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Asked: 2024-09-27T07:48:12+05:30 In:

I’m experiencing an issue with Ubuntu 20.04 where my system fails to boot properly and gets stuck at a stage indicating a problem with the GNOME display manager. What could be causing this, and how can I resolve the situation to successfully start my desktop environment?

I’ve been having this really frustrating issue with my Ubuntu 20.04 setup lately, and I’m hoping some of you might have some insights. So, here’s the deal: every time I try to boot up my machine, it gets stuck at this screen saying something like “Starting GNOME Display Manager” or just hangs there without any progress. I’ve tried waiting a bit, but it seems like it’s just not going to move past that point.

I didn’t change anything major recently or mess around with the system files, so I’m not quite sure what triggered this. I did install a few updates a couple of days ago, but they seemed pretty standard. I went through the usual steps: powering off and on a couple of times, hoping it was just a glitch, but no luck. It’s so annoying because I need to get some work done, and I can’t even get to the login screen!

I’ve seen some discussions online about problems with the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) causing similar boot issues, which got me wondering if that might be the culprit in my case. I tried booting into recovery mode, but I’m honestly not sure what to look for once I get there. The last thing I want to do is mess something up while trying to fix it!

Has anyone experienced something like this before? What could possibly be causing this hang-up with the GDM? I’ve heard a bit about reinstalling GDM or even switching to LightDM, but I’m a bit hesitant to jump into that without some guidance.

If anyone has suggestions or steps I could take to troubleshoot this, I’d really appreciate it! I’m hoping for a way to resolve this without completely reinstalling the OS. Thanks in advance!

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    2 Answers

    1. Sounds like you’re having a rough time there! Booting issues can be really annoying, especially when you just want to get some work done. Here are a few things you might try to troubleshoot the GDM hang-up:

      • Check for errors in recovery mode:
        When you boot into recovery mode, you can look at the logs for any errors that might help pinpoint what’s going wrong. Try checking the log files in /var/log, especially syslog and Xorg.0.log. Use the cat or less commands to view them.
      • Reinstall GDM:
        If you suspect GDM is the problem, you could try reinstalling it. You can do this by entering a command in recovery mode:
        sudo apt-get install --reinstall gdm3
      • Switch to LightDM:
        If GDM is still giving you trouble after reinstalling, switching to LightDM might help. You can install it with:
        sudo apt-get install lightdm
        And then follow the prompts to set it as your default display manager.
      • Update your system:
        Make sure all your installed packages are up-to-date. You can do this with:
        sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
      • Check graphics drivers:
        Sometimes graphics drivers can cause issues with the display. If you have proprietary drivers installed, consider switching to open-source ones or vice versa.

      Try these suggestions and see if any of them help. Remember to take it slow and back things up if you’re unsure. Good luck!

    2. It sounds like you’re encountering a common issue with the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) during your boot process, which can indeed be quite frustrating. Since you’ve mentioned that the problem started after a few updates, it’s possible that one of these updates could have introduced a compatibility issue or a bug that affects GDM. First, I recommend trying to access the recovery mode as you’ve mentioned. Once in recovery mode, you can select the option for “root” access, which gives you a command-line interface. From there, check the status of the GDM service by entering the command systemctl status gdm. This can give you clues about any errors that occur during its startup. If you see errors, note them down, as they may indicate the specific underlying problem.

      If you suspect that GDM might be causing the issue, you can explore the option of reinstalling it. To do this, while still in the root terminal, you can run apt-get purge gdm3 to remove it completely, and then apt-get install gdm3 to reinstall it. Alternatively, switching to LightDM could be a viable solution. To install LightDM, use apt-get install lightdm and then follow the prompts to select it as your display manager. After making that change, remember to reboot your machine. If you’re still encountering issues even after these steps, consider checking your graphics drivers or configurations in /etc/X11/xorg.conf, as problematic drivers can also contribute to display manager failures. This should help get you closer to a resolution without needing to reinstall your entire OS.

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