Unable to launch Cinnamon session after trying to uninstall network manager

[Holographic]

Hi Folks,

I'm new to Linux Mint and new to the forums. Apologies in advance if my requirement is redundant or fundamentally fundamental!

Over three months ago, I bought a laptop that had Mint pre-installed on it. I do not have a Mint boot disk. Last week, I was at a popular cafe' using Chrome to surf the net. Apparently there is a well known issue with the cafe' not clearing out the DNS cache, which prevents Linux Chrome users from accessing the internet at other cafe' locations. I read in a forum, that the solution may be to uninstall network manager and reinstall it, or, to just install the Chromium browser. I opted to uninstall network manager.

I don't recall the command string I used to uninstall network manager. Whatever I used, the uninstall also uninstalled files that are used to render my desktop!

I login to Mint using the usual cool splash-screen, then get the previously mentioned "unable to launch cinnamon session ... falling back to..." etc. <ok> error.

From there, I just get a black screen. Yet I am able to login using control-alt-F1, which brings me to a " ~$ " prompt. I am able to run commands. I am an admin of the workstation in Mint. Unfortunately when trying to get an update, Mint is unable to reach any online OS repository websites, probably because network manager (and the wifi drivers and whatever else) is missing from my Mint 20.3 OS.

The good news is it appears that my profile, my credentials and (hopefully) my data are still available. I'm a GUI guy, and not familiar with Mint's directory commands nor directory hierarchy.

Thus, I don't know what OS / network / wifi files are missing. I don't know how to replace / reinstall what is missing. I don't have a boot disk. I don't know how to make a boot disk. Yet I have a USB flash-drive that I downloaded the 20.3 ISO onto it, so the OS has a matched local resource to grab whatever files it needs for repair. I also don't know how to point the OS to grab what it needs off the USB flash-drive.

And... by reinstalling, I'm afraid of overwriting my existing OS credentials and data, hoping to just restore what was accidentally zapped. I also don't know how to access the root directory to see if the previous owner made an emergency folder with the ISO inside.

Glad to troubleshoot this over the forums, or privately (in case my request has already been covered). I have looked thru different threads with related solutions, but haven't found anyone who has a situation like mine. I'm really hoping I can restore my desktop and recover my data and bookmarks, which may be in quite a few different locations.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

[sleeper12]

Not sure, but see if Lord Boltar's solution here helps:
viewtopic.php?p=1498782#p1498782

If not, maybe you have a Timeshift snapshot from before this happened that you can restore?

[Holographic]

1. Yep, tried Lord B's proposed fix(es). I didn't bother trying the Nemo string.

2. I'm a newbie to Mint. Never heard of a Timeshift snapshot prior to being on the forum. Never proactively ran Timeshift. I'm guessing we, every-so-often, need to initiate a Timeshift snapshot as a backup.

3. Update: I just created a Mint v. 20.3 USB boot disk using Etcher. Going to try it momentarily.

Thanks just the same!

[Holographic]

Re: item 3.

Etcher loaded GNU GRUB, a "bootloader package", onto my USB boot disk.

I inserted the USB Mint 20.3 boot disk into my machine. Restarted. USB boot disk was not recognized, Linux went straight to the gui Mint splash screen. Restarted again. Brought up the BIOS, confirmed the USB drive was included the boot sequence (it was), pushed it up to be the first boot sequence selection. Restarted, USB boot disk was recognized.

I now have the following:
_____

GNU GRUB version 2.04
_____

*Start Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon 64-bit <<this option was automatically highlighted by GRUB>>
Start Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon 64-bit (compatibility mode)
OEM install (for manufacturers)
Check the integrity of the medium

***at the bottom of the screen, GRUB says...***

Use the (arrow up) and (arrow down) keys to select which entry is highlighted.
Press enter to boot the selected OS, 'e' to edit the commands before booting or 'c' for a command-line. ESC to return previous menu.

_____

Stopping here until I receive further direction from the forum; please advise. Thanks all!

