User switching fails

Runaway1956 · 01-11-2008, 07:55 PM

This machine was running OpenSUSE 10.2 for several months. I hacked it, bashed it, twisted, stapled, bent, folded, mutilated and spindled that installation. It was fun, but finally, it was nearly FUBAR.

I took the opportunity to upgrade to OpenSUSE 10.3 - which turned out not to be so easy, due to using every repository known to Suse in the 10.2 installation.

Finally, I decided NOT to upgrade, instead doing a "new" installation, allowing Suse to reformat the / partition. The /home partition remained untouched.

Suse allows us to switch user, with no complaint. However - when switching back to the first user, the second user's desktop is always terminated. I've tried locking session, then switching. I've tried using the switch user menu item in KDE. No matter what I try, my own session is always terminated when I allow the wife to log back on.

Worse, the session is obviously terminating improperly, because changes to the desktop are lost. For instance, a terminal window always reopens when I log back in, despite the fact that I've closed it repeatedly.

The only idea that I can come up with, would be some setting within the user's home folder, brought forward from Suse 10.2, which is incompatible with Suse 10.3 Problem is, I have no idea what setting I might be looking for.

Ideas? I'm stuck.

bigrigdriver · 01-13-2008, 05:44 AM

The problem is that the usual setup allows only one user to have GUI (runlevel 5), but multiple users at runlevel 3. Using Ctrl+alt+F1 through Ctrl+alt+F6, you have 6 virtual consoles, each with a different user logged in. Using Ctrl+alt+F7 thrugh Ctrl+alt+F12, you can have 6 users logged into a GUI environment.

What you are doing now allows only one user to have GUI. So, when your wife wants in, she has to boot you out, so to speak.

Here's how to set it up for multiple users to have GUI, which I found at http://raviratlami1.blogspot.com/200...x-nirvana.html.

Here's the appropriate excerpt:

Quote:

Have multiple GUI Window

You already know that you can have multiple command line login windows in your Linux machine. You can login as six different users simultaneously in same machine by switching terminal through Ctrl+Alt + Function Key F1 through F6 key combinations. Similarly, you can have equal number of users running their own GUI desktop simultaneously. You simply have to add some extra configuration strings for that. But ensure that you have better processor, ample RAM and a fast video card for that.

Open file Xservers that is generally available at etc/X11/xdm directory (you must be root user to edit the said file). You will see entry like this:

:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X :0

This is the default entry for display 0, which is available at your terminal whenever you start X. Now, if you want to have two more Windows, edit the line and add two more line one each for each extra window. After editing and adding, the line will look like this:

:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X :0 vt07

:1 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X :1 vt08

:2 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X :2 vt09

save the file, start Xwindow if it is not started yet, and press Alt+Ctrl+F7 for login to Display 0 (it is default) Alt+Ctrl+F8 for login to display 1 and Alt+Ctrl+F9 for login to display 2. Now you can Login to all three window as same or different user in GUI mode with one running KDE, the other GNOME, the third one XFce etc. You can add three more window in a similar manner for function key F10, F11, F12 respectively. To switch between windows, simply press Alt+Ctrl and Function key number for the particular window.