Problem Accessing to my User

[toolrick]

Dear all,

I have a problem; my machine is working with an external display (Screen) since the one that came with the laptop does no longer works. Today I moved the resolution of the display and I cannot access to my main user; the only way to access the computer is through invited user but there I cannot install programs or do anything. I tried to reinstall linux but since the laptop is useless I cannot access to the BIOS. I am trying to create another user but since I am in the invitation user, I cannot make any changes to the system. Is there a way I can add permissions to the invitation user so I can delete the main user and start using this one instead? what other ideas do you have that might solve my problem? I tried also to access to move the resolution in my main user but that did not work either.

Thanks,

RD

[all41]

Hi again @toolrick,
I see this post is a couple hours later than your post regarding booting without bios:
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=271276
I am curious to know why you cannot access or see the bios screen.
How is your external display connected? This makes me wonder if you would be unable to see the plop
boot screen also.
Do you get a grub screen?
What is the model number of your laptop?

[toolrick]

Hi again @toolrick,
I see this post is a couple hours later than your post regarding booting without bios:
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=271276
I am curious to know why you cannot access or see the bios screen.
How is your external display connected? This makes me wonder if you would be unable to see the plop
boot screen also.
Do you get a grub screen?
What is the model number of your laptop?

I think it's the Flex that was conected between the CPU and the laptop screen that somehow does not let show anything on the laptop screen. I always use an external screen and connected through an HDMI cable, and since the signal transmission only works after the computer has booted I cannot see anything from the BIOS. I was had to make a clean install of the cinnamon desktop almost blinded but it finally worked, the problem is that I do not like that distro, it's too slow for my needs so I preffer XFCE and I want to install it without going to the BIOS again and doing all the trouble it caused me.

Thanks,

RD

[all41]

Yes I was thinking it might be connected with hdmi thus not having drivers loaded at boot.

fwiw I got a used screen for a neighbor's hp on ebay for just under $22 including shipping.
Screens are pretty easy to replace. You mentioned suspicion of a flex cable problem, have you checked the
connection at the motherboard? I cured an intermittent screen by unplugging,reinserting, and re-locking the flex cable.
In that situation you could get a display by rocking the screen back and forth to find a sweet spot where
the connection was good, but then putting even a little pressure one way or the other would cause loss of display.

[toolrick]

Yes I was thinking it might be connected with hdmi thus not having drivers loaded at boot.

fwiw I got a used screen for a neighbor's hp on ebay for just under $22 including shipping.
Screens are pretty easy to replace. You mentioned suspicion of a flex cable problem, have you checked the
connection at the motherboard? I cured an intermittent screen by unplugging,reinserting, and re-locking the flex cable.
In that situation you could get a display by rocking the screen back and forth to find a sweet spot where
the connection was good, but then putting even a little pressure one way or the other would cause loss of display.

Thanks for the information, eventhough I believe mine it's harder to repare... I use a 2 in 1 laptop that is more like a tablet than a laptop. I am not that familiar into installing or un-installing things in the hardware, so I was searching for a better way to get into the bios better than having to disable some hardware configuration first. I also tried the virtualbox, but the problem is that I would have to enable it in the bios to work also, so I am stock with it. Do you happen to know, if I installed Cinnamon in my computer and downloaded XFCE with the package, can I un-install Cinnamon as my primary desktop and keep only using XFCE? when I clean installed XFCE it did not have bugs and it worked smoothier than now... I have crashes everyday in my computer and having to use the keyboard to enter the kernel everytime it boots makes me nuts.

Thanks,

RD

[all41]

I use a 2 in 1 laptop that is more like a tablet than a laptop

What is the make and model number?

Generally it's not a good idea to mix desktop environments, not that it can't be done, but sometimes
issues will need to be addresed, and not being able to see bios increases the peril.

I have crashes everyday in my computer and having to use the keyboard to enter the kernel everytime it boots

How do you accomplish this--are you seeing the grub screen?

Grub defaults to the latest kernel revision installed.
If you have an offending kernel use the Update Manager to remove it. Grub will default to the next higher revision installed.

[toolrick]

I use a 2 in 1 laptop that is more like a tablet than a laptop

What is the make and model number?

Generally it's not a good idea to mix desktop environments, not that it can't be done, but sometimes
issues will need to be addresed, and not being able to see bios increases the peril.

I have crashes everyday in my computer and having to use the keyboard to enter the kernel everytime it boots

How do you accomplish this--are you seeing the grub screen?

Grub defaults to the latest kernel revision installed.
If you have an offending kernel use the Update Manager to remove it. Grub will default to the next higher revision installed.

