3

I stupidly installed, on my 15.10 Ubuntu installation, Kubuntu from the command line while ignoring the warnings of broken packages or errors that happened during the install.

When I rebooted my computer, I was greeted with a super striped screen, almost like the internal hardware is bad. I know the hardware isn't bad since I'm currently running Kde, installed from an ISO, on a flashdrive on the laptop to write this. The screen looks like this: enter image description here

If the picture is grainy, please ignore, the screen is accurate though in how it looks. I'm still having graphics issues so many icons and pictures right now are incredibly grainy. As if they've jumped out of the original Starcraft.

The screen above was actually my desktop as I was still able to press my windows key, open a terminal, and shut the system down from the command line. So the system is booting up fine, the graphics driver just seems to be freaking out. Also being able to press the windows key to open up the menu leads me to believe I was still booting into the default Ubuntu environment since, right now in KDE, my windows key does nothing.

During the installation I remember there being two errors that stood out:

  1. The installation couldn't install something related to accounts
  2. The reasoning behind the failure was a broken pipe in said accounts package

Now those errors don't really jump out as being the cause of my graphical issues so I'm incredibly confused on whats going on.

3
  • This is a tad unclear to me. Did you have Ubuntu 15.10 running with Unity then decided to install Kubuntu (Plasma Desktop) on top of that? What is your hope here? Restore Ubuntu's Unity, or Restore Kubuntu's Plasma Desktop? Also, did you have an proprietary drivers? When you say you're using KDE now, how did you install that, were you able to drop to console (ctrl + alt + f1)?
    – snorp
    Jan 6, 2016 at 18:54
  • @snorp I did have unity, then install the plasma desktop. I just want to get it back to a usable state, i don't care which desktop at this point. I was using the AMD open source drivers, not proprietary. I am "using" KDE now, it is running off of a flash drive and then I boot into that
    – Funkyguy
    Jan 6, 2016 at 19:24
  • Have you tried dropping to console (ctrl + alt + f1 [or any f key other than f7])? If that works you could start by simply removing plasma and reinstalling unity. I can write this out if you would like but first it's useful to know if you can get to a console to interact with the live system or if you'll need to run off live media.
    – snorp
    Jan 6, 2016 at 19:37

2 Answers 2

1
+50

If you have access to TTY, could you post the output of:

ps ax | grep dm

Then go with:

  1. Reboot and press Shift to get Grub menu.
  2. Select Recovery Mode → dpkg (Repair broken packages), Reboot
  3. Not yet, again reboot and press Shift to get Grub menu.
  4. Select (upstart mode). (let me know)
  5. Not yet, again reboot and press Shift to get Grub menu.
  6. Select Recovery Mode → dpkg (Repair broken packages)
  7. Drop to Shell, then run:

    sudo apt-get remove sddm
    sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm
    

    and set lightdm as default, then reboot.

1
  • To anyone trying to understand what's going on, this case seems to have same cause to my case here askubuntu.com/questions/697529/… but the effect is different, he got scrambled screen while I got black, white or flickering screen.
    – user.dz
    Jan 9, 2016 at 18:45
0

Okay so assuming you can get in to the system by dropping to console (ctrl + alt + F1), booting in recovery mode (selecting this from your GRUB menu) our using chroot via your live media here is what I would do (and just did in a VM).

  1. Remove the kubuntu-desktop packages[a simple apt-get remove/purge kubuntu-desktop won't get rid of everything here instead use this really long code below]

