No GUI

Questions about Grub, UEFI,the liveCD and the installer
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FurnaceRocker

No GUI

Post by FurnaceRocker »

I'm far from a competent Linux user, but I know enough to be dangerous.

I've had Mint 19 dual booted with Windows on my rig for a few weeks now. Recently I tried using Mint, and as it loaded (after selecting it in Grub) it showed a ton of errors, then it showed the Mint logo, but it was blurry, and then a few more errors, and then it asked me for my user name and password. It asked me for them in a gui similar to the terminal, even like something you'd see on a server type of OS. I log in, and it says:

No directory, logging in with HOME=/
-bash: cannot create temp file for here-document: Read-only file system

And then it asks me for command line text like in the terminal.

Anyone have any ideas that could help me log back in? I don't think I was doing anything significant before the problem started, I had several files I was moving to different folders, but that's it.

Thanks!
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
michael louwe

Re: No GUI

Post by michael louwe »

FurnaceRocker wrote:.
Win 10.? Can boot into Windows.?

Reinstall Grub.? ... https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/6

Reinstall LM 19.?
Mute Ant

Re: No GUI

Post by Mute Ant »

You get that sequence when an ext4 file-system is damaged and Linux can't repair it without human instructions, or at least human permission to do whatever is required. You might lose a few recent changes if you were copying or moving data. Written-and-closed files, like the OS, usually survive unless there's physical damage. If there's anything unique on that drive, boot a Live Session Mint to make duplicates on something removable before attempting a repair.
  • Assuming your OS is all in one ext4 partition.
    o Command sudo e2fsck / will show you the extent of the damage and offer to repair each instance.
    o If there's lots of trivial errors, keypress Ctrl-C to interrupt the repair and use the automatic-yes option... sudo e2fsck -y /
    o When the file-system is repaired, you can continue into the GUI... sudo mount -o remount rw / ...or just reboot the machine.
It's worth using the accessory Disks to look at the SMART report for that drive. They fail in a random way and there's no special pattern... some last for weeks, some last for decades.
FurnaceRocker

Re: No GUI

Post by FurnaceRocker »

It boots to Windows 10 and grub fine, I think those are both good.

Putting in the e2fsck commands gave me this:

"
e2fsck: Is a directory while trying to open /
/:
The superblock could not be read or does not describe a valid etx2/ext3/ext4
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
or
e2fsck -b 32768 <device>
"

I tried running both of those with the / as a device and got the same message. Tried running it with a -y and -p as well. I think this is on the right track, is there a different superblock or device you think I could use?

Thanks so much!
DAMIEN1307

Re: No GUI

Post by DAMIEN1307 »

did you just get all of M$ windows 10 "patch tuesday" updates ?...those updates have been known in the past to interfere with a dual boot system...this is one of the reasons why some linux users have decided to only use windows 10 as a Virtual Box OS...DAMIEN
Mute Ant

Re: No GUI

Post by Mute Ant »

It looks like my trick is obsolete :( the / mount point won't check on my machine either. You can use command lsblk to determine the device mounted over the / mount point and check that instead. Or boot a Live Session and check everything from the outside with application gparted (preferred).
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