Hey everybody. I've been using linux well for the past year, and all of a sudden after a bad shutdownk, i had a problem related to the x server crash. I was able to see the output after typing startx into the console, and here it is:


xauth: error in locking authority file /home/benjamin/.Xauthority
xauth: error in locking authority file /home/benjamin/.Xauthority
xauth: error in locking authority file /home/benjamin/.Xauthority
xauth: error in locking authority file /home/benjamin/.Xauthority


Fatal server error:
Can't read lock file /tmp/.X0-lock

giving up.
xinit: Connection refused (errno 111): unable to connect to X server
xinit: No such process (errno 3): Server error.
xauth: error in locking authority file /home/benjamin/.Xauthority

And then it terminated. If i switched to root the message was the same except for the directory-- /root/.Xauthority. What do i need to do to get the X server back up and running? I use a simple AGP intel Direct video card, and everything had been working before...thanks for your contributions.

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Ben Frison

first delete all /tmp/.X*-lock files,

If it starts then, its because the lock files were never deleted when the X server crashed.

If that doesnt help,

Then delete theose /tmp/*-lock files AND rename the .Xauthority files to something other than .Xauthority
and retry startx.

These files will be automatically generated upon startup.
startx as root first then properly do:
shutdown now -r and relogin as normal user then startx as regular user.
Post back . the deleteion of the lock files and renaming Xauthority files should do the trick.

also make sure /tmp is not mounted read-only .

Thanks for your reply, but it still isn't working. in fact, when i went to check where those files were ( . X-0 and . Xauthority), .X-0 wasn't there. tmp is mounted r and w, and when i started the X server after deleting the .Xauthority-c file i found, it came up with exactly the same message

hi again. I discovered that this is an authorizing problem with my x -server. somehow the .xAuthority file is unlocked or locked by the .X0-lock, and every time i boot up this .X0-lock file isn't there. Any suggestions are appreciated, because i'm not sure what i'm doing here.

anything else?

Can you start x as root?
Can you create a new user and start x as that user.

What are the permissions on the /home/benjamin/.Xauthority file.

when i log onto root start x doesn't work, with the same problems as when i startx on my regular user

Your login manager script may be corrupted.

Start linux in run level 3
login as root
type xdm, gdm, or kdm (try all three) instead of startx and see what happens.

Thanks for your help franklin--it almost worked. I typed in xdm--nothing. then gdm... an error screen was brought up, and i went into an x config program, setting it to not automatically reload whenever i boot. After that, gdm retried the x server and it worked, sending me to a gdm graphic user login. However, i wanted to figure out if this would work every time i rebooted. And it has failed ever since. I do have another clue: here was the initial error screen that comes up when executing gdm:

execve failed for /etc/X11/X (errno 40)

Any suggestions welcome

oh yes, and there is nothing in the .Xauthority files

What were you doing when you crashed initially?
Any new drivers/hardware? (i.e. video card)
Have you looked at the logs /var/log/xdm.errors, /var/log/XFree86.x.x.log?

I found this while googling your error...

Check the ownership of the /home/benjamin/.Xauthority file.

http://lantech.geekvenue.net/chuckti...264/index_html

The link may help.... ??

Just some random thots.