A lot of times when I start up my computer, instead of the graphical login screen I'm brought to a CLI login. If I log in and do "startx," it'll start KDE, but sound doesn't work and the shutdown/restart options disappear. (The logout option is still there.)

It's inconsistent; sometimes it'll start the GUI and sometimes it won't. I have yet to find out what causes it to work right and what causes it to bring me to the CLI.

When it doesn't work, if I run "shutdown -r now" or "shutdown -h now," it'll start the GUI as the computer is shutting down.

I've tried Ctrl+Alt+F7 when it's brought me to the CLI, but it didn't do anything.

Does anybody have any idea why it might be doing this?

I would check /var/log/Xorg.0.log and /var/log/errors.log. Often, if the GUI fails to start, it's something to do with your graphics card or driver.

Instead of doing startx, try restarting kdm.

There wasn't a file called /var/log/errors.log, and /var/log/Xorg.0.log didn't have any listings of errors. Also, sudo service kdm restart said "restart: Unknown instance."

Also, I'm finding that the GUI does start after a couple of minutes, but obviously it's a huge pain.