Join Log in
Score:0
Will avatar Ubuntu

Ubuntu failure to start up

id flag
Will

I'm not going to be able to provide all the information you will need to sort out my specific problem, but I wanted some general advice on what to do when Ubuntu won't load (for future issues). Suffice to say I'm in no way a computer pro, I just want to use Linux because I don't want to be tied to any commercial outfit for computing and I have been very pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to do everything I can do on Windows (often better) on Ubuntu.

However, I faced this this morning: Grub loads fine, I select Ubuntu and the screen freezes after a few seconds (black screen with minimal text, something about how many kb checked or something like that - it clearly got stuck trying to do something I normally don't notice it doing); after trying to reboot several times I gave up, reinstalled from a live USB iso, and there's no data loss as I have it all backed up in lots of places. It is a bit of a pain though and took most of this morning to sort it all out (reinstalling everything). It's a dual boot laptop and I could get into Windows - I was somewhat pleased that getting into Windows didn't help me sort it out either ;) (I may get brave enough one day to remove Windows altogether - but I'm fairly new to Linux and don't have the nerve yet). My question is, is there a logical series of steps to attempting to repair an installation that won't load, that a relative novice can try? I could get Grub up, choose the various options in Grub but didn't know where to begin to try to repair it. Ideally I wanted to use the live boot USB to repair the installation without deleting files / apps etc.
I am pretty sure it was a software issue - it's all fine now having reinstalled, all the non-Ubuntu partitions are fine and I just reinstalled Ubuntu on the partition it was on and it's working fine now. I checked all the disks from the live USB before reinstalling and no errors found. As I say, please don't try to solve my specific problem as I am well aware I haven't provided nearly enough information to begin, but a general (novice) guide to how to try to rescue a failed system would be really useful - if that is feasible Thanks v much. Will

30
0 + 3
Raffles avatar
in flag
Raffles
The first thing I would try with those symptoms is this >>> https://askubuntu.com/questions/226061/how-to-install-the-boot-repair-tool-in-an-ubuntu-live-disc
0
Reply
Will avatar
id flag
Will
Thanks ... it was more about the situation when Ubuntu is failing rather than grub not working. It's one of those situations that isn't a disaster but it's just a pain to have to go back to the beginning and reinstall the whole lot. It's probably too general a question for a forum - I guess better to post a more specific question when I have a problem in future. Thanks anyway for taking the trouble to read and answer. Will
0
Reply
Raffles avatar
in flag
Raffles
What I did from the very beginning of using Ubuntu is to have /home on its own partition. All my machines are setup as such. You can read about the advantages [here](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Partitioning/Home/Moving) and [here](https://www.howtogeek.com/116742/how-to-create-a-separate-home-partition-after-installing-ubuntu/). I can offer it as an answer if you wish.
1
Reply
ธงชาติไทย
Elon Musk
I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.