After upgrade to 19 system keeps asking for password

[alpha_delta]

I've upgraded to Linux Mint 19 from 18.3 using the upgrade tool. After using the upgrade tool, I updated the software using the software manager. The software manager accepted my old (18.3) password. I was not asked for a new password during the process. Afterward, everything seemed fine. I then restarted my computer. Unfortunately, I was not able to get into the system: After I input my old password the screen turns black and then the system asks for my password again. This keeps repeating. Oddly, if I try to use anything other than my old password, I get the message "wrong password". So, the part of the system keeps the old password, but another portion of the software does not act as if it is the right password.
I have Windows 10 and Linux Mint, dual boot system, on an HP17.
Any help will be appreciated.

[gm10]

Your password is fine, just your profile cannot be loaded. Press Ctrl+Alt+F1, log in there, then check that your disk isn't full:

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df / /home

Check the Use% column, if that's 100% then that's your problem. Run apt clean, delete some stuff until you've got a bit of room back.

Otherwise run

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sudo chown -Rc $USER:$USER ~

and

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rm ~/.Xauthority ~/.ICEauthority
exit

followed by Alt+F7 and try to log in again. If it still doesn't work, got back to Ctrl+Alt+F1, log in and run

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startx

see what the error message is, if any

[alpha_delta]

I was only using 8%. The error message that I got was:
xf86EnableIOPorts: failed to set IOPL for I/O (operation not permitted)
xinit: connection to X server lost

[alpha_delta]

I don't know if it helps, but the computer was using system config directory "usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d" when it issued the error message above.

[gm10]

The joys that only upgrades can bring. Any proprietary graphics driver installed? That will probably need updating to be compatible, get the newest version.
Also ll /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/ should list two files only, 10-quirks and 40-libinput.conf, delete anything else (sudo rm /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/FILENAME).

[alpha_delta]

There were about 6 other folders in the directory, removing them did not solve my problem.
I believe I have an intel driver. How do I update it? Is there an easy way using the mint 19 installation dvd? Would I be better off installing from scratch, using the dvd?

[kukamuumuka]

I believe I have an intel driver. How do I update it? Is there an easy way using the mint 19 installation dvd? Would I be better off installing from scratch, using the dvd?

The process is almost like installing an another driver.
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=267072&p=1453215#p1453215

[alpha_delta]

I've followed the instructions and things seemed to go well. This time the startx did not give an error message. However, the original problem was not solved.

[gm10]

I've followed the instructions and things seemed to go well. This time the startx did not give an error message. However, the original problem was not solved.

What happens when you run startx then?

[alpha_delta]

I'm sorry. Actually, there was an error message:
xinit: connection to X server lost
Server terminated successfully (0)

[gm10]

please try

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sudo adduser newuser

(you can put any user name instead of newuser or just stick with it)

enter a UNIX password, for everything else you can just press Enter, leaving it blank, then press Y at the end. Now Alt+F7 and see if you can log into that new user. If you can, log out, go back to Ctrl+Alt+F1 and run

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rm ~/.x*

then try to startx again.

[alpha_delta]

I cannot login as the new user, the system keeps asking for the password.

[gm10]

Ok, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't your user environment at fault. I would suggest to reinstall the display manager

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apt install --reinstall lightdm
sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm

and also your desktop environment - which one have you got? for Cinnamon:

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apt install --reinstall mint-meta-cinnamon cinnamon

[Moem]

The similar question by KirkDyer is now here. Please do not piggyback on existing questions, even if they are similar. Thanks!

[alpha_delta]

I was able to install and configure lightdm. However, when I tried to issue the command for installing cinnamon (or mate) I got the error message: "Command line option --reinstall is not understood in combination with the other options". I've tried to run some modifications to the command, such as deleting the last"cinnamon" or deleting the "--". Nothing worked.
I then tried to run startx. This time, there didn't seem to be an error message, but I didn't see an x window. There was a message that the system was waiting for the X server to shut down, and then the server terminated successfully. Is there any value in looking at the log file?
I certainly had mate as a user environment, but I think that I also had cinnamon. I'm assuming that the right command for reinstalling mate is replacing "cinnamon" with "mate" in the appropriate command.

Thanks

[gm10]

That means you made a typo with the command. Let's use apt-get instead to be sure though, and let's do it thoroughly:

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sudo apt-get autoremove --purge "mate-*"

and

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sudo apt-get install mint-meta-mate

and finally let's restart the display manager

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sudo systemctl restart lightdm

See if you can log in graphically now.

[alpha_delta]

Some progress, but we are still not there!
I've reinstalled mate and cinnamon. Starting the display manager brought me to the graphical login display. This time, there was a small icon to the right of my username (It wasn't there before). It's a double lined circle, with a black arrowhead on the left side of the circle. I tried to click the icon several times, it worked only once. When it did work, it gave me the option of using either Cinnamon or Mate. I chose Mate, which is the default, Unfortunately, I am still unable to log in.

[gm10]

You can check /var/log/xorg.0.log in hopes of finding more details on the problem. I'm out of ideas for now. I never do upgrades for this exact reason. They can take more time doing and fixing than a clean install ever would.

[alpha_delta]

We are almost there!
Turns out that if I move the cursor to the new user, which I added yesterday, I can select Mate or Cinnamon for him. Once I do that, I can select the user environment for me. If I select Mate, I cannot log in. However, I can log in using cinnamon. So the main problem is partially solved. Is there anything I can do, now that I have the GUI?
Also, the environment option has Cinnamon, and Cinnamon (software rendered) in addition to Mate. Do I need the software rendered version? Could I get rid of it?

[alpha_delta]

gm10: many thanks for your efforts! You are right, a fresh install is probably my best option.