(RESOLVED)Lost MATE desktop,

[bimme]

I was doing some network setup between machines when I decided to reboot my mint 17 mate. After the reboot Mate was gone and Cinnemon was it. Ok, what happened? I clicked on themes and all there is is cinnemon.
But I have MATE installed (about a week ago). Just for info I do have cinnemon installed on my laptop Toshiba. Can I get my Mate back on my Imac?
i looked in the synaptic manager and the mate stuff seems to be all there but I don't understand how to get it up and running. I don't know command line stuff.

[karlchen]

Hello, bimme.

Log off from the Cinnamon desktop. You will see the MDM greeter screen, the graphical logon screen.
Before selecting your account and typing your password, locate the button or link which lets you select the session type.
As you have got Mate and Cinnamon on the machine, the list of session types should explicitly hold "Mate" and "Cinnamon". Select "Mate" and click OK.
Type your password and press Enter.
In case you are asked whether you want to use Mate for this session only or as your default desktop environment, select the latter and confirm.
You should be logged in to the Mate desktop now.
If you are lucky your problem has been solved.

Kind regards,
Karl

[bimme]

Now how did I get both on this machine? Aber wirklich net! I only installed Mate on this machine, Cinnemon was installed on another machine. I tried what u said. I went to the log off screen (like switching users) and did have several options. Mate was one of them. I used that option but it changed nothing. There's no options when doing shut down or boot up.

[karlchen]

Hello, bimme.

The option to change the session type is in the MDM greeter screen only. The reason is simple: The session type is a user-specific setting, not a system-setting, even in case you have only got one user account.
In case explicitly selecting the Mate desktop does not work and you get Cinnamon instead, hm, I do not know. Such a things has never happened here. To be precise, I have got Cinnamon and xfce, not Cinnamon and Mate. Yet, selecting xfce will give me xfce. Selecting Cinnamon will give me Cinnamon.
Not sure what has happened in your case.

Could you post the output of the terminal command

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inxi -Fxz

please.
Could you post the content of the file ~/.dmrc here.

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cat ~/.dmrc

Also could you, please, upload the content of the text file ~/.xsession-errors, to http://pastebin.com/ and post the link here. The file .xsession-errors might reveal why Mate will not be started.

Kind regards,
Karl
--
P.S.:
Here is as an example how to do it using my file ~/.xsession-errors as a sample: http://pastebin.com/CrNThyky

• open the file ~/.xession-errors in gedit or pluma.

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  gedit ~/.xession-errors

• Mark the whole text by pressing <Ctrl>A. Copy to the clipboard by pressing <Ctrl>C.
• Navigate to http://pastebin.com/ in your browser.
• Press <Ctrl>V in order to paste the whole text into the Pastebin textbox. Click the big [Submit] button.
• Postback the URL in the address field

Don't worry about the content of my .xsession-errors file. Cinnamon is working fine here.[/size]

[bimme]

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kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $     inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: kristine-iMac Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) 
           Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
Machine:   System: Apple product: iMac8 1 version: 1.0
           Mobo: Apple model: Mac-F226BEC8 version: PVT Bios: Apple version: IM81.88Z.00C1.B00.0802091538 date: 02/09/08
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core2 Duo CPU E8135 (-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 9576.9 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 1600.00 MHz 2: 800.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RV610/M74 [Mobility Radeon HD 2400 XT] bus-ID: 01:00.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1680x1050@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV610 GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.0 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card: Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-24-generic
Network:   Card-1: Marvell 88E8058 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller driver: sky2 ver: 1.30 port: 5000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n driver: wl bus-ID: 04:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: dormant mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 250.1GB (5.5% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD2500AAJS size: 250.1GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 110G used: 13G (13%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 0.51GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info:      Processes: 189 Uptime: 1:23 Memory: 1244.9/1997.4MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4 

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kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $     cat ~/.dmrc

[Desktop]
Session=default
kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $

I'm sorry but Ok I dont' understand what it is I'm supposed to copy and paste gedit ~/.xession-errors opens a window but nothing in it.

[karlchen]

Hello, bimme.

Thank you for posting the output of "inxi -Fxz" and the content of the file ~/.dmrc.

1.) "inxi -Fxz"

The output generated by "inxi -Fxz" seems to confirm that you have indeed logged in to a Cinnamon session. inxi 1.8.4 will say "Desktop: Gnome", because "Cinnamon" is a Gnome fork and inxi 1.8.4 cannot tell Gnome and Cinnamon apart.
If Mate had been running at that point in time inxi would have said "Desktop: N/A" instead of "Desktop: Gnome", because inxi 1.8.4 does not recognize Mate at all.

