If you spend some time on Linux-based social media sites or forums, you inevitably see posts where a user is having trouble logging into their desktop. Either the boot finishes and they’re left looking at a black screen, or they can’t seem to get past the display manager login.
“I enter my user name and password, the screen goes black for a second, then it goes back to the login screen.”
One of the most common ‘fixes’ I see is the suggestion to reinstall the distro, or various parts of it. I cringe every time I see this. There’s really no reason to reinstall the OS unless one has been screwing around in the system to the point they’ve already trashed it beyond repair, or the installation ISO was bad to begin with. In which case reinstalling won’t fix anything when you’re using the same ISO to do it. In the second instance, here’s a suggested Rule of Thumb: always check the hash signature of a downloaded ISO against the one posted on the distro website before trying to install. Most distros put the signature right on the download page, but not all. With some you might actually have to search for elsewhere, but take the time to find and check it. Because it can save hours of headaches later. (Read the rest at Freedom Penguin)
