A popup showed up on my desktop for the standard updates for Ubuntu, and I selected the option to install these and then let it reboot.
Now my desktop manager does not start, and I can only use the command line from Ubuntu Linux. I tried selecting "Previous Linux versions" from Grub, and although it displays the Desktop system, it goes in an infinite loop at the login and never actually starts -- it flashes the NVidia logo and another logo each time.
I have a list of the packages installed in /var/log/apt/history.log but am not having an easy time getting it to paste here -- I can't copy and paste in terminal only mode (and am using Windows on another computer for this post, and I can't seem to read from my USB stick from command-only mode.
Here is the general output from running some commands to start the package manager (retyped by hand and may have typos):
# startx
xauth: file /root/Xauthority does not exist
X.Org X Server 1.11.3
Release Date 2011-12-=16
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6..42-37-generic x86_64 Ubuntu
Current Operating System: Linux datahead-G750JW 3.11.0-22-=generic #38~precise`-Ubuntu SMP Fri May 26 20:47:57 UTC 2014 x86_64
Kernal command line: BOOST_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz.--.311.0-22-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=d789000f3-b56e-4b2a-8751-86did944b0ca ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
Build Date 16 October 2013 04;41:23 PM
xorg-server 2:1.11.4-Oubuntu10.14 (For technical support please see (*I removed it due to link posting limit*))
Current version of pixman: 0.30.2
Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
to make sure that you have the latest version.
Markers: (--) probed, (**() from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file, "/var.log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Wed May 287, -08:20:44 2014
(==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
FATAL: Module nvidia not found
Fatal server error:
no screens found
Please consult the X.Org Foundation support
at http://wiki.x.lorg
for help.
Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log
Server timeerated with error (1). Closing log file.
xinit: giving up
xinit: unable to connect to X server: No such file or directory
xinit: server error
If there's a way to back out all packages in Ubuntu that got installed as part of a set of updates, I'd be fine with that. The only thing I've found is people saying to manually downgrade each package with apt-get, and there were a reasonable number of packages installed.
Ubuntu Version: Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS
I installed the updates last night.
New things I've tried:
I tried it again as my own user id (datahead). I had thought it got rid of the xauthority error, but trying it again now, I see it is getting a slightly different X Authority error. It still fails to connect to the X Server, too.
I tried apt-get purge nvidia* (which wiped out a whole lot of nivida packages) and then did apt-get install nvidia-current. I'm not sure what other nvidia driver(s) I should maybe install to get X-Windows running again. They don't seem to have an nvidia driver for the "precise" version of Ubuntu in the apt-get repository, either.
The last time I tried it, it was saying:
xauth: error in locking authority file /home/datahead/.Xauthority
xauth: error in locking authority file /home/datahead/.Xauthority
X.Org X Server 1.11.3
............................
{not retyping this info as nothing interesting/new here
............................
NVIDIA: could not open the device file /dev/nvidia0 (Input/output error).
Fatal server error:
no screens found
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
at hhttp://wiki.x.org
for help.
Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log
Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.
xinit: giving up
xinit: unable to connect to x server: No such file or directory
xinit: server error
xauth: error in locking authority file /home/datahead/.Xauthority
This line really caught my eye above:
NVIDIA: could not open the device file /dev/nvidia0 (Input/output error).
--I am guessing this is the problem that needs to be resolved if I am going to fix this without doing something drastic like reinstalling Ubuntu.
Also, when you are thrown into a command line only mode, does the battery software stop working correctly? I found my laptop was overheating a couple times. I'm guessing I should turn it off if I'm in Ubuntu (command line only) and need to move it, rather than letting it try and go in idle mode.
