Hey,

My debian stable installation works fine before we shifted our office. Before shifting I did mv /etc/rc2.d/S99gdm to /etc/rc2.d/_S99gdm to prevent the computer from starting X automatically. This morning startx gave me the below error after debian logo showed off for about 10 seconds.

-----------------Error begin-----------------------
Module Loader present
OS Kernel: Linux version 2.6.8-3-686 (pbuilder@dl360-g3) (gcc version 3.3.5 (Debian 1:3.3.5-13)) #1 Tue Dec 5 21:26:38 UTC 2006
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/XFree86.0.log", Time: Fri Jun 1 15:36:19 2007
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/XF86Config-4"

Skipping "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libGLcore.a:m_debug_clip.o": No symbols found
Skipping "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libGLcore.a:m_debug_norm.o": No symbols found
Skipping "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libGLcore.a:m_debug_xform.o": No symbols found
Skipping "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libGLcore.a:m_debug_vertex.o": No symbols found
Skipping "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/fonts/libspeedo.a:spencode.o": No symbols found
Warning: font renderer for ".pcf" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".pcf.Z" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".pcf.gz" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".snf" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".snf.Z" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".snf.gz" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".bdf" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".bdf.Z" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".bdf.gz" already registered at priority 0
Warning: font renderer for ".pmf" already registered at priority 0
Could not init font path element unix/:7100, removing from list!

waiting for X server to shut down
---------------Error end-------------------

I did mv /etc/rc2.d/_ S99gdm back to its original name and dpkg-reconfigure. But I still can not startx.

Can any of you give me some hint please?

Blessings,
Rocky

It appears that the X software thinks that X is already running. Try deleting everything in the /tmp directory, including the hidden directories and files like .X0-lock. That particular file may be the culprit. You might consider setting up the boot process to clear the /tmp directory during start up. I think the setting is in the /etc/sysconfig/kernel file.

It seems to me that X wasn't stopped in a proper way (/etc/init.d/gdm stop). Also the right syntax for a stopped server is not _S but K.

Try gdm stop from the command line and then gdm restart.