How to fix?
This issue is most likely related to the graphic drivers, if this is the case for you here is the suggested steps:
sudo apt-get remove --purge video drivers
sudo apt-get remove --purge libgl1-mesa-dri
You can find out more about your graphic card by typing the following command, and look for the line where it says VGA:
lspci
In my case I typed nvidia and press tab key to find out what my video drivers are
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
reboot your computer
Your computer should now be able to boot up. After you boot up, you will need to reinstall your graphics drivers. To do this, I did follow these steps:
1. Press Ctrl + Alt + F1 to switch to terminal mode and login
2. type
sudo service gdm stop
or
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop
UPDATE: If you are using Ubuntu version 11.10, gdm is replaced by lightdm so you will need to type this instead:
sudo stop lightdm
3. Download your drivers, in my case I typed:
wget http://www.nvidia.com/content/DriverDownload-March2009/confirmation.php?url=/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/275.09.07/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-275.09.07.run
4. Make the file executable:
chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-275.09.07.run
5. And start the installation and follow the steps:
sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-275.09.07.run
Tayfun Bilsel is founder and Managing Director of Rabbitsoft Ltd. 