So this gets more interesting...
I did what xircon said and removed compiz and fusion-icon from my /home/username/.config/autostart/ directory and restarted my computer. I was able to log in to the normal gnome mode then.
I then updated my system like zerozero suggested (output is below) and then restarted my computer. After that I only get a text based log-in. I have restarted my computer several times and this keeps happening. Any advice here?
matt@beowulf:~$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
[sudo] password for matt:
Ign
http://dl.google.com stable InRelease
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http://security.debian.org testing/updates InRelease [87.8 kB]
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http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/main amd64 Packages [9,892 B]
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http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing Release [29.4 kB]
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http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/import amd64 Packages [19.3 kB]
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http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing/main amd64 Packages/DiffIndex
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/main amd64 Packages/DiffIndex [2,038 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/contrib amd64 Packages/DiffIndex [2,023 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/main TranslationIndex [2,045 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/main amd64 2011-12-04-0213.20.pdiff [29.7 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/contrib amd64 2011-12-04-0213.20.pdiff [1,284 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/main amd64 2011-12-04-0213.20.pdiff [29.7 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/contrib amd64 2011-12-04-0213.20.pdiff [1,284 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/main amd64 2011-12-04-1415.31.pdiff [436 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/main amd64 2011-12-04-1415.31.pdiff [436 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/contrib amd64 2011-12-04-1415.31.pdiff [26 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org testing/contrib amd64 2011-12-04-1415.31.pdiff [26 B]
Fetched 374 kB in 4s (91.2 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
[sudo] password for matt:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libtracker-sparql-0.12-0 linux-headers-3.1.0-1-amd64
linux-headers-3.1.0-1-common linux-headers-amd64 linux-image-3.1.0-1-amd64
linux-image-amd64 linux-kbuild-3.1
The following packages have been kept back:
xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg-input-evdev
xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-input-wacom xserver-xorg-video-apm
xserver-xorg-video-ark xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-chips
xserver-xorg-video-cirrus xserver-xorg-video-fbdev xserver-xorg-video-i128
xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-mach64
xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
xserver-xorg-video-nouveau xserver-xorg-video-openchrome
xserver-xorg-video-r128 xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-rendition xserver-xorg-video-s3
xserver-xorg-video-s3virge xserver-xorg-video-savage
xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion xserver-xorg-video-sis
xserver-xorg-video-sisusb xserver-xorg-video-tdfx xserver-xorg-video-trident
xserver-xorg-video-tseng xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vmware
xserver-xorg-video-voodoo
The following packages will be upgraded:
brasero brasero-common gir1.2-totem-1.0 grilo-plugins-0.1 iproute
libbrasero-media3-1 libtotem0 linux-base linux-headers-2.6-amd64
linux-image-2.6-amd64 linux-libc-dev mobile-broadband-provider-info
nvidia-settings nvidia-xconfig totem totem-common totem-mozilla
totem-plugins
18 upgraded, 7 newly installed, 0 to remove and 34 not upgraded.
Need to get 50.6 MB of archives.
After this operation, 122 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main linux-image-3.1.0-1-amd64 amd64 3.1.1-1 [31.9 MB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/contrib nvidia-settings amd64 290.10-1 [860 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/contrib nvidia-xconfig amd64 290.10-1 [84.0 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main iproute amd64 20111117-1 [451 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main brasero-common all 3.2.0-3 [3,128 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main brasero amd64 3.2.0-3 [704 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main libbrasero-media3-1 amd64 3.2.0-3 [983 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main libtracker-sparql-0.12-0 amd64 0.12.7-2 [599 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main totem-mozilla amd64 3.0.1-4 [317 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main libtotem0 amd64 3.0.1-4 [366 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main totem-plugins amd64 3.0.1-4 [414 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main totem amd64 3.0.1-4 [601 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main totem-common all 3.0.1-4 [3,260 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main gir1.2-totem-1.0 amd64 3.0.1-4 [176 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main grilo-plugins-0.1 amd64 0.1.17-2 [218 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main linux-headers-3.1.0-1-common amd64 3.1.1-1 [4,594 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main linux-kbuild-3.1 amd64 3.1.1-2 [236 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main linux-headers-amd64 amd64 3.1+41 [3,778 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main linux-headers-2.6-amd64 amd64 3.1+41 [3,766 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main linux-image-amd64 amd64 3.1+41 [4,936 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main linux-image-2.6-amd64 amd64 3.1+41 [4,832 B]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main linux-libc-dev amd64 3.1.1-1 [934 kB]
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http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/main mobile-broadband-provider-info all 20111113-1 [48.1 kB]
Fetched 50.6 MB in 48s (1,055 kB/s)
Preconfiguring packages ...
