Question

When I start Ubuntu it enters tty[1-6] instead of my desktop. Normally I could get back to the desktop by pressing CTRL + ALT + F7 but that doesn't work.

I tried sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop but it fails. I tried startx which started the x-server or x-window (not sure what it's called) but it just brought up a black screen with my mouse cursor. If I pressed printscreen, a dialog box would open up.

I can't get back to my desktop. Any ideas how I can?

EDIT

Edited for more info. This was a fresh install of the latest version. It's dual booting with Win7 - but I doubt that matters. Before this happened, I installed lamp-server but realized it wasn't what I wanted. I then installed xampp and uninstalled lamp-server with "sudo tasksel remove lamp-server". I restarted with "sudo shutdown -r now" because it would not shut down using the graphical interface.

Answer 1

It sounds like you might have managed to uninstall your desktop environment. (Unless Karmic has replaced GDM, which I doubt.)

If you were using GNOME, you probably installed Karmic with the ubuntu-desktop. You'll want to reinstall that:

$ sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

...or possibly

$ sudo apt-get --reinstall install ubuntu-desktop

That should pull in any missing packages. Once you've reinstalled, you should be able to run

$ sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart

... and get back to the GDM login screen.

Answer 2

Login, and type:

/etc/init.d/gdm restart

This should launch Gnome Desktop Manager.