How to switch from Unity to Gnome through command line so Gnome runs on startup instead

Question

I have Gnome 3 installed, and when I did an update and restarted my computer Unity loaded.

I would like to switch back because I like Gnome 3 better. The issue that I face is that when I logout of my user, I get the "The system is running in low-graphics mode" error, and all I can do boot into the first option, which loads my using using Unity.

So, Is it possible to change this setting via some config file or command line command? I would like to have Gnome startup when I start my computer instead of Unity.

Possible duplicate of how to switch between unity and gnome (or recovery console) from serial-console — Muzaffar, Feb 26 '17 at 03:53
@Muzaffar I don't think that is the same thing. That sound like they are trying to restart the lightdm display manager from the console. I don't need to do that, as it is already running. I just want to modify a config file or something so when I start the computer Gnome starts up instead of Unity. — Get Off My Lawn, Feb 26 '17 at 16:28
Then maybe this one will help: https://askubuntu.com/questions/62833/how-do-i-change-the-default-session-for-when-using-auto-logins — Muzaffar, Feb 27 '17 at 03:43

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 30 '17 at 14:15

I have figured it out, all I had to do was switch my display manager from lightdm to gdm3.

Start the terminal
Run sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm
Choose gdm3
Restart the display manager or Restart the computer (I had to restart the computer because the display manager didn't want to restart)

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 17 '21 at 09:24

Here's a low-effort answer, if anyone is trying to simply switch between display managers. Install xdm (we'll be removing it later)

sudo apt-get install xdm

It'll then show an option to switch your default display manager, you can select the one you want from there, and it'd (hopefully) work. Uninstalling xdm isn't necessary but you may do it using

sudo apt remove xdm

How to switch from Unity to Gnome through command line so Gnome runs on startup instead

2 Answers2