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I changed the run level to 4. Since I only have XDM, I have this ugly display manager that refuses to let me log in. I enter the login name and password and hit enter, nothing happens.

How do I get it to work ... can I get access to the CLI ?

THanks

Try hitting Alt+F2 to switch VTs. Then run "init 3" and edit inittab to use runlevel 3. You can get GDM over at Slackbuilds.org also.

According to /etc/X11/xorg.conf-vesa, the VT switching combo is <Crtl><Alt><Fn>.

Mine starting login looping recentally.. Can't tell you exactly when this happened or if it had anything to do with an update since I've been booting into runlevel 3 but I noticed it a week ago. Busy with work but its on my todo list to look into. Incase that's youre issue aswell I'll post back here when I get to it.

For now I would just recommend setting inittab to boot you into 3 as mentioned above.

Or if you want to use another dm have a look at gdm slim or even kdm.

Note: about that ugly thing just style it

For debugging the problem, its best to leave xdm running while you try solutions in a VT. Since X is running (showing xdm) and X uses VT7, you can normally use any VT 1-6. Suppose you want to use VT 1, then hit <Crtl><Alt>1 where you can log in (probably best as root).

The first thing to check is the xdm log file which is at /var/log/xdm.log. Look near the end for any reported errors - they may suggest a solution immediately.

XDM runs a whole bunch of scripts when a user tries to log in. If you have the same login problem for a root login as you do for a user login then its probably a system script as opposed to a particular user script. Since you see the xdm login screen but login fails, my guess is that there is a problem with the xdm system session startup script which is /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession. Whatever, xdm.log will probably give a clue.

BTW I had a similar problem and it turned out to be a faulty bash completion script. If you happen to have /etc/bash_completion.d/pulseaudio-bash-completion.sh file in your system, move it somewhere else. Now try logging in again.

chris