Wubi white screen

richyb_safc

richyb_safc

richyb_safc

Associate
Joined
29 May 2007
Posts
411
Location
Sunderland/Worcestershire
can anyone help with this...

I've installed wubi so I can try Ubuntu for a bit on my Vista 64-bit system. It all seemed to install ok and sure enough when I rebooted I had the dual boot screen, so I could choose Ubuntu or Vista. After selecting Ubuntu I got the loading screen for a while, then the screen just went white and I had to turn of the computer by the power switch. Once I'd pressed the switch however, what I assume was the Ubuntu login screen was there, but the computer was already powering down, so it seems something is working correctly but the display is just not there for some reason.

anyone have any ideas??
 
After you select ubuntu and grub starts press Escape and run recovery mode. Do fix xserver.

Or

When it 'goes all white' press crtl+alt+f1.
Login and type sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
It's usually down to video drivers. Although if this is your first boot I don't see how this occurred.
Reboot

Or

Boot into a command prompt (recovery mode or the ctrl+alt trick)
do:
cd /etc/X11
sudo cp xorg.conf xorg.backup
sudo nano xorg.conf

Then find the line Driver nvidia, and replace it with "nv" or"vesa". I assume it's nvidia doing it. It usually is :P.
If it's not, then just use your brain and replace the correct driver entry.

Section "Device"
Driver "nvidia"
..

Press Ctrl+Q
Save, Reboot.
 
Last edited:
I hvae a slightly differnet issue.

After installing Wubi, i restart and choose Ubuntu, where it should install Ubuntu, but it shows:

BusyBox v1.10.2 (Ubuntu 1:1.10.2-1ubuntu6) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built in commands.

(initramfs)

And it just sits there, forever....

any help greatly appreciated!
 
Reboot into Windows.
Run chkdsk /f.
Reboot into Windows, let chkdsk run.
Boot into Windows desktop.
Reboot.
Select Ubuntu (finally)

That usually works.
 
thanks for that yashiro, I did what you suggested first and it seemed to work. I logged in, it asked me something about the graphics hardware and suggested I allowed something to run so I did, I then set the keyboard up and all of that kind of stuff, then it put me back into a command prompt at the bottom of the screen, I'm not sure what to do here.

I've rebooted and i get the grey screen again, esc makes a drum noise and ctrl+alt+f1 asks for my login details - im assuming this is the login page? once i've input the login details I get a command prompt line again, do I need to type something here to get to a desktop?
 
Wow, easiest bug fix ever.

searched arounf, and found a suggestion to simply shutdown windows properly, then restart. Worked a treat. Somthing about rebooting or hard resetting doesnt allow the Ubuntu installer to pick up the virtual drive properly....
 
richyb_safc said:
thanks for that yashiro, I did what you suggested first and it seemed to work. I logged in, it asked me something about the graphics hardware and suggested I allowed something to run so I did, I then set the keyboard up and all of that kind of stuff, then it put me back into a command prompt at the bottom of the screen, I'm not sure what to do here.

I've rebooted and i get the grey screen again, esc makes a drum noise and ctrl+alt+f1 asks for my login details - im assuming this is the login page? once i've input the login details I get a command prompt line again, do I need to type something here to get to a desktop?
Click to expand...

try "startx" after you log in.
 
Use the final method after logging in via text. Or any other method that will enable ****** vga mode.
I dunno what the automatic repair choices are, never used em. Which version is it? 8.10?


Wow, easiest bug fix ever.
Click to expand...
Yeah, shutting down will fix it assuming your drive isn't due a bugcheck or a journal rebuild.
 
Last edited:
i'll try shutting down now. I haven't tried your second suggestion yet yashiro, changing the drivers, but could shutting down work anyway?

do I need to reboot into windows first or can I just go straight into ubuntu after its shut down?
 
The shutdown comment was for the other dude.

Before you try that final method, try logging in at the text prompt and do
metacity --replace
startx
 
ok, i've just shut down then booted into ubuntu and still nothing.

I tried startx and I get an error saying;
Fatal server error:
server is already active for display 0
If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.Xo-lock and start again.

any ideas?
 
OK. Let it white out. Switch to text mode. Ctrl+Alt+F1.
Do
sudo metacity --replace
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm force-reload
If it doesn't load in your current screen press Ctrl+alt+f7.

This is fun, yeah? :P

If this doesn't do anything. Do the nano edit trick from earlier.
 
Last edited:
probably the most fun i've ever had :S

I'm getting the same error again, unable to open X display, when I type sudo metacity --replace. any ideas?

thanks for your help by the way!!!

EDIT:

I tried the second method and got to a screen with:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Option "UseFBDev" "True"
End Section

I'm assuming the problem is something to do with my graphics driver so I thought this may help?

I'm using a 4870x2 if this makes any difference
 
Last edited:
After you select Ubuntu, it wipes the screen and says Grub whatever. Press Escape and select Recovery mode.
Do Xfix.

You could login and try
sudo apt-get remove compiz
sudo apt-get remove xserver-xgl
Reboot!
 
remove xserver-xgl gives:
reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
reading state information... Done
E: couldnt find package xserver-xgl

is this right?

also, how do i reboot? just leave it on the screen its on and hold my power button?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom