Can't open terminal

[Marty Sweet]

Hi Pat,

Please see the following link which has some solutions:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1803102
You will be able to kill X and fall back to terminal by pressing: Ctrl
+ Alt + F1 and then get back to X using Alt + F7.

I would follow some of the suggested steps in the order:
To check the file exists and permissions: ls -lh /home/USER/.Xauthority
If not, create it: touch /home/USER/.Xauthority
If the file is owned and grouped by another user, change it: chown
USER:USER /home/USER/.Xauthority

USER should be replaced with your login name (i.e. pat).

Let us know how you got on and what worked,
Thanks,
Marty




On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 7:11 AM, Pat Brown <pat.mysterywriter at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm having problems with error messages about 'unable to copy the user's
> Xauthorization file'. I found some online help that said open the terminal
> and check various settings, but I can't open the terminal. All I get is a
> blank gray screen.
>
> I'm also unable to run Update Manager and get the same Xauthorization
> message. I can't run my Office or GIMP. I either get the Xauthorization
> message or a message about my swap file and in the Office case a message
> about the backup file.
>
> I have:
>
> Toshiba Satellite laptop
> Mint (last stable version)
> I haven't installed anything new lately and these problems just started. I'm
> going to reboot now but I want to send this in case I can't get back in.
>
> Please, if anyone has any ideas for me and remember I can't access the
> terminal.
>
> Pat Brown
>
> http://pabrown.com/
> "Write the book the way it should be written, then give it to somebody to
> put in the commas and shit."  Elmore Leonard 1925-2013
>
>
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-- 
Marty