i am getting an error when i boot up that the server cant find the gdm group. go to the gdm.conf file and fix the problem then restart the gdm dameon.

i have looked at the gdm file but i am not sure what to do with it. also i tried to add the gdm group but it tells me the group is not unique. i tried to delete the gdm group and it tells me it isnt present.

does anybody know what the gdm file is and how i can fix my problem?

i am running redhat 8.0

I am running fedora3 and have the same problem. It started on one server a couple weeks ago, today it is doing it on my other server. I have several other machines that work fine. I have been comparing /etc and other files trying to figure out what was changed, but haven't found anything.

I edited the group and user lines in the /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf file, but I told it to use the root group, but this doesn't work. It doesn't allow root to run it for security reasons.

I changed it to my user and a group I belong to and it works. I'm no expert and don't know if this is a good thing to do about it or not. Whoever wrote the default /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf file seems to think you should create a gdm user and group.

hi to resolve problem use following step

1) login through root with root password
2) through console go to /etc
3) then type ls gr
4) then check group exist or not
5) if not then check group- if it is there copy it by group name
6) reboot your system

bye

Hi,

I hope lot of people are facing this gdm issue or errors during the booting with an example error: "Starting sm-client: chown: 'smmsp:smmsp': invalid user".

The root cause of this error or "gdm does not exist" error is the overwriting of the /etc/passwd.

Do a cat on /etc/passwd and you will get to see just 2 lines printing, which doesnot include your root and your own login which you created. This is the proof of a corrupt /etc/passwd.

Solution: I copied /etc/passwd from my lab machine and updated my login which is on the last line in /etc/passwd. Rebooted the machine.

****** ITS WORKING PERFECTLY OK NOW ;-)*******

Note: The same holds good for /etc/group I think....

Regards,
Sanjiv