Ubuntu 20.04 won't let me login after power down.

AlanTheBeast

New Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2020
Messages
4
Reaction score
6
Credits
0
SOLVED. See a few replies below. I forgot to mention :oops: that this happens when auto-login is enabled.

Gone through this cycle twice now. (Re-installed Ubuntu after first time).

My son's unused 2018 "gaming" box. Removed the Windows HD and put in a out-of-use HD:

AMD 6 core 12 thread (2018-ish) machine with 16 GB memory and 3 TB HD.
Nvidia GeForce 1050 Ti graphics

I'm not a Linux guy, I stay in my Mac lane most of the time.

Round 1: Installed Ubuntu 20.04 from a USB image made on the Mac.
All good. Did updates. Logged off and shut down.

When I powered up again, it seems to accept the password but remains stuck on the login page.
(If I enter the correct password, it accepts it immediately (no "pending circle"). If I deliberately enter a bad password, it "ponders" that for a couple seconds before rejecting it.)

So I believe it's accepting the password, just not carrying on to the desktop session. Stays locked on that login page.

Round 2: Re-installed Ubuntu as above. But never powered off (not sure if I logged off at all from there).

Installed folding@home s/w, updated graphics drivers, etc and so on and got it going on folding with both the CPU and GPU. Beats the pants off my 2012 Mac as the graphics card on here is too old for the protein folding s/w... Ran flawlessly for over a day. I digress.

Also installed VNC on both the Linux box and my iMac so I could check on things from upstairs. This uses login, and so with that same password, no issues, I would "lock" the screen from the Mac. Could also access the Linux box directly with the password. No issue.

Breaker popped last night (too much stuff on that circuit. Resolved).

Powered up the machine and ended up with the login issue exactly as described above.

So, it seems that after a power down, I can't log back in (or I am logged in, but it stays stuck on that page.)

I found a potential bit of help - used CTRL-ALT-F3 and got a terminal session. Tried the various instructions from that help list - to no avail. (It was a post from 2013 or so).

Can't VNC in (because of course VNC server on that end is not running).

In a nutshell: HHHHEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPP!!!!!! (please).
 
Last edited:


Hi @AlanTheBeast and welcome to the forum :)

This sounds like a graphics issue to me. I can think of two things you could try;
1. Re-install Ubuntu (I know, it's a pain) but this time don't update/install any graphics drivers and leave the defaults as it is; use the open source drivers only, just to rule out whether or not the issue persists aftewards when powering off/on the machine.
2. Try login to a TTY using the Ctrl+Alt+Fn and remove the graphics driver, as I read it seems you installed the propietary one, am I right?
Choose depending on your skills and experience either 1 or 2, fwiw, I think #1 is the easier path to take.

Hope this helps! :)
 
@Tolkem: I posted the solution about 7 minutes ago - awaiting moderator approval. (So will this, I suppose). It's a minor edit to a line in /etc/default/grub as follows. Locate the line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

simply remove the 'splash', save and update grub.

Too much invested in updating drivers for the graphics card, installing folding@home, etc and some large folds nearly done and not credited to re-install (had been there once already).

Linux is a bizarre world for us Mac-ies....

Cheers!
 

Members online


Latest posts

Top