[SOLVED] Need help with 'login loop' after update of xfce 19.1

[carpediem007]

[for the solution to the issue please see my last post below...]

Hello everyone.

I'm new to Linux Mint and would like to thank you all for making such a great system and for being so informative and helpful.

Could you perhaps try to help me with the following problem?

When booting I get the graphical login screen with my user displayed. When I enter my password the screen goes blank for a few seconds and returns to the same login screen. If I use Ctrl+Alt+F1 I can login with the same user from the command line (using the same password that is not accepted during 'graphical' login.

I then have to startx twice for the GUI to come up. If I restart/shutdown I have to do the same all over again.

I had installed snapd and notepadqq earlier (and done the system updates recommended by update manager).

I then uninstalled notepadqq & snapd; no change...

I reverted to an earlier system state with timeshift and it worked fine.
After installing the recommended updates again (but not snapd/notepadqq), I'm back to the same problem.
My disk is not full (I saw that has been a common 'boot loop' cause).

Any suggestions?

PS: Pressing the 'start menu' displays many of the program icons with a red x (but the commands work) and choosing 'Lock Screen' doesn't lock the screen... Looks like some of the functionality of the system doesn't work anymore...

I would be happy to upload any screenshots or logs...

[gm10]

Got any PPA and/or third-party repositories activated? What you're describing is what I would typically expect after installing an incompatible third-party package.

Otherwise if startx doesn't provide you with an error message when it fails the first time or you feel like going through the log files (journalctl -e from the tty/Ctrl+Alt+F1 after your graphical login fails) then your best bet is to revert again using timeshift and install all available updates one by one until you find the culprit.

[carpediem007]

Hi there.

thank you, I'll give that a try although installing 117 updates one by one does seem a bit too much...

I'm not very good at reading reading log files...

Update:
In the end I reinstalled from scratch, then installed all the editors and programs I need but did not install any updates.
Still have 117 updates waiting to be installed but at least I can use my system...

[carpediem007]

Problem solved!

To keep it short: https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... t.html?m=1

That did it for me after wasting (or, depending on ones point of view 'learning more about Linux') many hours on installing individual updates, rebooting etc...

[gm10]

That's good news, although I have to say I'm quite surprised that nomodeset would have fixed a login loop for you, i.e. you were already seeing the graphical login screen but you couldn't load the desktop without nomodeset? That's a new one, hadn't heard that one before. Usually modesetting errors occur when loading the graphical environment as a whole, not a specific desktop, for they both use the same driver/x server. Strange...

[carpediem007]

Hi gm10

Yes, that's exactly what happened.

After installing LM from the downloaded ISO everything would be fine (well, screen resolution wasn't amazing but it worked ok). But after installing the recommended updates I would get to the graphical login screen but using my correct credentials i would get a blank screen and after a few seconds be returned to the graphical login screen...

Pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 to get to the command line login from the graphical one, I was able to login and startx. The first would give me some errors and running startx again would give me the graphical desktop albeit with many start menu item icons turned into red X.

In the end I found the solution mentioned earlier and all is fine now with my old but trusted TP X32 and an up-to-date LinuxMint 19.1

Have a great weekend...

PS: I hadn't installed any PPAs or any software before trying to do the updates. Installation -> Reboot -> Have a look at the system -> Reboot -> try some vi stuff I remembered from 30 years ago -> Reboot -> Update -> Loop...

[pbear]

That's good news, although I have to say I'm quite surprised that nomodeset would have fixed a login loop for you, i.e. you were already seeing the graphical login screen but you couldn't load the desktop without nomodeset? That's a new one, hadn't heard that one before. Usually modesetting errors occur when loading the graphical environment as a whole, not a specific desktop, for they both use the same driver/x server. Strange...

FWIW, I just ran into the same issue in an XFCE test box in VBox and nomodeset didn't break the login loop. Not asking for advice. Not my thread, only a test box and easier just to reinstall the VM. Merely passing along FYI.

ETA: Reinstalled VM has same problem. Curiously, boots okay before installing Guest Additions, but not after. So maybe my problem is different from the OP's. In any event, as mentioned, not asking for advice. Not my thread. Besides, my regular XFCE test box (on USB hard drive) works fine, so don't really care about the VBox one.

ETA2: Solved the problem, which turned out to be a VBox setting.

[gm10]

ETA2: Solved the problem, which turned out to be a VBox setting.[/size]

I think that after all that, if you leave the post up you should share which actually was the problematic setting. (btw not the first time that I wanted to PM you about something but could not because you have those disabled)

[pbear]

Thing is, my post started on topic, then drifted away. Maybe should have deleted altogether, but had been up a couple days by the time I figured it out (wasn't a priority), so felt shouldn't delete outright. Anyhoo, as I recall, the login loop in VBox was caused by setting a mount point for the shared folder (which I don't normally do). Been a while, though, so not certain. Whatever the setting, wasn't obvious how it related to the login loop.

[gm10]

Been a while, though, so not certain.

So you're saying that edit is basically as old as the post? Only noticing the post date now. I responded because I got this notification today:



Maybe the forum being weird again, I've even seen it change actual post dates on my own posts.

[pbear]

Sorry for the confusion. Edited last night to clarify my post, as I was referencing this thread in a current one about the login loop. Didn't realize the system would consider it a notification event or I probably wouldn't have bothered.