I mentioned earlier on my blog that I’d been having problems with my *DM login. None of the suggested workaorunds (modifying the conf files) seemed to solve my problems. Purging the GDM config files proved to be a temporary workaround only. It would work once only. After reading quite a bit, here’s what I’ve found:
- This problem exists with gcc3.3 compiled (and optimized) packages
- Updates versions of packages (neither Daniel Stone’s XF4.3 or the XF4.2.1-9 packages in unstable fix the problem.
I hope the following advice helps someone (maybe in my class – though I doubt it – I think 99% of the people use MS).
Navigate to the following site
http://mirror.raw.no/
Pick up the .deb of gdm from the gnome2.2 subdirectory (2.4.13 I believe). Purge your copy of gdm using “dpkg –purge gdm”. Then install this version of gdm using dpkg -i $GDM_FILENAME.
Restart your gdm by using /etc/init.d/gdm restart. You should be successful. Now, here comes the tricky part. If you like tracking unstable (like me) then, you tend to do dist-upgrades/upgrades on a regular basis. If you do this, the version of gdm in unstable will attempt to replace the version you installed. You do not want this to happen – it will leave you with the same problems as before. You want to hold back the package… This is what I did.
As root, run "dselect"
Type "S" for package selection
Type "/" to search for the package name (gdm)
When the gdm package is highlighted, type "H". This holds back the package from being updated.
Type "Q" to save and quit. Quit dselect and do your standard update/upgrade cycle. You should see a message like:
“Package gdm is being held back”. I hope this helps!