new guy

[Chris Mohler]

On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 3:31 PM, Jason Howard <jchnmb at gmail.com> wrote:
> i just installed ubuntu8.10.  i think it instaled corectlly, but after i
> enter my username and password all i get is a tan colored screen and a mouse
> pointer.  please help.

I ran into this the other day - if this is the same problem, them
running updates will fix it.  Unfortunately, since you have no GUI,
you will have to do it on the command line.

Press CTRL-ALT-F1.  You should be presented with a text-only login prompt.

Log in - enter you username, press enter, password, press enter.
(Note that you will not see anything displayed while entering your
password).

Once you're logged in type:
sudo apt-get update

and press enter.  When that's done type
sudo apt-get upgrade

and press enter. When prompted, answer "Y" and press enter.  Depending
on your network/cpu speed, the updates could take quite a while.  When
they are all finished, type:
sudo reboot

I'm not entirely sure what the culprit was in my situation (video
driver bug?), but this fixed the exact same problem for me.

HTH,
Chris