Score:1

Ubuntu live USB boots to wallpaper without UI elements

pe flag

I tried several USB Flash drives and ubuntu-18.04.5-desktop-amd64.iso, ubuntu-mate-20.04.2.0-desktop-amd64.iso and ubuntu-21.04-desktop-amd64.iso with the same result - boot is very slow and live session ends with a full screen wallpaper with no UI components. Mouse right-click opens a popup menu, so I can get to the terminal or Nautilus.

I have i5-9600K CPU, 1TB SSD PC with Ubuntu 18.04.5, which runs just fine. The only unusual thing I noticed is Gparted showing a warning about my boot partition /dev/nvme0n1p1, but only when booted from USB Flash. Warning is about some missing drivers or software components. Any clue what is happening here?

NOTE

Disregard the slow boot. Since all I see is just the wallpaper, I don't really know how long it takes for the OS to be ready.

guiverc avatar
cn flag
Boot is slow? Please be specific. What media are you booting from? Some ISOs will take >10 minutes to boot on specific hardware/firmware using USB-thumb-drives due to a known issue (bug in firmware itself that makes it slow), but it takes even longer than if DVD media is used for example; but what are you defining as slow? Very few devices are impacted by the issue I'm referring to, but what do you mean by *slow*? Did you verify ISO? prior to write to media? Verify the write to your media? (verification of write to media varies on release, verification of ISO is the same for all releases)
Nmath avatar
ng flag
Do you have another display connected? Generally when booting the live session you get a popup to choose to Install Ubuntu or Try Ubuntu. If you have another display it's possible that popup is showing up on that display, even if it's turned off or on a different input.
Paul Jurczak avatar
pe flag
@Nmath I have only one display. I selected "Try Ubuntu".
Paul Jurczak avatar
pe flag
@guiverc Disregard the slow boot remark, I edited my post to that effect. The media was verified and is fairly fast. My main concern is lack of proper desktop after booting.
Paul Jurczak avatar
pe flag
@Nmath Boy, do I feel silly! There was a second display after all. I will post an answer, maybe it will help someone in the future.
Score:1
pe flag

As @Nmath noticed, the culprit was a second display. In a maze of cables, there was one leading to a display, far, far away. It was rarely used, and I was sure that it was powered down when not in use. Unfortunately, it was on permanent stand by. OS detected it as a primary display and that's why I was getting only a wallpaper on my monitor.

sudodus avatar
jp flag
+1+1; Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm sure it can help other users :-)
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