Les Mikesell wrote: > On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 1:34 PM, Robert Benjamin <benjie1 at cox.net> wrote: >> >> On 3/28/2013 1:29 PM, Les Mikesell wrote: >>> On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 12:19 PM, Robert Benjamin <benjie1 at cox.net> >>> wrote: >>>>> Things never work very well for me before having coffee either, but >>>>> that's probably not the real solution. So when you established that It's always a problem, if there's too much blood in your caffeine stream.... <g> <snip> >>> No, if yum update worked we know the network is OK. What happens if >>> run 'init 3' (should shut down the partly-working X session), and then >>> 'startx' which will start a new one under your existing login? >>> >> init 3 it did shutdown the partly working X session. Several line >> flashed on screen and 2 had FAILED at end of line. Too fast to readtwhat >> it said. >> startx Fatal server error: >> Server is already active for display 0 >> If the server is no longer running, remove /tmp/ >> .X0-lock and start again. >> I did yum remove /tmp/ .X0-lock. It removed 17 packages and >> then I did startx (again) Got the same re: remove /tmp/ .X0-lock. One >> other line I saw Unable to connect to X server was present in output of >> startx. > > That should have just been an 'rm /tmp/.X0-lock' (a file, not > packages). Not sure how much damage has been done at this point. If > you know the package names, try to 'yum install' them back again. > And rm the file, and try startx again. Ok, first, as Les said, NO! Just rm the file. Now, to reinstall what got yum removed, look at /var/log/yum.log, and it's the last bunch of stuff, nicely timestamped, so you won't accidentally go too far. Then, take a look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log, and you'll be able to see, at the bottom, what it was trying to tell you. Note: if you haven't figured it out yet, all the system-related logs are in /var/log/. Note 2: find a copy of Fraesch's Essential Systems Administration, published by O'Reilly. I know the last update was '03; doesn't matter. Read chapter 1 and *esp* chapter 2, "The Unix Way", which will give you a really, really clear picture of how the whole thing hangs together, and the rationale behind why the filesystem is the way it is. Finally, I've seen so many issues over the years, that at home, I run at runlevel 3, and have startx in my .bashrc. Doing it that way, if you have problems, when you hit <ctl><alt><bkspc>, you're back at your command line, and you can look to see what was wrong with X. If you do want to stay at runlevel 5, work it out this way, and once you've got it fixed, you can do so. mark mark