How to run commands if unity is not working?

Question

I'm running ubuntu 13.04 on a compaq pressario cq56. After system update unity and terminal will not load. I've read some forums on how to fix the unity problem but without terminal I can't use them, and I've found forums about the terminal issue but cannot fix it without software center which I cannot load.

I can go into root terminal from recovery mode but that seems to be ready only and will not let me install or modify files. Any help I can get to get unity or terminal back would be great. If this isn't possible I'll just try to copy some data to a flash drive and reinstall.

Related (but probably not a duplicate): Unity doesn't load, no Launcher, no Dash appears, What is a virtual terminal for?, Why is a virtual terminal “virtual”, and what/why/where is the “real” terminal? — Eliah Kagan, Aug 15 '13 at 22:29
I was able to remount the root shell to read write with mount -o remount,rw / . I ran that with networking and was able to install unity. Im now working on starting unity, but I should be able find that somewhere. It may also be a graphics driver error as indixated by other unity missing forums. — user184375, Aug 16 '13 at 00:19

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 15 '13 at 23:04

3

Use Ctrl+Alt+F1 to go in tty1 and run whichever command you wish. To come back in tty7 (where the graphic environment is usually running), use Ctrl+Alt+F7.

edited Aug 15 '13 at 23:04

carnendil

5,451

answered Aug 15 '13 at 17:22

Radu Rădeanu

169,590

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 19 '13 at 09:56

-1

You can try reinstalling the ubuntu desktop. You can use Ctrl+Alt+F1 Enter your username then password

then you can do this to reinstall unity and terminal :)

 sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop

answered Aug 19 '13 at 09:56

Lois Laput

39
1

This will only reinstall the meta-package for the Ubuntu desktop. The programs and configuration files that make up the desktop stay untouched. – David Foerster Nov 03 '14 at 13:09

How to run commands if unity is not working?

2 Answers2