Arch Linux terminal not starting

Question

I just installed Arch Linux following a video tutorial from youtube for the first time. However, when I try starting the GNOME terminal it won't start. It will say Terminal at the top of my screen for a couple of seconds and there will be a loading symbol, but after a couple of seconds they both disappear and no terminal will appear. Because I can't load or start the terminal I can't do anything (I can't even answer the question to register to the Arch Linux forums). What am I doing wrong?

Solution 1

I had the same issue after a fresh install of arch. I checked, double checked and triple checked the locale.gen and even removed every locale except en_US.UTF-8. I was just about to give up when I checked under settings, Regions & Language and discovered the language was not set even though I had run the command to set it. After picking english and rebooting it works fine.

Solution 2

Sounds like you messed up your /etc/locale.gen file.

If you are english/US, comment out any of the other entries in that file, UNLESS YOU NEED THEM. They are for other languages. If you are american you more then likely only need en_US.UTF8.

Edit the /etc/locale.gen file and uncomment en_US.UTF8.

Comment out any others, unless of course you need them to be able to read.

Then run: sudo locale-gen

gnome-terminal should start then. If not install xterm and run gnome-terminal from it to see what is going on:

• pacman -S xterm

• Try CtrlaltF2, or exit X.

• Then hit CtrlaltF1 to get back to X.

• Hit AltF2 and type xterm

• In the xterm window type gnome-terminal

Solution 3

Unless you really care about GNOME terminal, the best way is probably to install a different terminal emulator. Pick one you like.

Remember that CtrlAltF1 gets you to the GUI. Then, press CtrlAltF2 to go to a TTY. Log in, and search the repositories for the terminal you chose. I chose Guake:

pacman -Ss guake

It should come up with something. For me, it was:

community/guake 0.4.4-3
    Drop-down terminal for GNOME

Then, take the name and install that package:

pacman -S guake

You should then be able to launch the application by switching back to GNOME, pressing Super (the Windows key) and typing the name of the terminal.

Solution 4

This worked for me

in your ~/.xinitrc replace

exec gnome-session

with

exec dbus-launch --exit-with-session gnome-session 

Source: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=203918

Solution 5

I just meet the same problem here. I googled a lot, and I found a solution. If u can use Alt+F2(maybe laptop +Fn) , u can do:

1.login as root (use sudo 'ur pwd')

2. $locale-gen "en_US.UTF-8"

then u should could open terminal succesfully.

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Comments

[Admin]

I am using the gnome desktop and am trying to load it's default terminal

[Admin]

Make sure your locale is set correctly (see the note in the troubleshooting section).

[Admin]

How can I edit it without using a terminal?

[Admin]

How did you get it to install at all without a console? CTRL+ALT+FNUM should get you a console in which you can edit whatever you like regardless of your desktop environment. @jasonwryan may have a point though - Manjaro might be more your speed. Still, don't let that discourage you. You mention the forums - I assume that means you've got a browser running like chrome or firefox or something - likely you can use a browser extension to edit text if necessary. My own terminal preference is for terminology which you can probably get with pacman -S terminology.

[Admin]

I'm having the same problem. Maybe the question was poorly phrased, but it's a valid question, and shouldn't be down-voted so much. If someone does have an answer, it could just start with “Press <kbd>Ctrl</kbd><kbd>Alt</kbd><kbd>F2</kbd> and log in”.

[Zulfe]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS ANSWER! I've been fighting this issue for the last week. Nothing worked, but this started it up right away.

[jasonwryan]

This is deprecated now and should be considered an ugly, and unneccesary, hack.

[jasonwryan]

This adds nothing to the existing answers...

[Ollivander]

Thank you! I had also picking english for the Formats, right underneath Language.

[Jdeep]

How will I edit the locale.gen file? I have vim but that does not open it

[steevee]

You can use gedit but need to run it with root privs, so alt+F2 to run a command, then gedit admin:///etc/locale.gen