2

I am building a custom Ubuntu distro to suit the needs of an aging Dell Latitude (XP era). I want the end result to be similar to the AntiX distro, but with all the added benefits of Ubuntu. I did a fresh install of the Ubuntu minimal installation with no desktop environment included. From there, I install IceWM and LightDM via the command line.

All I want is to be able to boot up Ubuntu, reach the LightDM login screen, and log into IceWM. The problem is this; when I reboot, Ubuntu hits a blank screen and freezes. It does not respond to keyboard input, and I cannot even access the command line. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong? Is there a step I missed someplace? Is this build even possible?

karel
  • 122,292
  • 133
  • 301
  • 332
bowen3
  • 84

2 Answers2

2

For minimal installations I recommend using a minimal tool named xinit.

First of all disable or remove lightdm.

Then make sure you have installed xorg related stuff, packages like:

xserver-common
xserver-xorg
xserver-xorg-core
xserver-xorg-input-all
xserver-xorg-video-all

then install xinit:

sudo apt install xinit

Now after login use:

startx

it should bring your IceWM up, if it didn't work for your then in your home directory run:

cp /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc .xinitrc

open .xinitrc using an editor:

nano ~/.xinitrc

and comment all lines (put a # at the start of each line laking #).

then add:

exec icewm-session

and save the file, now run startx and it should work fine.

As an alternative to lightdm you can install slim, start the service or reboot the system, then login using your credentials and you should be fine to go.

Ravexina
  • 57,256
0

You forgot to install "lightdm-gtk-greeter", that is missing, which is causing the welcome-password screen not to appear; In this case you will have to enter the GRUB recovery to remove lightdm, restart the computer, that will stop blocking you, then you will have to reinstall "lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter" and that should solve the problem. In most cases, to install "lightdm" you have to install the "lightdm-gtk-greeter" plugin

stumblebee
  • 4,379
user2157022
  • 1
  • 1