    $ sudo apt-get purge libqt5script5 qml-module-org-kde-kio kde-telepathy-minimal libkde3support4 liboxygenstyle5-5 k3b-data ntrack-module-libnl-0 kimageformat-plugins libkrosscore4 libkf5pty5 libqapt3 oxygen-icon-theme kde-style-breeze-qt4 libktexteditor4 kdenetwork-filesharing kdelibs5-data libchm1 plasma-widgets-addons libqt5concurrent5 libkf5completion5 libkf5su-data libkf5quickaddons5 kdepimlibs-data libkdeui5 libkdeclarative5 ttf-oxygen-font-family gtk3-engines-oxygen libboost-thread1.58.0 freerdp-x11 libk3b6-extracodecs user-manager libkf5kcmutils-data libksieve5 libkf5service-bin gpgsm kwalletmanager libktpcommoninternals9 kpackagelauncherqml libfam0 frameworkintegration libkf5globalaccel-bin mysql-server-core-5.6 libkf5mailtransport5 libthreadweaver4 kwrited phonon-backend-gstreamer libkf5sonnet5-data libkf5style5 libkdecorations2-5v5 ark kmail libkf5waylandclient5 libkf5gapicalendar5 libokularcore6 libkf5akonadimime5 plymouth-theme-kubuntu-logo ksysguard libkf5tnef5 libkf5pty-data libkf5coreaddons-data libkf5unitconversion5 kde-telepathy-filetransfer-handler libkf5auth-data libscim8v5 breeze-cursor-theme akonadi-backend-mysql kde-config-gtk-style-preview libaio1 default-jre konsole kde-runtime libkf5completion-data mysql-client-core-5.6 liblastfm1 libkf5kdelibs4support5 konsole-kpart libkf5parts-plugins libkf5akonadinotes5 libqjson0 libtag-extras1 kdepimlibs-kio-plugins libqrencode3 libkparts4 libakonadiprotocolinternals1 libbalooxapian4 akonadi-server libkf5auth5 kubuntu-notification-helper libqt5sql5-mysql kdemultimedia-kio-plugins libkf5kiowidgets5 libqt5waylandclient5 libopenobex1 libntrack0 kde-runtime-data libphonon4 cdparanoia libplasma-geolocation-interface5 libkemoticons4 libmessagecomposer5 libweather-ion7 cdrdao fonts-dejavu-extra libibus-qt1 bluedevil kde-telepathy-desktop-applets qml-module-org-kde-kwindowsystem kdeconnect libzip4 libkwinxrenderutils6 default-jre-headless kactivities kwin-x11 accountwizard kwin-style-breeze orion-gtk-theme libkmediaplayer4 kde-cli-tools libksieveui5 libkf5textwidgets-data muon-discover libkfontinst5 libkf5parts-data libkf5emoticons5 libeventviews5 libkf5sysguard-bin libkf5texteditor5 libkf5bookmarks5 libkf5akonadisearchpim5 libqt4-qt3support libkf5wallet5 libkcddb4 libtelepathy-logger-qt5 amarok-utils kded5 qml-module-org-kde-bluezqt libmailcommon5 libgif4 katepart libkf5akonadicontact5 libkaccounts1 libxcb-cursor0 libkf5alarmcalendar5 libkf5itemviews-data libreoffice-base sddm-theme-breeze libkf5networkmanagerqt6 libkf5dbusaddons5 libkdepim5 libkf5people-data libpowerdevilcore2 kaddressbook libkdnssd4 libreoffice-style-breeze phonon libkf5krosscore5 libsctp1 libmessageviewer5 libkf5gapi-data vcdimager libcln6 kde-style-breeze okular libkatepartinterfaces4 libkf5threadweaver5 libkf5configgui5 libqca2-plugin-ossl plasma-runners-addons libkf5peoplebackend5 ubuntu-release-upgrader-qt python3-pyqt4 python3-pyqt5 sshfs muon-common libkf5su-bin p7zip-full libksba8 libqca2v5 libkf5pimtextedit5 kdesudo libkf5jobwidgets5 libxerces-c3.1 kde-telepathy-data kdelibs5-plugins libkf5solid5-data phonon-backend-gstreamer-common kcalc libkf5screen6 libkf5filemetadata-data libkworkspace5-5 libqmobipocket1 systemsettings ktexteditor-katepart gstreamer-qapt libkf5iconthemes5 libsyndication4 libpackagekitqt5-0 libkjsapi4 libotr5 libkf5solid5 tzdata-java libkf5imap5 libksane0 libkf5khtml5 libkf5service5 libkprintutils4 libmuon libhttp-parser2.1 libkf5gpgmepp5 libtaskmanager5 knotes scdaemon libkf5bluezqt-data libkactivities6 libincidenceeditorsng5 libreoffice-sdbc-firebird libiso9660-8 libkf5jsembed5 qml-module-org-kde-kcoreaddons libk3b6 amarok kde-telepathy-contact-list libkf5gapicore5 