Now that we proved that your X works we can stop trying to fix it (seeing as how it wasn't broken in the first place :-) ).

COOL!
ok, now I'm going to reinstall again (seeing as I screwed up my X - for sure - when I tried to edit xf86config to get the mouse working) but I was wondering if I might have better luck getting KDE working if I use the ISO from linuxISO.org instead of the ISO from the slackware website. I assumed they were the same, but possibly there is an updated version of KDE on the Slackware 9.0 ISO on linuxISO.org?

Thanks for your help,
Cam

Ok here, reinstall complete and successful. My mouse is working and I am getting more and more comfortable with the configuration of slackware. X window system is running perfectly. Everything is great, except for KDE. What can I do to fix the error message, "Could not start Kdeinit. Check your installation."

Thanks for all your help,
Cam
(another happy soon to be slacker!)

I have a similar problem. When I "startx", X will start, but KDE says "Could not start Kdeinit. Check your installation.". I selected to install gnome as well, but i don't know how to run it. I already checked the dir "/etc/X11(/xinit)" for a file like "xinitrc.gnome", but there's none. There's only a file named "xinitrc.twm".
How can I run any X-applications like an inet-browser?

Do this for me

startx > foo

then after it dies and you exit by doing a <crtl>+<alt>+<backspace> then post the file foo to the group. what the command I just gave will do to pipe all the output generated to a file called foo. This will let me figure out where it is dieing.

thanks

This does not work. The output file is empty (zero bytes). I also tried startkde|pico what outputs the text to pico. But pico is acting strange and doesn't let me save.
The X-server does start, but kde prints a box withe the message "could ... installation." and one "ok"-button to press.
What would help to post the output would be some commands to switch an app between fore- and background, and a command to copy&paste.
Thanks anyway!

Ok, is it possible that my install of KDE is simply defective? In that case, could I burn a CD from my windows partition with a KDE install from the KDE website, and then install it in Slack?

Thanks for your help,
Cam

I`m not an expert but sure you can . When you`re upgrading kde version to next one, or xfree or anything else. You do the same...i think..

no real help here, but i had been using kde on slack9 for ~2mos. and then decide to look at gnome 2.2(xwmconfig and then choose gnome or whatever)-i liked it and stuck with it for awhile, then tried to go back to kde and got the same error. i waited too long to check the log,so i didn't get anything there. my point is maybe it's not the install, it may just have broke-seems to me kdeinit was running in top through all of this. sorry not to have more to offer.

I had this problem once.
I solved it by following the instructions given below, that come from here:
http://www.kde.org/documentation/faq...html#id2907543

4.17.

I upgraded KDE and it seemed to go fine, but when I start it, I get a blank grey screen, and nothing happens. There are errors in the console about DCOPserver. What's going on?


KDE uses several temporary files during it's operation. These are usually to be found in the following locations:

*

~/.DCOPserver-* (there are usually two of these, one is a symlink to the other)
*

~/.kde/socket-hostname
*

~/.kde/tmp-hostname which is normally a symlink to the next file:
*

/tmp/tmp-kde-USER
*

~/.kde/socket-hostname which is also normally a symlink to:
*

/tmp/ksocket-USER

If the symlinks get broken, usually because a cron or shutdown script is emptying out the /tmp directory, then strange things will happen. These files, and the symlinks, will all be created automatically at the start of KDE so you can safely remove them while KDE is not running.

If you are getting only a grey screen when you start KDE, or if you get an error message telling you to Check your installation, then shut down X and delete all the files listed above, then try to restart X.

Normally (i.e. when not upgrading between KDE versions) it's quite safe to leave these files intact, and you may shave a few seconds off your KDE startup time by doing so.

hope this helps
tobyl

thanks a lot for that info - I will try that, but seeing as I am new to this whole linux thing, how do I delete files and such from the console prompt?

Thanks,
Cam

ok well there are probably lots of ways to do this, but try:

1. boot into runlevel 3 (command line). see below if you dont know how to do this
2. login as root
3.type cd /home/cam [enter] (or whatever your home is called)
4.type ls -a (this will list all the files, including hidden .files)
5. you will see probably 2 entries like this:

.DCOPserver_darkstar_:0
.DCOPserver_darkstar__0

6. delete them like this:
rm .DCOPserver* (case sensitive)

7.type cd .kde (you are already in /home/cam, so you dont need the leading /)
8.type ls -a

this time you will see

socket-darkstar
tmp-darkstar

(if you changed your hostname, you will see that instead of darkstar)

9.delete them like this:

rm socket-darkstar
rm tmp-darkstar

10. now for the tmp file
type cd /tmp
type ls -a

I guess you've got
ksocket-cam
ksocket-root

delete them
rm -r ksocket-cam (you need the -r as they are directories, and
rm -r ksocket-root you cant delete a directory with files in it without this switch)

10. done! type shutdown -r now (-r is for reboot)
after restarting, type startx

there may be similar files in your root directory, if you ran kde as root. treat them the same way.
You should be able to get to a command prompt by using your boot floppy or the 1st slack cd.
If you are at your grey screen, you should be able to get a command line console with
Ctrl + Alt + F1

su [enter]
<rootpassword> [enter]
pico /etc/inittab [enter] #pico is an easy to use text editor#
find the lines

# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:4:initdefault:

change the 4 to a 3, then ctrl + X and save. you will then go straight to runlevel 3 (command line) after reboot.
change it back to 4 when you are ready.

I cant say for sure that this will work, just that it worked for me.
be careful with the rm command, especially as root, and more especially when using
wildcards like *, as you are not protected from deleting crucial files.
good luck tobyl

just a quick clarification - if I haven't made any users yet (I've only ever signed on as root) then what will I enter instead of "cd /home/cam?" Thank you very much for your help, I will print this and try it as soon as I can.

Thanks,
Cam

okay, I've just come to the conclusion that, helpful as the advice is, I don't think tobyl and I are discussing the same problem. Oh well.