Here is the information of my computer:

Code: Select all

~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: ricardo-HP-Stream-x360-Convertible-PC-11 Kernel: 4.13.0-43-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 (Gtk 2.24.28) Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Stream x360 Convertible PC 11 v: Type1 - ProductConfigId
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 802B v: 57.19
           Bios: Insyde v: F.07 date: 03/28/2017
CPU:       Dual core Intel Celeron N2840 (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8663
           clock speeds: max: 2582 MHz 1: 2578 MHz 2: 2580 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display
           bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1600x900@59.98hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Bay Trail
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.2.8 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.13.0-43-generic
Network:   Card-1: Broadcom BCM43142 802.11b/g/n driver: wl bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 1000 bus-ID: 04:00.0
           IF: enp4s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: NA (-) ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: N/A size: 31.3GB
           ID-2: /dev/mmcblk1 model: N/A size: 16.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 27G used: 11G (43%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.03GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/mmcblk0p3
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 54.0C mobo: 0.0C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 172 Uptime: 7 min Memory: 1305.9/1881.3MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35 

The system does not crush though, more likely stops responding whenever the CPU is overused and the swap is above 60% of use. This never happened when I used XFCE clean installation before. The kernel I am using at the moment is 4.13.0-45.

The reason why I installed XFCE desktop was because Cinnamon stopped responding after installing it, since I did not have this usses before with XFCE I downloaded it to try and see what happens. Still it stops responding but not as much as with Cinnamon. I saw that right when I start Cinnamon, only Cinnamon itself takes away almost 200mb of my CPU, it's more than Chrome or Firefox or any other program I use, so in the end my computer runs very slow under that environment. It's very pretty but takes lots of resources.

Thanks for your soon response,

RD

[all41]

Yes XFCE should work better on that device--but how to get there?
The manual indicates to enter bios press Esc immediately after power-on, then press F10.
That should be a static display with no further booting.
Some display problems are caused by back-light failure in which case you may? be able to focus
a light on the screen and dimly see the information when viewed at a certain angle.
Blind guesswork in bios could lead to an unbootable machine.

[toolrick]

Yes XFCE should work better on that device--but how to get there?
The manual indicates to enter bios press Esc immediately after power-on, then press F10.
That should be a static display with no further booting.
Some display problems are caused by back-light failure in which case you may? be able to focus
a light on the screen and dimly see the information when viewed at a certain angle.
Blind guesswork in bios could lead to an unbootable machine.

Yes, that is the problem... I saw something moving in the back since you are exactly right, back light there is none; but with an altitude and where there is no light reflecting you can see something moving and that is how I got my machine to work in the first place. The problem is that I have one external drive with Cinnamon bootable installed, and 2 other USB flash drives one with mate and the other with XFCE, the only one I could access was Cinnamon so I installed it other wise I would have a bricked machine.

Now I have made 2 accounts both with root access and running XFCE and Cinnamon and installed Resetter in case something goes wrong and I have to reset the machine. My guess is if using Resetter I would need the BIOS?

Thanks,

RD

[all41]

@toolrick,
I am not familiar with resetter app. I read the blog and watched the referenced yt video and I did not see the need to enter bios.
But if your system is down you will not be able to access the app anyway.

The Timeshift utility that is installed with your 18.3 Xfce would be my first choice.
That will bring you back to a working system at a point when you make your restore file, and not a fresh install status so you keep
your customizations as well.
Timeshift is tested and recommended by the Mint team and does not require adding an outside ppa source.

I suppose the resetter would add another way to get back up running without using bios in a worst case scenario
but if I can get the system booted I would use Timeshift to get back to where I was before I borked the files.
The resetter site does not list Mint 18.3 as compatible but only says it can be made to work, or others have gotten it to work.

The problem you have is that you may find that it doesn't only after you really need it, and then you will be back to having to reinstall anyway.
I would not rely on this myself.

[toolrick]

@toolrick,
I am not familiar with resetter app. I read the blog and watched the referenced yt video and I did not see the need to enter bios.
But if your system is down you will not be able to access the app anyway.

The Timeshift utility that is installed with your 18.3 Xfce would be my first choice.
That will bring you back to a working system at a point when you make your restore file, and not a fresh install status so you keep
your customizations as well.
Timeshift is tested and recommended by the Mint team and does not require adding an outside ppa source.

I suppose the resetter would add another way to get back up running without using bios in a worst case scenario
but if I can get the system booted I would use Timeshift to get back to where I was before I borked the files.
The resetter site does not list Mint 18.3 as compatible but only says it can be made to work, or others have gotten it to work.

The problem you have is that you may find that it doesn't only after you really need it, and then you will be back to having to reinstall anyway.
I would not rely on this myself.

Yes, TimeShift I have heard... the problem is that my computer CPU is rather short in memory, I've only got 32GB of storage and I tried to find any information to get timeshift to work or save the backup in an external drive but it seems difficult. Have you done this?

[all41]

Yes, TimeShift I have heard... the problem is that my computer CPU is rather short in memory, I've only got 32GB of storage and I tried to find any information to get timeshift to work or save the backup in an external drive but it seems difficult. Have you done this?

