KDE disappeared when logging in

eikeland · 10-16-2008, 06:34 PM

I have Mandriva 2008.1 Spring, and it was working fine for a little bit. I then went to Software Update I think, and I was told there was 4 updates ready for me. I don't remember what they were, but they were small so I did them. I was also doing some changes to language and regional settings, but I don't think this has anything to do with it even if it's about the desktop. However, when I restarted, I see the graphical login screen, but when I log in, nothing happens. I just see the blue Mandriva background and nothing else. The mouse cursor can be moved. Any idea what's going on or how I can get back to where I was before? I did make a backup of the /etc directory. I guess there is a way to restore my configuration, but I don't have the desktop so I am not sure if I want to do that since I don't really know what I am doing here.
Thanks

PTrenholme · 10-16-2008, 07:16 PM

First, I don't use Mandriva, so . . .

Can you do a <ctl>-<alt>-<F3> to open a tty3 as a terminal, and log in as "root?"

If you can, then mv /home/<you>/.kde /home/<you>/.kde~ to force KDE to re-initialize your settings. Then restart and see if you can log in. (If you can, you'll be presented with a "virgin" KDE screen, as though you've never logged in before.) Then you can try to locate your problem by replacing your "virgin" settings with the "older" ones in the .kde~ directory and restarting the X-server with a <ctrl><alt><backspace>. (I do the replacement a sub-directory at a time until the problem reappears. Then I start over, just deleting the .kde directory since the backup already exists, copy in the sub-directories that worked, and each file in the failing sub-directory, one at a time, until I find the problem one.)

Of course, that's a somewhat tedious process, and I sometimes just say "Rats!" and redo all my settings (actually, I only have a few) an ignore the problem.

Hope this helps.

eikeland · 10-26-2008, 06:04 PM

Thanks for the suggestion. However, it didn't work. I don't think I was able to log into any of the other desktops either, so maybe it's not a kde problem. I have had a lot of problems with X windows in Linux before, but then I wasn't even getting a graphical login screen. I get the graphical login screen now, so I don't think it's an issue with X either. What logs can I check for this problem?

PTrenholme · 10-27-2008, 09:19 AM

Most logs are in /var/log. For example, the X-server log is usually /var/log/Xorg.0.log, and a

Code:

$ cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep -C 3 \(EE\)
Module Loader present
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/Xorg.0.log", Time: Mon Oct 27 05:52:02 2008
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
(==) ServerLayout "Default Layout"
--
(--) NVIDIA(1):     Seiko (DFP-0)
(--) NVIDIA(1): Seiko (DFP-0): 310.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
(--) NVIDIA(1): Seiko (DFP-0): Internal Dual Link LVDS
(EE) NVIDIA(1): Unable to find available Display Devices for screen 1.
(II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
(II) UnloadModule: "wfb"
(II) UnloadModule: "fb"

often helps find X-server problem. (FYI, screen 1 is my LCD TV when I connect it to my laptop, which shows as an error when not connected.)

If you use the KDM, a look at /var/log/kdm.log might be informative:

Code:

$ tail -20 /var/log/kdm.log
X.Org X Server 1.5.0
Release Date:
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.18-107.el5xen x86_64
Current Operating System: Linux dv9710us 2.6.26.6-79.fc9.x86_64 #1 SMP Fri Oct 17 14:20:33 EDT 2008 x86_64
Build Date: 17 September 2008  10:15:10PM
Build ID: xorg-x11-server 1.5.0-2.fc9
        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
        to make sure that you have the latest version.
Module Loader present
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/Xorg.0.log", Time: Mon Oct 27 05:52:02 2008
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
(EE) NVIDIA(1): Unable to find available Display Devices for screen 1.
expected keysym, got XF86Info: line 914 of inet
expected keysym, got XF86Info: line 914 of inet
/etc/X11/xdm/Xresources:30:1: error: unterminated #if
QProcess: Destroyed while process is still running.

(Hum. I think I'll look at that resource file . . .)

eikeland · 10-30-2008, 08:46 AM

The Xorg log looks fine and I don't see any errors.
The kdm.log has this in it:
expected keysum, got XF86Info: line 959 of inet
AUDIT: The Oct 30 08:09:34 2008: 5259 X: client 2 rejected from local host (uid 500).

Also, when I log into a command mode session, I get this message:
8859.1: No such file or directory

The last time I successfully logged in I was adding a Norwegian keyboard to the existing English one. I had some problems switching back and forth. In Mandriva 2006 I can see a flag at the taskbar of the language I want to use that I can click to switch. I don't have this in this version. I still have the Norwegian keyboard layout, which might be part of the problem... However, when I check the env variables, it looks like I have the english language.
LANG=EN_us.UTF-8
LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8:en_US:en

Maybe there is a conflict that I have the English language, but a Norwegian keyboard layout.. How should I set both the Language and Keyboard to English, if you agree with me that's the problem.

PTrenholme · 10-30-2008, 10:29 AM

As I said, I'm not a Mandriva user so all I can do is offer "generic" Linux advice.

I do note that my kdm.log contained the same expected keysum...XF86Info... message, so that is probably a systemic error of no consequence.

Does Mandriva offer a "rescue" boot mode of a "Live CD" you can use.? If you can access your home directory from either "rescue" or a Live CD, you can try the mc ~/.kde ~/.kde~ "trick" I suggested above. (That should, by the way, reset your keyboard to the default values. But I have no idea if the keyboard/language dichotomy has anything to do with your problem(s).)

<edit>
I looked into the XF86Info error message, and it's generated by a definition for I32 use by a Fujitsu laptop. That's the only device using that definition (for a symbol no longer defined in the X11 symbol definition header file), so -- unless you're using that laptop -- it should have no impact on you.
</edit>

eikeland · 11-18-2008, 08:25 PM

Renaming the file doesn't work. I even installed Mandriva 2008 again (recognized as an upgrade), but it still doesn't work.... I noticed something that might be a lead for someone more familiar with this than me:

Quote:

Nov 18 21:13:47 localhost kdm: :0[5068]am:unix(kde3:session): session opened for user eikeland by (uid=0)
Nov 18 21:13:48 localhost kdm: :0[5068]am:unix(kde3:session): session closed for user eikeland

Any idea how this could have happened?

PS. Ignore the smileys since they were translated by the viewer...

eikeland · 12-05-2008, 08:59 PM

When I added a new user, the kde desktop is fine for that user. So, I would like to get the original profile for my regular userid. but I am not sure what file(s) that would be. Can someone help me out and let me know what files I should be copying to restore default profile?

Thanks

eikeland · 12-31-2008, 07:48 PM

OK, from what I understand, the default files when logging into kde (or any desktop for that matter) is in the /etc/skel directory.
There are 4 files there, and I copied them into my user directory. They are:
.bash_logout
.bash_profile
.bashrc
.screenrc

It's still not right when I log in using my userid. Half the screen has a console window, but after a few seconds a konqueror window is put on top. This window is bigger than what fits on the screen since the resolution is messed up (I can't channge that either since I can't get anywheree). I can not even close this konq window so I can't do anything in the session. I have to hit Ctrl+Alt+F2 to get to a command prompt and log in again. I was able to add another user, and this user is just fine...
I checked the .xsession-errors file and it looks something like this:

/usr/X11R6/bin/rxvt

=====================================================
WARNING!!

rxvt is unable to display in UTB-8 encoding
you should use xterm instead
=====================================================

I think this is related to the problem since this whole mess started when I messed with the languages and encodings..
However, I have the rxvt script on my other machine and I don't have any problems with it.

Any suggestions?