Ubuntu 20.04 Automatic Login Not Working Consistently

Question

I installed 20.04 on new hardware and configured Users to use automatic login since the machine will be used by multiple users in the household and will not store valuable data.  Settings -> Users shows that automatic login is enabled and using the account I created.   Most times upon power up the automatic login feature works as expected.  But about 1 in every four boots, the screen goes to the manual login screen.  This seems to occur randomly.  Once it occurs, if I power the machine off and back on, it usually executes an automatic login.  Not sure which package controls this feature so I have not submitted it as a bug.

ktbos · Answer

Nothing worked for me (Ubuntu 20.04) until I did this:

turned off Autologin on my user
created a new 'testuser' and set Autologin on that user
confirmed that Autologin worked for testuser
removed Autologin from testuser and turned it back on for my user

I guess something was stuck and this unstuck it.

Ivar Svendsen · Answer

TL;DR: Disable splash from /etc/default/grub (+update-grub)
I found this related workaround for Ubuntu 19.04. It seems related to the splash screen and NVIDIA proprietary driver (and possibly other drivers?). Editing the grub configuration allowed autologin on my system.
Also, recall that Ctrl+Shift+F2 brings up a text console that works even if autologin causes an infinite login loop.
http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2020/01/login-loop-auto-login-enabled-in-ubuntu-19-10-with-nvidia-driver/

Ubuntu 20.04 Automatic Login Not Working Consistently

2 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question