Xfce Forum

cmcanulty

Member

From: Beulah, Michigan

Registered: 2014-05-10

Posts: 260

can't login

I was helping a person backup xubuntu 18.04 at our library and the backup drive disconnected itself for some reason.then we didn't realize as the ext hd was failing it filled up the / partition and then wouldn't boot on a restart. so i went in on a live usb and got enough removed from / to boot. Now it goes to users name on boot and gives no place to enter password.I used the recovery mode to reset her password but still boots to her name but won't open or ask for a password to enter. help please. I need her to get logged in hopefully without a reinstall.

Aravisian

Member

Registered: 2019-08-17

Posts: 410

Re: can't login

I was helping a person backup xubuntu 18.04 at our library and the backup drive disconnected itself for some reason.then we didn't realize as the ext hd was failing it filled up the / partition and then wouldn't boot on a restart. so i went in on a live usb and got enough removed from / to boot. Now it goes to users name on boot and gives no place to enter password.I used the recovery mode to reset her password but still boots to her name but won't open or ask for a password to enter. help please. I need her to get logged in hopefully without a reinstall.

Secondary; but as you were able to use LiveCD to access her OS files, did you continue backing up important files that way? With everything going on, you MAY have not considered that, so it's worth the reminder. Just in case it comes down to a reinstall, at least the back up can still be made first.

cmcanulty

Member

From: Beulah, Michigan

Registered: 2014-05-10

Posts: 260

Re: can't login

The backup was only of her home folder. Somehow maybe I got her xauthority messed up? Her user is still  there . Can I somehow try to fix xauthority from the root prompt? Thank you

Aravisian

Member

Registered: 2019-08-17

Posts: 410

Re: can't login

The backup was only of her home folder. Somehow maybe I got her xauthority messed up? Her user is still  there . Can I somehow try to fix xauthority from the root prompt? Thank you

Yes, I agree- only back up the Home folder.
However, what I meant was- your previous steps allow you to continue to back up any important files, this way you still can prevent total loss in case of a re-install.
The way I do it I zip the important home folders and save them in order on an external drive. No specialized back up tool needed.

If you ctrl+alt+f3, or otherwise access terminal, you can try

ls -lah | grep -i Xauthority

If you find it listed but owned by root, you can use sudo chown to cange the ownership of the file:

sudo chown <username:username> .Xauthority

Then, check for 'drwxrwxrwt' permissions:

sudo ls -lah /tmp

If the "." does not show the correct permissions; please try

sudo chmod 1777 /tmp

cmcanulty

Member

From: Beulah, Michigan

Registered: 2014-05-10

Posts: 260

Re: can't login

OK she is coming over in an hour, I will try those commands thank you. I will reply back when  I see how it goes

Aravisian

Member

Registered: 2019-08-17

Posts: 410

Re: can't login

OK she is coming over in an hour, I will try those commands thank you. I will reply back when  I see how it goes

Good luck, I hope it helps but if not, please rush back to the thread. If the above does help, just keep in mind; checking Xauthority was your idea.

cmcanulty

Member

From: Beulah, Michigan

Registered: 2014-05-10

Posts: 260

Re: can't login

I ended up reinstalling and did it in an hour fortunately didn't lose any of her files. Thanks so much