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I'm running Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS on a Dell Inspiron 1200. Most of the time when I power up the regular login-screen appears. Sometimes a minimalist white text on a black screen appears. The screen requests my user ID. When I have typed it in and pressed "enter" it requests my password. When I attempt to type it in the flashing cursor does not move and no dots appear. When I press "enter" I am notified that the login is incorrect. All I can do is hold the power button down and start over. Generally, the second attempt works. My hard drive is the original. Is it time for a new one or do I have a motherboard issue? Or has the software become corrupted?

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What I believe has happened is there is a singular missing file that supports the visual aspect of logging in. Your password not being accepted may have been a mistype, but there is certainly nothing wrong physically with your computer, otherwise it wouldn't even boot. Try installing a different display manager (like GDM) once you get logged in.

On a side note, the password issue of no moving cursor is normal. Those both happen on purpose in the terminal prompt and are for added security.

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The white on black login-screen is non functional. It will not accept any password. No dots are displayed. –  user167537 Sep 5 '13 at 2:29
I may have stumbled on a workaround. I'm in the habit of powering down my computer. If I set the power feature to suspend after 30 minutes of no activity the computer goes into hibernation. When I come back and move the mouse a password window appears. I type in the password, press "enter" and the Ubuntu home page appears. –  user167537 Sep 5 '13 at 2:54
I found out this morning that moving the mouse doesn't work; pressing the start button does. Since I didn't power down I don't have to worry about logging in. I never logged out. –  user167537 Sep 5 '13 at 11:38
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