Continuing Gnome Configuration Problem

Jeff Boyce jboyce at meridianenv.com
Fri Apr 8 20:17:19 UTC 2005


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barry Gamblin" <bgamblin at hao.ucar.edu>
To: <jboyce at meridianenv.com>; <redhat-list at redhat.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 1:20 PM
Subject: Re: Continuing Gnome Configuration Problem


>|>
> |> 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
>

I tried the renaming approach and the result is the same, a blank (black) 
desktop screen.  Someone else suggested creating a dummy user and copying 
the files from that user, but this approach created more problems due to 
references to the new dummy user in the configuration files.  So I am still 
looking for more (better) suggestions.  Thanks.
Jeff





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