Hey everyone,

I'm kind of new to Linux even though I've played with it several times over the years. My question is this. I just installed Kubuntu from the SPM in Ubuntu and when I did a reboot, I can't login using my previous username and password. Is there something I'm doing wrong here?

My assumption was that it would just use the same username and password from Ubuntu.

Please help as I do have some files that it would be nice to save if I completely screwed something up.

Thanks a mill,
sklemp

What is the "SPM"? Exactly how did you install Kubuntu? Did you boot with a new installation cd? Or perhaps you installed the KDE packages in your packge manger?

If the former you've lost everything from your Ubuntu installation.

Evo2.

Some advice from an old man: Never make assumptions when important data is at stake.

But evo2 is right, we need more detailed information before we can start to help you.

Sorry,

The SPM is the Synaptic Package Manager. I could be wrong about the name since I can't go back in and double check that. But it was definitely a package manager. I installed kubuntu-desktop.

I used it to install from Ubuntu.

tredegar-I used the choice word of "assumption" because I realize that I made an a$$ of myself in doing this.

When it boots, it asks for a User and Password but when I give it the one I've been using, it just empties the password field.

Hope this helps,

Ok, your account and data should all be safe.

No messages about bad/unknown username/password? You just get returned to the login screen?
If so there is probably just some problem logging in under X. Please try to log in on a terminal:

<Ctrl>-<Alt>-<F1>
Then enter your username and password.

The other option is to ssh to your machine: assuming you installed openssh-server and have another machine on the network. A third option is to boot with a live cd or such...

After getting into your machine with one of the above methods (or some other), have a look in the ~/.xsession-errors and
/var/log/Xorg.0.log files for anything suspicious.

Evo2

Better, we are getting there.

But I don't think you can "install kubuntu" from synaptic. You can install the KDE Desktop though. All should (eventually) be well.

It is quite likely that your password characters are being accepted but not printed to the screen (a security thing, yes, you can change it once you are logged in). Just carefully enter your password, then press the RETURN key.

You could also try (from the little menu icon thing - just LOOK for it and click it!) on your login screen, selecting "Session Type = Gnome" and you should be back where you started, your files should still be there. Then logout, and on your login screen, select "Session Type = KDE" and try again

Thanks for both of your guys' quick responses.

evo2: I don't get any kind of message or anything when I type my password and press "enter". It actually doesn't even leave this screen, doesn't go blank or anything. Also Cntrl-Alt-F1 doesn't bring anything else up. I have a laptop with Fedora on it that is on the same network but it isn't in working order right now. I also have 7 PCs that are all on the network if you can suggest a way for me to use them to ssh to my machine.

tredegar: I'm sure you are right that I only installed the KDE desktop from Ubuntu. Would that mean that I'm still running Ubuntu but under KDE? Also, I tried to very carefully type my password in and still got no response. Also, I see the "Menu" button that you are talking about and I have actually tried all of the options on it to try to login.

I hope we are all talking about right screen here. The login screen is Blue with lots of white circles that are out of focus and the center of the screen says "Welcome to ubuntu" Previously, (when I was just using Ubuntu) I didn't actually have to login and it went straight to the desktop. When I would log out, however, it would show my username "Steve" as an option. This login screen doesn't even give me a drop-down list of usernames or anything. Everything is blank.

Hope this helps, and thanks again for both of your guys' help.

Make sure you have the correct keyboard layout.
To verify, type the password in the username field to see if it is correct.

repo I was thinking the same thing at first. The keyboard layout is correct.

evo2: I figured out why i couldn't get into ctrl-alt-f1 and got it to work. That screen looks like terminal though but I was able to login with my username and password. But it's all command-line. What do I do from there?

Can you confirm that the keyboard is working at all? Do you type in your username, or are you using the mouse to select it?

Evo2.

Yes keyboard and everything is working correctly. I can tab over, I can type my name (and it shows up). I can see the password symbols showing up as I type.

When I login through the ctrl-alt-f1 all i see is the following:

steve@ubuntu:~$

What do I do after this?

Look at the files I mentioned in post #5. Use the "less" command. For example
Tell us if you see any errors in there.

Evo2.