Can't run GDM as a Daemon?

lynnevan · 2008-02-17 03:31:27

I thought I was running gdm until I tried: "gdmsetup --help" and got

GDM (GNOME Display Manager) is not running.

You might be using a different display manager, such
as KDM (KDE Display Manager), CDE login (dtlogin), or
xdm. If you wish to use this feature, then your system
will need to be configured to use GDM instead.

------------------------------------
Ran

ps -eF
root 6908 6905 0 1126 1416 0 20:06 tty1 00:00:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/startx

And I found these errors in the error.log

They came from trying to run 'gdm' as a daemon. I kept getting 'greeter' errors and never the normal login screen.

Feb 15 14:20:59 archlinux gdm-binary[7101]: ERROR: I can't write to '/tmp/orbit-nobody', ORB init failed aborting...
Feb 15 14:20:59 archlinux gdm-binary[7102]: ERROR: I can't write to '/tmp/orbit-nobody', ORB init failed aborting...
Feb 15 04:50:07 archlinux gdm-binary[7014]: pam_nologin(gdm:auth): cannot determine username
Feb 15 04:50:13 archlinux gdm-binary[7035]: pam_nologin(gdm:auth): cannot determine username

It looks like pam doesn't like 'nobody' as a user.

From "/usr/share/gdm/defaults.conf"

# User and group used for running GDM GUI applications. By default this is set
# to user "gdm" and group "gdm". This user/group should have very limited
# permissions and access to only the gdm directories and files.
User=nobody
Group=gdm

I tried putting User=gdm in /etc/gdm/custom.conf, but user 'gdm' doesn't exist.

Ran

passwd -S -a

root P 02/13/2008 -1 -1 -1 -1
bin P 01/01/1970 -1 -1 -1 -1
daemon P 01/01/1970 -1 -1 -1 -1
mail P 01/01/1970 -1 -1 -1 -1
ftp P 01/01/1970 -1 -1 -1 -1
nobody P 01/01/1970 -1 -1 -1 -1 <------------user exists
dbus L 02/13/2008 0 99999 7 -1
hal L 02/13/2008 0 99999 7 -1

How did hal & dbus get to be users?

I also get this junk, but don't think it has anything to do w/ keeping gdm from running as a daemon.

From "/var/log/gdm/:0.log"

(II) Module "ramdac" already built-in
expected keysym, got XF86KbdLightOnOff: line 70 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessDown: line 71 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessUp: line 72 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdLightOnOff: line 70 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessDown: line 71 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessUp: line 72 of pc
AUDIT: Fri Feb 15 14:20:47 2008: 7054 Xorg: client 2 rejected from local host (uid 99) ------> user 'nobody'
FreeFontPath: FPE "/usr/share/fonts/misc" refcount is 2, should be 1; fixing.

If I ever get this running, is there a login screen where I can choose xfce4 or gnome? Or will have to log into the console and "startx" every time I want a GUI?

Thanks for whatever help. I'm about out of ideas.

Just a few more wrinkles for later.

Thanks in advance.

lynnevan

bender02 · 2008-02-17 03:54:59

lynnevan wrote:

I thought I was running gdm until I tried: "gdmsetup --help" and got...

I don't understand: if gdm were running, you would definitely notice...

I'd recommend reading the wiki: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GDM.

tigrmesh · 2008-02-17 04:26:16

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … 69#p331469

lynnevan · 2008-02-18 07:58:00

bender02
Well I guess you can imagine my surprise to see that message when the desktop looked so much like gnome.
I've got gnome running on opensuse, fedora, mandriva, and ubuntu. I hate kde so loaded gnome and xfce4 on
Arch. Thats why, I was so surprised when I got the message that GDM wasn't running!! You did notice the
message? But I did as you said and went through it all again from your link and set it up that way. I had
earlier removed gdm from the daemons because I kept getting "greeter" errors that rebooted time after time
until it gave up and put me back at the console. I found if I ran "startx", then I didn't get those errors.

The difference is that w/ startx, you are not running the gdm-binary. You're running "/bin/sh /usr/bin/startx"

tigrmesh
Thanks for the tip about the /tmp permissions. I believe things are starting to work better. Only now, I
have two instances of gdm running.

