Encounter issues when launching Ubuntu 18.04, freezing during startup.
Encounter issues when launching Ubuntu 18.04, freezing during startup.
Hello everyone, I'm currently working with my old Windows machine to share updates, since I encountered a boot problem on my Ubuntu 18.04 system. The issue began when I was attempting to remap my right control key to the right alt key. I found online suggestions about modifying the xkb file for this purpose. After updating the control and alt lines, I restarted the computer and noticed the boot process halted at "Started Hold until boot finishes up." I left it running overnight in the hope it would complete, but nothing changed. I also tried restarting multiple times and using Grub's repair and clean options, yet the problem persisted. I explored some fixes from other forums with similar issues, but they didn't resolve anything. One suggestion was to remove Snapd, which I did, but it only increased the boot list. I have access to recovery mode, the Grub menu, and F2/F3, though I'm not familiar with Linux troubleshooting commands. If my actions with the xkb file caused this, do you know any terminal commands that could restore it to its original state? I recall Windows had a recovery feature that let me revert the system to an earlier version (something I used when I accidentally modified the registry on Win 7). Does Ubuntu offer a similar option or command? Attached is a screenshot of the freezing screen I'm experiencing. Thank you all for your time and any guidance you can provide. I'll respond as soon as possible with any questions, though I may be delayed due to work commitments.
Do you still possess the installation media? If yes, fine. If not, recreate it. Because this occurred after a failed remapping, we'll revert those adjustments. Power off the device using that media once more, but this time pick "Try Ubuntu". After booting, launch a terminal. Execute "lsblk" (without quotes) to display all connected drives and partitions. /dev/sda is likely your internal storage (check its size to match your internal drive). Naturally, this assumes only the Ubuntu installation and LiveUSB are attached; the LiveDVD doesn't affect this much. If you have multiple internal or external drives, select the appropriate one. Then type "sudo mount /dev/sd[correct letter]/part[number] /mnt && cd /mnt". This will attach the partition to /mnt, making it the root directory for booting. Change the working directory to /mnt to enter that folder. Technically, this runs both commands together using "&&". If mounting fails (e.g., wrong partition), the next command won't run. After success, list contents of /mnt with "ls -a /mnt". If you see entries like ". .. bin boot dev etc home lib lib32 lib64 lost+found media mnt opt proc root run sbin srv swapfile sys tmp usr var", everything is set. Proceed to "chroot /mnt" so you don’t need to add "/mnt" at the end of your edits. Revert any changes made to xkb afterward. Restart the computer without using the live media and test again. If it still doesn't work, please share more details about the setup before these steps. Good luck, and feel free to ask for help!