Kubuntu will not log in after update to 9.1
 

Hi everyone!

I updated from kubuntu 8.1 to 9.1 through the regular updater on the desktop. Everything seemed to go well, but now I can't seem to log in. When I enter my info at the log in screen, it starts to load the icons that it usually does, then quits and comes back to the log in screen. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Hi -

Try logging in from a text console (e.g. <Alt-F1>, login in text mode) and delete these KDE files from your user directory:
'Hope that helps .. PSM

Hello PSM,

Thanks for the quick reply! I tried the alt-everything from the log in window, and holding alt-f1 while booting, but I couldn't get to a txt log in. So I used gurb to boot into the recovery mode, and after switching from root to the main admin account, I was able to delete .ICEauthority* but .DCOPServer* couldn't be found. This didn't fix the issue though. I tried the repair packages option from grub too. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

Reinstall from the beginning: You went from 8.10 to 9.10 without upgrading to 9.04.

This is like asking windows to go from '98 to vista, without anything in-between: Unlikely to work.

The 'buntus "upgrade" options are poor, at best, and skipping releases like this is going to guarantee trouble.

So, just start again with a clean install of 9.10

Hi, ddrohan -

The "not being able to log in to the GUI until you delete the KDE temp files" is an annoying problem that's actually bitten me in the past. Based on your description ("it starts to load the icons ..., then quits and comes back to the log in screen"), I thought it was a Sure Thing.

Sorry!

SUGGESTIONS:
1. I'm not sure ~/.ICEauthority* and ~/.DCOPServer* are the only files you need to delete. In particular, I don't remember which X and/or KDE files I needed to delete, or whether they were in my "~" home directory and/or "/tmp".

Please Google for other KDE- and X-related temp files.

2. If you're able to get into single-user mode, *definitely* look at the log files to see what the underlying problem might be.

The two main files to look at are:
a) System log: /var/log/messages
b) X Windows log: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
<= or use "find" if the log isn't in /var/log for your distro:
c) find / -name "*Xorg* -print 2> /dev/null

3. If it's no big deal for you to re-install from scratch - then go for it!

But I would consider that a "last resort". You should be able to get to the root cause - and correct - it with either of the first two suggestions.

4. If you do wind up re-installing ... and if you do happen to have old data and programs on the original disk you wish to keep ... then it might be economical to buy a second drive:

a) Disks are relatively cheap
Good luck .. PSM

PSM:

Thanks for your detailed response and patience. I did my best to google search the temp files you mentioned, and all I came up with was the link below.

http://docs.kde.org/stable/en/kdebas...q/install.html

I deleted the files listed there (although some of them didn't show up) and the problem is still happening. I managed to find out how to mount a usb drive (very basic, I know, but up till now I've been a windows lifer with no computer experience) and copy over the log files you mentioned. Is there something in them that I should be looking for specifically? Also, is there an easier way to read them then with notepad in windows?

EDIT: I know this is for Linux help, but if anyone is like me and using windows to troubleshoot their log files, I found http://www.kiwisyslog.com/kiwi-log-viewer-downloads/ to be much better than notepad.

A final note: I'm not sure if it was when I was deleting files, or messing around with the usb, but after I restarted my computer to see if I could log in, it started doing a system file check, but in some weird folder, and it flickered the whole time. After that, when I ogged back into the command line, I got a bunch of buffer I/O errors on device sr), logical blocks 0-9. The numbers beside these are 17.488757-.566622. Which log file is this, and what is it telling me?

tredegar: I'll have to chalk this up to a learning experience on *buntu upgrading. I'd like to save a reinstall for a last resort because I don't even know how to begin backing up my data, let alone restoring it after reinstalling kubuntu.