I still believe there is a problem w/ User=nobody, Group=gdm that at the base of my problem,
but the default came that way, and I can't figure out how to change 'gdm' into user.

If either of you are using Gnome, you might check /usr/share/gdm/defaults.conf and see what's there
as user and group please?

My problem now, with "exec gnome-session" in ~/.xinitrc, and gdm as a daemon in /etc/rc.conf, is that I'm starting
two X displays (servers). By the time the login prompt window comes up, one of them is already running. Before or
as I'm loging in, I get an error message. The error message I copied by hand and insert it now where I answere "yes"
to changing to display :1. It's there in the middle of the /var/log/gdm logs.
-------------------------------------------------------
ERRORS AFTER chmod 1777 /tmp and changing inittab

## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented! <-------Don't understand (first two)!
# Boot to console
#id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
id:5:initdefault:

and
x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/gdm -nodaemon
--------------------------------------------- current errors
/var/log/gdm
ls -l -rt (first message appears first, etc)
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 138 2008-02-17 21:38 :0.log.1

\>> cat :0.log.1
Fatal server error:
Server is already active for display 0
If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0-lock
and start again.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 138 2008-02-17 21:38 :0.log
\>> cat :0.log
Fatal server error:
Server is already active for display 0
If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0-lock
and start again.

---------------------------------------------> At this point, about 10 sec after the login
window appears, it reboot and come up with this message:

"There appears to be and X server running on display :0. Should another display number be
tried? Answering "no" will cause GDM to attempt starting the server on :0 again. (You can
change consoles by pressing ctl-alt-Fkey, such as F7. Xservers usually run on consoles
F7 and higher.) "yes" "no"

Choosing "no" leads to a repeat of the same message. Choosing "yes" starts GDM running
on display :1.

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1725 2008-02-17 21:38 :1.log.1
\>> cat :1.log.1
(II) Module "ramdac" already built-in
expected keysym, got XF86KbdLightOnOff: line 70 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessDown: line 71 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessUp: line 72 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdLightOnOff: line 70 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessDown: line 71 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessUp: line 72 of pc
AUDIT: Sun Feb 17 21:38:18 2008: 7022 Xorg: client 2 rejected from local host (uid 99)<------nobody
FreeFontPath: FPE "/usr/share/fonts/misc" refcount is 2, should be 1; fixing.

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1560 2008-02-17 21:38 :1.log
\>> cat :1.log
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
(EE) Failed to load module "type1" (module does not exist, 0)
(II) Module "ramdac" already built-in
expected keysym, got XF86KbdLightOnOff: line 70 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessDown: line 71 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessUp: line 72 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdLightOnOff: line 70 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessDown: line 71 of pc
expected keysym, got XF86KbdBrightnessUp: line 72 of pc

Here you can see that two displays are running:

FROM "ps -eF"
root 6954 1 0 3274 1612 0 18:27 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/gdm-binary
root 6957 1 0 403 500 0 18:27 tty1 00:00:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/1 linux
root 6958 1 0 403 500 0 18:27 tty2 00:00:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/2 linux
root 6959 1 0 403 500 0 18:27 tty3 00:00:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/3 linux
root 6960 1 0 403 500 0 18:27 tty4 00:00:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/4 linux
root 6961 1 0 403 500 0 18:27 tty5 00:00:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/5 linux
root 6962 1 0 403 504 0 18:27 tty6 00:00:00 /sbin/agetty -8 38400 vc/6 linux
root 6966 6954 0 3401 2836 0 18:27 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/gdm-binary
root 6973 6966 0 5318 16192 0 18:27 tty7 00:00:01 /usr/bin/Xorg :0 -audit 0 -auth /var/lib/gdm/:0.Xauth -nolisten tcp vt7
root 7000 1 0 3274 2820 0 18:28 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/gdm-binary -nodaemon
root 7013 6966 0 6524 10064 0 18:28 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/gnome-session
root 7071 7000 0 3401 2828 0 18:34 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/gdm-binary -nodaemon
root 7074 7071 0 6864 21600 0 18:34 tty8 00:00:01 /usr/bin/Xorg :1 -audit 0 -auth /var/lib/gdm/:1.Xauth -nolisten tcp vt8
root 7085 7071 0 7884 12092 0 18:35 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/gnome-session

