GDM doesn't work: Authdir /usr/var/gdm does not exist

jimhap · 05-31-2007, 11:55 PM

I ran this at the command prompt:

Code:

# gdm

And it said:

Code:

gdm_config_parse: Authdir /usr/var/gdm does not exist. Aborting.

(It did switch screens and say /usr/var/gdm doesn't exist....)

/usr/var/gdm does exist.

Code:

# ls -l /usr/var/
drwxrwxr-x    3 root     root         1024 May  7 17:41 cache
drwxrwx--T    2 root     gdm          1024 Jun  1 00:44 gdm
drwxr-xr-x    3 root     root         1024 May 26 11:34 lib
drwxr-xr-x    4 root     root         1024 May 31 17:00 log
drwxr-xr-x    4 root     root         1024 May 26 11:34 run
drwxr-xr-x   36 root     root         1024 Jun  1 00:09 scrollkeeper
drwx--x---    3 root     root         1024 May  7 17:41 spool

This was a source build of GDM. The version is 2.18.1. I don't know why it does that...

jimhap

PTrenholme · 06-01-2007, 06:09 PM

Note the "T" at the end of the permissions for /usr/var/gdm which indicates that the file is "deletion restricted" with no "search" permission for "others," so it won't be searchable unless you're in the gdm group or root.

In any case, display managers like the GNOME display manager (gdm) are, I believe, intended to be invoked by X when your X session starts, not to be used from a command line. Usually you just make the appropriate entry in the /etc/sysconfig/desktop file so Xinitrc will use that display manager.

According to man gdm, gdm is just a script used to start gdm-binary, and there are several other gdm- commands. One of them is gdmsetup.

jimhap · 06-03-2007, 09:51 PM

Hello,

Thanks for your help! But some how, GNOME has a bug itself....

Even running in X, running GDM fails.

And the solution? Seems like rebooting does something....

(That's a bug in GDM. I will report that soon....)

PTrenholme · 06-04-2007, 07:29 AM

How can you be "running in X" without a working display manager?

If you look at the start-up script used by the system (/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit) you'll see that there's a section where the display manager is specified (by execution of the commands in /etc/sysconf/desktop or picking it from the defaults), and that manager is what's used when the X system is started.

So, if you're new gdm is in your $PATH before your old one, it should be running if you've got X running.

What are you trying to accomplish by starting gdm-binary from a command line? What results were you expecting? Why do you expect those results? How do you know that your new gdm isn't running?

jimhap · 06-04-2007, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PTrenholme

How can you be "running in X" without a working display manager?

If you look at the start-up script used by the system (/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit) you'll see that there's a section where the display manager is specified (by execution of the commands in /etc/sysconf/desktop or picking it from the defaults), and that manager is what's used when the X system is started.

So, if you're new gdm is in your $PATH before your old one, it should be running if you've got X running.

What are you trying to accomplish by starting gdm-binary from a command line? What results were you expecting? Why do you expect those results? How do you know that your new gdm isn't running?

Well, here's the thing: typing xinit (or xwin) starts without a display manager.

And by the way. GDM actually runs X. If you ran X and GDM at the same time, GDM switiches you to a blue screen. (see pic below)

And others do too. KDM and Slim runs X for you. Runing X and typing them in will not work. Only GDM is nice to allow you to run GDM an another X server (Display :1)

Link for scrrenshot below:
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/b...p/dsc00868.jpg

jimhap

PTrenholme · 06-05-2007, 10:50 AM

OK, I not an expert here, but I just ran a xinit -- :1 on my Fedora system, on which I use KDM, not GNOME, and got a nice second window -- with, as you said, just a raw X window with a terminal window.

However, entering gdm in that window (after switching to su did start a new session window for me (on display :2 since display :0 and :1 were busy).

And entering kdm :2 started a new KDE session for me on another display as well.

Given all that, I'm still wondering what you're trying to accomplish. On my Fedora 6 system, both gdm and kdm seem to do what you're looking to have done. Perhaps I'm missing something?

jimhap · 06-06-2007, 03:25 PM

The goal-to get gdm working properly.

FYI: filed a bug at the GNOME BugZilla:

http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=443772

forrestt · 06-06-2007, 04:05 PM

What are you tring to do? GDM is not supposed to be run from a command line, and it is NOT a window manager (what you are trying to actually run). GDM is a display manager. It manages the display by setting up a login page and allowing access to that display if someone logs in. The login will then run the window manager that GDM tells it to run under the user account that logged in. If you are logged into a shell, try startx instead of xinit. It will run xinit and fire off your default window manager.

If you want a gui login, edit /etc/inittab and change the line:

id:3:initdefault:

to

id:5:initdefault:

and either reboot or issue the command:

/sbin/init 5

IsaacKuo · 06-06-2007, 04:33 PM

Just out of curiosity, what in the world is this doing in the Linux - Newbie forum? Based on Jimmy Happy's bug description and discussions, he's no newbie. Compiling a customized gdm/gnome from source from scratch obviously isn't Linux Newbie material no matter what!

forrestt · 06-06-2007, 04:38 PM

IsaacKuo: I think he is a newbie mostly because he is trying to install gdm from source and run it from a command line without knowing that's not how it's supposed to be done.

Of course, I could be wrong, and I'm just totally confused by what he is asking.

PTrenholme · 06-08-2007, 04:09 PM

Hey guys, please be kind. I, too, am not sure why this thread is in the newbie forum, but Jim is labeled a "newbie" because he's only made four posts (so far). However, from what's in those posts, I assumed that he had considerable "Linux smarts."

Although the last post, where he says

Quote:

The goal-to get gdm working properly.

does have me wondering a bit, since I still haven't figured out what he thinks is wrong with gdm. As I pointed out above, for me, on Fedora (both 6 and 7), gdm seems to preform exactly as described in man gdm.

IsaacKuo · 06-08-2007, 04:22 PM

If you click on his Bugzilla post, you'll see that he uses Puppy Linux (he may even be a developer for Puppy Linux, for all I know), and he's trying to install gdm on it. Evidently this isn't as trivial as simply installing Puppy's gdm package; possibly jimhap is attempting to develop such a package.

From his descriptions of version numbers and compiler options, it's obvious jimhap knows what he's doing. At the very least, he seems to know more about how gdm works and is supposed to work than most of us here on this thread.