Stuck in login loop - how do I free-up space on /boot with only Command Line access?
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There are no such things as "stupid" questions. However if you think your question is a bit stupid, then this is the right place for you to post it. Stick to easy to-the-point questions that you feel people can answer fast. For long and complicated questions use the other forums in the support section.
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
- Cassandra
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Stuck in login loop - how do I free-up space on /boot with only Command Line access?
Hi,
today my Update Manager alerted me to the presence of an update.
I opened it, and saw that it was a Java toolkit or webkit or something. I didn’t pay too much attention, as this was from the official Mint repository; I just installed it.
I then shut down my laptop completely, and re-started it.
On re-start I noticed that I couldn’t control my Bluetooth app, so I force-stopped that, and tried to re-start the laptop in Recovery mode.
Unfortunately, that DIDN’T WORK - every option I tried returned a message like “cannot update from Una to Focal”. I resolved to raise that as an issue here.
I then restarted my laptop in normal mode (& found that I could no longer change the keyboard backlight colour).
I tried to use Timeshift to restore my system to a working state.
Timeshift warned me that I was running LOW on space in the Boot sector, but appeared to run ok. It asked for a restart.
I then restarted my laptop again.
Now it will NOT let me login!
If I enter my password the log-in screen just reloads.
If I try to open the ‘Guest’ account that I put on the machine (which requires no password), the login screen reloads.
If I deliberately enter an incorrect password I get the ‘incorrect password’ notification.
So, the password-recognition bit of software seems to be working.
BUT: I can NOT now get in to my six-month-old laptop. At all.
Can any of you suggest any way for me to fix this?
today my Update Manager alerted me to the presence of an update.
I opened it, and saw that it was a Java toolkit or webkit or something. I didn’t pay too much attention, as this was from the official Mint repository; I just installed it.
I then shut down my laptop completely, and re-started it.
On re-start I noticed that I couldn’t control my Bluetooth app, so I force-stopped that, and tried to re-start the laptop in Recovery mode.
Unfortunately, that DIDN’T WORK - every option I tried returned a message like “cannot update from Una to Focal”. I resolved to raise that as an issue here.
I then restarted my laptop in normal mode (& found that I could no longer change the keyboard backlight colour).
I tried to use Timeshift to restore my system to a working state.
Timeshift warned me that I was running LOW on space in the Boot sector, but appeared to run ok. It asked for a restart.
I then restarted my laptop again.
Now it will NOT let me login!
If I enter my password the log-in screen just reloads.
If I try to open the ‘Guest’ account that I put on the machine (which requires no password), the login screen reloads.
If I deliberately enter an incorrect password I get the ‘incorrect password’ notification.
So, the password-recognition bit of software seems to be working.
BUT: I can NOT now get in to my six-month-old laptop. At all.
Can any of you suggest any way for me to fix this?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Re: Laptop BRICKED after Java toolkit update from Mint official Update Manager
That's weird: Una is a Mint release, Focal is a Ubuntu release.
There are a lot of posts about that (it's usually caused by a full disk); search the forum forIf I try to open the ‘Guest’ account that I put on the machine (which requires no password), the login screen reloads.
login loop
.PS: your computer isn't bricked.
Please edit your original post title to include [SOLVED] if/when it is solved!
Your data and OS are backed up....right?
Your data and OS are backed up....right?
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Re: Laptop BRICKED after Java toolkit update from Mint official Update Manager
Situations like this can be frustrating. I think this is not the typical outcome, because there'd be a wider group of people reporting the issue.
I wonder if the Java toolkit package got corrupted on your system, and how many of the services/utilities/apps on your system rely on it.
Did you try logging in through the console (Ctrl-Alt-F3)? If you can log in, maybe you can try reinstalling the packages?
A clean install may be in order.
I wonder if the Java toolkit package got corrupted on your system, and how many of the services/utilities/apps on your system rely on it.
Did you try logging in through the console (Ctrl-Alt-F3)? If you can log in, maybe you can try reinstalling the packages?
A clean install may be in order.
Re: Laptop BRICKED after Java toolkit update from Mint official Update Manager
Should you get into a position to reinstall it, I think the package in question is "libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37", which is the "Web content engine library for GTK". It has nothing to do with Java.
Exactly. Bricked means that it won't power up, won't do anything. Therefore, about as much value as a brick.
- Cassandra
- Level 3
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
- Location: The English equivalent of US 'Flyover country'
Re: Laptop BRICKED after Java toolkit update from Mint official Update Manager
Ok, I hit Ctrl + Alt + F3 at the login screen.AwesomeOpossum74 wrote: ⤴Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:16 am
Did you try logging in through the console (Ctrl-Alt-F3)? If you can log in, maybe you can try reinstalling the packages?
A clean install may be in order.
It then took me ‘only’ about twenty attempts to get my user-name right ( ), but I now have a command prompt!
What should I attempt next?
Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
- Cassandra
- Level 3
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
- Location: The English equivalent of US 'Flyover country'
Re: Laptop BRICKED after Java toolkit update from Mint official Update Manager
I think that you may be right!
Now that I have managed to get to a command line, what do you advise me to do?
