[CentOS] Gnome desktop trouble

[ken]

On 03/20/2012 02:21 PM 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.
> 
> Has anyone seen this before and/or know how to troubleshoot it?
> 
> Thanks,
> Jack

It's been a long time since I've had to fix this problem, but I recall 
the necessity for setting the windowmanager variable to gnome before 
running startx.

Also you may want to try invoking startx from runlevel 5.

hth,
ken