Continuing Gnome Configuration Problem

[Barry Gamblin]

|> 
|> I am a relatively new, novice Linux user looking for assistance 
|> with a 
|> problem that I am sure I created as a result of my inexperience.  I 
am 
|> pretty good at diagnosing problems, but am not familiar with Linux 
enough to 
|> know where to look.
|> 
|> System:  Dell PE2600, RHEL3, configured as file server with Samba
|> 
|> Problem:  A blank (i.e., black) desktop without any icons when 
starting X 
|> manually as root user.  Can not open a file manager window.  Also a 
long 
|> delay occurs (1-2 minutes) when logging out of X.
|> 
|> Events Leading Up to Problem:  The only unique actions that occurred 
on the 
|> system the previous day included the
|> installation of the NUT (network ups tools) software from source, and 
the 
|> subsequent uninstallation of NUT.  I had never installed from source 
before 
|> and the installation went fine without errors.  There was not a *make 
|> uninstall* for the program so I followed some instructions to review 
the 
|> *makefile* to see where all the files where installed and delete the 
|> files/directories manually.  The following directories were removed 
|> (actually moved to Trash).  The install and uninstall both occurred 
as the 
|> root user.
|> 
|> /opt/NUT/nut-2.0.1    (contained the unzipped source files)
|> /usr/local/ups/man
|> /usr/local/ups/share
|> /usr/local/ups/bin
|> /usr/local/ups/sbin
|> 
|> Diagnostic tests/actions tried:  These problems do not occur when 
starting X 
|> from a non-root user.  As suggested by someone I have checked the 
|> permissions on the /root/.gconf directory (700) and they are the same 
as the 
|> permissions on a normal users directory /home/jeffb/.gconf directory 
(700) 
|> that has a normal desktop.  I am unable to see if there are any error 
|> messages sent to screen when X starts (a recommendation on how to 
capture 
|> this information would be appreciated), but when X finally shuts down 
the 
|> list below includes some of the information on the screen.  The AUDIT 
|> statement is also listed in the /var/log/Xfree86.0.log file.
|> 
|> Session_Manager=local/bison:/tmp/.ICE-unix/2422
|> AUDIT: Thu Apr  7 09:00:58 2005: 2418 X: client 4 rejected from local 
host
|> Option given which is no longer supported in this version of 
Gnome-terminal; 
|> you might want to create a profile with the desired setting, and use 
the 
|> new --window-with-profile option
|> Unable to open desktop file applications: 
|> ///Office/redhat-word-processor.desktop for panel launcher: Error 
reading 
|> file 'applications:///office/redhat-word-processor.desktop' : file 
not found
|>    <snip>
|> Saving Session: 
|> gnome-terminal --use-factory 
--window-with-profile-internal-ID=Default --show-member 
|>  --role=gnome-terminal-14721 --1476088167-1090439518  --title 
|> root at bison:~ --working-directory /root --zoom 1
|> Waiting for X server to shut down
|> 
|> I would appreciate any suggestions on what to look for, where to 
look, other 
|> diagnostic steps, etc. that will assist me in returning my root user 
desktop 
|> back to normal.  Could a solution be a simple as copying a set of 
|> configuration files from a user that is working normally?  If so what 
files? 
|> Thanks for any assistance.
|> 
|> Jeff Boyce
|> www.meridianenv.com
|> 
|> 

Unless I have made a lot of changes to the desktop I normally just
start over by removing or renaming all the directories in my home
directory that start with .gconf and .gnome. Then on my next login
those directories are recreated with the system default settings.
I haven't figured out any other way to recover.

This seems to happen more often than it should. Not sure why.

Barry