The dist-upgrade with no apparent problems but gdm3 desktop failed to open. I ran /etc/init.d/gdm3 restart which failed with messages to check systemctl status gdm.service and journalctl -xn. The outputs of these commands are given below.
I ENCOUNTERED THIS SAME PROBLEM WITH THE INSTILLATION OF JESSIE ON A NEW COMPUTER, POSTED THE DESCRIPTION TO THE DEBIAN USER LIST AND RECEIVE NO HELP. On the new computer quite by accident I discovered that if I created a new user the gnome desktop would open for the new user. By tranferring files I was eventually able use the original user name and eliminate the dummy user. I don't want to do that on this computer which has all my files and setups though much of the information was backed up before starting the upgrade. I belive the problem is with a setting in systemd and that an expert in jessie and systemd should be able to resolve it from the error outputs given below. Tom Script started on Mon 11 May 2015 02:46:00 PM EDT [1;31mdragon:~#[m systemctl status gdm.service [1;31m●[0m gdm.service - GNOME Display Manager Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/gdm.service; enabled) Active: [1;31mfailed[0m (Result: start-limit) since Mon 2015-05-11 14:37:22 EDT; 9min ago Process: 2067 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c [ "$(cat /etc/X11/default-display-manager 2>/dev/null)" = "/usr/sbin/gdm3" ] [1;31m(code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)[0m May 11 14:37:21 dragon systemd[1]: Triggering OnFailure= dependencies of gdm.service. May 11 14:37:21 dragon systemd[1]: [1;31mFailed to enqueue OnFailure= job: Invalid argument[0m May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: gdm.service holdoff time over, scheduling restart. May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: Stopping GNOME Display Manager... May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: Starting GNOME Display Manager... May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: [1;39mgdm.service start request repeated too quickly, refusing to start.[0m May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: [1;31mFailed to start GNOME Display Manager.[0m May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: [1;39mUnit gdm.service entered failed state.[0m May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: Triggering OnFailure= dependencies of gdm.service. May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: [1;31mFailed to enqueue OnFailure= job: Invalid argument[0m [1;31mdragon:~#[m exit Script done on Mon 11 May 2015 02:46:27 PM EDT Script started on Mon 11 May 2015 02:42:40 PM EDT [1;31mdragon:~#[m journalctl -xn -- Logs begin at Mon 2015-05-11 14:31:09 EDT, end at Mon 2015-05-11 14:39:02 EDT. --[m May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: Starting GNOME Display Manager...[m -- Subject: Unit gdm.service has begun with start-up[m -- Defined-By: systemd[m -- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel[m -- [m -- Unit gdm.service has begun starting up.[m May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: [1;39mgdm.service start request repeated too quickly, refusing to start.[0m[m May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: [1;31mFailed to start GNOME Display Manager.[0m[m -- Subject: Unit gdm.service has failed[m -- Defined-By: systemd[m -- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel[m -- [m -- Unit gdm.service has failed.[m -- [m -- The result is failed.[m May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: [1;39mUnit gdm.service entered failed state.[0m[m May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: Triggering OnFailure= dependencies of gdm.service.[m May 11 14:37:22 dragon systemd[1]: [1;31mFailed to enqueue OnFailure= job: Invalid argument[0m[m May 11 14:39:01 dragon CRON[2075]: [1;31mpam_env(cron:session): Unable to open env file: /etc/environment: No such file or dir[m May 11 14:39:01 dragon CRON[2075]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)[m May 11 14:39:01 dragon CRON[2076]: (root) CMD ( [ -x /usr/lib/php5/sessionclean ] && /usr/lib/php5/sessionclean)[m May 11 14:39:02 dragon CRON[2075]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root[m [7mlines 1-23/23 (END)[27m[K [K [K[7mlines 1-23/23 (END)[27m[K [K [K[7mlines 1-23/23 (END)[27m[K [K [K[7mlines 1-23/23 (END)[27m[K [K [K[7mlines 1-23/23 (END)[27m[K [K [K[7mlines 1-23/23 (END)[27m[K [K [K[7mlines 1-23/23 (END)[27m[K [K [K[7mlines 1-23/23 (END)[27m[K [K[1;31mdragon:~#[m exit Script done on Mon 11 May 2015 02:44:59 PM EDT -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/20150511195227.ga2...@tomgeorge.info