The system is running in low-graphics mode in Ubuntu 14.04 and /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf missing

Question

I always see the low-graphics mode error and have tried several solutions (links below) but in vain. [intel graphics, Ubuntu 14.04 running on a dual boot with windows7]

How to fix "The system is running in low-graphics mode" error?

How to fix "The system is running in low-graphics mode" error?

And finally to try this http://linuxg.net/fix-error-the-system-is-runnig-in-low-graphic-mode/ i don't see the lightdm.conf file.

I tried to reinstall lightdm and when I do it I don't find the file /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf. Its just not there at all.

The logs: /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log and /var/log/lightdm/x-0-greeter.log

Solution

The Unity greeter is not starting up. From /var/log/x-0-greeter.log:

/usr/sbin/unity-greeter: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libido3-0.1.so.0: undefined symbol: ubuntu_menu_item_factory_get_type

You could try with another greeter, or another Display Manager. For the first option, try:

sudo apt-get install lightdm-gtk-greeter

Just installing it should set it as the default. You can force it to be the default:

sudo tee /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/99-gtk-greeter.conf <<EOF
[SeatDefaults]
greeter-session=lightdm-greeter
EOF
sudo service lightdm restart

This should let LightDM start up if the problem is solely with the Unity greeter.

Installing GTK3 and GLib from source will cause problems, since Ubuntu applies patches to them (here's a similar instance where a patch wasn't applied in a PPA). If you wish to install higher versions of these, look for PPAs, like the GNOME3 PPAs (Main, staging).

Comments

[muru]

/etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf is no longer used by default. Most of the configuration is in /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d. Can you post /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log, /var/log/lightdm/x-*-greeter.log? Use paste.ubuntu.com if the logs are too long.

[user2729084]

Here are the links with logs paste.ubuntu.com/8809217 paste.ubuntu.com/8809227

[guntbert]

please in the future edit your question to provide relevant information. You should remove the comment now.

[user2729084]

the lightdm fails to startup. and i dont ding the file 99-gtk-greeter.conf and instead i have 60-lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf. I added the lines and still lightdm doesnt start.

[user2729084]

paste.ubuntu.com/8809480 paste.ubuntu.com/8809497

[user2729084]

Nope. Still the same error. paste.ubuntu.com/8809560 paste.ubuntu.com/8809569 Just yesterday I have installed gtk3.12.2 and glib2.42.0 to install wireshark from sources. I made a shutdown and start again then met with this problem. Now I have both gtk2 and gtk3 installed on mine. Should this be a problem with this.

[muru]

@user2729084 I'd be pretty certain that's the cause. Did you install those to /usr/local/ or to /usr/? Did you use checkinstall?

[user2729084]

I used default installation. ./configure make and make install. So should I uninstall the gtk3.12.2? All the gtk3 files are installed to /usr/local/lib and i see both gtk2 and gtk3 in /etc

[muru]

Try reinstalling gtk3 and glib2 first: sudo apt-get install --reinstall libgtk-3{-common,-bin,} libglib2.0-{bin,data,0} (There's a trailing comma with the gtk3 packages.)

[user2729084]

previously i installed both of them via sources. Should I uninstall via sources and reinstall via apt-get.?

[user2729084]

Uninstalling gtk3 SOlved the problem. Thanks for your support.

[user2729084]

When I tried to change to unity greeter: I have installed lightdm-gtk-greeter and it presents the login screen, where I enter password and enter: the screen is blank for 2-3 seconds and it loads the same login page. This repeats. here are the logs of /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log paste.ubuntu.com/8816878 /var/log/lightdm/x-0-greeter.log paste.ubuntu.com/8816910 Now I am trying to shift to unity greeter and not able to do that. Please provide your support

[user2729084]

stuck with this problem now- askubuntu.com/questions/545776/… can you please take a look into it

[muru]

@user2729084 did you reinstall gtk3 and glib, by the way?