New User xservewr hangs

[EHSPAYNE]

Home system. # users:root, me, other.
Linux Mint 17.3 rosa.
I used the control center to create a new user. After that I used adduser via console on tty1. same thing happens:
The user is created along with home directory that I can browse. I can log the newuser in via console. Whenever I try to either switch user in the gui (Gnome classic) or startx via console, the login screen comes up with the two accounts and I put in the name and password, which are accepted. The screen then turns blue with a white cursor arrow (all fine) but everything hangs there.