[ale] Debian Install Woes

[James P. Kinney III]

You need to check the X error logs. If startx fails, there is a config
problem and xdm wont run either.

/var/log/Xfree86<something>

On Mon, 2003-03-31 at 10:41, Herman, Izzie wrote:
> It goes straight to a console...but when i try to do "startx", it blinks a couple of times, then goes back to my login....would this be due to being in runlevel 2?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jason Day [mailto:jasonday at worldnet.att.net]
> Sent: Monday, March 31, 2003 10:37 AM
> To: ale at ale.org
> Subject: Re: [ale] Debian Install Woes
> 
> 
> On Mon, Mar 31, 2003 at 07:15:51AM -0800, Herman, Izzie wrote:
> > I just installed Debian 30r1 and seem to be having some probs w/ it.  It never makes it to xdm.
> > 
> > What is the default runlevel for Debian?  
> > Is the "X" init level still 5 in Debian?
> 
> No, Debian boots up into runlevel 2, even if you use [gkx]dm.  Why is a
> mystery to me.
> 
> > Any other advice you can offer?
> 
> What happens when you boot?  Does it try to run xdm, fail, and drop you
> to a console?  Or does it just go directly to a console when you want to
> run xdm?
> 
> The way Debian runs xdm seems... wrong to me.  Rather than booting to a
> different runlevel, such as 5, Debian boots as normal.  When gdm, xdm,
> or kdm are installed, they add an init script to /etc/init.d.  Each of
> these scripts is called by the boot process, and each of these scripts
> examines the file /etc/X11/default-display-manager.  This file should
> contain a single line, pointing to the location of your desired display
> manager executable (e.g. /usr/bin/gdm).  If this executable matches what
> the script is expecting (/usr/bin/gdm for gdm), then it executes it.
> Otherwise, it prints a message saying it's not starting the display
> manager, because it is not the default.
> 
> Once you get to a console, you can start the display manager manually by
> becoming root and typing "/etc/init.d xdm start".  Make sure that the
> /etc/X11/default-display-manager file has a line which is the full path
> to xdm.  If X still won't come up, then it's likely an X configuration
> problem.
> 
> HTH,
> Jason
-- 
James P. Kinney III          \Changing the mobile computing world/
CEO & Director of Engineering \          one Linux user         /
Local Net Solutions,LLC        \           at a time.          /
770-493-8244                    \.___________________________./
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics) <jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
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