[SOLVED] Display manager wont start automatically at boot

devianpctek · 11-18-2011, 01:35 AM

Hi guys, I have a little problem, on the last upgrade gdm (which was my default, I also have kdm) was upgraded to gdm3 when it asked which display manager I wanted to set a default well I choose gdm3, then I rebooted but it doesn't start neither kdm or gdm3.
I've checked etc/X11/default-display-manager and gdm3 is the default there, so I tried calling it manually

Code:

invoke-rc.d gdm3 start

nothing happen, also if I change gdm3 to kdm on default-display-manager and do

Code:

invoke-rc.d kdm start

same thing, but if I do

Code:

/etc/init.d/kdm start

or

Code:

/etc/init.d/gdm3 start

works fine
What could be the problem? anyone has an idea what is happening
Thank you

davemguru · 11-18-2011, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by devianpctek

Hi guys, I have a little problem, on the last upgrade gdm (which was my default, I also have kdm) was upgraded to gdm3 when it asked which display manager I wanted to set a default well I choose gdm3, then I rebooted but it doesn't start neither kdm or gdm3.
I've checked etc/X11/default-display-manager and gdm3 is the default there, so I tried calling it manually

Code:

invoke-rc.d gdm3 start

nothing happen, also if I change gdm3 to kdm on default-display-manager and do

Code:

invoke-rc.d kdm start

same thing, but if I do

Code:

/etc/init.d/kdm start

or

Code:

/etc/init.d/gdm3 start

works fine
What could be the problem? anyone has an idea what is happening
Thank you

From http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/...ke-rc.d.8.html

Quote:

DESCRIPTION
invoke-rc.d is a generic interface to execute System V style init
script /etc/init.d/name actions, obeying runlevel constraints as well
as any local policies set by the system administrator.

So, I would first ask what (if any) runlevel constraints or local policies do you have?

62chevy · 11-18-2011, 10:57 AM

There are several things you can do but first make sure gdm3 or kdm is in run level 2 (rc2.d).

Code:

ls -l /etc/rc2.d | grep gdm

Should give you this.

Code:

chevy@debian:~$ ls -l /etc/rc2.d | grep gdm
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  14 Oct  8 23:48 S19gdm3 -> ../init.d/gdm3

If no gdm shows up then look for kdm. If nothing then:

' update-rc.d ' I've not used this command in some time so check the man pages.

' aptitude reinstall gdm3 ' This should add the needed links in the run levels. If not then:

' dpkg --configure -a ' As this was an upgrade it may not have been fully installed and this command will fix that. Or:

' dpkg-reconfigure -a ' This will ask many question on your system but should work.

Hope this helps.

devianpctek · 11-18-2011, 05:27 PM

Thank you guys, I will try when I get home and post back

devianpctek · 11-18-2011, 06:27 PM

@davemguru

Quote:

So, I would first ask what (if any) runlevel constraints or local policies do you have?

Well I don't have any, at least not that I know, again this just happen after the upgrade :/

@62chevy

Quote:

ls -l /etc/rc2.d | grep gdm

throws

Code:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  14 Apr 21  2011 K01gdm3 -> ../init.d/gdm3

Code:

who -r

shows

Code:

run-level 2  2011-11-18 18:05                   last=S

I tried the reinstalling, configuring, reconfigure commands you suggested still no luck

davemguru · 11-19-2011, 08:08 AM

OK - this is useful.
I asked you to do a

Code:

who -r

to determine what runlevel your system was at. Different runlevels specify what programs should/should not be running. In Debian linux the default runlevel for a multi-user system with networking and a gui/desktop is runlevel 2. (In many other Unix's the Gui would not be turned on unless you were at runlevel 5)

So the command suggested by 62chevy was a good idea because

Code:

ls -l /etc/rc2.d | grep gdm

tells us whether there is the script to run/invoke gdm in the directory that contains all the scripts that should be invoked when we enter/exit runlevel 2.
(runlevel 3 scripts are in /etc/rc3.d. runlevel 4 in rc4.d etc.)
The actual original script lives in /etc/init.d and a link to it is placed in the appropriate runlevel directory by the update-rc.d script as suggested by 62chevy.

When you run this script to enter/add a new script to a runlevel - it places the links in the appropriate directory. It makes 2 links. One link is for starting - when we first enter/change to that runlevel and one is for stopping when we exit from that runlevel.

The link that is created is your scriptname (in this case gdm3) prefixed with Sxx or Kxx.
Where

"S" is for Starting (entering) the runlevel
"K" is for Stopping (leaving) the runlevel
"xx" is 2 digits as invented by the update-rc.d script indicating the order
in which the scripts will be run. Lower numbered scripts run first.

