X and KDE don't autostart after upgrade

[Grexsnip]

I recently had to upgrade my system from Xfree86 to x.org in order to install some new programs with dependancies on the change. Before upgrading, on booting the computer, X would automatically start, log in to KDE, and launch a program. After the upgrade, when I boot I am sent to the console login. From there I have to manually log in, and start X, which then launches KDE and starts the programs. Any suggestions as to what might be causing this?

Thanks,
Andy

[Zelmo]

One suggestion is to check that KDM is running. If 'ps -e | grep kdm' doesn't return anything, run 'dpkg-reconfigure kdm' to set it up to run as the default desktop manager.

[Grexsnip]

Checked, it wasn't running. Ran 'dpkg-reconfigure kdm', set it as the default desktop manager, and no luck. After it booted, I logged in, ran 'ps -e | grep kdm' and got nothing. Changed to root, ran kdm, and it came up no problem, but I had to log in and type it still...any more suggestions?

[Zelmo]

Yes, that's a good lead. As root, issue the runlevel command to see what runlevel you're booting into. Then check the /etc/rc?.d directory (where ? is the number of the runlevel you boot into) and see if there's a link named S99kdm, or anything that starts with S and ends with kdm. If not, check the higher rc directories to see if it's in one of those. If it is, change your default runlevel to one of those. If it's not in any, you may need to add it yourself. It's just a link to /etc/init.d/kdm (make sure that exists, too).

[Grexsnip]

It's booting in to run level 2, and checking all of the rc*.d directories, they all contain S99kdm.

Also, checking inittab, the default run level is correct, as id:2:initdefault:

[Zelmo]

Huh. And the link from /etc/rc2.d/S99kdm to /etc/init.d/kdm is good? I.e., /etc/init.d/kdm exists?
Try something: Log out of your X session, switch to a virtual console (Alt-F1), log in as root, and call the following commands:

# /etc/init.d/kdm stop
# /etc/init.d/kdm start

I know that you're supposed to get the same net effect from calling restart on kdm, but when the system boots, it calls kdm from the stopped state, so I want to make sure we do the same thing here. If the start command errors out or just does nothing, then we probably have a problem with the init script and you'll want to force a re-install of kdm. If the X server starts up and puts you into KDE, then the script is fine and we have a real puzzler.

[Grexsnip]

I'm not at home, so I can't try your suggestion just yet. I was on the same path this morning, though, and sent myself the kdm file to take a look at. Oh, and yes, the link is correct and the file /etc/init.d/kdm exists.

What I did notice is that when I boot, I see a message saying "Not starting K Display Manager (kdm); it is not the default display manager." When I check /etc/X11/default-display-manager, the only line in the file is:

/usr/bin/kdm

So I'm guessing I'll have to force a reinstall of kdm, though I will try your suggestion first when I get home.

[Grexsnip]

Ok, so I must have had one of the scripts screwed up, because I just tried issuing the two commands, and everything worked fine. So I got gutsy, and rebooted the system, and Voila...we were in.

In retrospect, I think 'dpkg-reconfigure kdm' did the trick, but I had been screwing around with the /etc/X11/default-display-manager file, and when I put it back to normal (I had a duplicate line commented out, which I fully deleted at some point in the past few days) I think everything worked fine.

Now on to figure out what broke lirc. Any suggestions on where to start?