KDE after login...not

[James Richard Tyrer]

Bob McIlvaine wrote:
> 
>>Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 14:08:09 -0700
>>From: James Richard Tyrer <tyrerj at acm.org>
>>Subject: Re: [kde] KDE after login...not
>>To: kde at mail.kde.org
>>Message-ID: <4065ED39.1050706 at acm.org>
>>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
>>
>>
>>>I am running KDE on OpenBSD 3.4.
>>>
>>>X seems to be installed and working. When the machine 
>>>boots the X login screen comes up with the nice gui and 
> 
> a 
> 
>>>puffy fish graphic.
>>>
>>
>>A "fish"????  Are you certain that this is the KDM login 
> 
> screen?
> 
> When X is installed under OpendBSD (at least what I have), 
> if the machine is set up to go directly to x for the login screen 
> there is a nice set of text boxes for you to type in your login 
> and password. The logo for openBSD, the puffy fish, is 
> displayed as well.
> 
Sorry, I am only familiar with the Daemon for FreeBSD.

Yes, that is my point, you are using XDM not KDM for your graphical login.
> 
>>>So far so good.
>>>
>>>If I login, I get a an xterm window.
>>>
>>>if I then type startkde, the KDE desktop is added to the 
>>>screen.
>>>
>>>But, if I create a .xsession file and put the startkde line in 
> 
> it.
> 
>>Exactly what an: "~./xesssion" file does is system/distro 
> 
> dependent, but I
> 
>>would put the full path in it.  E.G.:
>>
>>	/usr/kde3/bin/startkde
>>
>>where the path is system/distro dependent.
> 
> 
> Yes, the contents of ~/.xsession is a fully qualified path to 
> startkde.
> 
> 
>>>No xterm starts and I get a box saying that "Couldn't start 
>>>kdeinit" and an ok button. Clicking this button returns me 
> 
> to 
> 
>>>the puffy screen.
>>
>>After you login with the graphical login, it runs a script: 
> 
> "Xsession". 
> 
> Yes, and this file, on my install, executes ~/.xsession.
> 
Good.  But, it doesn't do that on all systems so I can't assume what is 
going to happen.
> 
>>It 
>>is this script that determines how the X session starts.  
> 
> This script also
> 
>>needs to see that you PATH and other environment 
> 
> variables are set 
> 
>>correctly.  In Linux, this can be done by having it be a login 
> 
> script or
> 
>>directly sourcing: "/etc/profile" & ("$HOME/.bash_profile" | 
>>"$HOME/.profile") -- unless you are using Bash, it would 
> 
> be:
> 
>>"$HOME/.profile".
>>
>>
>>>So I ssh in from another machine and rename the 
> 
> .xsession 
> 
>>>file and we're back to the way it was.
>>
>>You can probably just login to a console to make changes 
> 
> in the GUI
> 
>>login.
> 
> 
> Well, I don't know how one gets by the graphical login...it 
> appears after boot...
> 
Do you get a prompt with a slight pause from the boot manager?  Or, a 
graphical screen to select what the boot manager boots?  On Linux you would 
enter the command: "Linux 3".  You probably enter something similar but 
different for a BSD distribution.
> 
>>You need to check and see what: "Xsession" is doing.
>>
>>
>>>The puffy login screen is fine with me.
>>
>>This is probably not the KDM login screen.
> 
> 
> Indeed, it is the default of OpenBSD with (I think) fvwm.
> 
> 
>>>So, nothing that I've googled has given me much in the 
> 
> way 
> 
>>>of concise guidance here.
>>>
>>>- Could someone point me to docs that have complete 
>>>details (everything I've found so far is a bit of this, a bit of 
>>>that) of setting up kde.
>>
>>First you need to see that you are using KDM.  Check to 
> 
> see that KDM is 
> 
>>being called when the system boots.
> 
> 
> Is this required? If I get rid of ~/.xsession, I login fine and am 
> presented with a standard xterm. IF, in this xterm window I 
> type startkde...KDE starts fine...is it not starting what ever it 
> needs at this point?

Not required but probably the simplest.  You can probably set up XDM to 
properly start KDE, but I don't know how to do it on even Linux.

> So, if it does it in this scenario, what I'm trying to figure out is 
> what is it (startkde) missing when executed from 
> ~/.xsession?

Probably the environment variables:

	PATH {needs $QTDIR/bin & $KDEDIR/bin}
	KDEDIR {the prefix where KDE is installed}
	KDEDIRS {not always used}
	KDEHOME {the default is probably OK}
	QTDIR {the location of your Qt installation}

are not getting set correctly.  KDM sets (some?) of these but if you are 
using XDM, you need to see that the: "Xsession" script properly sets them 
or sources/executes something that does.

>From your comments and others, I'm guessing that some 
> environment setting is not complete at the point ~/.xsession 
> is executed, where as, when done from an xterm window the 
> environment is complete.
> 
That slightly puzzles me but there is probably some difference.  It 
obviously isn't finding something.  Perhaps there is something in the 
resource files/scripts for the shell.  These WILL get executed when the 
shell (whichever one you are using) is started in the Xterm, but will NOT 
get executed with the graphical login.  So, if you use ONLY the graphical 
login to run: "startkde" the shell resource scripts aren't run first.  But 
if it opens an Xterm and you execute: "startkde" on the command line, these 
files/scripts have been run.  So, I would guess that that is it.

You should also find another: "Xsession" script in: 
"$KDEDIR/share/config/kdm/" perhaps you can use it for a reference.

--
JRT

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