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Blog Blank (or black) screen after boot process in Ubuntu

Blank (or black) screen after boot process in Ubuntu

You may encounter a blank screen after boot in ubuntu. This will be due to some update of certain packages.
Follow these steps to correct the problem.

1. Select recovery mode from the boot menu.
2. Select login as root from the menu in recovery mode.
3. Type this at the prompt

# sudo apt-get remove xorg-driver-fglrx
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

4. Exit

# exit

5. Now select Resume normal boot from the menu.

Every thing should be OK by now.
Please comment about your experience.

17 thoughts on “Blank (or black) screen after boot process in Ubuntu”

  1. Updating an old laptop a coworker gave me. 9.04 to 9.10 update went to blank screen. I googled “Kubuntu 9.10 blank display”. 3rd entry was to this page and the exact fix. Thanks.

  2. ahhhhh…. thanks ever so much! This has been such a LONG and frustrating journey. I wish I could have found your site sooner!

  3. I just updated to Intrepid a few days ago and had been downloading a bunch of video conversion and editing programs when this happened to me. Startup, but just a blank screen, no login. Ubuntu forums were no help, but a bit of Googling uncovered this post. IT WORKED – Thanks so much. In fact, I’m posting this from my laptop right now. Much appreciated.

  4. This did not work for me!

    I selected Recovery Mode but was unable to log in as root! After selecting recovery mode, these messages was displayed on the screen:

    Gave up waiting for root device. Common problems:
    – Boot args (Cat /proc/cmdline)
    – check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enough)
    – check root=(did the system wait for the right device)
    -Missing modules (Cat /proc/modules; lo /dev)

    ALERT! /dev/disk/by-uuid8874485b-afa6-4ec7-bfef-b45b0d8c6dad does not exist. Droppingto a shell!

    Busy Box v1.13.3 (Ubuntu 1:1.13.3-1Ubuntu7) built-in shell (ash)
    Enter ‘help’ for a list of built-in commands.

  5. It works, but just for the session. When I quit and reboot, I get the black screen again.
    Any tip?
    Thans, Alph

  6. Wow, l have tried many websites to solve this. This appears to have rid my blank screen on startup. Cheers.

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