How To Solve: Unable to Login into Ubuntu 11.10

October 18, 2011 By Abhishek Prakash 17 Comments

Problem:

After a successful upgrade to Ubuntu 11.10 from Ubuntu 11.04 I found myself struggling with login problem. Each time I tried to login with my root user it brought me back to login screen and the only way I could access it through guest user (pity!).

Solution:

After searching through Ubuntu forums I came to know that it is a bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/dbus/+bug/811441.

I also found a solution which worked for me. Here is how to do it:

At log in screen, press Ctrl+Alt+F1
Login with your username/password
ls -Shla | grep “Xauthority”
sudo mv .Xauthority Xauthority.old
sudo shutdown -r now

Questions and suggestions are welcome. Don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter to get more info and articles on Ubuntu troubleshooting.

About Abhishek Prakash

Abhishek Prakash is the founder of Computer And You. He takes a keen interest in day-to-day computer life and wishes to share his experience with others to make their computer experience better and easier. He is also a regular Linux author at Make Tech Easier.

Esther Meyer

unable to log into user accou
nt on umbutu thru linex. please help
Saho

Thank you !
I hope I can solve the problem in this way.
- https://computerandyou.net/ Abhishek Prakash
  
  Good luck with it.
Aneesh

Thank you! That saved the day for me.
- https://computerandyou.net/ Abhishek Prakash
  
  You are most welcome Aneesh.
Antsy2k13

THANK YOU! In learning about linux between a few distros (in this case Ubuntu 12.04) I mess around… and more often than not mess something up. Terrible choice on my part because this is my main laptop for work and play and this completely fixed the issue.
- https://computerandyou.net/ Abhishek Prakash
  
  Beauty of Linux, you keep messing around and still like it.
Hitanshu

Great, thanks mate.
That was simple
- https://computerandyou.net/ Abhishek Prakash
  
  You are welcome Hitanshu…
Renato

Very usefull information.
I was playing around with “ssh” and x11 forwarding. One of the messup commands that I used changed the Xauthority settings..Than I couldn’t login anymore and I experience the same problem “Login attempt and the background beeing displayed multiple times after I press enter”.

Good solution was to move the .Xauthority to and old one, using the command “mv .Xauthority Xauthority.old”.This would make ubuntu create a new default xauthority file after startup.
- https://computerandyou.net/ Abhishek Prakash
  
  Glad that you found it helpful..
resmc

I’m running 9.10 (unable to upgrade due to low disc-space), but it will not accept “ls-Shla | grep “Xauthority” as a valid command. Any suggestions? No one has been able to help with this, and I’m quite distressed that my computer no longer works. Thanks in advance!
- https://computerandyou.net/ Abhishek Prakash
  
  I will need some more information before I could try helping you.
  
  Are you able to enter 9.10?
  Was there any interrupted upgrade?
  Why do you have low disk space problem?
  Did you consider reinstalling the OS after creating a backup of your data?
  And if you have any other relevant information, do share.
Artem

Thanks
- https://computerandyou.net/ Abhishek Prakash
  
  You are welcome
Cyborgsmurf

WOW! IT WORKS!!! Thanks alot
- https://computerandyou.net/ Abhishek Prakash
  
  you are welcome Cyborg

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