[xubuntu-users] New xubuntu install doesn't bring up X

[Steve Litt]

On Mon, 8 Dec 2014 18:07:50 +0000
"Brothers, Bill (HP Cloud)" <bill.brothers at hp.com> wrote:

> I install Xubuntu 14.10 on an HP 5860W this weekend. I had been
> running Ubuntu 14.04 (w/xfce4 installed) with no problem. However,
> after the system boots I have a black screen. I cannot switch to the
> console to do anything. I tried booting the recovery and restarting
> lightdm with no success. Please recommend some steps for isolating
> the problem.
> 
> Bill

I think the first (easy) isolation diagnostic I'd do is to go in with
System Rescue CD, mount your system partition, and rename lightdm to
lightdm.disabled. Do the same for gdm, xdm, kdm, and the like, just to
make sure your diagnostic test rules out what you think it does. As far
as I know, this would prevent X from running automatically. Therefore,
if X is freezing, this will get around it. Reboot to the original OS,
and if the problem was X freezing, the symptom will be gone. You can
then use xinit and/or startx to isolate the X problem.

By the way, in order for a no-lightdm computer to run xfce from startx,
you need to put the following line in ~/.xinitrc:

exec  /usr/bin/xfce4-session

It does no harm to leave your .xinitrc that way after restoring lightdm:
lightdm doesn't consult .xinitrc.

If, after disabling lightdm, the symptom remains unchanged, you have
some sort of boot problem not involving X. If this is the case, let's
cross that bridge when we come to it.

Obviously, remember all your diagnostic tests so you can restore the
system to its original state once you've fixed the root cause.

SteveT

Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
Troubleshooting Training  *  Human Performance