[b]Solved[/b]Can't bootup my laptop running Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.2

[BKM]

Hello !
I am using a Dell Vostro 1014 running on Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.2 (Sonya). I remember messing up with my swap file data this afternoon. Now I am unable to bootup my laptop and this is my first boot after messing up with the swap file data. Whenever I try to start up ; everything is normal until the screen comes up as shown in the image below. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8aSjV ... p=drivesdk

Whenever I try to enter my Username it takes that and whenever I tried to enter my Password, it just blinks on and does not enter it. This happens every time. I am completely unaware of anything regarding to computer so I would request the community members to help me solve this issue in the simplest and easiest way as soon as possible.

[lmintnewb2]

See that yep, would work on Mint and just about everything else gnu/Linux too. Also might be interested in this at some point after recovering your Mint install. Or not ... am sure this can be sorted pretty easily and quickly. With chroot and some poking around. Possibly just dropping into another tty on the OS, if able and finding out + fixing the problem in it w/o need of chroot and live session.

Edit: Oops ... can also chroot one gnu/Linux Os that's messed up from another gnu/Nix OS on the computer and fix it that way, without need of live-session too.

[austin.texas]

When you see the tty1 screen, press Ctrl-Alt-F7

Are you aware that when you enter your password at the tty1 login, the password is not displayed on the screen (for security reasons). You just have to trust that the password is being recorded by the operating system.

[BKM]

I am not able to startup my Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.2 'Sonya' and am struck in this login page as below. (Note: This is even I told the wrong password)


After that, when I type the required credentials, it shows something like this.

Welcome to Linux Mint 18.2 Sonya (GNU/Linux 4.10.0.35-generic i686)

* Documentation: https://www.linuxmint.com
iambkm ~ $

.

What should I do from now on to start up my laptop. Please help me on this at your earliest.

[JoeFootball]

Please help me on this at your earliest.

What about the help that was posted for you for this very same problem which you posted two days ago? Keep with that thread.

Joe

[Moem]

Mod note:
Topics merged. Please don't double post.

[BKM]

Sorry, first of all I am not getting what are you trying to say and secondly I am a complete newbie to this world of OS. Can you please explain this in a simplest way possible ?
I am getting a screen like this in the image and when I enter my credentials, it shows something like shown in the image.

After this, there is no improvement in the booting process happening over here. I request members to please help me on this issue in the easiest way possible as I am a newbie.

[Moem]

Can you boot from a live medium, like the USB or DVD that you used to install Mint? If yes, then you can probably at the very least recover your data (possibly even your whole Home folder) and do a reinstall.

Can you be clearer about how you 'messed up with your swap file data'? What were you trying to do, how did you try it, and what happened?

[BKM]

Actually, I remember deleting my swap file data of 1 G.B. or so and the next time I boot up I get this screen. Can't this issue be resolved without a 'Re-install. What might be the reason for this issue ?

[JoeFootball]

What happened after you followed the advice from austin.texas above?

Joe

[BKM]

I tried the following but there was no hope of improvement. So, I needed more help on this issue.

[austin.texas]

Can you be clearer about how you 'messed up with your swap file data'? What were you trying to do, how did you try it, and what happened?

@BKM
It is still unclear as to what you did, and how you did it.
What is "swap file data"? Are you referring to your swap partition?

[BKM]

Yes, that was what I meant.

I remember deleting the swap partition through the app 'GParted'.

[austin.texas]

Generally, deleting a swap partition will not cause the boot to fail - it will just delay the boot (while the OS looks for the missing partition). So the fact that the swap partition was deleted is not the main problem.
When you log in at tty1, what happens when you enter the command

Code: Select all

startx

[BKM]

I am getting the following error.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u4tX7q ... p=drivesdk

[Moem]

FYI, reading from a picture on an external website is really really annoying.
Questions bolded for clarity. Please help us help you and answer them all.
Which error do you mean?
I saw:

Code: Select all

(EE)
Fatal server error:
Could not create lock file in /tmp/.tXO-lock

Please consult the X.Org Foundation Support

xinit:
giving up
unable to connect to x server: Connection refused
server error
error in locking authority file /home/<something>/x.authority

Did you happen to delete anything else beside your swap partition?
Asking again because I got no answer:
Can you boot from a live medium, like the USB or DVD that you used to install Mint?

[BKM]

The error your saw is correct.
I don't remember deleting anything besides swap partition.
Further, it has been around 4 months that I have installed Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.2 through a U.S.B drive. As I didn't have any knowledge of this, it was done by my cousin.

[Moem]

it has been around 4 months that I have installed Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.2 through a U.S.B drive. As I didn't have any knowledge of this, it was done by my cousin.

Do you happen to have that USB drive?

Reinstalling may very well be
- the quickest solution, and
- easier than you think.

[BKM]

I guess, I don't have that drive.
Can you brief explain me in a simplest way of how to re-install Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.2 using U.S.B. drive ?

[Moem]

The steps are, once you have the drive:

- Make the computer boot from the USB drive instead of the harddisk (this may involve changing a setting in the BIOS, this is hardware dependent)
- Once Mint has booted from the USB drive, grab all personal data (documents and other files) and copy them to another USB drive. Check that they are actually copied.
- Click the 'Install Linux Mint' icon and follow the steps that the installer guides you through.

If you want to have some idea of what the installer will look like, here's a description with screenshots; if you want to keep things simple, just allow your new installation to have the complete disk [THIS WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR DISK!] and that means skipping steps 5 - 10.