I installed Cinnanmon DM, but it would not start.

After I installed it, I ran:

# startx 

I got an error saying startx was not installed, but install xinit included it.

So I installed Xinit and the GUI still did not start. Then I did 2 more things:

# systemctl set-default graphical.target 
# reboot

It didn’t start the GUI, instead it started the console again.

I ended up erasing the system and installing the Ubuntu desktop ISO distribution. That brought up the GUI . From there I was able to install Cinnamon DM and select it as my default .

It would be nice to have a more minimal install as this is for a virtual machine running on my Macbook. But I haven’t found instructions that worked.

@ikomrad,

The easy way to install any Desktop on Ubuntu Server is using tasksel command as shown.

$ sudo apt install tasksel
$ sudo tasksel
$ sudo tasksel install ubuntu-desktop

But if you want to install Cinnamon Destop on Ubuntu using standard commands, you can use following PPA to install cinnamon as shown.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:embrosyn/cinnamon
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install cinnamon

startx is not installed, I can install it but that might only be part of the puzzle. Do you know what are the minimum packages I need to install to get the Cinnamon desktop to run on boot up?

How do i get rid of ALL of Unity for GOOD!? I followed the “Unity purge” command above and received no errors. Anyone have any idea how I can prevent having to login twice with this?

Thanks!

I booted Ubuntu kylin onto my mother’s computer hp mini notebook Intel Atom because win7 basic was super slow. But everything is Chinese and the keyboard is a mess. I’m French It is working but it is impossible to find my way around.

What is the easiest way to change the desktop? A terminal solution would be good because i don’t have to brise the Chinese folders. My initial goal was to set up a light system. Thank you very much. I found your name on a tutorial on removing unity for mate or Cinnamon. By the way I’m a newbie. Julien