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I got a Dell latitude D620 for free recently and the person who gave it to me had Ubuntu 12.04 loaded on it. While updating the update software removed "unessential" packages. Now when I try to boot the screen will display the Ubuntu logo and loading sign for a second or 2 and then go black until we pull out the battery.

I gave it 12 hours overnight and about 10 hours during the day. If I use the boot setup software, I will see that there are 3 non recovery mode Ubuntu versions and three recovery versions. One recovery mode version will run command line Linux only.

I am unfamiliar with Linux so I need the graphical user interface.

I have made no mods to the OS or the laptop. I do not think that the guy before me had made any mods either. This computer use to be a windows corporate machine.

Elder Geek
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2 Answers2

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If you've just received your laptop is there anything on it that you want to keep? It may be easier to start again and install the latest ubuntu (14.04) from scratch. You'll get an option to use the whole disk in the installer.

PaulE
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You have two basic options, and I'm not sure which would work most easily for you. You can reinstall Ubuntu completely, which might be the easiest method while you are learning how to use the system, or you can try several methods of how to fix the problem, but these methods are not foolproof or guaranteed to work.

Installing Ubuntu will start with downloading the OS to a CD or USB, spending a short amount of time preparing the USB for booting your computer, and about an hour of your time to complete.

Repairing Ubuntu may require a bit of research and attempting many different procedures, all of which will involve the command line terminal (TTY) and a pretty good knowledge of what types of devices are in your computer.

Dell maintains a pretty good website, and there should be a sticker on the bottom of the computer (laptop) or back of the computer (desktop) with a service code. Using that service code, you should be able to find what equipment your Dell was built with, although someone may have changed out some devices since the time the computer was built.

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Charles Green
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