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I am using ubuntu 18.04 as a dual boot with my windows and the storage got full, which caused a login loop problem. I try to login into the system with the correct password but the screen flashes to black, couple of seconds later, I'm back at the login stage.

There is nothing wrong with my password since I can log in to my user account on the Terminal (CTRL+ALT+F1). Once there, I did a sudo apt update/upgrade in the hopes it'd fix something, but my system was up to date and it didn't solve anything after I rebooted.

My question: I have some important folders on my computer. How do I solve the loop login problem? Could I free up some space by deleting some files from my desktop? can I copy my files using the Terminal (CTRL+ALT+F1)?

So, what should I do to fix this login problem?

programmer1234
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    A full drive (or full $HOME which is the user directory) will prevent a GUI login, but will not prevent a login via text terminal, allowing you to create space and fix the problem. If it was a fresh install; you shouldn't have problems given the minimum suggested space is 25GB for any Ubuntu 17.10 or later install so details of what space you allocated may be needed to understand your issue (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements) (You can access all files from terminal but I'd fix your space issues there too and then you can use your GUI) – guiverc Jul 21 '21 at 06:46
  • it is not fresh, I have been using this system for 2 years. It got full over time. I do not remember how much space I allocated but it was definitely more than 25G. – programmer1234 Jul 21 '21 at 07:05
  • The comment was based on your "mine was a fresh install" - if you've been using it 2 years it's not what I'd call fresh. – guiverc Jul 21 '21 at 07:07
  • sorry, it was a mistake, I fixed that. – programmer1234 Jul 21 '21 at 07:09
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    Does this answer your question? Ubuntu gets stuck in a login loop (see the answer by Philippe Gachoud) – guiverc Jul 21 '21 at 07:11
  • No, it does not. – programmer1234 Jul 21 '21 at 07:48
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    You seems to be asking an XY Question. Your actual problem is accessing and recovering data from a full disk. But you're asking instead about a "login loop". You can't fix that with a full disk -- the full disk is the likely cause of the failing GUI login. Several previous comments (@karel) have tried to point you in the right direction. Listen to them. – user535733 Jul 21 '21 at 10:28
  • @user535733, I have a login loop problem and I assume that the storage caused this issue. When I put my password it returns back to the same login page. My question is how do I solve the login loop problem? since I have some files that I need to copy after getting into the system. – programmer1234 Jul 21 '21 at 15:10

2 Answers2

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If you've been starting graphic applications from the terminal using sudo, that's what probably caused your problem. Always use sudo -H.

  • boot to the GRUB menu
  • choose Advanced Options
  • choose Recovery mode
  • choose Root access
  • at the # prompt, type:

 - sudo mount -o remount,rw / # remount the disk as rw

Note: If you have a disk full problem, here's where you can manually delete unnecessary files.

 - cd /home/your_username # change directory

 - ls -al .*thority* # list some files

You should see something like this...

-rw------- 1 your_username your_username 407910 Nov  2 08:56 .ICEauthority
-rw------- 1 your_username your_username     58 Jun 23  2017 .Xauthority

If it DOES NOT show -rw------- then...

  • sudo chmod 600 .*thority* # change file protection

If it DOES SHOW root root then...

  • sudo chown your_username:your_username .*thority* # change file ownership

  • reboot # reboot the computer

Reboot and see if you can log in.

heynnema
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Since I knew I have a storage problem, I logged in using (CTRL+ALT+F3) and started to delete some files that I knew that will not need them. I rebooted the system, the problem was solved.

programmer1234
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