KDE not starting automatically

[reardon]

I have read thru:

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3093236.0

but nothing therein is helping.

I always boot to CLI. x+kde don't want to autostart. I am utterly lost in the new upstart regime, so not sure where to even begin debugging.

I did a clean install of 8.04 *alternate*.

What config files are responsible for making sure kdm starts? What log files can I check to see if it tried but failed?

+Reardon

[Snowhog]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

Well, if you "...always boot to CLI" then you aren't going to have X or KDE 'autostart.' That's the point of booting to the command line - because you don't want to start with a graphical manager.

[Snowhog]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

CLI = Command LIne which is a reference to running from the prompt in a console shell.

[reardon]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

Well, if you "...always boot to CLI" then you aren't going to have X or KDE 'autostart.' That's the point of booting to the command line - because you don't want to start with a graphical manager.

What I meant is that the machine boots to CLI. I do not _want_ this to happen, I want to boot to graphic login manager. ie, I want X+KDE to start at boot.

But I cannot get it to happen.

+Reardon

[Snowhog]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

Okay. Understood. You are able to start the X server and get to a graphical login screen, yes? Assuming you are, then open K Menu > System Settings > Advanced > Session Manager and ensure that Restore previous session is checked.

[reardon]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

Okay. Understood. You are able to start the X server and get to a graphical login screen, yes? Assuming you are, then open K Menu > System Settings > Advanced > Session Manager and ensure that Restore previous session is checked.

Yes, it is checked. To start X I use 'startx', which as configured starts KDM and all is fine. But somehow the upstart scripts (again, I am lost in this non-inittab world) fail to load X+KDM. Runlevel reports as 2, show everything is at defaults and should be fine. Are there boot logs I should be looking at?

[Snowhog]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

You might start be reviewing the last lines (tail -100) of these two log files:
/var/log/bootstrap.log
/var/log/kdm.log

[reardon]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

You might start be reviewing the last lines (tail -100) of these two log files:
/var/log/bootstrap.log
/var/log/kdm.log

There is no bootstrap.log or kdm.log file. There is syslog but neither of those two. I am running HH, not sure if these are older logfile?

For clarity: I am using KDE 3.5

Again, note that I am able to start KDE but only via CLI. It is not *auto*starting as it should. This means some part of upstart is failing or misconfigured.

+Reardon

[Snowhog]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

There is no bootstrap.log or kdm.log file. There is syslog but neither of those two. I am running HH, not sure if these are older logfile?

Nope. I'm running HH KDE 3.5.9 as well, and the two log files I referenced are present on my system. Looking at the bootstrap.log file, it appears it hasn't been modified since 2008-03-18. But the kdm.log file has today's date/time stamp on it.

If you open a console and cd to /var/log, type:

ls -l --sort=time

This will list all the log files in descending order, with most recent log files listed first.

[reardon]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

There is a file 'boot' in /var/log that appears to have come with installation.

The most recent files there are kern.log, syslog, daemon.log I guess as expected. But no kdm.log and no bootstrap. For that matter those files exist nowhere. Note again that I am already logged in when I 'startx' so perhaps KDE is constrained from writing a log to /var/log?

Where would I look for a log of everything upstart has done? What script does upstart use to start X+KDM?

In your System Settings/Advanced/System Services, what services are configured to run at boot for Runlevel 2? I have:

acpid
anacron
apport
atd
avahi-daemon
bluetooth
cron
cupsys
dbus
dhcdbd
dkms_autoinstaller
hal
hotkey-setup
kde-guidance
kdm (note that it says it is _not running_ currently)
klogd
laptop-mode
mdadm
policykit
powernowd
rsync
samba
syslogd
usplash
vbesave
x11-common
xserver-xorg-input-wacom

Now, what's weird is that MOST of these are 'not running':
kdm
usplash
x11-common
xserver-xorg-input-wacom

None of the x11 associated services are running. Also, many others are 'not running', but I assume that these started and then exited:
acpid
anacron
apport
dkms_autoinstaller
hal
hotkey-setup
laptop-mode
mdadm
policykit
powernowd
vbesave

Do you or anyone else here know what exactly upstart looks for to start X+KDM?

[Snowhog]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

My bad! The following are identified as "Start at Boot"

Service
run-level 2

acpid
anacron
apmd
apport
atd
avahi-daemon
bluetooth
cron
cupsys
dbus
dhcdbd
hal
hotkey-setup
kde-guidance
kdm
klogd
laptop-mode
policykit
powernowd
rsync
sysklogd
usplash
vbesave
xserver-xorg-input-wacom

Of these, only:
atd
cron
cupsys
dbus
dhcdbd
kdm
klogd
syslogd

are running after boot. That the others are not running is normal (a service, if not needed after start, is stopped).

[reardon]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

Waitasec, ALL those services are configured to 'Start at Boot' in Runlevel 2?

+Reardon

[reardon]

Re: KDE not starting automatically

So we basically have the same config as far as what is _displayed_.

Any other thoughts? It is weird that I have no log files as you do.