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System:    Host: kristine-iMac Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.8.2)
           Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
[...]
Info:      Processes: 189 Uptime: 1:23 Memory: 1244.9/1997.4MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4 

If you want to have more precise inxi results, you may run the command

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sudo inxi -U

This will make inxi update itself to the most recent version.
You might then run

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inxi -Fxz

again and it should identify your current desktop environment, Cinnamon or Mate, correctly.

Note:
On your machine 2 desktop environments have been installed, Mate and Cinnamon. inxi will always detect and display the desktop environment which is active at the point in time when inxi has been started.


2.) File ~/.dmrc

Too bad it only says "Session=default", because this does not tell us whether the default is Cinnamon or Mate. - Never mind.


3.) File ~/.xsession-errors

This is weird that the file should be absolutely empty. Can you try to open it this way, please:

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gedit /home/kristine/.xsession-errors

4.) Some more commands, please:

Could you, please, run the following terminal commands and post their screen output:

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dpkg --list mate* cinnamon*

foind out which mate and which cinnamon software packages are present.

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ps axu | grep mate; ps axu | grep cinnamon

find out which mate and which cinnamon processes are running.


So far I have not made any progress in finding out why you may not be able to select Mate in the MDM greeter screen (login screen) or why selecting Mate should log you in to Cinnamon nonetheless. Sorry.

Kind regards,
Karl

[bimme]

Thank you Karlchen for your help. I'm getting good output now.
First is the getit

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/etc/mdm/Xsession: Beginning session setup...
localuser:kristine being added to access control list
Script for none started at run_im.
Script for auto started at run_im.
Script for default started at run_im.
Failed to connect to the VirtualBox kernel service
Failed to connect to the VirtualBox kernel service
Failed to connect to the VirtualBox kernel service
Failed to connect to the VirtualBox kernel service
Failed to connect to the VirtualBox kernel service
Script for none started at run_im.
Script for auto started at run_im.
Script for default started at run_im.
GNOME_KEYRING_CONTROL=/run/user/1000/keyring-OaKZud
GNOME_KEYRING_PID=1857
GNOME_KEYRING_CONTROL=/run/user/1000/keyring-OaKZud
GNOME_KEYRING_CONTROL=/run/user/1000/keyring-OaKZud
SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/run/user/1000/keyring-OaKZud/ssh
GNOME_KEYRING_CONTROL=/run/user/1000/keyring-OaKZud
SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/run/user/1000/keyring-OaKZud/ssh
GPG_AGENT_INFO=/run/user/1000/keyring-OaKZud/gpg:0:1

(cinnamon-settings-daemon:1856): media-keys-plugin-WARNING **: Grab failed for some keys, another application may already have access the them.
Window manager warning: Log level 16: g_object_set_valist: object class 'ClutterSettings' has no property named 'window-scaling-factor'
nm-applet-Message: using fallback from indicator to GtkStatusIcon
      JS LOG: About to start Cinnamon

** (nemo:2165): WARNING **: Can not get _NET_WORKAREA

** (nemo:2165): WARNING **: Can not determine workarea, guessing at layout
Window manager warning: Trying to remove non-existent custom keybinding "magnifier-zoom-in".
Window manager warning: Trying to remove non-existent custom keybinding "magnifier-zoom-out".
      JS LOG: Cinnamon started at Sat Sep 13 2014 08:19:16 GMT-0400 (EDT)

(cinnamon:2154): St-CRITICAL **: st_widget_get_theme_node called on the widget [0xa072720 StBoxLayout.menu-selected-app-box] which is not in the stage.
      JS LOG: network applet: Cannot find connection for active (or connection cannot be read)
      JS LOG: network applet: Found connection for active

(mintUpdate.py:2317): libglade-WARNING **: unknown attribute `swapped' for <signal>.

(mintUpdate.py:2317): libglade-WARNING **: unknown attribute `swapped' for <signal>.

(mintUpdate.py:2317): libglade-WARNING **: unknown attribute `swapped' for <signal>.

