i wanted to install Mplayer, for that i needed to install some devel packages. i went into my add/remove applications (package manager) and added x-development stuff and gnome development stuff.

my package manager said i needed XFree86 version 4.3.0 first.

i downloaded the source and installed it... now when i type "startx" after the text login i get x-windows but well, the old-fashioned kind (three white windows with greenish bars on top)... no destop or menus. i can get graphical things to open like xmms and nautilus (sometimes)

i dont even know what key words to look for to figure out what i have to change to get my normal redhat desktop back... i assume that my preferences have just been over written somewhere?


to top it off im pretty sure that i didnt even need to install the new XFree package, i had done the up2date the day before, and i think it installed it, only up2date didnt update my rpm database ??

now i cant update my rpm database when i type
# rpm --rebuilddb

it chuggs for a while and then i get this:
error: db4 error(16) from dbenv->remove: Device or resource busy

actualy i think my problem is that the gnome desktop isnt starting ??

i have a potential solution, create a file named

.xinitrc

in my home directory, put this line in the file:

exec gnome-session



-------------------
i did this, and now when i typed "startx" i have the "redhat" picture that loads before the desktop loads, but it doesnt continue to load the desktop. can anyone tell me any keyboard shortcuts to get my computer to log me off, restart... anything... if i ssh in can i tell it to log me off? or try killing x-windows?

Hi.

Just as a foot note, the error:
error: db4 error(16) from dbenv->remove: Device or resource busy

is a recognised bug, and doesn't affect the functioning of --rebuilddb

Dave

im sure that when i launched up2date it put the new version of XFree86 on my computer, why did the graphical applications add/remove not "know" this... this has happend before, it has asked for pakages that i knew i had. these packages weren't in the expected place? the database wasnt updated...?

do you know how can i avoid this? should i just update the rpm database before trying to use the graphical applications changer? where would the files be that i can edit to say where these packages are? (ie give the full path)

did you edit /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc and add a window manager to the exec line? Not quite following the whole problem.. For one of your questions, I believe it's because the database wasn't updated.. I think updatedb does this, but don't quote me.

Some of the wmaker exec commands for your xinitrc file are
exec startkde
exec gnome-session
exec blackbox
exec wmaker

i did look in that file at some point, and i saw this section at the bottom

# start some nice programs
twm &
xclock -geometry 50x50-1+1 &
xterm -geometry 80x50+494+51 &
xterm -geometry 80x20+494-0 &
exec xterm -geometry 80x66+0+0 -name login


i figured that would be where i should change stuff, but i didnt know what to put. ive changed it now to read:

# start some nice programs
exec gnome-session

#commented 040202
#twm &
#xclock -geometry 50x50-1+1 &
#xterm -geometry 80x50+494+51 &
#xterm -geometry 80x20+494-0 &
#exec xterm -geometry 80x66+0+0 -name login

im not at my computer so i dont know if this will work, but i imagine its the equivelent of changing the file in my home directory (except it will apply to all users) hopefully the incomplete loading of gnome was just a fluke... i'll edit this post if it this works

the incomplete loading wasnt a fluke.... its here to stay

i ssh-ed in and killed the gnome session, then i tried startx again from my computer, it did the same thing. its the normal redhat picture taht loads before displaying my desktop. the only difference is that there are no icons that display on the picture (the way that Macs load) i thought that maybe if i reboot it would act normally...

i rebooted and typed startx, im an idiot. i cant ssh in now because i dont know my ip address.

i dont want to just hit the power button, is there a way to end a program with the keyboard when i dont have a terminal window??? or a way to tell the computer to reboot (gracefully)

as for whatever incomplete loading is going on i dont think its a problem with XFree86 anymore, its a problem with gnome ...??? (or whatever happens between xinit calling the gnome sesson)

some answers to some of my questions: (in case someone else wants to know)

ctrl alt backspace kills the x server

ctrl alt F1 brings up a login screen

yay! i've got my desktop back...
i figured that maybe there was a problem with either gnome or nautilus so this is what i did:

i erased nautilus,
# rpm -e --nodeps nautilus

updted the rpm database.
# rpm --rebuilddb

got nautilus installed by redhat,
# up2date nautilus

i thought about trying this when i decided that maybe it wasnt just coincidental that nautilus and mozilla no longer worked while other GUIs still worked... i saw this message at the top of my /var/log/XFree.0.log
" Before reporting any problems, please make sure you are using the most
recent XFree86 packages available from Red Hat "
i figured i should use up2date to get XFree86 and nautilus (and mozilla). at least i learned how to use lynx, rpm and up2date...

...thx, i'll try that !