kubuntu-desktop ruby gwenview libcalendarsupport5 python-gobject libkf5qgpgme5 libkcalcore4 baloo-kf5 libkf5xmlgui5 libflac++6v5 libkwineffects6 libktplogger9 ruby2.1 plasma-widget-kimpanel libkf5package-data muon-notifier libkf5js5 libpowerdevilui5 libkf5i18n-data libkf5sysguard-data ksshaskpass libkf5kdelibs4support5-bin qtdeclarative5-kf5solid libpoppler-qt5-1 libkf5globalaccel5 libtelepathy-qt5-0 qml-module-qtwebkit libkf5prison1 libqalculate5v5 libkf5wallet-data qml-module-org-kde-draganddrop libpython3.5 libqtscript4-gui libkf5filemetadata-bin qt5-image-formats-plugins libkf5notifyconfig-data python3-pykde4 qml-module-org-kde-solid breeze libkf5package5 libao-common libkf5people5 libxcb-record0 libtomcrypt0 kio-extras-data libkcompactdisc4 kde-config-telepathy-accounts debconf-kde-data kio-audiocd libkabc4 okular-extra-backends kde-telepathy-auth-handler kwayland-integration libkf5xmlrpcclient5 liboxygenstyleconfig5-5 plymouth-theme-kubuntu-text libkf5sonnetcore5 libruby2.1 libkf5iconthemes-bin qdbus-qt5 libqimageblitz4 libkf5webkit5 libjs-jquery libservlet3.0-java libjs-prototype ktorrent-data libknewstuff3-4 libkf5newstuff5 libqt5designercomponents5 kwayland-data kmenuedit akregator libkexiv2-11v5 libkf5i18n5 kde-config-mailtransport libkf5globalaccelprivate5 libkf5notifications-data python3-dbus.mainloop.pyqt5 openjdk-7-jre-headless libkf5config-data kate libkf5emoticons-data libkresources4 libkwalletbackend5-5 libkmanagesieve5 libkf5akonadiwidgets5 libqt5xmlpatterns5 kde-config-sddm libkf5emoticons-bin libkf5configwidgets5 libkf5widgetsaddons5 qttools5-dev-tools kde-telepathy-kpeople libqtscript4-network pam-kwallet4 kaccounts-integration pam-kwallet5 libksane-data ibus-qt4 kdoctools sgml-data kaccounts-providers ttf-dejavu-core libkf5holidays-data libkf5activitiesexperimentalstats1 libkf5activities5 kgamma5 libssh2-1 qml-module-org-kde-activities ca-certificates-java libkwin4-effect-builtins1 libyaml-0-2 libkxmlrpcclient4 libkf5kcmutils5 plasma-nm apturl-kde libkpty4 libatk-wrapper-java libkf5iconthemes-data libqt5designer5 libkf5akonadiagentbase5 print-manager libkf5syndication5 libkjsembed4 qml-module-org-kde-extensionplugin libksignalplotter7 libgrantlee-templates5 plasma-desktop-data libkf5globalaccel-data libkipi-data libkf5declarative5 libakonadi-kmime4 gtk2-engines-oxygen libkf5kiontlm5 libfollowupreminder5 korganizer plasma-pa kde-telepathy-text-ui libsolid4 libkhtml5 libkmime4 ksysguardd libkf5codecs5 kontact libkf5windowsystem-data libmailimporter5 libntrack-qt4-1 libsendlater5 libkf5notifyconfig5 libkf5khtml-bin libprocesscore7 libkldap4 libkfile4 libqca-qt5-2-plugins libqt5quickwidgets5 kubuntu-settings-desktop libktpotr9 kde-telepathy-approver libkonq-common libpoppler-qt4-4 kamera libbaloofiles4 libtelepathy-qt4-2 libfakekey0 libkf5configcore5 libnoteshared5 qml-module-qtmultimedia libakonadi-kde4 libreoffice-kde libdolphinvcs5 libjs-scriptaculous libkf5baloo5 oxygen-sounds libqt5multimediawidgets5 kdepimlibs-bin mysql-common libpolkit-qt5-1-1 libkf5dbusaddons-data icoutils libkf5itemmodels5 libqt5clucene5 socat libkdepimdbusinterfaces5 obex-data-server libkf5bluezqt6 libkf5krossui5 apport-kde libqt5x11extras5 libkf5khtml-data libkf5mailtransport-data libkf5calendarcore5 libxcb-dpms0 qtdeclarative5-kf5declarative kio-mtp ksystemlog libqt5multimediaquick-p5 libkf5kontactinterface5 rubygems-integration libkf5kontactinterface-data libkfontinstui5 sddm libmessagecore5 libstoken1 kde-baseapps-bin kdoctools5 signon-kwallet-extension libkf5su5 qml-module-qtquick-controls libvoikko1v5 kubuntu-driver-manager libattica0.4 libmygpo-qt1 libkdesu5 libkf5xmlrpcclient-data libkf5gapicontacts5 libkf5parts5 