Ubuntu

White screen after login

Asked by PhotoGopher

I just upgraded to ubuntu 7.04. I selected the "lava lamp" screen saver. When the screen saver kicked in, the system locked. I had to power down and reboot to get to the normal desk top.
I had also just added a restricted video driver so thinking that was the cause of the problem, I removed it and then rebooted as instructed. After the splash screen and after I logged in, the normal screen shifted first to a white rectangle and then to full white screen. The cursor is all that seems to function.
I have read the other reported problem with this so called "white cube" display but I'm new to ubuntu and not too sure about how to remedy my problem.
Simple answers if they exist will be appreciated.

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Solved by:
Gord Allott
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Best Gord Allott (gordallott) said : 		#1

hi,

it sounds like you have enabled desktop effects (wobbly windows and the like) before you removed your video drivers. by doing that you have disabled hardware 3d acceleration which the desktop effects needs to run. instead the desktop effects are just showing a 'white screen'.

im not sure howto disable desktop effects from loading on login so id recommend that you run the command

sudo apt-get remove compiz beryl

after logging into recovery mode
(see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RecoveryMode to learn more about howto boot into recovery mode)

if you want the desktop effects back you will have to re-install you restricted video drivers and then install compiz or beryl from synaptic.

-gord

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PhotoGopher (photogopher) said : 		#2

Thanks Gord Allott, that solved my question.

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PhotoGopher (photogopher) said : 		#3

Gord, I can't thank you enough for getting me back up and running. This ubuntu support group is really fantastic. It's nice to know that help is there when needed especially when I dig myself into a hole like I did.
Thanks so much again;
Dave

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James Sewell (jcsewell) said : 		#4

Hi guys. I'd like to also report I had this problem and Gord's idea was the fix. I enabled restricted drivers, turned on the effects, didn't like them and removed restricted drivers without turning off the effects.

I got to a terminal and did a

sudo apt-get remove compiz beryl

but it reported a bunch of packages no longer needed that weren't removed automatically, mainly compiz libraries IIRC. Simply running the above command did not fix the system, but running

sudo apt-get autoremove

after removing compiz and beryl did fix it.

-James

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heidi (rfrankwest) said : 		#5

I have the same problem. This did not fix my system. the response I get is <couldn't find package bentyl>

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James Sewell (jcsewell) said : 		#6

You might want to check the spelling of the package you tried to remove.  it should be "beryl" not "bentyl"

-James

----- Original Message -----
From: heidi <email address hidden>
Date: Monday, August 27, 2007 9:25 pm
Subject: Re: [Question #8470]: White screen after login
To: <email address hidden>

> Question #8470 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/8470
>
> heidi posted a new comment:
> I have the same problem. This did not fix my system. the
> response I get
> is <couldn't find package bentyl>
>
> --
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.
>

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Jonas Enge (jonas-enge) said : 		#7

if this don't work try:
mv /home/<yourusername>/.gconf/desktop/gnome/applications/windowmanager/%gconf.xml /home/<yourusername>/gconf.bak

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EthanH (buggyboy79) said : 		#8

Hey,
i have a simliar problem with the white screen. but the problem is... i didnt install retricted driver on my computer. I try the sudo apt-get remove compiz beryl but it said cant find beryl. only thing i remember before it happen is change my screen resolution from 1280x800 to 1024x768 because i dont have a wide screen moniter.