Ubuntu is running in low-graphics mode and keyboard/mouse not working

This is ridiculous, I have managed to get past the error message by editing the xconf file so that it uses the default nvidia drivers. To do this I had to download and burn the live cd and start ubuntu from disk. I have tried everything to fix the keyboard but nothing seems to work. Incredibly frustrating, last time I apply any updates......

You could have just booted to root recovery mode which would not require the liveCD. If you hold shift at boot, select recovery mode then select root, you can edit the file there.

If you don't apply updates you won't get security fixes. Sometimes proprietary drivers don't get updated (especially if you don't use the packaged nvidia driver and use the .run file from nvidia.com) so extra steps are needed.

Actually I had already tried that and all it did was hang. As far as I am aware I am using the pacaged nvidia driver. I am just going to do a fresh install.

Please mark as solved as the new install will yield a different situation to the install and settings you currently have

With all due respect I am doing a fresh install because no alternative method of fixing it has been proposed and thus no solution has been found. I think it best that it is left open as the bug which caused this may occur for a different user and they could resurrect this ticket.

Regards

Gerard

This is not a bug tracker, but a question/answer area. You should see a 'Create bug report' link on this page to do that.

But there is very little here to troubleshoot other than you probably trashed your xorg.conf (d) file, and need to replace it with the backup (updates tend to back this up for you).

So if you are not seeking an answer to this then simply leaving it open will cause launchpad to expire it after 15 days which isn't a bad outcome. Or you can close it yourself. Your choice.

Good luck and best wishes,

Thanks Jeruvy, for future reference could you tell me where and how to replace the xorg.conf with the backup and then I will gladly mark as solved and create a bug report.

Cheers

Gerard

Actionparsnip above explained how to do this is basic terms.

Essentially boot to the boot menu, select 'RECOVERY' option to boot, then copy the backup over.

I would suggest reading this through, following the instructions, and if you still have problems or the steps don't work then followup here with those details so we can troubleshoot more.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto

Good luck,