On Wednesday 07 January 2004 00:21, Michael Havens wrote:
> After I login and x is running for around 3 minutes it starts saying th=
at
> klauncher can't be reached via DCOP. Last I tried using kmail it didn't
> work either (this is webmail right now).
> Also (after my last upgrade) the only window managers at my disposal ar=
e
> KDE3 and Failsafe. One is to big the other to basic. Geesh!
>
> :-)Mike(-:

Hey Mike,
     I've sometimes noticed problems with the desktop and launchers, more=
 so=20
with older distributions. In some cases, I think these are due to some of=
 the=20
software updates I've applied -- updating a key piece of software may=20
"depend" on another piece I don't know about and so the update may not be=
=20
100% successful. And the more software that is upgraded, the more likely =
this=20
will happen. This is what makes the creation of a major distribution so=20
difficult. Everything has to be cross-tested and, if a problem develops, =
the=20
appropriate pieces replaced and then everything re-cross-tested because t=
hat=20
"fix" may have broken something else.
     A related possibility is that there are some "leftovers" in the /tmp=
=20
filesystem. I've seen this often enough, and the "fix" is much easier to =
do=20
and much less problematic than the upgrade situation. You might want to t=
ry=20
cleaning out the /tmp filesystem. Do this:
1) Log-off.
2) Press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to get a simple console prompt (actually, you could =
use=20
any of the first six function keys to get to any of six console prompts, =
and=20
Ctrl-Alt-F7 will take you back to X-land).
3) Login (through the console prompt) as the root user.
4) CAREFULLY do this command:
     rm -rf /tmp/*
    MAKE SURE YOU TYPE THIS EXACTLY RIGHT. IN PARTICULAR,
THERE MUST BE *no* SPACES in "/tmp/*". (IF THIS IS DONE WRONG,
THE ENTIRE SYSTEM MAY NEED TO BE RE-INSTALLED!)
5) And do this command:
     sync
6) Now, reboot the system. On my machine I use the following command:
     reboot
7) Log-in normally and see if things are better.

     The /tmp filesystem, in theory at least, "can be" discarded every ti=
me=20
the system is rebooted. In practice, however, this doesn't always happen =
(but=20
"why" I don't know). My theory is that the desktop, among other tools,=20
sometimes leaves behind information in /tmp and attempts to use it when y=
ou=20
login again. By manually cleaning out /tmp, the desktop is forced to use=20
default values again.

     Good luck!

--=20
Ed Skinner, ed@flat5.net, http://www.flat5.net/