LinuxQuestions.org
Welcome to the most active Linux Forum on the web.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Distributions > Slackware
User Name
Password
Slackware This Forum is for the discussion of Slackware Linux.

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 09-14-2009, 08:46 PM   #1
mlangdn
Senior Member
 
Registered: Mar 2005
Location: Kentucky
Distribution: Slackware64-current
Posts: 1,844

Rep: Reputation: 452Reputation: 452Reputation: 452Reputation: 452Reputation: 452
KDE won't start in init 4


Since I'm the only user of this machine, I have it set to automatically login and no password, going straight to KDE. /etc/inittab default is init 4. That no longer happens.

I rebooted tonight to that other OS to update, and when I rebooted to Slackware64, I was presented with the KDM window. Huh? So I put in my username and password and just hit enter. Now it gets weird.

I had a black screen with a terminal box in the upper left corner and a user prompt. I typed startx, and it said display was already running and to take a hike. Obviously, I didn't get all of what it said - I just switched to root and issued init 3.

Logged in with username and password, typed startx, and all is well with the world. Except, I have no clue as to what is wrong with init 4.

Where do I look? There seems to be no problem in init 3.
 
Old 09-14-2009, 10:26 PM   #2
rabbit2345
Member
 
Registered: Apr 2007
Location: SC
Distribution: Kubuntu 20.04 LTS
Posts: 378

Rep: Reputation: 41
Runlevel 4 is rarely ever used besides some special uses. Try switching to runlevel 5 instead next time. Most operating systems use runlevel 5 as the default.
 
Old 09-14-2009, 10:44 PM   #3
GrapefruiTgirl
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Dec 2006
Location: underground
Distribution: Slackware64
Posts: 7,594

Rep: Reputation: 555Reputation: 555Reputation: 555Reputation: 555Reputation: 555Reputation: 555
First, have you upgraded or installed _anything_ at all today? Any packages? If you did, revert them back to whatever they were before, like by using "slackpkg upgrade new%old" to upgrade backwards to the older package. Try init 4 now.

If no go, then next let's verify (prove) that init-4 is not actually the problem. The only (main) difference between 3 and 4 is that in 4 the script(s) are executed to start X (specifically in your case, to start X and start KDE).

So, boot up as you did, either to init 4 or to init 3. Presumably you'll boot up to init 4 as usual, and get the KDM dialog. Now, switch over to another VT, log in as root, and issue the command "killall X" to kill X (hopefully X won't respawn; if it does, you'll need to use the KDM selector and choose "Console Login", and THEN proceed to the other VT).

You're still in init 4 at this point, so right now, `su` to your regular user or get yourself yet another VT and log in as regular user, and type "startx".

In theory, your KDE session should start just like it does in init-3. If so, now we know that init-4 is not itself the problem.

What next? Look at the X startup scripts, such as /etc/rc.d/rc.4 and the files in /usr/X11R6/lib64/X11/init and make sure that xinitrc points to xinitrc.kde and that xinitrc.kde exists and is not corrupted or whatever.

Check the permissions of such folders as /home/<your-user-account> as well as other system folders where regular users need to have read+/execute access to run stuff, such as /etc /usr /usr/bin /usr/lib and so on, to make sure that by some weird means, your user account hasn't been locked out of places it needs to read in order to function properly.

That's where I'd start. I've had similar troubles in the past, after having installed a package that had incorrect folder permissions inside it. The result of this is that every folder into which a piece of the newly installed package goes, gets its permissions changed to the "wrong" ones (too restrictive, usually ) that are in the package. From there on, only root can seem to get around normally, until the problem's fixed.

Best of luck; let us know how you make out
Sasha

Last edited by GrapefruiTgirl; 09-14-2009 at 10:45 PM.
 
Old 09-15-2009, 03:33 AM   #4
GazL
LQ Veteran
 
Registered: May 2008
Posts: 6,882

Rep: Reputation: 4988Reputation: 4988Reputation: 4988Reputation: 4988Reputation: 4988Reputation: 4988Reputation: 4988Reputation: 4988Reputation: 4988Reputation: 4988Reputation: 4988
Quote:
Originally Posted by rabbit2345 View Post
Runlevel 4 is rarely ever used besides some special uses. Try switching to runlevel 5 instead next time. Most operating systems use runlevel 5 as the default.
Although that may be true for many distributions, it's not for Slackware.
Runlevel 4 is the correct choice to have xdm/kdm/gdm started for you on slackware. Runlevel 5 on slackware is 'unused'.
 
Old 09-15-2009, 08:33 AM   #5
mlangdn
Senior Member
 
Registered: Mar 2005
Location: Kentucky
Distribution: Slackware64-current
Posts: 1,844

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 452Reputation: 452Reputation: 452Reputation: 452Reputation: 452
This problem is now resolved. I had upgraded all of KDE from stock Slackware to these packages, including one new package:

http://cardinal.lizella.net/~vbatts/...ackages/4.3.1/

Something in there about Dolphin does not play nice. Now why it works in init 3, I don't know, but there is still the problem with Dolphin not playing nice. I installed the new KDE packages through slackpkg (4.2.4). I really did like the way KDE 4.3 looked, but those packages are not quite ready for Slackware.
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Cannot start deamon from init.d elthox Linux - Newbie 6 03-09-2009 05:44 AM
Error in PCLinuxOS2007: could not start kde init check your instalation xandros Linux - Newbie 2 11-21-2007 09:43 PM
Can gui start only in init 5? coolguy_iiit Linux - Newbie 2 07-31-2006 11:36 AM
Fail to start KDE on init 3 satimis Fedora 1 04-19-2006 02:34 PM
INIT failing to start dubya Fedora 3 04-25-2005 06:59 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Distributions > Slackware

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:29 PM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration