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    Can't Launch GUI from Command Line

    Posts: 3
    in Ubuntu

    I'm have much computer experience but am new to Ubuntu.

    I typed in sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop and it tells me it's already installed. Good. So it should work. I type sudo/etc/init.d/gdm start and the screen goes blank for 8 seconds three times in a row and then back to the command line. I have also tried gdm start without the path before and it says GDM already running. Aborting!

    I have 8.10 and it's a valid disk (no errors).

    Can someone help please?

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    Comments

    • Posts: 158
      Your X server is failing to start. You should check the last 20 or so lines of your X server log file. OR you could try a newer version of Ubuntu as your particular problem may already be addressed.

      If you want to troubleshoot, check the log faile at /var/log/Xorg.0.log. Lines beginning with (EE) are errors. To get just errors, you can type in egrep "^\(EE\)" /var/log/Xorg.0.log

      If you want more help, paste the output of that command here.
    • Posts: 3
      So here's what's been happening. I installed Windows 7 afterwards...this was a few months ago...and I didn't realise that Micro$oft wipes out your boot loader. So the way I've been trying to get Ubuntu working was by booting from the install CD and that's what people have been telling me I've been doing wrong. Apparently that's why it wasn't loading the GUI...I'm not sure what the big difference is but anyways I'm gonna format my entire disk after burning 9.04 and try again.

      http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/cant-launch-gui-from-command-line-790825/#post3872853

      Thanks for your help :P
    • Posts: 2,177
      You need to boot from the live CD and restore the grub image to the MBR to re-enable the multiboot option, https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows

      Was a windows installation in your bootloader options prior to you installing windows 7?
    • Posts: 3
      Thanks for the link and my system would automatically boot Windows 7 right off the bat and I'd always have to use the installation CD just to be able to use Ubuntu. Don't you love how it wipes out your boot options? lol
    • Posts: 2,177
      Windows is made with the assumption that it is the only OS on your computer, to get another type of OS to boot or even to get windows to boot from a secondary drive requires third party software and modifications.

      Did the link hep you to reinstall the grub bootloader?
    • Posts: 501
      As far as Microsoft is concerned, they own your system, so if you install Windows after installing something else, like any Linux distribution, you are pretty much hosed. Myself, I will only run Windows under Linux in a virtual machine, or on my laptop where I have separate system discs for Windows and Linux. I just pop out one, and pop in the other to switch operating systems.

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