Can't start PC with low graphics

[satimis]

Hi all,

Host Ubuntu 12.04 desktop 64bit
VM Ubuntu 12.04 server 64bit
Virtualizer Oracle VirtualBox

I followed;
Virtual Users And Domains With Postfix, Courier, MySQL And SquirrelMail (Ubuntu 12.10)
http://www.howtoforge.com/virtual-us...l-ubuntu-12.10

installing the LAMP server on the VM running remote installation on the host terminal vis ssh. It worked without problem. After having finished "1 Preliminary Note" I took a break with the PC switched off.

After the break I started the PC and the server on the VM. Unfortunately I forgot to run;
$ ssh user@192.168.0.101
on the host terminal to login on the server.

Then I followed "2 Install Postfix, Courier, Saslauthd, MySQL, phpMyAdmin" installing;

$ sudo apt-get install postfix postfix-mysql postfix-doc mysql-client mysql-server courier-authdaemon courier-authlib-mysql courier-pop courier-pop-ssl courier-imap courier-imap-ssl libsasl2-2 libsasl2-modules libsasl2-modules-sql sasl2-bin libpam-mysql openssl phpmyadmin apache2 libapache2-mod-php5 php5 php5-mysql libpam-smbpass

installing those packages on the host terminal and finished up to "4 Create The MySQL Database For Postfix/Courier".

Then I realised having made this mistake installing those packages on the host. I started removing the installed packages on host terminal by;

1)
$ apt-get remove postfix
(no problem)

2)
$ sudo apt-get phpmyadmin apache2 libapache2-mod-php5 php5 php5-mysql
(also no problem)

3)
IIRC on running;
$ sudo apt-get openssl

I was NOT allowed to remove it, suggesting to run "autoremove"

On running;
$ sudo apt-get autoremove openssl
Suddenly I saw it starting removing GNOME packages.

I could not stop the action even with the terminal closed.

I switched to F3 (Text Mode) and rebooted PC. But I could not started the host, warning low graphic.

I think I could start rescue mode dropping to shell. Please help how to rescue this PC. There are about 20 VMs running on this box.

TIA

B.R.
satimis

[x]

Ouch, that hurts! (Been there, done that... )
The thing is, openssl is installed with the system and lots of packages depends on it, that's why it couldn't be removed the normal way.
First thing: Always check what will be removed before confirming!

How to fix:
You need to start without graphic, there should be an option for that in Grub's boot menu?
Or you could edit "on the fly", press 'E' when you're in grub's menu. (Well, I'm still used to grub legacy you probably have grub2 there could be some differences but I'm sure you can edit grub2's menu on booting.)

Once you manage to get to a console, try "apt-get install openssl" to start with, if that works install all you can think of.
If you're unlucky, like I was when doing exactly the same on OpenSuse, too much is lost and reinstalling is only way out.
If you have partitioned properly ( that is, your own stuff like all VM's on separate partition) you shouldn't lose anything but your time.

But first question to you is: can you get a console on the host?

[satimis]

Hi,

Thanks for your advice.

Normal booting starts

The system is running in low graphic mode
[OK]

clicking [OK] with mouse starts

1. Run in low graphics modes of just one session
2. Reconfigure graphs
3. Troubleshoot the error
4. Exit to console login
[OK]

Try 1.
amed dosan;ed: edit /etc/default/saned
no apache RPM package installed
(then hanging on screen)

Try 2.
It couldn't fixed the problem. Finally the screen was hanging.

Haven't tried 3. and 4. yet.

I found following thread;
How to fix “The system is running in low-graphics mode” error?
http://askubuntu.com/questions/14160...ics-mode-error

On normal booting the screen is exactly the same as the picture displayed there.

On <8> it suggests running;

    sudo apt-get install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop
    sudo reboot

I haven't tried yet.

Edit:

This box has been running for several years. I can't remember whether there are partitions.

[x]

clicking [OK] with mouse starts

1. Run in low graphics modes of just one session
2. Reconfigure graphs
3. Troubleshoot the error
4. Exit to console login
[OK]

Haven't tried 3. and 4. yet.