Yes, I have used Timeshift and sent the recovery files to external storage. The program is very easy to understand and use.
Setting Timeshift to target the recovery files to an external device is a simple matter. This device just needs a linux compatible partition, something that is easily accomplished using the gparted utility from the repositories. If you want system recovery only, a 16gb usb stick will do.
Timeshift can make incremental backups of only the files that have changed or have been added since the last snapshot. You can do this manually or Timshift will automatically do them for you. Each of these snapshots add to the Timeshift storage directory size. If you plan on recovery of personal files such as music, photos, etc then more storage space is required. An external usb hard drive is ideal

[toolrick]

Yes, TimeShift I have heard... the problem is that my computer CPU is rather short in memory, I've only got 32GB of storage and I tried to find any information to get timeshift to work or save the backup in an external drive but it seems difficult. Have you done this?

Yes, I have used Timeshift and sent the recovery files to external storage. The program is very easy to understand and use.
Setting Timeshift to target the recovery files to an external device is a simple matter. This device just needs a linux compatible partition, something that is easily accomplished using the gparted utility from the repositories. If you want system recovery only, a 16gb usb stick will do.
Timeshift can make incremental backups of only the files that have changed or have been added since the last snapshot. You can do this manually or Timshift will automatically do them for you. Each of these snapshots add to the Timeshift storage directory size. If you plan on recovery of personal files such as music, photos, etc then more storage space is required. An external usb hard drive is ideal

Hello, I made finally the backup using Timeshift on an external USB drive, now I do not know how to use it if I ever need it; do you have any idea?

[all41]

Hi @toolrick
Restoring is just as simple as making the restore file itself.
Instead of choosing 'Create' choose 'Restore', and select a restore file.
Note that this requires being able to boot into the system to be restored, so while good to have, this is
not a bootable restore solution. If you were to find a reliable method to reinstall from your .iso medium you could
use Timeshift to get your system back to where you were when you made the restore point.

In your situation be doubly sure to keep a daily external backup of your important personal files.
If something else goes south on that device you will be doing bios guesswork again, and a blind error
could leave you out in the cold.

[toolrick]

Hi @toolrick
Restoring is just as simple as making the restore file itself.
Instead of choosing 'Create' choose 'Restore', and select a restore file.
Note that this requires being able to boot into the system to be restored, so while good to have, this is
not a bootable restore solution. If you were to find a reliable method to reinstall from your .iso medium you could
use Timeshift to get your system back to where you were when you made the restore point.

In your situation be doubly sure to keep a daily external backup of your important personal files.
If something else goes south on that device you will be doing bios guesswork again, and a blind error
could leave you out in the cold.

hmm so if my machine is still working and I made something unwanted and want to undo that change, I would have to go to BIOS anyways to make timeshift work and make the reversions? that is what I understood from your previous comment.

Thanks,

RD

[all41]

hmm so if my machine is still working and I made something unwanted and want to undo that change, I would have to go to BIOS anyways to make timeshift work and make the reversions? that is what I understood from your previous comment.

Thanks,

RD

no, to undo changes as you suggest you would just go into the Timeshift app and choose restore.

IF you have an unbootable system you would have to get Mint reinstalled from usb .iso (somehow)--then
you would be able go into Timeshift to get the system back to the time when you made the restore file.

[toolrick]

hmm so if my machine is still working and I made something unwanted and want to undo that change, I would have to go to BIOS anyways to make timeshift work and make the reversions? that is what I understood from your previous comment.

Thanks,

RD

no, to undo changes as you suggest you would just go into the Timeshift app and choose restore.

IF you have an unbootable system you would have to get Mint reinstalled from usb .iso (somehow)--then
you would be able go into Timeshift to get the system back to the time when you made the restore file.

Ok, thanks... understood.

I think this can be put under solved.

RD

[all41]

I think this can be put under solved

Only you can do this
Here's how:
Go up to your very first post at the top of this thread and click the 'pencil icon'
Then edit the Subject window (the small one above the body of your post to include
"[Solved]"
Cheers

[toolrick]

I think this can be put under solved

Only you can do this
Here's how:
Go up to your very first post at the top of this thread and click the 'pencil icon'
Then edit the Subject window (the small one above the body of your post to include
"[Solved]"
Cheers

One last question before I send the thread into solved, I tried using TimeShift with the external USB, when it boots do I have to take the USB Stick out? or leave it there? when I leave it, it does not boot and when I remove the USB Stick I have to turn of the computer and turn it on again so it boots.

Thanks,

RD

[all41]

You should only have to connect the stick when you are using Timeshift.
The fact that you are unable to boot with the stick in makes me think your bios is
set to allow usb boot. Timeshift just creates a folder that contains the backups.
It does not make the usb stick into a bootable device.
If you have set Timeshift to automatically create restore points it will look for the location
you have selected.
In your situation I would just use Timeshift in the manual mode and insert the stick before you do so.