Logging in at KDE just gives me a small xterm window
 

I've just done a fresh install of Ubuntu 8.04 Server, the basic install plus an additional apt-get for XORG and KDM. So the server now boots straight to the standard KDE login screen on a blue background.

When I log in, instead of the KDE desktop appearing, I just get a very small black xterm window in the top left corner of my screen, on top of the KDE blue background.

If I move the cursor into that small window then I can use it as a normal xterm, of course command line only.

How do I get KDE to give me a full screen desktop (menus etc.), rather than just a tiny xterm window against a blue background ?

Many thanks

I'd recommend installing it; I don't think that "apt-get install kdm" will
drag in anywhere near enough to even start about thinking of KDE.

Try an
aptitude search kde
, and check which files are actually installed ;D

...the server version comes without any kind of GUI by default...

So you've got X and you've got KDM (the "chooser"; the bit that allows you to select between things), so you were expecting this, no?

Running a GUI on a server is often considered to be a bad thing and a more complex GUI a worse thing than a simple one; given that (and I'm not going to lecture you; it is up to you to make a decision that is appropriate to your circumstances and i have used kde on a server before now) you will need a great big lump of stuff to get a KDE environment; maybe, for example, XFCE, being simpler, would be more advisable, but if you have made the decision to go with KDE, you'll need to choose between kde3 and kde4; you'll probably find both in repositories. (For me kde4 is no way ready for a server, right now. YMMV.)

You'll almost certainly need kdebase-3/kdebase4 and I'm guessing the admin packages; if you find a meta package for the whole desktop including the base packages, that would make your life simpler, overall.

Thanks, guys. So you reckon it's a case of not having installed enough supporting packages then, rather than a fault as such. Ok, I'll see if I can determine what's missing, or just go for a KDE install from the desktop version.

I quite agree a graphicl install is not the desired way to go, and I thought long and hard before deciding to do it. However for the time being this box will be somewhere between a development and a test environment, and some degree of gui will be useful. Once the final solution is put together then I'll very likely strip out KDE and extras and re-harden the build....or may be simpler to save the developed files and just re-build the box without KDE, harden it and then re-install the developed files.

Cheers :0)

This will give you a minimal KDE installation.
Hope this helps.

Regards.
The trooper.

Edit:Good to see someone else from Surrey!

Trooper

You're a star! That's saved me a lot of hassle....did the job exactly.

Cheers, Mate :)