[ubuntu] 14.04 black screen after grub

This is an old installation that has been working fine for over a year. Now after booting I get a black screen after grub. I can boot to recovery and I've tried all options no help. I can also boot to a live CD. My grub file:

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nomodeset"

Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated!