I just installed Ubuntu 18 on my desktop PC alongside Windows 10 and have been using Ubuntu without any problems for a couple of days. Today, when I booted up my computer, I am no longer able to open the terminal at all. I've tried restarting it multiple times, but it still won't work. If I click the terminal icon on my task bar, nothing happens. If I try opening the terminal with CTRL+ALT+t, it still doesn't work.

How can I resolve this?

14

9 Answers

I had the same problem. After updating Python to version 3.7, some applications like Jupyter Notebook, Meld and the terminal, did not launch.

The problem was that the symbolic link to python3.4 was lost. Reinstalling python3-minimal solved it:

sudo apt-get --reinstall install python3-minimal

7

The same problem happened with me. The reason is that the python version is 3.7. You can download and say any terminal for solution. I used the terminal of visual code.

The code you need to enter is:

sudo update-alternatives --config python3

Then you should choose a version lower than python 3.7. I choose python3.6. So I write 1 and confirm.

If the problem persists, you can rewrite it.

Example:

Did you update your python3?
If yes, then this will be the solution:

1. Ctrl+Alt+F1 to open xterm.
2. Enter your username.
3. Enter your password.

4. Type this command:

   sudo update-alternatives --config python3

5. Select option 1.
6. Ctrl+Alt+F7 to return to GUI

3

I also second Allen's answer but you don't really need xterm. Just right-click on a point in desktop and choose "open terminal". It works that way. Then type

sudo update-alternatives --config python3

and choose a lower Python version as mentioned before.

What worked for me is following command:

sudo cp gnome-terminal gnome-terminal-backup
sudo cp gnome-terminal.real gnome-terminal

Explanation:First line is for backup.

Is taken from:

0

As suggested in other answers and comments, you can try other terminals than the default gnome-terminal, e.g. terminator (I prefer this over the default terminal for other reasons anyway) or the one included in Visual Studio Code.

To install,

1. leave your graphical user session and switch to a plain terminal with CTRL+ALT+e.g. F3
2. Login and sudo apt install terminator
3. Switch back to your graphical session with CTRL+ALT+F1 or F2 (or other F-key depending on your setup)
4. Launch terminator and enjoy
5. (If needed, set as default: sudo apt update-alternatives --config x-terminal-emulator)

If you want to update python then , first install tilix because terminal will not work after updating python but tilix will work.You can perform any task in tilix like terminal.

As the terminal does not work, you can use terminal in Intellij IDEA/VS Code/open another console by Ctrl+Alt+F3, and:

First, try:

sudo update-alternatives --config python3

If you cannot --config("No alternatives for python3"), you need to install a new alternative. For example:

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 /usr/bin/python3.8 1
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 /usr/bin/python3.6 2

And after all, do --config to revert the version(choose 3.6), as some system component relies on the libs in 3.6, and I guess that for the new 3.8, they are not installed, and a bunch of things will stop working!

You can use ctrl+alt+F1 up to F6 to open multiple terminals in text mode. If you want to return to GUI press ctrl+alt+F7.