PAM problem with gdm??

[Bob McKay]

I have a problem with gconf/gdm/Xorg, which I _think_ is PAM-related.  
Briefly,
to cure some other problems, I re-installed the X system, which cured  
the other
problems but left me with a problem on the system console. That is,  
the console
does not start into the default window, but simply sits there with a  
spinning wheel.
I can escape into a text window, and then run startx, which brings up  
a (mildly
broken) window configuration. On the other hand, if I start up  
vncserver and log
in remotely, I get a normal windowing session.

What I'm seeing in the logs is:
in /var/log/audit/audit.log
type=USER_LOGIN msg=audit(1178003546.576:11335): user pid=3569 uid=0  
auid=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:xdm_t:s0-s0:c0.c255  
msg='acct=unknown: exe="/usr/sbin/gdm- 
binary" (hostname=sc1.snu.ac.kr, addr=127.0.0.1, terminal=:0  
res=failed)'
type=USER_AUTH msg=audit(1178003546.629:11336): user pid=3569 uid=0  
auid=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:xdm_t:s0-s0:c0.c255 msg='PAM:  
authentication acct=? :exe="/usr/sbin/gdm-binary" (hostname=?,  
addr=?, terminal=:0 res=failed)'

in /var/log/secure
May  1 17:21:30 sc1 gdm[3569]: pam_succeed_if(gdm:auth): error  
retrieving user name: Conversation error
repeated ~1000 times per minute

As best I can figure from the PAM audit messages, this appears to be  
a problem with process 3569 attempting to do something with an  
unknown 'account', which I assume is one of its 'user' properties?  
When I check  the process, I get:

ps -o egroup,ruser,suser,fuser,f,comm,label 3569
EGROUP   RUSER    SUSER    FUSER    F COMMAND         LABEL
root     root     root     root     5 gdm-binary       
system_u:system_r:xdm_t:SystemLow-SystemHigh

ps -o egroup,rgroup,sgroup,fgroup,f,comm,label 3569
EGROUP   RGROUP   SGROUP   FGROUP   F COMMAND         LABEL
root     root     root     root     5 gdm-binary       
system_u:system_r:xdm_t:SystemLow-SystemHigh

which looks OK to my limited understanding. I've tried re-installing  
PAM (and just about everything else I could think of), to no avail.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Anywhere else I should look for  
useful diagnostics? This has left me without a system console for six  
months or so, so any help would be appreciated.

(maybe) relevant system info:
Fairly stock FC5 installation on an ASUS (intel) motherboard; I  
haven't deliberately done anything to change the X, gdm, gconf setup  
(other than to re-install it).

	Thanks and Best Wishes
	Bob McKay


***********************************************************************
Bob McKay
Bldg 302, Rm 521, School of Computer Science & Engineering,
College of Engineering, Seoul National University, San 56-1,
Sinlim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-744, Korea

Tel:      +82 2 880 9392
Fax:     +82 2 871 4912
email: rim at cse.snu.ac.kr (quick, but heavily spam blocked)
             rimsnucse at gmail.com (slower, but probably more reliable)
web:   http://sc.snu.ac.kr