libknewstuff2-4 dragonplayer libkf5coreaddons5 libmysqlclient18 libdlrestrictions1 libkf5xmlgui-bin libgps21 kde-telepathy-send-file khelpcenter libkf5baloowidgets5 libkidletime4 libknotifyconfig4 catdoc qapt-deb-installer breeze-icon-theme plasma-dataengines-addons libkf5bookmarks-data libfreerdp-rail1.1 libgnomevfs2-common libkf5wallet-bin libtemplateparser5 docbook-xml libkf5mbox5 about-distro openjdk-7-jre dolphin libqapt3-runtime libkf5akonadicore5 python-gobject-2 polkit-kde-agent-1 libkf5windowsystem5 libkf5widgetsaddons-data libkf5itemviews5 kinfocenter libkf5holidays5 amarok-common libkf5waylandserver5 libkf5dbusaddons-bin libreoffice-sdbc-hsqldb liblz4-1 kwin-data libqtscript4-uitools libkf5jobwidgets-data libmusicbrainz5cc2v5 libkf5gapitasks5 libxcb-composite0 qml-module-org-kde-kquickcontrols libreoffice-java-common libbaloocore4 powerdevil-data kwin-addons libkdecore5 libgnomevfs2-0 kdelibs-bin plasma-desktop skanlite libparted-fs-resize0 libkolabxml1v5 kwin-common libkf5crash5 libkf5textwidgets5 kdegraphics-strigi-analyzer kpackagetool5 qtwayland5 libdmtx0a plasma-framework libprocessui7 libtommath0 plasma-scriptengine-javascript libperl4-corelibs-perl libkf5attica5 qml-module-qtquick-controls-styles-breeze libatk-wrapper-java-jni qapt-batch libloudmouth1-0 libqca2-plugins libkf5newstuff-data kde-style-oxygen-qt5 libkf5plasma5 libkf5filemetadata3 liblmdb0 libjs-underscore libkf5dnssd5 libkf5configwidgets-data libkleo5 libqalculate5-data libkf5codecs-data docbook-xsl libkf5jsembed-data libkntlm4 software-properties-kde libopenconnect5 libkwinglutils6 libkf5archive5 ktorrent libqca-qt5-2 gnupg2 krdc libkf5balooengine5 libksgrd7 libstreams0v5 libkf5akonadicalendar5 milou kde-baseapps-data libphonon4qt5-4 libqtscript4-core partitionmanager libkdewebkit5 java-common libkf5gapidrive5 kdeplasma-addons-data powerdevil kscreen libkf5runner5 ktexteditor-data libvcdinfo0 libkf5plasmaquick5 libxcb-damage0 telepathy-accounts-signon kde-cli-tools-data libkf5texteditor5-libjs-underscore libqt5help5 libkcmutils4 lksctp-tools kdeconnect-plasma plasma-wallpapers-addons konversation-data libreoffice-style-oxygen k3b libkipi11 libkf5contacts-data libkf5notifications5 phonon4qt5-backend-gstreamer libktpmodels9 libkf5baloowidgets-bin libqt5multimedia5-plugins libao4 libkfilemetadata4 libdebconf-kde1 libktorrent-l10n libpolkit-qt-1-1 libkf5contacts5 libkolab1 libepub0 libkdgantt2-1 libgit2-22 libkf5config-bin libkf5xmlgui-data libkf5peoplewidgets5 qml-module-org-kde-telepathy libkf5mime5 libstreamanalyzer0v5 sonnet-plugins plasma-workspace qml-module-org-kde-runnermodel libqgsttools-p1 libhsqldb1.8.0-java libqtscript4-xml javascript-common kubuntu-web-shortcuts libgrantlee-textdocument5 kde-telepathy-kaccounts libkf5ldap5 libkf5service-data libkpimutils4 kate5-data khotkeys pinentry-qt4 kde-config-gtk-style khotkeys-data kross libkdecorations2private5v5 libkf5akonadiprivate5 libkubuntu1 fonts-oxygen libkf5kiofilewidgets5 python3-sip kio baloo-utils libkio5 libxml2-utils ksnapshot kate-data libktorrent5 konversation qml-module-org-kde-people kwin libpimcommon5 libkf5sonnetui5 kde-config-whoopsie libkf5calendarutils5 qml-module-org-kde-kquickcontrolsaddons libreoffice-base-drivers libkpgp5 kubuntu-debug-installer libkf5modemmanagerqt6 libktpwidgets9 kio-extras libkexiv2-data libkf5dnssd-data libplasma3 muon-updater kde-telepathy libkf5identitymanagement5 libkf5kiocore5 libkonq5-templates libkf5unitconversion-data libqtscript4-sql ksysguard-data libmessagelist5 kinit libkf5guiaddons5 kde-telepathy-integration-module libkf5idletime5 libkf5kdelibs4support-data libxfreerdp-client1.1 kdepim-runtime libkf5declarative-data
    

