[Fwd: RE: Linux is boring]

From: damien hull <dhull@digitaloverload.net>
Date: Fri Mar 04 2005 - 19:32:24 AKST

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Subject: RE: Linux is boring
From: damien hull <dhull@digitaloverload.net>
To: Stephen King <sking@chartercollege.edu>
In-Reply-To: <E16136D4BE98D311817600508B644A3101A83D74@admin.chartercollege.org>
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Date: Fri, 04 Mar 2005 19:31:36 -0900
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The next time this happens you should see if the user can log in at the
command line. I don't know this for sure but I'm guessing that had you
tried this it would have worked. What's the problem here? X!

I have seen GDM do strange things. For some reason it keeps track of how
long you are logged in. If it's less then 10 seconds you get a message
telling you that something is wrong. This can lock you out of X. Don't
know why it does this but I have had it happen to me a few times. This
may not be your problem though.

What's the fix in your case? Well, I don't know enough to be sure but
you can always try removing X and reinstalling it. This might be easier
then reinstalling everything.

There are also settings in . files (hidden files) in the users home
directory. One of these could be causing the problem. I can't say which
one and in your case I don't think this would have fixed anything. Not
if root has a problem logging in.

Check your logs the next time something goes wrong. You should be able
to see something. Then again not everything gets logged but you never
know what you might fined.

Hope this helps.

On Fri, 2005-03-04 at 17:22 -0900, Stephen King wrote:
> You are either a whole lot luckier (or unluckier, depending on your
> take) or smarter than I. =20
>
> To quote an e-mail from a Linux (Xandros)-based client this morning:
> "My computer won't boot AGAIN!! It froze up while I was trying to print
> something off the internet and I tried to reboot it, but it would only
> come up to that blue screen after signing in with my password. I tried
> two more times, then I put in the Xandros disk. I did the "shift" key
> thing and then told it to "restore". It asked me questions, like which
> number do I want to restore (and only gave me a list of 1), so I picked
> "1". Then it asked me if I was sure I wanted to restore and I said
> "yes". Then it asked me if I wanted to change the command line, and I
> said "no" (of course). It said that my system has been restored, told
> me to remove the CD and hit the "enter" key to reboot. I did. Still
> nothing."
>
> They were trying to print the table of Iditarod mushers off the Iditarod
> site...shame on them for printing an HTML table. I tried the Restore
> option myself, and nothing. It accepts the login (both that user and
> root) and then goes to a big happy blue screen and sits there for as
> long as you have the patience to watch for. The Restore option had
> worked the last time I got called to work on that machine, a couple
> weeks ago. Then I tried the Rescue option, which dumped me into single
> user mode. Poked around in the file system to see what I could see.
> Nothing jumped out at me, so I tried Ye Olde Windows Trick of
> reinstalling over the top. That seems to have worked, 'cept now I have
> to reinstall Word Perfect and find the right printer driver again.
> Arrrrrrgh!
>
> So...question to the group: Any thoughts as to what I should'a
> checked/done to try to recover from the error? =20
>
> Thanks,
>
> Stephen King
> Instructor, Information Technology
> Charter College
> 2221 E. Northern Lights Suite 120
> Anchorage, AK 99508
> (907) 777-1370
> =20
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: damien hull [mailto:dhull@digitaloverload.net]=20
> Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 4:51 PM
> To: aklug@aklug.org
> Subject: Linux is boring
>
>
> I checked on a clients network today. Wanted to see how the server was
> doing. It's running Fedora Core 3, software raid 1, samba and a few
> extras. The workstations are running XP. When I asked how things were
> going they said everything is working. I checked and everything is
> working. Even the backup to CD-RW is working. They don't have a lot of
> data.=20
>
> The fact that it's working is a good thing for the client but where does
> that leave me. It's not only boring but I can't charge for tech support
> because there's no need for me to be there. I may have to go in and
> update the software but that's only an hour.=20
>
> Maybe I need to switch to Windows. It'll crash and I'll get a tech
> support call. Extra billable hours.=20
>
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Received on Fri Mar 4 19:32:29 2005

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