[ubuntu] failed to start session error and network problem from command prompt

I have searched the forum and none of the failed to start session threads address my problem.

Ruing Ubuntu 14 LTS (updated daily) with the Unity desktop. Earlier I attempted to install the Pulseaudio equaliser. Killed the Pulseaudio server. After uninstalling the EQ, I was unable to get the Pulseausio server to restart. Tried reinstalling Pulseaudio with Unity. No luck. Then decided to remove Pulseaudio (complete removal) and reinstall it. After removal I attempted to reboot and got the failed to start session error message. Rebooted into command prompt from GRUB, figured OK, reinstall Pulse with apt-get. Basically where I am now is I can't reach the network even though I ve checked- eth0 is up and I can assign it an IP address- but I can not ping anything (network is unreachable). It is 4 PM now and I have been working on the problem for about 6 hours. Thought I would ask for help.

Many thanks