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I'm on Ubuntu 16.04, I was using Steam last night when my computer froze up. Had to do a hard reset, since then I cannot get it to boot.

enter image description here

Can't get to bios menu Can't get to grub menu Can't get to startup settings

No matter what I try to select on boot, it goes to purple screen like it's loading Ubuntu, then flickers like an old tube TV, then black screens. Left it on for about 6 hours to see if it was loading something, but it never came back up.

Lorenz Keel
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user930513
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    See this: https://askubuntu.com/questions/562293/why-do-i-get-a-black-purple-screen-when-booting-on-a-brand-new-pc-build and this: https://askubuntu.com/questions/55635/black-screen-after-purple-ubuntu-screen and this: https://askubuntu.com/questions/994057/brief-purple-screen-then-display-cuts-out-when-installing-ubuntu-16-04 and this: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2357527 and this: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2356974 and this: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2283703 and this: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2226337. There is more in Reddit too. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Mar 03 '19 at 14:28
  • If you can't even get to the BIOS menu, you've got a real problem. Is this a laptop, or desktop? In either case, remove ALL power from the computer, including batteries, and hold down the POWER key for 15 seconds. Then reconnect power and see if you have better luck. Report back to @heynnema – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 14:52
  • @heynnema no such luck with power button holding. For clarification I am on a desktop. – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 15:10
  • Remove ALL power from the computer. Open the case. Carefully remove the quarter-size battery from the motherboard. Count to 15. Press the power button for 15 seconds again. Reinsert the battery. Try again. – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 15:12
  • Now I'm getting to a black screen with writing on it, but I can't press any buttons to go forward. – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 15:57
  • Good. Progress. I'll take a look at your screenshot. Remember to start comments to me with @heynnema or I may miss them. – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 15:59
  • @heynnema after going through the setup I get back to the purple screen, then to the black screen. The issue with button pressing was due to my keyboard not registering. – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 16:17
  • What happened to the black screen with the writing on it? Can you get to your BIOS now? Do you have a Ubuntu Live DVD/USB? – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 16:19
  • @heynnema the black screen was for the motherboard time date setup. I still can't get into the bios, but I can now boot off of my USB drive. I'm going to try a fresh install and see if that fixes my issue. I will be right back after the install finishes. – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 16:21
  • No, don't do a fresh install... yet... How did you boot your USB drive? Do you have a Ubuntu Live DVD/USB? You really can't ask for help, and then run off and do it your way... leaving my troubleshooting in the dust :-( – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 16:24
  • @heynnema I can get into my bios menu now. I was an idiot and hit the wrong fkey. – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 16:29
  • @heynnema sorry not trying to be difficult, just frustrated. I have a USB I used for the install. I was about to get to my boot menu with f8 no problem – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 16:32
  • So where do we stand now? – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 16:33
  • @heynnema didn't do the install yet, but still getting the same black screen. – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 16:37
  • So let me be clear... you now CAN get to your BIOS, and you CAN get to your boot menu... both that we couldn't do before, correct? Can you get to the GRUB menu? Can you boot to a Ubuntu Live DVD/USB? – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 16:39
  • @heynnema yes to boot and bios menus. I can boot to USB no problem. I couldn't access anything before. No grub menu though. – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 16:43
  • OK, I'll put together a quickie partial answer for the next step. In the mean time, boot to the USB, and open a terminal. Come back here and I should have my answer ready for you to do. Stick with the plan for now... ok? – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 16:44
  • Got it, terminal is up and ready. – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 16:51
  • You forgot the @heynnema again. See my partial answer for what to do next. – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 16:52
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix please see my answer :-) – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 17:24

1 Answers1

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From the comments...

We couldn't access the BIOS menu, or the BOOT menu, or the GRUB screen. We reset the PMU (power management unit) by removing the motherboard battery, and now we can get to the BIOS and BOOT menus, and we're going to now boot to a Ubuntu Live DVD/USB and do the following...

Lets check your Ubuntu file system...

In terminal...

  • boot to a Ubuntu Live DVD/USB
  • open a terminal window
  • type sudo fdisk -l
  • identify the /dev/XXXX device name for your "Linux Filesystem"
  • type sudo fsck -f /dev/XXXX # replacing XXXX with the number you found earlier
  • repeat the fsck command if there were errors
  • type reboot

Update #1:

The computer is booting fine now.

heynnema
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    I don't have any more hanging on the black screen. Is this a very common thing with Linux? – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 17:10
  • @user930513 Are you booting normally now? Since you had a serious Steam crash, battery removal (in your case), and fsck might be needed to put things back right. If my answer was helpful, please remember to accept it by clicking the grey checkmark icon just to the left of my answer, and the grey up arrow icon for extra points. Thanks! – heynnema Mar 03 '19 at 17:14
  • Yes everything is back to normal now. Thank you for all your help. – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 17:24
  • I clicked it but it seems it won't change because my reputation is below 15. It does say that it's recorded though. – user930513 Mar 03 '19 at 17:39