WM isn't starting..KDE or Icewm

microsoft/linux · 11-16-2005, 08:40 PM

from auth.log

Code:

Nov 16 06:40:03 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/etc/init.d/kdm stop
Nov 16 06:40:08 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/aptitude purge kdm
Nov 16 15:51:30 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/aptitude install kdm
Nov 16 15:52:39 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/etc/init.d/kdm start
Nov 16 15:53:05 localhost kdm: :0[3360]: (pam_unix) session opened for user jake by (uid=0)
Nov 16 15:53:07 localhost kdm: :0[3360]: (pam_unix) session closed for user jake
Nov 16 15:53:27 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/etc/init.d/kdm stop
Nov 16 15:53:32 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/aptitude purge kdm
Nov 16 17:21:20 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/aptitude kdm
Nov 16 17:21:25 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/aptitude install kdm
Nov 16 17:21:50 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/etc/init.d/kdm start
Nov 16 17:22:17 localhost kdm: :0[6502]: (pam_unix) session opened for user jake by (uid=0)
Nov 16 17:22:17 localhost kdm: :0[6502]: (pam_unix) session closed for user jake
Nov 16 17:22:45 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/etc/init.d/kdm restart
Nov 16 17:23:07 localhost kdm: :0[6628]: (pam_unix) authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=:0 ruser= rhost=  user=jake
Nov 16 17:23:18 localhost kdm: :0[6628]: (pam_unix) session opened for user jake by (uid=0)
Nov 16 17:23:19 localhost kdm: :0[6628]: (pam_unix) session closed for user jake
Nov 16 17:23:36 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/jake ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/etc/init.d/kdm stop
Nov 16 19:30:16 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/var/log ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/grep kdm auth.log
Nov 16 19:30:33 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/var/log ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/grep kdm /var/logauth.log
Nov 16 19:30:36 localhost sudo:     jake : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/var/log ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/grep kdm /var/log/auth.log

from daemon.log

Code:

Nov 16 15:52:59 localhost kdm_greet[3374]: Can't open default user face
Nov 16 15:53:18 localhost kdm_greet[3432]: Can't open default user face
Nov 16 17:22:01 localhost kdm_greet[6516]: Can't open default user face
Nov 16 17:22:28 localhost kdm_greet[6574]: Can't open default user face
Nov 16 17:22:58 localhost kdm_greet[6631]: Can't open default user face
Nov 16 17:23:29 localhost kdm_greet[6689]: Can't open default user face

from syslog

Code:

Nov 16 15:52:59 localhost kdm_greet[3374]: Can't open default user face
Nov 16 15:53:18 localhost kdm_greet[3432]: Can't open default user face
Nov 16 17:22:01 localhost kdm_greet[6516]: Can't open default user face
Nov 16 17:22:28 localhost kdm_greet[6574]: Can't open default user face
Nov 16 17:22:58 localhost kdm_greet[6631]: Can't open default user face
Nov 16 17:23:29 localhost kdm_greet[6689]: Can't open default user face

***NOTE***I only took the stuff from today, since these files are really long, and it's the same stuff over and over for different days

Dead Parrot · 11-16-2005, 09:15 PM

Well, I don't see anything interesting in those log files. I'm sorry but I cannot come up with any better suggestions than trying the kdm version from Debian stable.

microsoft/linux · 11-16-2005, 11:01 PM

how would I go about doing that? I don't think it's KDM itself, per se. I think it's probably a config file somewhere that never got changed back after I removed xfce. Thoughts?

Dead Parrot · 11-17-2005, 05:58 AM

Getting packages from different branches (stable/testing/unstable) depends on what repositories you have in /etc/apt/sources.list. Some people have a sources.list that points to two or more branches at the same time and they do "apt-pinning" by setting apt preferences, and they install packages with commands that specify the repository they want to use (like "apt-get install -t stable kdm" to get kdm from the stable branch).

