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    White screen/black screen & hang-up when starting up

    Dear all,
    you're reading another newbie.
    kubutu 8, kde 4
    Win XP on one partition, kubuntu on the other - 20 Gb for kubutu

    After installation from a live CD I've spent 5 days without problems discovering kubuntu and linux. Installed a few apps fine (notecase, freemind, Gnome Commander, java 6). Removed none. Made no other changes to the system as far as I know.
    Oh yes, one problem - a very unreliable internet connexion (totally stable on my other win XP machine).

    I now have problems. On startup I get the login invite ok, but then a white screen followed by a black screen when the 4 icons start coming in out of the dark mid-screen.

    I've done a lot of searching on the net but my knowledge of the use of the terminal is so poor that I'm getting nowhere.

    In the immediate I'd like to get a file (Ooo writer) off my machine to continue working on another pc. Fixing kubuntu can wait til later.
    (I've got a backup file on a usb stick, but only 90% updated.)


    Questions
    1/
    ****Is it possible to copy a file from the desktop to a usb stick, using the terminal in the current state of affairs?****
    The terminal works. The mouse works. The usb stick isn't yet mounted.

    2/
    ****Can I re-install from the liveCd (I've no internet) and preserve my recent changes (the file in particular)?


    3/
    ****How else recover the system?
    I've tried entering startx (blindly following a message on this forum) but get the feedback

    "fatal server error: server is already active for display.. If this server is no longer running remove
    /tmp/.X0-lock."
    This I tried, but get the feedback "operation not allowed" (or similar - I'm in French).

    I'd be grateful for any ideas on recovering my file or my system.

    Many thanks

    robert





    #2
    Re: White screen/black screen & hang-up when starting up RESOLVED

    Replying to myself.......!

    I've just followed theadvice posted by Rog131 on 13 September.

    I edited /home/<USER>/.kde/share/config/kwinrc
    by disenabling [Compositing]

    and have re-found my screen.

    For the linux psychiatrists amongst you, know that I was unable to solve the problem for so long because I did not recognise that it was a display problem. I thought the pc was hanging.

    Sorry to have bothered you.

    Robert

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