(mintUpdate.py:2317): libglade-WARNING **: unknown attribute `swapped' for <signal>.
Window manager warning: Log level 8: meta_window_raise: assertion '!window->override_redirect' failed
Window manager warning: Log level 8: meta_window_focus: assertion '!window->override_redirect' failed

Here is Terminal output:

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kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $ sudo inxi -u
[sudo] password for kristine: 
Partition: ID: / size: 110G used: 13G (13%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6 uuid: 59e31a40-d11f-4fa2-96d4-5e34b2f219dc
           ID: swap-1 size: 0.51GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5 uuid: 6c6b7efd-1183-4450-b5a9-74753398b2a4

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kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: kristine-iMac Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) 
           Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
Machine:   System: Apple product: iMac8 1 version: 1.0
           Mobo: Apple model: Mac-F226BEC8 version: PVT Bios: Apple version: IM81.88Z.00C1.B00.0802091538 date: 02/09/08
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core2 Duo CPU E8135 (-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 9575.88 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 800.00 MHz 2: 800.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RV610/M74 [Mobility Radeon HD 2400 XT] bus-ID: 01:00.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1680x1050@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV610 GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.0 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card: Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-24-generic
Network:   Card-1: Marvell 88E8058 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller driver: sky2 ver: 1.30 port: 5000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n driver: wl bus-ID: 04:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: dormant mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 250.1GB (5.5% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD2500AAJS size: 250.1GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 110G used: 13G (13%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 0.51GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info:      Processes: 149 Uptime: 4 min Memory: 502.1/1997.4MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4 

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kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $     gedit /home/kristine/.xsession-errors
kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $     dpkg --list mate* cinnamon*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name                 Version         Architecture    Description
+++-====================-===============-===============-==============================================
ii  cinnamon             2.2.16          i386            Cinnamon desktop
un  cinnamon-bluetooth   <none>          <none>          (no description available)
un  cinnamon-capplets-da <none>          <none>          (no description available)
ii  cinnamon-common      2.2.16          all             Cinnamon desktop (Common data files)
ii  cinnamon-control-cen 2.2.10+qiana    i386            utilities to configure the Cinnamon desktop
ii  cinnamon-control-cen 2.2.10+qiana    all             configuration applets for Cinnamon - data file
ii  cinnamon-desktop-dat 2.2.3+qiana     all             Common files for Cinnamon desktop apps
ii  cinnamon-screensaver 2.2.4           i386            Cinnamon screen saver and locker
ii  cinnamon-session     2.2.2+qiana     i386            Cinnamon Session Manager - Minimal runtime
ii  cinnamon-session-com 2.2.2+qiana     all             Cinnamon Session Manager - common files
ii  cinnamon-settings-da 2.2.4+qiana     i386            daemon handling the Cinnamon session settings
ii  cinnamon-translation 2.2.4           all             Translation files for the Cinnamon desktop
rc  mate-applets         1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            Various applets for the MATE panel
ii  mate-applets-common  1.8.0-0+qiana   all             Various applets for the MATE panel (common fil
ii  mate-calc            1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            MATE desktop calculator
ii  mate-calc-common     1.8.0-0+qiana   all             MATE desktop calculator (common files)
ii  mate-common          1.8.0-0+qiana   all             common scripts and macros to develop with MATE
rc  mate-control-center  1.8.1-0         i386            utilities to configure the MATE desktop
ii  mate-desktop         1.8.1-0         i386            Library with common API for various MATE modul
ii  mate-desktop-common  1.8.1-0         all             Library with common API for various MATE modul
un  mate-desktop-gnome   <none>          <none>          (no description available)
ii  mate-dialogs         1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            Display graphical dialog boxes from shell scri
ii  mate-dialogs-common  1.8.0-0+qiana   all             Display graphical dialog boxes from shell scri
un  mate-dialogs-gnome   <none>          <none>          (no description available)
un  mate-file-manager    <none>          <none>          (no description available)
ii  mate-icon-theme      1.8.0-0+qiana   all             MATE Desktop icon theme
un  mate-image-viewer    <none>          <none>          (no description available)
un  mate-media           <none>          <none>          (no description available)
ii  mate-media-common    1.8.0-0+qiana   all             MATE media utilities (common files)
un  mate-media-gstreamer <none>          <none>          (no description available)
rc  mate-media-pulse     1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            MATE media utilities (PulseAudio backend)
ii  mate-menus           1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            implementation of the freedesktop menu specifi
ii  mate-netspeed        1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            Traffic monitor applet for MATE
ii  mate-notification-da 1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            daemon to displays passive pop-up notification
un  mate-panel           <none>          <none>          (no description available)
ii  mate-panel-common    1.8.0-0+qiana   all             launcher and docking facility for MATE (common
ii  mate-polkit:i386     1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            MATE authentication agent for PolicyKit-1
ii  mate-polkit-common   1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            MATE authentication agent for PolicyKit-1 (com
ii  mate-power-manager   1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            power management tool for the MATE desktop
ii  mate-power-manager-c 1.8.0-0+qiana   all             power management tool for the MATE desktop (co
ii  mate-screensaver     1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            MATE screen saver and locker
ii  mate-screensaver-com 1.8.0-0+qiana   all             MATE screen saver and locker (common files)
ii  mate-sensors-applet  1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            Display readings from hardware sensors in your
un  mate-sensors-applet- <none>          <none>          (no description available)
un  mate-sensors-applet- <none>          <none>          (no description available)
ii  mate-session-manager 1.8.1-0         i386            MATE Session Manager
ii  mate-settings-daemon 1.8.1-0+qiana   all             daemon handling the MATE session settings (met
ii  mate-settings-daemon 1.8.1-0+qiana   all             daemon handling the MATE session settings (com
un  mate-settings-daemon <none>          <none>          (no description available)
ii  mate-settings-daemon 1.8.1-0+qiana   i386            daemon handling the MATE session settings (Pul
ii  mate-system-monitor  1.8.0-1+qiana   i386            Process viewer and system resource monitor for
ii  mate-system-monitor- 1.8.0-1+qiana   all             Process viewer and system resource monitor for
ii  mate-system-tools    1.8.0-1+qiana   i386            Cross-platform configuration utilities for MAT
ii  mate-system-tools-co 1.8.0-1+qiana   all             Cross-platform configuration utilities for MAT
ii  mate-terminal        1.8.0-0+qiana   i386            MATE terminal emulator application
ii  mate-terminal-common 1.8.0-0+qiana   all             MATE terminal emulator application (common fil
un  mate-text-editor     <none>          <none>          (no description available)
ii  mate-themes          1.8.0-0+qiana   all             Official themes for the MATE desktop
un  mate-themes-gnome    <none>          <none>          (no description available)
ii  mate-user-guide      1.8.1-0         all             User documentation for MATE Desktop
ii  mate-utils           1.8.0-1+qiana   i386            MATE desktop utilities
ii  mate-utils-common    1.8.0-1+qiana   i386            MATE desktop utilities (common files)
un  mate-window-manager  <none>          <none>          (no description available)

