[CentOS] Gnome desktop trouble

[m.roth at 5-cent.us]

On 20.03.2012 14:21, Jack Bailey wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have several CentOS 6.2 hosts (2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64) that lock 
> up
> when attempting to use the Gnome desktop from the console.  I can 
> always
> log in, but then all I get is the blue root window, the round initial
> mouse pointer, and nothing else.  The last process associated with 
> the
> console is "xprop -root" which strace shows as hanging indefinitely.
>
> There are cases (sporadic, unpredictable) when I get further; the 
> screen
> contains desktop icons, the menu at the top, and an arrow mouse 
> pointer,
> but the mouse and keyboard don't work.  I can reproduce this behavior
> frequently by setting the system run level to 3, logging into the
> console, and running "strace -f startx".
>
> One other bit of information: I build all the hosts with the same
> kickstart file, and most of the hosts work fine; only a handful are
> acting up.
<snip>
My first reaction would be to look at /etc/X11/xorg.conf, if there is 
one - the few that don't might have some odd differences from generic. 
Should I assume that the ones that hang are USB mice & keyboards? How 
old are the ones that hang?

         mark