[kde-linux] Starting up KDE hangs with a black desktop and movable mouse cursor.

[david]

Phillip Pi wrote:
> Someone told me to try adding echoes in my /usr/sbin/startkde script 
> like this:
> 
> # finally, give the session control to the session manager
> # see kdebase/ksmserver for the description of the rest of the startup sequence
> # if the KDEWM environment variable has been set, then it will be used as KDE's
> # window manager instead of kwin.
> # if KDEWM is not set, ksmserver will ensure kwin is started.
> # kwrapper is used to reduce startup time and memory usage
> # kwrapper does not return usefull error codes such as the exit code of ksmserver.
> # We only check for 255 which means that the ksmserver process could not be
> # started, any problems thereafter, e.g. ksmserver failing to initialize,
> # will remain undetected.
> test -n "$KDEWM" && KDEWM="--windowmanager $KDEWM"
> echo "test wm" >> /home/ant/download/log.txt
> 
> kwrapper ksmserver $KDEWM
> echo "kwrapper ksmserver" >> /home/ant/download/log.txt
> if test $? -eq 255; then
>   # Startup error
>   echo 'startkde: Could not start ksmserver. Check your installation.'  1>&2
>   xmessage -geometry 500x100 "Could not start ksmserver. Check your installation."
>   echo "xmessage" >> /home/ant/download/log.txt
> fi
> 
> I got "test wm" in log.txt, but nothing after it. It looks like the hang 
> happens with kwrapper ksmserver section. I tried to view kwrapper and 
> ksmserver files, but they are binaries. Now, I am stuck but at least we 
> can see where it is hanging now. :(

That's a good idea (adding echoes to the script). ksmserver is the K 
Session Manager, and (according to the description)

"This package contains the KDE session manager. It is responsible for
restoring your KDE session on login. It is also needed to properly
start a KDE session. It registers KDE with X display managers, and
provides the 'startkde' command, for starting an X session with KDE
from the console."

Perhaps reinstalling the KSMServer would fix the connection between KDE 
and X? I'll try that now and let you know what happens.

> On Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 06:15:51PM -0800, Phillip Pi wrote:
>> Hello.
>>
>> Two days ago on my home Debian system, I exited KDE v3.5.x (not sure
>> exactly what version I have) and X back to console/text mode and
>> restarted it (startx) but now I get a hang. I see a black desktop/GUI/X
>> with a movable mouse cursor after seeing NVIDIA logo and an one second
>> gray desktop. I have to use ctrl-alt-backspace to kill X to get out of
>> it.
>>
>> I did some investigations and experiments as well. You can see the logs,
>> results, etc. in
>> http://www.kde-forum.org/artikel/17919/Starting-up-KDE-hangs-with-a-black-desktop-and-mov.html
>> thread since they would be too much to post in here.
>>
>> Thank you in advance. :)


-- 
David
gnome at hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community