MX Linux Forum

CurlyStooge wrote: Sat May 31, 2025 2:13 am @siamhie what is SDDM and do I now need it?

SDDM (Simple Desktop Display Manager) is another display manager.

You didn't respond to my other question.

What kernel settings did you make?

Were they made in MX Boot Options?

You can try and reinstall lightdm.

inapt response. post deleted.

CurlyStooge wrote: Thu May 29, 2025 7:05 pm Hello. First off, please forgive me for not sharing hw/sw info. I probably could if needed but it be a picture of output on pc hassle.

After reconfiguring kernel settings which all seemed to work fine, I deleted old kernels,( saving the current and its previous version).
Upon reboot the grub menu opens as usual to choose kernel or edit anything and after trying both current and previous I am met with:
[Failed] to start lighten.service - Light Display Manager. I have tried to fix with no luck.
All I am trying to do is to make the old computer work as efficiently and effectively as possible. After researching I found it best to use systemd.
Meanwhile I can’t boot into my environment.
Please help??!

To me it sounds like you uninstalled more than old kernels. Run this command to see what you have uninstalled:
Please post the output of this command in this thread so we can see what you actually uninstalled. You may have to press Space bar a few times to see and copy the whole log.

You might try that "startx" command that was suggested to get to a GUI, or a photo of the error messages on the screen if that's all that results.

I guess I just need to toss this old machine in the trash. All over a Light Display Manager. Sad really.

CurlyStooge wrote: Sun Jun 01, 2025 12:52 am I guess I just need to toss this old machine in the trash. All over a Light Display Manager. Sad really.

Don't do that. Install SDDM in the meantime.
select sddm from the prompt window and reboot.

CurlyStooge wrote: Sun Jun 01, 2025 12:52 am I guess I just need to toss this old machine in the trash. All over a Light Display Manager. Sad really.

As far as I'm concerned, you can toss the box now if it'll save us from having to deal with your constant "woe is me" attitude. Nearly every thread you create has some kind of intermission or aside where you just have to throw yourself a little old pity party about how everything's broken and you may as well throw in the towel now.

I don't know which it is. Maybe you're bipolar. Or a drama queen. Or Gen Z. In any case you demonstrate several of the known identified traits of Gen Z: shallow understanding, frustration with slow progress, and reduced patience for complexity. You're frustrated? I get it. Believe me. I've had similar issues in the past so I can sympathize with what you're going through. But at the same time this isn't your first issue, and you've sworn here the sky is falling before. Typically you've followed this up with some projected insecurities. Usually they sound like everyone here is secretly judging you because you don't own a shiny, new, expensive computer, or you're somehow lesser for not already knowing the answer to your problem.

As if Linux communities are exclusively for cutting-edge hardware experts who always know just what to do. As if this MX community tolerates snobs.

You know by now how troubleshooting things works. This is compounded by the fact you can't or won't provide a QSI and are sticking to screenshots of error messages; this is neither here nor there but your attitude about how helpless your situation is certainly isn't helping.

Toss the box. Or don't. But please stop hyperbolizing about how doomed, doomed, doomed you are for not having had us fix it for you by now.

Always a good idea to read the logs in any troubleshooting scenario. So in this case, if having trouble with LightDM, see if it has written something informative into its logs when failing. They are at /var/log/lightdm.

Stevo wrote: Sun Jun 01, 2025 12:26 am You might try that "startx" command that was suggested to get to a GUI, or a photo of the error messages on the screen if that's all that results.