[sleeper12]

Try the first option just to see if it launches.

[Holographic]

It launched.

Looks like Mint restarted twice on it's own, then it brought me into a gui desktop. Computer icon on desktop. Home icon on desktop. Install Linux Mint icon on desktop.

Wifi is detected, but there is "No connection" (dual sideways arrow icon with an x).

In the lower left hand corner, there is the LM applications pull up menu, and a couple of shortcuts: Desktop shortcut, Firefox shortcut, Terminal shortcut, Files shortcut.

[sleeper12]

Ok, so at least you know you can reinstall Mint if you decide to do so. Other than that, I don't know what else you can do.

[Holographic]

a. ) So when we say "reinstall Mint", does the (re)install overwrite _everything_? As in, erasing data, favorites, setting preferences, etc.?

b.) I have a connection to the internet via Wifi. Can't we just run a utility that installs only what may be missing, back to the OS, using one of the approved repositories as a resource and install benchmark?

[sleeper12]

If you first save what you want using the Backup Tool in Menu, you can then restore it after you reinstall Mint.

[Holographic]

Thanks for all of your help, by the way...

Yes, I already saved my data (as best as I can tell) using the Backup Tool.

What I read about reinstalling Mint, is a little confusing. It seems that the re-install creates a totally new separate OS, side by side (SBS) to the original install. That after the re-install is complete, there will be two OS's to choose from when booting? The original, and the new OS.

In the past, when I had SBS installs like this, performance got sluggish. Things were choppy; they seldom worked as swiftly as they did after the software paths were compromised.

I also don't grasp partition logic well, so... I don't know how all this will parse out, if Mint will ask me to create a new partition, etc. Linux Mint is the only OS presently installed on my SSD HD.

[sleeper12]

I always choose the option "Erase disk and install Linux Mint". No need to mess with partitions that way, all is done automatically.

[Holographic]

Hello!

That option, with "erase disk", sounds like it will delete all of my data, even the backup files.

[sleeper12]

Just save your backup files to an external disk, then you can restore them later.

[Holographic]

Hi All!

I'm still learning Linux. The file extension names are very unfamiliar. I don't know which of my files and folders to save, nor all the directories where I may have saved the data. Except for the files / folders saved to the desktop. And... where ever Firefox favorites are stored. I really don't know the specific directory paths of these primary file / folder saved locations. I suppose I can roll off the OS on my USB, and pick apart what needs to be saved, and toss it on the USB in a separate directory.

Would you happen to have any additional suggestions? Maybe providing newbies like me an example of a generic path directory to the user desktop, would suffice as a directory path template to follow.

At this point, I'm ready to just do my best and prepare for a resulting mixed up OS, bogged down with patched sys files.

Thanks!

[sleeper12]

I usually just save my Home folder, so I'm not the best one to help you with this. If you don't get an answer here, start a new thread with that issue.

[Holographic]

Hi All,

I've tried to gracefully access my HD (with a live Mint OS running, on my machine off a USB at the same time), to least see what I can copy to a folder to backup data manually. It seems that he live USB Mint session can't see my broken HD directory.

I feel that I'm completely over my head on this, because I don't know how to drill down in the Linux OS directory anyways, even if I could see which files I wanted to back up. There has to be an easy way to restore the software my uninstall removed, without overwriting personal data.

Here's what I came up with thus far:

1. I might just buy another SSD, pop out the old, install the new, program the new so I have a working Mint hard drive / OS, then connect my broken Mint OS SDD and see if I can grab data that way.

2. I located a local free Linux group that meets once a month. For all the other newbies here who get stuck, a local Linux group might be the way to go. There also might be some good souls at the local groups, who, even thought they aren't "local" to you, would be glad to call or converse via email just the same.

I'll be glad to relay my findings to the forum. Thanks.

[Holographic]

I just learned how to access files off the broken HD using the live USB Linux OS session. Glad I didn't risk overwriting the files by reinstalling Mint.