AND FROM Here:

\>> ps x | grep gdm
6954 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/gdm-binary
6957 ? S 0:00 /usr/sbin/gdm-binary
6970 tty7 SLs+ 0:05 /usr/bin/Xorg :0 -audit 0 -auth /var/lib/gdm/:0.Xauth -nolisten tcp vt7
7002 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/gdm-binary -nodaemon
7036 ? S 0:00 /usr/sbin/gdm-binary -nodaemon
7039 tty8 RLs+ 2:21 /usr/bin/Xorg :1 -audit 0 -auth /var/lib/gdm/:1.Xauth -nolisten tcp vt8

These are the error messages I've been able to find:

/var/log/auth.log
Feb 17 21:38:18 archlinux gdm-binary[7005]: pam_nologin(gdm:auth): cannot determine username
Feb 17 21:39:01 archlinux gdm-binary[7036]: pam_unix(gdm:session): session opened for user lesorenson by (uid=0)

/var/log/everything.log
Feb 17 21:37:31 archlinux gdm-binary[6965]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_value: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 17 21:37:31 archlinux gdm-binary[6965]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_value: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 17 21:37:31 archlinux gdm-binary[6965]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_value: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 17 21:37:31 archlinux gdm-binary[6965]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_keys: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 17 21:37:31 archlinux gdm-binary[6965]: WARNING: GDM already running. Aborting!

Feb 17 21:38:01 archlinux gdm-binary[7002]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_value: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 17 21:38:01 archlinux gdm-binary[7002]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_keys: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 17 21:38:02 archlinux gdm-binary[7005]: WARNING: Display :0 is busy. There is another X server running already.
Feb 17 21:38:05 archlinux gdm-binary[7005]: WARNING: Display :0 is busy. There is another X server running already.
Feb 17 21:38:10 archlinux gdm-binary[7005]: WARNING: gdm_server_start: Display :0 busy. Trying another display number.
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: atk-bridge-WARNING: AT_SPI_REGISTRY was not started at session startup.
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: atk-bridge-WARNING: IOR not set.
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: atk-bridge-WARNING: Could not locate registry
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: Gtk-WARNING: Ignoring the separator setting

/var/log/messages.log
Feb 17 21:38:02 archlinux gdm-binary[7005]: WARNING: Display :0 is busy. There is another X server running already.
Feb 17 21:38:05 archlinux gdm-binary[7005]: WARNING: Display :0 is busy. There is another X server running already.
Feb 17 21:38:10 archlinux gdm-binary[7005]: WARNING: gdm_server_start: Display :0 busy. Trying another display number.
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: atk-bridge-WARNING: AT_SPI_REGISTRY was not started at session startup.
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: atk-bridge-WARNING: IOR not set.
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: atk-bridge-WARNING: Could not locate registry
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: Gtk-WARNING: Ignoring the separator setting

/var/log/daemon.log
Feb 17 21:37:31 archlinux gdm-binary[6965]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_value: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 17 21:37:31 archlinux gdm-binary[6965]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_keys: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 17 21:37:31 archlinux gdm-binary[6965]: WARNING: GDM already running. Aborting!

Feb 17 21:38:01 archlinux gdm-binary[7002]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_keys: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 17 21:38:02 archlinux gdm-binary[7005]: WARNING: Display :0 is busy. There is another X server running already.
Feb 17 21:38:05 archlinux gdm-binary[7005]: WARNING: Display :0 is busy. There is another X server running already.
Feb 17 21:38:10 archlinux gdm-binary[7005]: WARNING: gdm_server_start: Display :0 busy. Trying another display number.
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: atk-bridge-WARNING: AT_SPI_REGISTRY was not started at session startup.
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: atk-bridge-WARNING: IOR not set.
Feb 17 21:38:15 archlinux gdm-binary[7034]: atk-bridge-WARNING: Could not locate registry

So, any ideas? Why am I starting X twice?

