starting KDE automatically
 

I use SUSE 10 and at one point of time I was running KDE as the GUI. I had some video trouble and I manage to get TWN to work. How would I boot sequence to start using KDE instead of TWN. What file controls that?

Check your: /<users home dir>/.xinitrc file and see which desktop manager its running if you want KDE you will have to change it to say kdm where it says desktop manager.

there is nothing in that file that says desktop manager?

< startx and .xinitrc >

If you use the startx command for starting up the X Window System, you'll need to edit a file called .xinitrc that is located in your home directory. If the file already is there, just open it with your favorite text editor. If you don't have such a file in your home directory, create a new file with that name. Note the dot in the file name - it shows you that the file is a hidden file and doesn't show when you do a normal directory listing.

If you already have a .xinitrc file in your home directory, it may be a huge scary-looking text file with a lot of text that makes just as much sense as a file produced with a random number generator and encrypted after writing. If you want to make a backup of this file, rename it to something like .xinitrc.backup or whatever you wish:
mv .xinitrc .xinitrc.backup

Now you can use your text editor for creating a new, blank .xinitrc file. Although the file may be a complicated multi-line geeky script, it can be very simple, too. In its simplest it just contains a single line with the name of your new window manager. So, add a line like this to your file:
exec windowmanager
where windowmanager is the command that starts the window manager you want to be your default. For example, to make Window Maker your default window manager, you'd have a line like this:
exec wmaker

The commands for starting some popular window managers and desktop environments are:

* KDE = startkde
* Gnome = gnome-session
* Blackbox = blackbox
* FVWM = fvwm (or, for FVWM2 it's fvwm2, surprise)
* Window Maker = wmaker
* IceWM = icewm

After editing the .xinitrc file, save your changes. The next time you do a startx, the new window manager will be your default.



If you are not using that file to start your windows manager check your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file for an entry of KDM i might be setup in there as your windows manager I forget, i'm pretty sure its done through the .xinitrc file tho. Look at both back them up and give them a try. No harm in it.

Let me know if this helps you get it working.

many thanks