo killall gdm

if you use kde

Quote:

sudo killall kdm

then

Code:

startx

Well,try;

Code:

rm -f /tmp/.X0-lock

from the command line and then;

Code:

startx

If it works,post the output of /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
Try to press CONTROL-ALT-F7 while at the text login prompt.

One question are you using Wubi to run Ubuntu from XP?

I must ask first if your hardware is fully compatible. For troubleshooting, I always start with square one and go through the process of elimination.

If you have the ubuntu CD, it is a live cd. If you reboot your machine (and make sure it boots to the CD first) you can run the whole thing off the disk.

If everything looks good from the CD, then it could be an installation error of some sort.

I have not used Wubi yet and can't state to its effectiveness. Perhaps other could....

thank you all for trying to help!
i just tryed to do input some codes, but i couldnt even get the black screen to do it in, it seemed not to respond, i still have the mouse icon tho?
and yes i did use wubi to download it, i have requested a cd in the mail but that will take weeks.
and for my system im using:
Compact Desktop, intel celeron, 756 ram, 80 g hard drive 2.5 ghz.

When the GRUB menu bypass screen appears at boot time, press any key to enter the GRUB menu (within the first three seconds).Press the [a] key to append to the kernel command.Press space at the end of the line and add 1.When you're on the command line post the output of;

Code:

ps aux | grep `cat /tmp/.X0-lock`

and then try to startx X with the;

Code:

startx -- :1

I think the is a typo in alanri_ri's code:

Code:

ps aux | grep `cat /tmp/.X0-lock`]

remove the "]" at the end, so that it reads

Code:

ps aux | grep `cat /tmp/.X0-lock`

Am I right?

Yes,you're right, ] shouldn't be there.It wasn't a typo mistake,something happend with wraping the code.Fixed.

start in recovery mode and fix display

Hi, josh22 -

Here's what I think probably happened:

1. You successfully downloaded and installed "Ubuntu"

2. Ubuntu successfully autoconfigured itself ... almost!
a) You can dual-boot Ubuntu or Windows XP (good)
b) You can start Ubuntu (good)
c) Ubuntu starts the GUI (good)

3. Unfortunately, the problem seems that, once the GUI starts, all you get is the desktop (the "orange screen"). It never gets past that - you don't seem to get any of the menus or icons you need to do anything useful.
<= I'm guessing, like Drakeo, that maybe the install didn't correctly configure your X windows "display"

Please let us know if I'm off-base.

So what are your options?

Sadly, you're in a "Catch-22":
a) the problem might be easily resolved if you had previous Linux experience
... but ...
b) the problem is *preventing* you from *getting* experience!

SUGGESTION:
1. Re-installing might help
"Auto-recovery" would be less drastic ... but it's a lot harder to use, and you might run the risk of "messing things up"

2. You might want to consider downloading an .iso image of Linux, burning a CD from it, and select the "Boot from CD" option (i.e. just *run* Linux, without actually installing it on your hard drive ... for now).

These pages might be of help:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GraphicalInstall
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.10/index.html
http://www.ubuntu.com/support
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Hope that helps .. PSM

PS:
Please also look at this link: it seems to *exactly* describe your problem (and, hopefully, suggests a good solution):

http://ma65p.wordpress.com/2008/08/1...top-in-ubuntu/

Quote:

POSSIBLE SOLUTION:
1. Hold down Ctrl+Alt+F1
<= Like you did in Post#2 above

2. Login
<= Again, just like you did in Post#2

3. Instead of typing "startx", type this:

Quote:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

This will (re) install the ubuntu desktop - It should put back the menus and the icons you're mising

4. Reboot

Hi, josh22 -

Any luck?

Hi all, Thank you all for your help in this matter. I have inputted this code:
ps aux | grep 'cat/tmp/.X0-lock'
and everything seems to be running fine now. thank you to all who have helped!