I also can't log in as root. Is that normal w/ archlinux? Not that that's a problem. Just curious.

Thanks for any thoughts or links or questions.

lynnevan

bender02 · 2008-02-18 15:48:51

As for running X twice: One of them is definitely because the gdm from the inittab, as it should be. But with inittab like that, you should *not* have gdm in your DAEMONS array in /etc/rc.conf. These are 2 independent ways of running X/gdm.

As far as user nobody and permissions go, I do have user=nobody, group=gdm in /usr/share/gdm/defaults.conf, but the permissions on /tmp/orbit-nobody are (the year is weird, but it doesn't matter)

drwx------  2 nobody gdm     1 1969-12-31 18:00 orbit-nobody

And you should be able to log in as root: you mean on console or in gdm? On console you should definitely be able (with the default confs), and with gdm I don't know, it may be disabled by default (you should not login into X as root anyway).

Last edited by bender02 (2008-02-18 15:52:00)

lynnevan · 2008-02-18 22:51:17

[bender02]

As for running X twice: One of them is definitely because the gdm from the inittab, as it should be. But with inittab like that, you should *not* have gdm in your DAEMONS array in /etc/rc.conf. These are 2 independent ways of running X/gdm.

Yr batting 1000. First I tried setting inittab to 3 and leaving the gdm as daemon, and although I didn't get two displays running, I got a scrolling screen of gtk error messages before I got the login window and this from the everything.log

4 screens full of this stuff,
Feb 18 14:11:38 archlinux gdm-binary[6950]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_value: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 18 14:11:38 archlinux gdm-binary[6950]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_get_value: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
then and 3 pages of this
Feb 18 14:18:27 archlinux gdmsetup[7178]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_set_string: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 18 14:18:27 archlinux gdmsetup[7178]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_key_file_to_data: assertion `key_file != NULL' failed
Feb 18 14:18:27 archlinux gdmsetup[7178]: GLib-CRITICAL: g_file_set_contents: assertion `contents != NULL || length == 0' failed

Then I changed inittab back to level 5 and removed gdm as a daemon and that was much better. The login problem w/ root was fixed by running 'gdmsetup' and allowing the system administrator to log in.

So, everything (well most everything) seems ok now. But I'm wondering where your

drwx------ 2 nobody gdm 1 1969-12-31 18:00 orbit-nobody

came from?

The only "nobody" I have on the compute is this one:

\>> locate nobody
/usr/share/pixmaps/nobody.png
\>>

Is that a /home directory? I don't have an "orbit-nobody" either.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it!!

I just have one more question, then I'll start a new post w/ any other problems. Isn't there a GUI for user configuration? Something like 'system-config-users' in Fedora? I searched the mirror at 'gatech?' didn't find anything.

Thanks again, mucho

lynnevan

bender02 · 2008-02-18 23:31:41

Sorry, that line

drwx------  2 nobody gdm     1 1969-12-31 18:00 orbit-nobody

was a result of

ls -la /tmp | grep orbit-nobody

, so that just says that /tmp/orbit-nobody is owned by user nobody and group gdm

As for gui for user management... I have no idea. I personally do stuff like this on command line (adduser for interactive approach; useradd and userdel; and for groups management gpasswd, or manual editing of /etc/group). I'm much more comfortable doing it this way. In general, I think that if you want to use archlinux, it's a good idea to get comfortable with command line - you can get much better idea what's going on. In GUI, if a program crashes, one usually doesn't have a clue why. On console, you usually see plenty of error messages, logs... Anyway, I'm getting off topic now. Enough.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-02-17 03:31:27

Can't run GDM as a Daemon?

#2 2008-02-17 03:54:59

Re: Can't run GDM as a Daemon?

#3 2008-02-17 04:26:16

Re: Can't run GDM as a Daemon?

#4 2008-02-18 07:58:00

Re: Can't run GDM as a Daemon?

#5 2008-02-18 15:48:51

Re: Can't run GDM as a Daemon?

#6 2008-02-18 22:51:17

Re: Can't run GDM as a Daemon?

#7 2008-02-18 23:31:41

Re: Can't run GDM as a Daemon?

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