X11 server failure and halt at boot time.

[Job Cacka]

Redhat ES 4 XDMCP Server running KDE Desktop.

  X11 server failure and halt at boot time.

	On two occasions we have experienced a bad reboot. When the server would
start X windows it would hang and display memory artifacts as graphics
(Scrambled garbage video). This would immediately invoke a real nasty
feeling of dread in the Administrator as well. The first time this happened
we finally logged in from another server using SSH. It was then that we
decided to change it to run level 3 and see what happened. We were able to
boot and after login we could start gdm. This work around held the system
together for about a month. After upgrading OO.org to 2.0.1 we discovered
that following a reboot, we could no longer start gdm from run level 3. This
was most disconcerting and that nasty feeling returned to the administrator
as well. After a couple of hours of poking and prodding and many reboots, it
was decided that we would remove extra stuff. We started with the /tmp,
/usr/tmp, and /var/tmp directories. After a reboot the X server decided to
start working again and the memory artifacts as graphics were gone. So we
changed back to run level 5 and WOOHOO! It worked again!
	So, how did we fix it? We deleted the temporary files. I think that the X11
Server stores the last session in one of the /tmp directories. If that
session gets corrupt then it will hang when X is started. Of course this
also killed our XDM server.
	This posting is primarily made to document a fix that was not easy to self
discover or find on the Internet.


Job Cacka
Network Administrator
Columbia Corrugated Box Co., Inc. 	http://www.ccbox.com
Packaging Resources Co.		    	http://www.p-r-c.com
12777 SW TUALATIN-SHERWOOD RD
TUALATIN, OR  97062