Quick Start Guide

changes here, disable future SuSEcong changes by setting CHECK_INITTAB in
/etc/sysconfig/suseconfig to no.
If the runlevel is set to 5, your desktop or X Windows software is probably miscong-
ured or corrupted. Examine the log les at /var/log/Xorg.*.log for detailed messages
from the X server as it attempted to start. If the desktop fails during start, it may log
error messages to /var/log/messages. If these error messages hint at a conguration
problem in the X server, try to x these issues. If the graphical system still does not
come up, consider reinstalling the graphical desktop.
TIP: Starting X Window System Manually
One quick test: the startx command should force the X Window System to start
with the congured defaults if the user is currently logged in on the console. If
that does not work, it should log errors to the console.
9.4 Login Problems
Login problems are those where your machine does, in fact, boot to the expected
welcome screen or login prompt, but refuses to accept the username and password,
or accepts them but then does not behave properly (fails to start the graphic desktop,
produces errors, drops to a command line, etc.).
9.4.1 Valid Username and Password Combinations Fail
This usually occurs when the system is congured to use network authentication or
directory services and, for some reason, is unable to retrieve results from its cong-
ured servers. The root user, as the only local user, is the only user that can still log
in to these machines. The following are some common reasons why a machine ap-
pears functional but is unable to process logins correctly:
• The network is not working. For further directions on this, turn to Section 9.5,
“Network Problems” (page 145).
• DNS is not working at the moment (which prevents GNOME or KDE from working
and the system from making validated requests to secure servers). One indication
that this is the case is that the machine takes an extremely long time to respond
to any action. Find more information about this topic in Section 9.5, “Network
Problems” (page 145).
• If the system is congured to use Kerberos, the system's local time may have
drifted past the accepted variance with the Kerberos server time (this is typically
300 seconds). If NTP (network time protocol) is not working properly or local
NTP servers are not working, Kerberos authentication ceases to function because
it depends on common clock synchronization across the network.
• The system's authentication conguration is miscongured. Check the PAM
conguration les involved for any typographical errors or misordering of direc-
Common Problems and Their Solutions 139