If my boot sector is indeed full, should I try to free up some space on it first?
Or should I try to launch Cinammon?
Or is there a way to fix the libwebkit from the command line?
In case anybody reading this cannot tell, I am merely somebody who uses a pc, and am Totally Clueless about how the underlying code works, or how to go about repairing it when it goes wrong.
Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
- Cassandra
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- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
- Location: The English equivalent of US 'Flyover country'
Re: Laptop not running properly after software update from Mint official Update Manager
(I have now changed the title of this thread after having been educated about the correct definition of ‘bricked’.)
Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
- Cassandra
- Level 3
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
- Location: The English equivalent of US 'Flyover country'
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
Ok, so I found the thread at https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic ... 7#p1769597
…and have used the command
Which has revealed that my /boot drive is currently 98% full.
D’oh!
So, how should I proceed from here?
How do I find out what is on /boot, and which files I can delete to free-up space on /boot?
My thanks in advance for your answers.
…and have used the command
df -h | egrep "^/dev/|Filesystem"
Which has revealed that my /boot drive is currently 98% full.
D’oh!
So, how should I proceed from here?
How do I find out what is on /boot, and which files I can delete to free-up space on /boot?
My thanks in advance for your answers.
Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
Any old kernels you can remove in Update Manager, View, Linux Kernels?
- Cassandra
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- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
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Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
I cannot get in to the machine, except via hitting Ctrl+Alt+F3 at the login screen, and am now therefore at a command prompt.
I have used cd to navigate to /boot.
It contains config files and initrd.img files for kernels
5.4.0-91
5.11.0-43
5.11.0-46
5.13.0-21
5.13.0-22
5.0.13.0-25
5.0.13-0-27
Not sure why the 5.11 kernels are still there; I tried to remove those from ‘Update Manager’ last month.
There are also vmlinuz files for
5.4.0-91
5.13.0-21
5.13.0-25
5.13.0-27
And system.map files for
5.4.0-91
5.11.0-43
5.11.0-46
5.13.0-21
5.13.0-22
5.13.0-25
5.13.0-27
Edit to add:
I wish to keep the LTS kernel 5.4.0-91.
Other than that, I would like to keep 5.13.0-25 and 5.13.0-27.
I am happy to delete the rest of the kernels.
Last edited by Cassandra on Fri Jan 28, 2022 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
Can you run this command:
That might free up some space.
Code: Select all
sudo apt autoremove
- Cassandra
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- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
- Location: The English equivalent of US 'Flyover country'
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
Just did that - it returned info that it changed nothing.sleeper12 wrote: ⤴Fri Jan 28, 2022 4:25 pm Can you run this command:
That might free up some space.Code: Select all
sudo apt autoremove
(0 to upgrade, 0 to newly install, 0 to remove, and 0 not to upgrade)
Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
- Cassandra
- Level 3
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
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Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
Hang on; I ran that from within /boot.sleeper12 wrote: ⤴Fri Jan 28, 2022 4:25 pm Can you run this command:
That might free up some space.Code: Select all
sudo apt autoremove
Which directory SHOULD I be in when I run it?
Edit:
I just ran it from the home (top level) directory, with the same result.
Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
Can you run it from Terminal (Ctrl & Alt & T)?
- Cassandra
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- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
- Location: The English equivalent of US 'Flyover country'
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
I cannot get in to the GUI, because I am stuck in a ‘login loop’.
I was advised that this is probably because my /root directory is full.
After being advised to hit Ctrl+Alt+F3 at the login screen, I am currently inside a command prompt (terminal).
I am typing commands into that.
The
cd
and ls -la
commands seem to be working.Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
- Cassandra
- Level 3
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
- Location: The English equivalent of US 'Flyover country'
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
After finding the command
D’oh!
Sadly, the old thread does not advise me what to do next.
df -h | egrep "^/dev/|Filesystem"
on an old thread, I have learned that my /boot drive is currently 98% full.D’oh!
Sadly, the old thread does not advise me what to do next.
Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
Not sure if it makes a difference, but try:
Code: Select all
sudo apt --purge autoremove
- Cassandra
- Level 3
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
- Location: The English equivalent of US 'Flyover country'
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
I know that I could start removing individual files from /boot by using
Am I correct to assume that I safely could use
Or should I be keeping e.g. ‘vmlinuz’ files?
I have no idea what they are!
rm
, but I don’t want to delete the ‘wrong’ files.Am I correct to assume that I safely could use
rm
to remove every file associated with old kernels that I no longer wish to keep?Or should I be keeping e.g. ‘vmlinuz’ files?
I have no idea what they are!
Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
- Cassandra
- Level 3
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:07 pm
- Location: The English equivalent of US 'Flyover country'
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
I tried that and got a list of commands returned to me.sleeper12 wrote: ⤴Fri Jan 28, 2022 4:46 pm Not sure if it makes a difference, but try:
Code: Select all
sudo apt --purge autoremove
Should I try
sudo apt autopurge
?Busy, busy, busy! And probably turtles all the way down.
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Mint Cinnamon 20.3 Una (64-bit)
Re: Cannot login to Mint after software update from Mint official Update Manager
Try:
Code: Select all
sudo apt remove --auto-remove