Incomplete Ubuntu 8.10 boot sequence

[fisheye]

I'm running Ubuntu 8.10 in WinXP through Wubi and have been very happy with it. However, since last night when I tried to duel boot into Ubuntu, it goes through the normal booting sequence up to displaying my desktop image but does not complete the boot, i.e. no menu or desktop icons.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[sn3rd]

Try press Ctrl + Alt + F1 and then Ctrl + Alt + F7

 

[fisheye]

Thanks sn3rd - works like a charm.
Now can you please tell me how to boot up & log in via the gui and what causes the anomaly?
Cheers

 

[sn3rd]

Thanks sn3rd - works like a charm.
Now can you please tell me how to boot up & log in via the gui and what causes the anomaly?
Cheers

To be honest, I'm not sure. It has happened to me a few times, but never when I have time to try figure out what's causing it. My thoughts are that it's a bug of sorts.

Ctrl + Alt + F<x> switches to Virtual Terminal (VT) VT<x>. X defaults to running in VT7, so pressing Ctrl + Alt + F1 switches to VT1, and then Ctrl + Alt + F7 switches back to VT7.

 

[fisheye]

Received the following suggestion:
"The best bet is to use the Ctrl-Alt-F1 to login to a shell prompt and then move the gnome configuration directories out of the way.
Something like: -

$ mkdir .unused_settings
$ mv .gno* .unused_settings
$ mv .gconf* .unused_settings

This will reset your desktop to a more default place but at least you should be able to get going".

Applied the above, re-customised my desktop and everything's back to normal.
Thanks again for the help.