Logon Loop after last update

[Von Kirkus]

When I enter my password, (the correct one) at the logon screen, the Toshiba splash screen appears and then just loops back to the logon screen  :banghead I've tried rebooting into recovery mode and so forth, but it's not fixing it. How can I get this reconfigured?

[stevef]

There was a recent new kernel for LL 5.x.  Do you recall if the update required a reboot ?

Instead of using the normal logon, press Alt Ctrl and F2 to get to a terminal logon.  Use your normal credentials to log on.  If this works, we can try to work out what to do next.

Do you have any recent timeshift snapshots ?

[Von Kirkus]

There was a recent new kernel for LL 5.x.  Do you recall if the update required a reboot ?

Instead of using the normal logon, press Alt Ctrl and F2 to get to a terminal logon.  Use your normal credentials to log on.  If this works, we can try to work out what to do next.

Do you have any recent timeshift snapshots ?

I don't think it did require a reboot, I should have some timeshifts if I can get logged in. Will try the terminal logon and update. Thanks for the info.

[Von Kirkus]

Something is goofy. After several attempts I can get to the terminal in photo. Keyboard works fine in Windows. What do you suggest I try from here? Any help appreciated.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UQpR4mdeSB9uXNyc8

[stevef]

I don't understand what is goofy.  That looks like you've logged on to the computer terminal as expected which is the starting point for fixing it.
There are a few ways forward.

Assuming you have some timeshift snapshots available and you didn't change anything significant in the timeshift set up you can simply restore your system to an earlier point.  This should get you a working system.  But it is possible you'll be in the same position again if it is the upgrade that caused the problem and we will need to try something different in that case.  If you do want to try just restoring the system to an earlier point skip to timeshift instructions below.

It might be worth trying a couple of diagnostic things now before restoring.  If these don't work, you can get back to the terminal as you've just done.

Firstly just try the command

Code:

startx

This will try to start the GUI on the computer.  This may just work but if it doesn't, record any error messages it generates.

Secondly check the log of the update which you think caused the problem.  Run the commands

Code:

cd /var

Code:

cd log

Code:

ls -l | grep llupdate

It should look someting like this

 stephen ~>cd /var
 stephen /var>cd log
 stephen /var/log>ls -l | grep llupdate
-rw-r--r--  1 root  root                404 Jun 10 05:14 llupdates.log
stephen /var/log>

The 'ls' command should list the last update log file name.  If the file's date and time matches the time of your update when it all went wrong, then the command

Code:

cat llupdates.log | more

will show what the update was trying to do.  This may help in finding the cause.

I'm sure there'll be more to try, but it's getting late here and a lot depends on what you find if you run the commands above..


Timeshift Instructions

1) Make sure the timeshift archive is available - ie if you snapshot to a USB disk plug it in.
2) List available snapshots with

Code:

sudo timeshift --list

This should show you available snapshots with the date and time they were made. 
3) If you are happy with one of them enter

Code:

sudo timeshift --restore

This should list the available snapshots again and ask you which one to restore.  Follow the prompts accepting the defaults and recommendations.

[Von Kirkus]

Well, the goofyness, other than myself  :022: is that it took multiple attempts with the password to finally get the terminal window to run? Keyboard works flawless in Windows when I boot over to that OS. This SSD I'm afraid has become corrupted some how in a critical area. I haven't had time to troubleshoot the last few days. I have printed off your commands and will give it a whirl and let you know what I find. Thanks for all your help!

[camarks]

Your disk usage is at 100%. The update filled your drive and startup can't complete, thus the loop. Use the tools in the boot menu to free up some space. I've had to do it and it is annoying. I'm on here today to try to figure out why a "Lite" install has used all of my disk and what to do about it.

[Von Kirkus]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kaQ7jR113XC16Xdc9

ok, this is what I get when I run startx  Will see if I can clean up some space. I added soem video files from a trip I took I was wanting to edit and make a presentation. Hope I haven't lost those.

[stevef]

Code:

df -h

Will show file system space statistics. Look at the 'Used' and 'Available' numbers on the line with just '/' under 'Mounted on'.

If 'Available' is near zero then you do need to clear some space.
Unless you have a lot of personal data you can safely delete, one way to free some space may be by removing archive files left over from previous updates  by running the following commands.

Code:

sudo apt-get clean

Code:

sudo apt-get autoclean

Code:

sudo apt-get autoremove

Run 'df -h' again check free space and maybe try 'startx' again and see what happens.

If it works you need to check what state the system is in.  You may need to consider the size of the Linux partition.  If disk space is tight, using LiteTweaks to clear the caches regularly can preempt running out of space, but if you also want to save a lot of video data then you might need to change things.

[Von Kirkus]

My fix was to boot from a LL install USB stick and run Live. Then using the partitioning tool, I was able to shrink a 3rd "38GB" empty partition that I had to "10GB" and then expand the "90GB" Linux bootable partition that had filled to capacity and was bootlooped to a resized "118GB" partition. Then I used the Restore System program to get to a recent timeshift file and run it. Then shutdown, when prompted, removed the install USB, crossed my fingers and rebooted(not sure that helped, but it did reboot  hrug :49: :027 Back in LL all my files were still intact, ran a new timeshift file, then installed updates. Back in business. However, the 10GB partition that is now created doesn't have read/write permissions. How do I get that partition available for use if I wanted to put some files in that space? Thanks for all the great help and input. Link to partition info screenshot: https://imgur.com/iKv7hEN.png

Update: Since I had no data in the partition, I used the built in "Disks" program in Lite to remove the partition and then add it back and the program fixed the problem.