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kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $     ps axu | grep mate; ps axu | grep cinnamon
kristine  2463  0.6  0.7 182520 15904 ?        Rl   08:22   0:02 mate-terminal
kristine  2998  0.0  0.0   4684   820 pts/2    R+   08:27   0:00 grep --colour=auto mate
kristine  1856  0.0  0.7 150544 16276 ?        Sl   08:19   0:00 /usr/lib/cinnamon-settings-daemon/cinnamon-settings-daemon
kristine  2139  0.0  0.7  42472 14432 ?        Sl   08:19   0:00 /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/cinnamon-launcher
kristine  2143  0.0  0.3  52756  6200 ?        Sl   08:19   0:00 /usr/lib/cinnamon-settings-daemon/csd-printer
kristine  2154  4.3  8.9 600240 183120 ?       Sl   08:19   0:22 cinnamon --replace
kristine  2312  0.0  0.4  53068  8540 ?        Sl   08:19   0:00 cinnamon-screensaver
kristine  3000  0.0  0.0   4688   824 pts/2    S+   08:27   0:00 grep --colour=auto cinnamon
kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $

[austin.texas]

This did not work because you have to use a CAPITAL U

kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $ sudo inxi -u

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sudo inxi -U

Then run, again:

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inxi -Fxz

[bimme]

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kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $     sudo inxi -U
[sudo] password for kristine: 
Starting inxi self updater.
Currently running inxi version number: 2.2.4
Current version patch number: 00
Updating inxi in /usr/bin using svn server as download source...
Successfully updated to svn server version: 2.2.4
New svn server version patch number: 00
To run the new version, just start inxi again.
----------------------------------------
Starting download of man page file now.
Checking Man page download URL...
Updating man page location to man1.

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kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $     inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: kristine-iMac Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic i686 (32 bit gcc: 4.8.2)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 2.2.16 (Gtk 3.10.8~3+qiana)
           Distro: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
Machine:   System: Apple product: iMac8 1 v: 1.0
           Mobo: Apple model: Mac-F226BEC8 v: PVT
           Bios: Apple v: IM81.88Z.00C1.B00.0802091538 date: 02/09/08
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core2 Duo E8135 (-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
           flags: (lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 9575
           Clock Speeds: 1: 1600 MHz 2: 800 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RV610/M74 [Mobility Radeon HD 2400 XT]
           bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.15.1 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1680x1050@60.0hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV610
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.0 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k3.13.0-24-generic
Network:   Card-1: Broadcom BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n driver: wl bus-ID: 04:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: dormant mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Marvell 88E8058 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: sky2 v: 1.30 port: 5000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 250.1GB (5.8% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD2500AAJS size: 250.1GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 110G used: 14G (13%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 0.51GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info:      Processes: 179 Uptime: 1:36 Memory: 1025.8/1997.4MB
           Init: Upstart runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.111) inxi: 2.2.4 
kristine@kristine-iMac ~ $

[karlchen]

Hello, bimme.