It's number 4 you want, forget the rest for now.

On <8> it suggests running;

    sudo apt-get install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop
    sudo reboot

I haven't tried yet.

Try it, you'll like it!

This box has been running for several years. I can't remember whether there are partitions.

Check it with "df" - it will show you all partitions & where they're mounted.

[satimis]

4. Exit to console login

Didn't drop me to console, still hanging on screen.

I have to pressing [Ctrl]+[Alt]+F1 to start Init-1

Then ran;

sudo apt-get install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop
sudo reboot

Lot of packages installed and rebuilt. On reboot Ubuntu desktop comes back. Thanks.

$ df
found /dev/sda1, /dev/sda3 etc.

Then how to safely remove openssl, mysql packages and other packages? This is host. I don't nedd them running here. They were mistakely installed.

[x]

Good you got it back!
Now for openssl, don't try to remove it.
The guide you followed mentioned packages needed, if you had looked closely when issuing "apt-get instal ... openssl ..." you would have noticed a message like "opennssl is already latest version".
It is normally installed with the base system, and very much needed.
Mysql, apache, courier et al should not be a problem to deinstall.
Just take a look at what packages will be removed with them.

[satimis]

Performed following steps:

$ sudo apt-get remove mysql-client mysql-server

......
......
Setting up colord (0.1.16-2ubuntu0.1) ...
dpkg: error processing colord (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 colord
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I found following thread;
Uninstall MySQL in Ubuntu
http://superuser.com/questions/29717...ysql-in-ubuntu
<1>
apt-get install -y python-central
apt-get remove -y mysql-client-5.1

But haven't taken any action. Then continued;

$ sudo apt-get remove -y libsasl2-2

I saw it removing LibreOffice and some other files. I switched to Init-1 promptly and rebooted the PC.

Ubuntu desktop could not be started. Dropped to Init-1 and ran;

$ sudo apt-get install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop
$ sudo reboot

Ubuntu Desktop restarts but some icons on the left column bar removed, such as LiberOffice, UbuntuOne, UpdateManager etc. I have no idea whether their packages have been removed or NOT. I'll find them out later.

Then ran;
$ sudo apt-get install --reinstall libsasl2-2

...
....
Setting up colord (0.1.16-2ubuntu0.1) ...
dpkg: error processing colord (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Setting up libsasl2-2 (2.1.25.dfsg1-3ubuntu0.1) ...
Setting up libsasl2-2:i386 (2.1.25.dfsg1-3ubuntu0.1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Errors were encountered while processing:
 colord
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I have following mistakenly installed packages still running on Ubuntu Desktop

courier-authdaemon courier-authlib-mysql courier-pop courier-pop-ssl courier-imap courier-imap-ssl libsasl2-2 libsasl2-modules libsasl2-modules-sql sasl2-bin libpam-mysql

I won't touched them. I'll wide out the complete box after removing the VMs from this box to a new PC.

This PC has been running sometimes, 3~4 years with following config;
- AMD Core4
- RAM 8G
- ASUS Mobo

I have been planning building a new PC about 2~3 months with following config;

- AMD 8-Core FX-8150 3.6GHz/16M CPU [AM3+] FD8150FRGUBOX [Black Edition]
- ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AMD 970,DDR3,USB3.0,SATA3 6Gb/s,ATX M/B
- ASUS DI-A6450G1 HD6450 PCI-E 1GB DDR3 [Low Profile] 
(no graphic editing.  Only 2D for desktop)
- Corsair Vengeance CMZ32GX3M4X1600C10 DDR3 1600MHz 32GB Kit (4x8GB)

What I haven't decided is HD. I have spare 1T HD available. It'll satisfy my current need. However I like the speed of SSD. But a 512GB SSD is still quite expensive today. Most likely I'll use the spare 1T HD first. I have spare new power supply still in box unpacked.

Have you had any advice or experience in moving VMs to share? TIA

B.R.
satimis