Xfce Forum

alloydog

Member

Registered: 2009-11-29

Posts: 6

Trouble logging into regular user account

I'm running Xfce 4.4 on Slackware 13

It seemed OK for a short while after a clean installation, but now it usually takes a couple of attempts to log into the regular user account. It usually gets just before the desktop should start, then returns to XDM. There is no problem with the root user account.

I have looked at the X start up messages, but cannot seem to find anything obvious.

Any ideas?

ManOfSteel

Member

Registered: 2005-10-06

Posts: 104

Re: Trouble logging into regular user account

Well, I have no idea what it could be, but you can try to narrow it down by disabling XDM and starting Xfce with startxfce4, or startx, or xinit. For startx/xinit don't forget to make a valid ~/.xinitrc file.

EDIT: As I come to think about it, it might be Xfce not starting well because it has a "spammed" session cache. Clear the contents of ~/.cache/sessions and try again.

alloydog

Member

Registered: 2009-11-29

Posts: 6

Re: Trouble logging into regular user account

Thanks, I'll give that a bash.
It will take a few logins to see it it works, as sometimes the account can be logged in at first go.

What do you mean by "spammed"? My ./cache/sessions folder only has four entries in it.

alloydog

Member

Registered: 2009-11-29

Posts: 6

Re: Trouble logging into regular user account

OK, I deleted the four files from ~./cache/sessions directory, and now the regular user account crashes every time.
It gets to the desktop, then X appears to crash, and it returns to the XDM log-in screen.

I can log in as root user OK, the crash never happens with that. After logging into the root user account, if I log out, then log into the regular user account, it logs in OK in one go.

I'm doubtful that the problem lies with XDM, as the root account is OK, and the regular one does get to the proper desktop.

ManOfSteel

Member

Registered: 2005-10-06

Posts: 104

Re: Trouble logging into regular user account

Well then there may be corrupt configuration files. Check every directory under ~/.config and ~/.local/share called xfce or similar, and rename them, e.g. xfce becomes xfce_old.
Xfce will recreate the defaults the next time you log back in. Of course you can restore your old configuration files by just deleting the new directories and renaming your old ones back.

After logging into the root user account, if I log out, then log into the regular user account, it logs in OK in one go.

And the next time you log in as your user, it crashes again? That's really weird. I suspect your system is borked.

I'm doubtful that the problem lies with XDM, as the root account is OK

Still, can you try disabling it?
Also does Xorg on Slackware 13 come with TWM? If it does, try modifying your ~/.xinitrc or ~/.xsession files and adding twm instead of startxfce4 or similar.

alloydog

Member

Registered: 2009-11-29

Posts: 6

Re: Trouble logging into regular user account

OK, here's weird bit...

I had another issue, apparently unrelated. During boot time, I get the message "Marking TSC unstable due to TSC halts in idle". Sometimes it hangs at this point, other times it just rushes through that point without a hitch. It would lock-up about every third boot. I would have to hold the power button to shut it down hard.

I did lots of searching, and it's not an uncommon problem. I tried some fixes (adding boot options to LILO.) After finding a solution where the PC booted without a hitch at least a half-dozen times, I noticed the desktop wasn't crashing either... The error message still occurs, but again, that seems common enough.

So far now, over a dozen boots have been done without the PC hanging or the desktop crashing.

If the desktop problem reoccurs, I will try it with no XDM. As for other desktops - I can't rightly remember  what it comes with, other than XCFE and KDE (which I didn't even install) :oops:

KitchM

Member

Registered: 2009-08-15

Posts: 304

Re: Trouble logging into regular user account

I have noticed that there is a bit of problem going around with authorization mechanisms.  It may be that.  But I tend to think that eliminating any logon manager is a good idea as a step to starting up.

At the command prompt, log in as the non-root user you want to be, and then startxfce4, or the other methods already described.  Can you get in from the prompt?

If you still can't get in reliably, don't forget to go back to the prompt and try to get X running by itself with the plain generic X desktop.  If you can't do that, step back further until the issue is solved.

Remember, OS, then X, then desktop environment (DE) and window manager and etc. as a general overall order of things.  A logon or login manger is an option since you already are logged onto the system in that session you'll use to contain the DE.

alloydog

Member

Registered: 2009-11-29

Posts: 6

Re: Trouble logging into regular user account

The problem has sort of been steamrollered over...

I still got the TSC problem causing hanging during boot time, despite all lilo fixes I tried. I did a clean install of Slackware, but this time with the 'huge' kernel - my laptop has a single P4, so SMP support is not needed. So far no other problems either - maybe something got borked during the previous install?