I have only one Debian branch (testing) in my sources.list and whenever I want package from stable or unstable I have to change the repo in sources.list and then run "apt-get update" and then install the package I want and then change sources.list back to its original state and then run "apt-get update" once more time. It's probably more trouble doing it my way but I don't use many packages from other branches, so it's OK for me.

Quote:

I don't think it's KDM itself, per se. I think it's probably a config file somewhere that never got changed back after I removed xfce. Thoughts?

Well, all the kdm config files should have been removed if you told apt-get (or aptitude or synaptic) to purge (instead of merely removing) kdm when you reinstalled it. Of course, apt-get doesn't touch the config files that are located in user's home directory, so you might want to check if you can find something related to kdm from under ~/.kde ("locate kdm" is probably the easiest way to list all files and directories that contain the name kdm).

Then there should be a file named .wm_style in your home directory -- kdm should check that to find out the last session/windowmanager you chose and if you don't specifically choose a different session from the kdm menu, then it should start the session mentioned in .wm_style.

microsoft/linux · 11-17-2005, 08:41 AM

I've purged KDM multiple times(reinstalled, purged, reinstalled, etc.) So I don't think it's a KDM config file. It might however, be an X config file somewhere. I'll try getting stable KDM, and then see what happens.

microsoft/linux · 11-17-2005, 11:08 PM

I think I'll try gnome for a while(I found a way to make it look better). I'm baffled as to why kdm isn't working the way it's supposed to. It might just be that it's from a 'non-debian' source, and that it doesn't fully play nicely w/ debian. Thanks for all the suggestions though...

Dead Parrot · 11-17-2005, 11:54 PM

Quote:

I'm baffled as to why kdm isn't working the way it's supposed to. It might just be that it's from a 'non-debian' source, and that it doesn't fully play nicely w/ debian.

Hmm... what do you mean by that? I thought you used official Debian sources. BTW, I installed kdm for my Debian testing system (normally I use wdm -- it's perfect for me because my "desktop" is Window Maker) and I was able to launch Window Maker from kdm without any problems. I'm also baffled, I cannot figure out why your kdm refuses to start any X sessions.

Sometimes these things just happen, you might login to the X window system as root or do some other silly mistake, like accidentally delete some important file. Afterwards it's very difficult to track down the point where you made the actual mistake. Maybe some file permissions got changed in your home directory and after that things just refuse to work the way they used to.

One way to test if your user account has somehow got corrupted would be to create a new user account and then try if this new user can start kde from kdm. Creating a new user would be much easier than reinstalling the whole system.

microsoft/linux · 11-18-2005, 08:45 AM

It's the alioth source for KDE 3.4.0 at
deb http://pkg-kde.alioth.debian.org/kde-3.4.0/ ./

this may actually be why. KDM wouldn't start anything, but I've got gdm working, thanks though

Dead Parrot · 11-18-2005, 10:21 AM

Yes, it's quite possible that the alioth version of kdm has some bug(s) that the version available in Debian testing/etch doesn't have. Actually, it seems that testing/etch has a newer version of kde (3.4.2) so you might want to consider upgrading your kde & kdm from the testing/etch repository.

microsoft/linux · 11-18-2005, 03:06 PM

I didn't know that....hmmm. I thought that it wasn't in etch. (Hence the reason I'm using the alioth version). Cool, thanks

mindnumbed · 12-13-2005, 05:47 PM

I've also been battling a very similar problem:

kde from startx or xinit /usr/bin/startkde works
kde, gnome, anything _does_ work from GDM
KDM starts, and allows me to log in, but, regardless of session type chosen, restarts after a few seconds.
I do appear to have a working kdm.log (which also seems to gobble up X errors) which gives me a single line for each attempt to start it:

AUDIT: Mon Dec 12 22:23:21 2005: 5234 X: client 2 rejected from local host

I thought this could be an authorisation problem, but it seems to work fine for GDM... odd.