Thanks for your patience and for running all these commands.
Now we can be 200% sure that you are logged in to Cinnamon 2.2.16, which is the most recent Cinnamon desktop version at the time of writing this.
We also can tell from the dpkg --list output that Mate is present on your system.

The point which we have not been able to clear up so far is this:
Have you really found the Session Type link or button in the MDM greeter screen?
(Depending on which MDM greeter screen design you are using the login screen will look differently and the Session Type choice can be accessed in a slightly different way. I use a GDM theme. In my case the "Session" link is in the lower left hand side of the login screen. If you are using the default MDM Html theme, I think this selection can be accessd by clicking on the little cogwheel. Not sure though.)
Have you really selected the Mate session and confirmed your choice?

So far I am a bit clueless as to why it should be impossible to switch from Cinnamon to Mate when logging in.

Kind regards,
Karl

[bimme]

The only place that I've found that I can choose anything to switch to Mate is when I decide to switch user, and that changes nothing. If I click the shutdown button all I get is "Suspend, Restart, Cancel, Shutdown" There's nothing else to click.
I wanted to take a screen shot, but that capability has disapeared. I don't recall any greeter screen.

[austin.texas]

The only place that I've found that I can choose anything to switch to Mate is when I decide to switch user. If I click the shutdown button all I get is "Suspend, Restart, Cancel, Shutdown" There's nothing else to click.
I wanted to take a screen shot, but that capability has disapeared. I don't recall any greeter screen.

Don't click the Shutdown button, click the Logout button. But if you have tried that and the option is not appearing, I don't know why. Did you click on the little gear icon?

[bimme]

Ok, I did the following.
Instead of switching User I Log Off User. Then clicked on Cog wheel. Selected Mate, entered password for user and then got this......

"DO YOU WISH TO MAKE "MATE" THE DEFAULT FOR FUTURE SESSIONS"
"YOU HAVE CHOSEN MATE FOR THIS SESSION"
"YOUR DEFAULT SETTINGS IS RUN CLIENT SCRIPT"

I went with Mate Default for future settings.

Now all I see is a black screen and the mouse pointer . There are no menus or anthing to click on. Just blank screen.

Lucky I have multiple machines to communicate further.

[austin.texas]

Mate must not be fully installed.
To switch back to Cinnamon (fallback), try this.
At the black screen hold down the Control and Alt keys and hit F2
That gives you a command prompt. Enter:

Code: Select all

startx /usr/bin/gnome-session

[bimme]

Since this is an IMAC keyboard I'm not sure exactly what control alt is but all my combinations did't give me a prompt. I'm thinking reboot, see what happens. If that doesn't work the reinstall. I'll wait for your reply before I do the reboot though. I'll keep working the keyboard combinations.

[bimme]

yes, I got a teminal prompt
On the IMAC it's Control/option/fn/f2

Then startx /user/bin/gnome-session

Lots of initializations but then

xinit: unable to run program "/user/bin/gnome-session": No such file or directory

But then it went into screen saver mode and now I can't get her back up.
Would it be helpfull to load the live DVD?

[austin.texas]

yes, I got a teminal prompt
On the IMAC it's Control/option/fn/f2
Then startx /user/bin/gnome-session

The command is not startx /user/bin/gnome-session
It is

Code: Select all

startx /usr/bin/gnome-session

Sorry for the delayed response. Sometimes real life intrudes...

[bimme]

I did enter it correctly on the console.
Unable to run program "/usr/bin/gnome-session": No such file or directory
also
xinit: connection to x server lost

[karlchen]

Hello, bimme.

I assume that rebooting the machine might at least bring you back to the MDM greeter screen. In the current situation where trying to launch the Mate desktop seems to render the system unusable it may be wise to select "Cinnamon desktop" and make it the default desktop, till the Mate problem has been resolved.

Kind regards,
Karl

[bimme]

I rebooted. got black screen. Did Ctrl/alt/f2. and got prompt