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**skunk** · Sep 14, 2009, 01:02 PM

Re: Two users one log in?

I have had exactly the same issue ever since I upgraded to KDE 4.3 from 4.2

**Snowhog** · Sep 14, 2009, 01:31 PM

Re: Two users one log in?

Interesting! I'm running a sidux/Debian "hybred" OS at this typing, but running KDE 4.3.1. Just opened a console and typed user and it shows me four times:

paul@myotherbrain:~$ users
paul paul paul paul

Running top reports:

top - 12:14:44 up 3:42, 6 users, load average: 0.49, 0.34, 0.26

I'm going to logout/reboot and check again to see if there is any difference.

**Snowhog** · Sep 14, 2009, 01:44 PM

Re: Two users one log in?

Okay. After a reboot, and once logged in, I opened a console and typed users. Three instances of my user name were reported. I opened a second console and typed users again. Now four instances of my user name were reported.

From man users:

users - print the user names of users currently logged in to the current host

Maybe Rog131 can pull something out of his extensive holdings that can shed some light on this puzzle.

**dibl** · Sep 14, 2009, 01:53 PM

Re: Two users one log in?

A little googling indicates that the "user" command pulls its information from /var/run/utmp. I think it may be a "dynamic" file, like /etc/blkid, that just gets built and then left as-is, unless it gets updated.

http://michielvwessem.wordpress.com/...re/ghostusers/

http://www.vttoth.com/utmp.htm

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...70&postcount=7

Not solutions, exactly, but hopefully some insight.

**Snowhog** · Sep 14, 2009, 02:21 PM

Re: Two users one log in?

dibl@

Wow! Genius!! Your Corrupt /var/run/utmp on Linux find certainly seems to address the matter. I followed the instructions to remove, recreate, change ownership and permissions, and then to reinitiate the file, and then ran users which now only shows one instance of me.

Would be interesting to know how the file is being corrupted - assuming that in fact that is what is happening. But at least, with this information, one can now 'fix' it.

**dibl** · Sep 14, 2009, 02:35 PM

Re: Two users one log in?

Cool!

Here's an experiment, Snowhog -- now that you have it "fixed", log in to every tty and then execute a system shutdown and reboot (as "sudo", obviously). It will be interesting to see if the file is built up to the six or seven users that were last logged in.

**Snowhog** · Sep 14, 2009, 02:43 PM

Re: Two users one log in?

That gave me a thought on this. I'm in my sidux/Debian "hybred" OS, and I utilize the Ctrl+Alt+F1 to log in as myself when I am going to do a dist-upgrade or to install a new liquorix kernel using the smxi script. This requires that I log in as myself on the CLI, followed by typing sux and my root password, and then running smxi. When I'm all done with smixi, I use the menu option to 'restart the Desktop.' When I shut down for the evening, I actually am returned to that smxi session from which the shutdown process gets initiated.

I'll make a note to ask in #smxi and see if anyone there knows why this happens. Obviously, (so far) this issue seems to be benign.

**GreyGeek** · Sep 14, 2009, 03:41 PM

Re: Two users one log in?

I, too, am running a fully updated Karmic 64bit.

Notice this:

jerry@SonyK910:~$ uptime
17:23:01 up 7:33, 2 users, load average: 0.07, 0.02, 0.00

jerry@SonyK910:~$ users
jerry jerry
jerry@SonyK910:~$

jerry@SonyK910:~$ who
jerry :0 2009-09-14 10:15
jerry pts/0 2009-09-14 10:15 (:0)

jerry@SonyK910:~$ w
17:23:06 up 7:33, 2 users, load average: 0.06, 0.02, 0.00
USER TTY FROM LOGIN@ IDLE JCPU PCPU WHAT
jerry :0 - 10:15 ?xdm? 14:34 0.03s /bin/sh /usr/bin/x-session-manager
jerry pts/0 :0 10:15 7:07m 0.00s 0.02s /usr/bin/kwrited
jerry@SonyK910:~$

**DaddyGeek** · Sep 15, 2009, 10:27 AM

Re: Two users one log in?

Not solutions, exactly, but hopefully some insight.

only made more questions for me. I followed instructions and it does work only if I do not log out, reboot or turn off and then turn back on. any of these will put two users back.

this issue seems to be benign.

I would agree it does not seem to be using any extra resources.

**flarson** · Sep 15, 2009, 06:40 PM

Re: Two users one log in?

From info coreutils 'users invocation'

`users' prints on a single line a blank-separated list of user names of
users currently logged in to the current host. Each user name
corresponds to a login session, so if a user has more than one login
session, that user's name will appear the same number of times in the
output.

**kubicle** · Sep 15, 2009, 11:58 PM

Re: Two users one log in?

Originally posted by GreyGeek

jerry@SonyK910:~$ w
17:23:06 up 7:33, 2 users, load average: 0.06, 0.02, 0.00
USER TTY FROM LOGIN@ IDLE JCPU PCPU WHAT
jerry :0 - 10:15 ?xdm? 14:34 0.03s /bin/sh /usr/bin/x-session-manager
jerry pts/0 :0 10:15 7:07m 0.00s 0.02s /usr/bin/kwrited
jerry@SonyK910:~$

If you don't need kwrited (it's a daemon that listens for 'wall' and 'write' from other users), you can disable it (it's redundant on most desktops anyway).

There used to be an option to do that in System Settings (Service Manager), but I don't see it there anymore, so you have to tinker with it a bit.

There are a few ways to go about it, the simplest being just removing /usr/share/autostart/kwrited-autostart.desktop (you may back it up somewhere in case you wish to enable it again). Of course further upgrades to kdebase-workspace-bin will add it back.

Slightly more elegant option would be to create a ~/.kde/share/config/kwritedrc file with contents:

[General]
Autostart=false

And edit /usr/share/autostart/kwrited-autostart.desktop and add the line:

X-KDE-autostart-condition=kwritedrc:General:Autostart:true

(This would leave kwrited enabled by default, but allow disabling it on user-by-user basis with the kwritedrc file)

**GreyGeek** · Sep 16, 2009, 09:01 AM

Re: Two users one log in?

Thanks, Kubicle, I wasn't aware of that.

Thanks for the tips, too! 8)

**DaddyGeek** · Sep 20, 2009, 06:29 AM

Re: Two users one log in?

I will mark my post as solved, please note it is not a fix but a workaround.

Thank you all that contributed and the help is much appreciated.

here is how I got it to stay:

from GreyGeek:

Slightly more elegant option would be to create a ~/.kde/share/config/kwritedrc file with contents:

[General]
Autostart=false

And edit /usr/share/autostart/kwrited-autostart.desktop and add the line:

X-KDE-autostart-condition=kwritedrc:General:Autostart:true

Of course further upgrades to kdebase-workspace-bin will add it back.

and then from dibl:

A little googling indicates that the "user" command pulls its information from /var/run/utmp. I think it may be a "dynamic" file, like /etc/blkid, that just gets built and then left as-is, unless it gets updated.

http://michielvwessem.wordpress.com/...re/ghostusers/

http://www.vttoth.com/utmp.htm

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...70&postcount=7

Not solutions, exactly, but hopefully some insight. Smiley

http://www.vttoth.com/utmp.htm <-----this is the one that I used------->

thank you.

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