I'm using Red Hat Enterprise Linux ver 3. I've just tried to update XFree86, I've been to their website and followed the instructions but I have basically overwritten the old files with the new. Didn't think it would cause a problem, but it has. I can get to the log-in screen but whenever I log on to a session it comes up with a terminal window and another window - failsafe I believe? I don't know what to do. I'm in my last 6 months of uni I need Linux for my coursework and i can't get in to use it. I'm very annoyed and need some help. Please somebody help me!!!

Try the swtichdesk command.

If you were using GNOME before the update try:
If you were using KDE before teh update try:
Hope this helps!

If I were you, I would download the latest version of X.org (6.8.2) and install that from source. It's not hard at all.

Before you update the X-Windows System you have to determine whether it is using the 'old' XFree86 version or the X.org version.

as already recommended I'd move on to xorg if I were you...

Thanks for replying guys. I did actually backup my old XFree86 folder beforehand so using the basic Linux commands which I'd actually never used before I used rm to remove the new folders in the /etc/X11R6 and /usr/X11 and copy over the old folders in their place. That resolved the issue it seems. I had actually forgot I made a backup of the folders until I listed my home directory. It advised me during the installation so I'm sure glad I made the backups!!! this X.Org thing sounds interesting I might check it out!!

On a different subject... I am trying to install autoconf-2.5.9 I think - the latest version anyway but it asked me to install .8 and i downloaded that. '.8' asked me to install '.7b' first but I can't get hold of .7b anywhere. I managed to get .7 installed however. It just seems ludicrous that I have to install one after the other, surely there is a fresh install package somewhere. I am basically trying to install Ogle. So far one package has required a pre-requisite and it is very frustrating enough - let alone autoconf - I must be seven steps behind - which is crazy!! If my software is out of date that much then Red Hat must be really slow at providing updates. Even Java they supplied is 1.3.1 when now you can get 1.5!! Any suggestions abotu autoconf?

Yeah ... autoconf's installation leaves a lot to be desired, I'll give you that. Also, RHEL 3 is fairly old, and designed more for corporate desktops/servers that need stability more than the latest and greatest version of every package. RHEL 4 was released recently, and is based off FC3. If you need more recent software, Fedora may be the better choice for you. As for autoconf, did you try the GNU project's FTP site ... if it existed, it should be in there somewhere.

Good luck...

Hi

Yeah I originally downloaded RHEL 4 but the ISO's were corrupted, probably because I moved them to a different location before I burned them, so I lost out and had to revert to my older version. I needed a copy of Linux to keep me ticking over during University. I will probably jump to Fedora or Suse when I finish because as much as people rave on about Red Hat it isn't all that!! I had Red Hat 9 and that was much better but it didn't support SATA hard drives so I had to make a choice.

As for Autoconf I have gone to the GNU website and have downloaded more-or-less every version in the attempts to get it to work. I still can't find 2.5.7b - I'm not sure it exists now I've looked everywhere and google doesn't produce many useful links for it, so I'm probably gonna forget it now. I read that xine is a better Dvd player than Ogle so I'm gonna get that to work instead. Still it would be nice to get autoconf updated fully anyway...

does anybody know how to uninstall dazuko? i didn't install it as an rpm but as a tarball? is there a way to remove tarball packages or is it a bit fiddly.