    (FYI I got this out of what was installed on my system when I tried this out. This is a copy of my /var/log/apt/term.log: http://pastebin.com/5pT6bMdZ)

  2. Reinstall Unity

    $ sudo apt-get --reinstall --yes install linux-generic ubuntu-minimal ubuntu-standard ubuntu-desktop unity-settings-daemon notify-osd libqt4-sql-sqlite unity gnome-terminal
    
  3. Reboot and see if you're fixed!

Now my display didn't break as a part of this so I'm unsure of what exactly caused that for you, in fact I was able to use both desktops just fine (in my very limited and minimal testing). The error you get has nothing to do with display/display drivers (as it appears you had the common one). In fact I got it the error resolved with a (totally unrecommended):

    $ sudo dpkg -i --force-all /var/cache/apt/archives/kde-config-telepathy-accounts_4%3a15.08.2-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb
    $ sudo dpkg -i --force-all /var/cache/apt/archives/kaccounts-providers_4%3a15.08.2-0ubuntu1_all.deb

I could then login/logout with no problem in to either desktop. In my limited testing both desktops seemed functional and no obvious errors were seen or recorded in the logs. However there are two known bugs surrounding this setup: https://bugs.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/+bug/1451728 & https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kaccounts-providers/+bug/1488909

So it may be ill advised to run this type of setup. Finally, just to confirm you didn't get any other errors I'd take a look at /var/log/apt/term.log:

    $ grep -A4 "Errors" /var/log/apt/term.log
    Errors were encountered while processing:
    /var/cache/apt/archives/kde-config-telepathy-accounts_4%3a15.08.2-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb
    /var/cache/apt/archives/kaccounts-providers_4%3a15.08.2-0ubuntu1_all.deb
Log ended: 2016-01-06  20:11:55

There could also be some other conflict so you could also try installing kubuntu-full or removing unity then installing kubuntu-desktop (and then reinstalling unity) if you're in need of the environment. You could also look at the History log and see if maybe during this process your AMD driver was updated.

My last closing thought on this is that I totally recommend you use a virtual environment before making big changes like this, it'll potentially save you a lot of time and frustration especially if this is your main computer. Check out Virtualbox: $ sudo apt-get install virtualbox

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