(Reading database ... 199683 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace linux-base 3.3 (using .../linux-base_3.4_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement linux-base ...
Selecting previously unselected package linux-image-3.1.0-1-amd64.
Unpacking linux-image-3.1.0-1-amd64 (from .../linux-image-3.1.0-1-amd64_3.1.1-1_amd64.deb) ...
Preparing to replace nvidia-settings 280.13-1 (using .../nvidia-settings_290.10-1_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement nvidia-settings ...
Preparing to replace nvidia-xconfig 280.13-1 (using .../nvidia-xconfig_290.10-1_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement nvidia-xconfig ...
Preparing to replace iproute 20110629-1 (using .../iproute_20111117-1_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement iproute ...
Preparing to replace brasero-common 3.0.0-4 (using .../brasero-common_3.2.0-3_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement brasero-common ...
Preparing to replace brasero 3.0.0-4 (using .../brasero_3.2.0-3_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement brasero ...
Preparing to replace libbrasero-media3-1 3.0.0-4 (using .../libbrasero-media3-1_3.2.0-3_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libbrasero-media3-1 ...
Selecting previously unselected package libtracker-sparql-0.12-0.
Unpacking libtracker-sparql-0.12-0 (from .../libtracker-sparql-0.12-0_0.12.7-2_amd64.deb) ...
Preparing to replace totem-mozilla 3.0.1-3 (using .../totem-mozilla_3.0.1-4_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement totem-mozilla ...
Preparing to replace libtotem0 3.0.1-3 (using .../libtotem0_3.0.1-4_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libtotem0 ...
Preparing to replace totem-plugins 3.0.1-3 (using .../totem-plugins_3.0.1-4_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement totem-plugins ...
Preparing to replace totem 3.0.1-3 (using .../totem_3.0.1-4_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement totem ...
Preparing to replace totem-common 3.0.1-3 (using .../totem-common_3.0.1-4_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement totem-common ...
Preparing to replace gir1.2-totem-1.0 3.0.1-3 (using .../gir1.2-totem-1.0_3.0.1-4_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement gir1.2-totem-1.0 ...
Preparing to replace grilo-plugins-0.1 0.1.17-1 (using .../grilo-plugins-0.1_0.1.17-2_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement grilo-plugins-0.1 ...
Selecting previously unselected package linux-headers-3.1.0-1-common.
Unpacking linux-headers-3.1.0-1-common (from .../linux-headers-3.1.0-1-common_3.1.1-1_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package linux-kbuild-3.1.
Unpacking linux-kbuild-3.1 (from .../linux-kbuild-3.1_3.1.1-2_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package linux-headers-3.1.0-1-amd64.
Unpacking linux-headers-3.1.0-1-amd64 (from .../linux-headers-3.1.0-1-amd64_3.1.1-1_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package linux-headers-amd64.
Unpacking linux-headers-amd64 (from .../linux-headers-amd64_3.1+41_amd64.deb) ...
Preparing to replace linux-headers-2.6-amd64 2.6.38+34 (using .../linux-headers-2.6-amd64_3.1+41_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement linux-headers-2.6-amd64 ...
Selecting previously unselected package linux-image-amd64.
Unpacking linux-image-amd64 (from .../linux-image-amd64_3.1+41_amd64.deb) ...
Preparing to replace linux-image-2.6-amd64 2.6.38+34 (using .../linux-image-2.6-amd64_3.1+41_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement linux-image-2.6-amd64 ...