So - the fact that you only have a "K01gdm3" means that when entering runlevel 2 - gdm3 will not run.

So thanks to chevy69 - you should now run the update-rc.d script. The commands that should work are

Code:

update-rc.d -f gdm3 remove
update-rc.d gdm3 defaults

The first command forces removal of the links. In theory the "K01gdm3" should not be living in /etc/rc2.d because (according to the manual)

Quote:

If defaults is used then update-rc.d will make links to start the service in runlevels 2345 and to stop the service in runlevels 016 unless an LSB-style header is present in the init.d script and the /etc/update-rc.d-lsbparse file exist.

The second command installs the defaults.
Then check that there are 2 entries in the rc2.d folder by re-running

Code:

ls -l /etc/rc2.d | grep gdm

If "yes" - then you should be good to go.

Dave

If I have helped - can you "click my rep" and indicate that I have done so.

devianpctek · 11-19-2011, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davemguru

OK - this is useful.
I asked you to do a

Code:

who -r

to determine what runlevel your system was at. Different runlevels specify what programs should/should not be running. In Debian linux the default runlevel for a multi-user system with networking and a gui/desktop is runlevel 2. (In many other Unix's the Gui would not be turned on unless you were at runlevel 5)

So the command suggested by 62chevy was a good idea because

Code:

ls -l /etc/rc2.d | grep gdm

tells us whether there is the script to run/invoke gdm in the directory that contains all the scripts that should be invoked when we enter/exit runlevel 2.
(runlevel 3 scripts are in /etc/rc3.d. runlevel 4 in rc4.d etc.)
The actual original script lives in /etc/init.d and a link to it is placed in the appropriate runlevel directory by the update-rc.d script as suggested by 62chevy.

When you run this script to enter/add a new script to a runlevel - it places the links in the appropriate directory. It makes 2 links. One link is for starting - when we first enter/change to that runlevel and one is for stopping when we exit from that runlevel.

The link that is created is your scriptname (in this case gdm3) prefixed with Sxx or Kxx.
Where

"S" is for Starting (entering) the runlevel
"K" is for Stopping (leaving) the runlevel
"xx" is 2 digits as invented by the update-rc.d script indicating the order
in which the scripts will be run. Lower numbered scripts run first.

So - the fact that you only have a "K01gdm3" means that when entering runlevel 2 - gdm3 will not run.

So thanks to chevy69 - you should now run the update-rc.d script. The commands that should work are

Code:

update-rc.d -f gdm3 remove
update-rc.d gdm3 defaults

The first command forces removal of the links. In theory the "K01gdm3" should not be living in /etc/rc2.d because (according to the manual)
The second command installs the defaults.
Then check that there are 2 entries in the rc2.d folder by re-running

Code:

ls -l /etc/rc2.d | grep gdm

If "yes" - then you should be good to go.

Dave

If I have helped - can you "click my rep" and indicate that I have done so.

Great that is awesome, is working now

however you said to check that there are 2 entries in the rc2.d and i still get only one

Code:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  14 Nov 19 12:27 S25gdm3 -> ../init.d/gdm3

is this ok? (of course is working now)

You guys not just help me to get this solve, but also I learn some useful information.
Thanks again

62chevy · 11-19-2011, 05:26 PM

That's all you need. Glad you got it fixed and learned something too.

davemguru · 11-20-2011, 04:09 AM

Yes, it is correct to have only the one entry... BECAUSE... when we are IN runlevel 2 - all things working --- as we decide to shutdown or enter single user mode or reboot (levels, 0,1,6 respectively) then there should be a K25gmd3 in the /etc/rc0.d, /etc/rc1.d /etc/rc6.d directories. My mistake.

Happy to hear it is working.

Dave

RenatoG53 · 09-08-2021, 09:11 AM

Previous post didn't solve my problem. kdm still not start automatically but only with the command
kdm & exit
after the boot.
Here there is some info about my situation:

Quote:

root@debian:/home/rguser# who -r
run-level 5 2021-09-08 08:10
root@debian:/home/rguser# ll /etc/rc5.d | grep kdm
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 apr 4 2020 S06kdm -> ../init.d/kdm
root@debian:/home/rguser# systemctl status kdm
* kdm.service - KDE Display Manager
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/kdm.service; static; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: inactive (dead)
Docs: man:kdm(1)
root@debian:/home/rguser# whereis kdm
kdm: /usr/bin/kdm /usr/sbin/kdm /usr/share/man/man1/kdm.1.gz

Can someone help me? Thanks