Ubuntu 24.04 LTS no longer starts the graphical desktop after an update

[sabale]

Ubuntu Version

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Desktop Environment

GNOME

Problem Description

After a recent system update, Ubuntu no longer starts the graphical desktop. The computer boots only to a TTY/command-line login.

I can log in with my username and password, but I cannot get back to the graphical desktop.

I have already tried some troubleshooting commands, but I don’t want to make the situation worse because I have important personal documents on this installation.

I would like to determine what happened and repair the graphical environment without reinstalling Ubuntu or losing my files.

I can provide the output of commands if you give me instructions.

What would be the safest way to diagnose and restore the graphical desktop?

Thank you. I really need to solve this issue.

[sabale]

I’ve just run the following code in order to find the issue.

1. cat /etc/X11/default-display-manager

/usr/sbin/gdm3

2. systemctl status display-manager

Unit dispaly-manager.service could not be found

3. journalctl -b -p err

4. systemctl --failed

5. systemctl status gdm3

Unit gdm3.service could not be found

[bashing-om]

Hello sabsle - Welcome to Ubuntu Discourse.

Are you using a Nvidia graphics card ? In that situation we can do do a quick test to point to a broken Nvidia driver as the root cause. That is but one likely culprit.

-Maybe only a maybe-

[sabale]

I ran the following command:

lspci | grep -E “VGA|3D|Display”

and the result was:

**VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation TigerLake-LP GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] (rev 01)**

I have been using this computer with Ubuntu for more than six years and I have never had any problems like this until now.

I would really appreciate any guidance on how to identify and fix the problem. I love Ubuntu

[bashing-om]

Regrets - I have no Intel experience.

As my theory is out the window, we can but await others here to advise.

-a know-it-all I am not-

[ian-weisser]

Hmmm.

Kernel 6.0.138 is a GA kernel - it’s not the standard for an Ubuntu Desktop install.

• Was this originally an Ubuntu Server install that you added Desktop Environment?
• Or was this an Ubuntu Desktop install that you changed kernel tracks?

Have you reviewed the apt log for the upgrade that broke your system?
Try less /var/log/apt/history.log and less /var/log/apt/term.log
Use your up/down arrow keys to scroll through the log.
Use q to exit the terminal’s log viewer and return to a shell prompt.
Are there any errors? If so, show us.

[sabale]

Honestly, I’m not sure about the kernel or whether this was originally a Server or Desktop installation. I’ve been using Ubuntu on this computer for more than six years, and I have always kept it updated regularly. I never had any problems until this latest update, when the graphical environment stopped working.

I’m going to post the screenshots of the commands you asked me to run. Hopefully the screenshots are clear enough for you to read.

[sabale]

There is something that caught my attention in the second screenshot, in the output of the second command.

Near the end, it says:

`Info: removing crontab`

and then:

`Info: removing user GDM`

That seems a little unusual to me. Could this be related to the problem with the graphical environment not starting? Could removing the GDM user be the reason why GDM is no longer working?

[avb66]

@sabale

Unit dispaly-manager.service could not be found

Try

sudo systemctl start gdm.service

Scratch it. Your screenshot shows removing gdm3 and other GNOME related packages. It looks like you have uninstalled the GNOME desktop or at least significant part of it.

[ian-weisser]

Your logs show that user ‘emilio’ entered the command apt purge gdm3 on 27-09-26 at 18:55:53.

That’s not an upgrade issue.
That command will indeed break the desktop.
Try reinstalling the gdm3 package.

[avb66]

@ian-weisser

Try reinstalling the gdm3 package.

GNOME shell was removed as well.

[ian-weisser]

@avb66

GNOME shell was removed as well.

Quite right. Great catch!

The logs show that on 16-09-2026, user ‘emilio’ ran the command apt-get install -f.
That command, after warning emilio about the damage about to be caused, uninstalled many desktop-related packages.

• I like logs. Logs are my friend. Lots of great information there.

• I always read apt’s list of proposed changes before agreeing. Even after 20 years, I stop and read it every time. I never use apt in a hurry.

Again, the log shows no relation to upgrades.
You can reinstall those packages – they are listed in the log.
Usually a plain old sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop should reinstall what was removed without needing to tediously list each package.

• Nevertheless, it’s wise to match the list of installed packages against the list of removed packages. If the lists are different, get a little curious.

Typically somebody runs apt-get install -f for a reason. Like some kind of earlier package-related or source-related problem. That problem may now reappear, and may need to be solved a different way. We don’t know what that earlier problem was (insufficient data), but will help you with it if you wish.

[celticwarrior]

@ian-weisser

Usually a plain old sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop should reinstall what was removed without needing to tediously list each package.

It may not work as expected if/when the meta-package wasn’t removed. That being the case tell it to reinstall just in case:

sudo apt install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop

[sabale]

Yes, please. I would really appreciate your help with this.

When the system stopped starting the graphical desktop, I started reading the forum and, honestly, I was a little desperate and in a hurry to get the computer working again. I followed some suggestions and executed a few commands myself. Unfortunately, I now realize that I may have made the situation worse.

I am attaching/pasting below the results of the commands that were suggested to me. Unfortunately, they did not solve the problem.

1. suddenly systemctl start gdm.service

Unit gdm.service not found.

2. sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

Reading package lists… Done

Building dependency tree… Done

Reading state information… Done

E: Ubuntu Desktop not found

3. sudo apt install – reinstall ubuntu-desktop

Same result as command 2.

What else can I try?

[celticwarrior]

You have to have an internet connection and the relevant repository still configured to run `apt`.

Ethernet should work automatically unlike WiFi that was previously set up using a graphical tool.

The easy way is to use, temporarily, USB tethering from your phone if you don’t have Ethernet.

[sabale]

I connected my computer directly to my home router using an Ethernet cable and ran:

`ping -c 3 google.com`

I received three successful replies with response times of around 5–8 ms, so I believe the Internet connection is working correctly.

However, when I run the command to reinstall the Ubuntu desktop, I still get exactly the same message saying that the package cannot be located, and nothing is installed or changed.

So it seems that I have Internet access, but `apt` still cannot find the Ubuntu desktop package.

[sabale]

I checked my repository configuration. This is what I currently have:

Types: deb

URIs: https://mirror.elv.digital/ubuntu/

Suites: noble noble-updates noble-backports noble-proposed

Components: main universe restricted multiverse

Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/ubuntu-archive-keyring.gpg

Enabled: no

Types: deb

URIs: http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/

Suites: noble-security

Components: universe multiverse

Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/ubuntu-archive-keyring.gpg

It appears that the main Ubuntu repository is disable.

Any idea?

[sabale]

I wanted to post an update because I finally managed to solve the problem and get my Ubuntu desktop back!

While trying to understand what had happened, I remembered something important: shortly before the problem started, I had changed the Ubuntu repository/mirror because I was having trouble installing/updating something. After changing the mirror, things started going wrong, and eventually Ubuntu stopped booting into the graphical environment completely.

I could still log in through TTY, and fortunately all my personal files were still there, but gdm3.service could not be found and ubuntu-desktop was no longer installed. At first, `apt` could not even locate the packages correctly.

Looking at /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu.sources, I found that my repository configuration was pointing to the mirror I had changed earlier and was not correctly configured.

I restored the standard Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble) repositories:

`http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/\`

and

`http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/\`

After correcting a couple of syntax mistakes in `ubuntu.sources`, `sudo apt update` finally worked again and downloaded the package indexes normally.

I then checked:

`apt policy gdm3 ubuntu-desktop`

and discovered that both packages were available from the official repositories but neither was currently installed.

I ran:

sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop

This reinstalled `ubuntu-desktop`, `ubuntu-desktop-minimal`, `gdm3`, GNOME Shell, and the other required components.

After the installation completed, `systemctl status gdm3` finally recognized GDM again, although it was inactive. I started it manually with:

`sudo systemctl start gdm3`

and, to my surprise, the graphical login screen immediately came back. I logged in and my entire desktop was there again, including all my folders and personal files.

I also checked:

`systemctl get-default`

and it reports `graphical.target`, so the system is configured to boot into the graphical environment.

I honestly cannot describe how relieved and happy I am to have the computer working again. I had a lot of important documents on this machine and was extremely worried that I would have to reinstall Ubuntu or lose something.

Thank you very much to everyone here who replied and tried to help me. Your questions also helped point me in the right direction and made me think about what I had changed before the problem started.

The system is working again!