Preparing to replace linux-libc-dev 3.0.0-3 (using .../linux-libc-dev_3.1.1-1_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement linux-libc-dev ...
Preparing to replace mobile-broadband-provider-info 20110806-1 (using .../mobile-broadband-provider-info_20111113-1_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement mobile-broadband-provider-info ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for menu ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme ...
Processing triggers for shared-mime-info ...
Unknown media type in type 'all/all'
Unknown media type in type 'all/allfiles'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/mms'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/mmst'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/mmsu'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/pnm'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/rtspt'
Unknown media type in type 'uri/rtspu'
Unknown media type in type 'interface/x-winamp-skin'
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0 ...
/usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/org.gnome.setttings-daemon.gtk-modules-packagekit.gschema.xml: Error on line 3 char 1: <schema id='org.gnome.settings-daemon'> already specified. This entire file has been ignored.
Setting up linux-base (3.4) ...
Setting up linux-image-3.1.0-1-amd64 (3.1.1-1) ...
Running depmod.
Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms 3.1.0-1-amd64 /boot/vmlinuz-3.1.0-1-amd64
dkms.conf: Error! No 'BUILT_MODULE_NAME' directive specified for record #0.
Error! Bad conf file.
File:
does not represent a valid dkms.conf file.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools 3.1.0-1-amd64 /boot/vmlinuz-3.1.0-1-amd64
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.1.0-1-amd64
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/pm-utils 3.1.0-1-amd64 /boot/vmlinuz-3.1.0-1-amd64
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-extlinux 3.1.0-1-amd64 /boot/vmlinuz-3.1.0-1-amd64
P: Checking for EXTLINUX directory... found.
P: Writing config for /boot/vmlinuz-3.1.0-1-amd64...
P: Writing config for /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-2-amd64...
P: Writing config for /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64...
P: Updating /boot/extlinux/linux.cfg...
P: Writing config for Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sda2...
P: Installing debian theme... done.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub 3.1.0-1-amd64 /boot/vmlinuz-3.1.0-1-amd64
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found background image: linuxmint.png
Found Debian background: linuxmint.png
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.1.0-1-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.1.0-1-amd64
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-2-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-2-amd64
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-amd64
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Found memtest86+ multiboot image: /boot/memtest86+_multiboot.bin
Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sda2
done
Setting up nvidia-settings (290.10-1) ...
Setting up nvidia-xconfig (290.10-1) ...
Setting up iproute (20111117-1) ...
Setting up brasero-common (3.2.0-3) ...
Setting up libbrasero-media3-1 (3.2.0-3) ...
Setting up libtracker-sparql-0.12-0 (0.12.7-2) ...
Setting up brasero (3.2.0-3) ...
Setting up libtotem0 (3.0.1-4) ...
Setting up totem-common (3.0.1-4) ...
Setting up totem (3.0.1-4) ...
Setting up totem-mozilla (3.0.1-4) ...
Setting up gir1.2-totem-1.0 (3.0.1-4) ...
Setting up totem-plugins (3.0.1-4) ...
Setting up grilo-plugins-0.1 (0.1.17-2) ...
Setting up linux-headers-3.1.0-1-common (3.1.1-1) ...
Setting up linux-kbuild-3.1 (3.1.1-2) ...
Setting up linux-headers-3.1.0-1-amd64 (3.1.1-1) ...
Examining /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms 3.1.0-1-amd64
dkms.conf: Error! No 'BUILT_MODULE_NAME' directive specified for record #0.
Error! Bad conf file.
File:
does not represent a valid dkms.conf file.
Setting up linux-headers-amd64 (3.1+41) ...
Setting up linux-headers-2.6-amd64 (3.1+41) ...
Setting up linux-image-amd64 (3.1+41) ...
Setting up linux-image-2.6-amd64 (3.1+41) ...
Setting up linux-libc-dev (3.1.1-1) ...
Setting up mobile-broadband-provider-info (20111113-1) ...
Processing triggers for menu ...