Running IceWM on Debian 3.1, testing. New installation.

I created two ordinary user accounts. But, when I log out, and go to that the debian log in screen, and try to log as an ordinary user, the screen goes blank and comes back again.

I can "su username" or "login username" but I can not run any X apps nor can I start X.

I created the user accounts with useradd -m, then passwd.

I don't know if it matters, but I created the accounts in a fat32 partition.

Also, does anybody know how to get rid of that debian log in screen? I would much prefer a test login, then enter startx. At least that way I can rid of X, if I want.

I hazard a guess that this "debian log in screen" is xdm. Had you installed x-window-system-core instead of x-window-system, then you wouldn't have got xdm.
Switch to console (Ctrl-Alt-F1), log in, "su" to root and run "update-rc.d -f xdm remove". Then reboot.

After rebooting and logging in, you can do:

echo "exec icewm-session" > ~/.xinitrc

and then you can do "startx" to start icewm.

It worked exactly as advertised. Very nice instructions. Thank you.