Bug#34074: xdm login loop failure has happend to a newbie
On Wed, 3 Mar 1999, Stephane Bortzmeyer wrote:
> > This can lead to the
> > notorious "infinite X11 reset loop" which is very very frustrating,
> > confusing, and infuriating for users.
>
> OK, xdm cannot run, so people cannot log in (we assume we talk about home
> machines without a network access) to fix it. They don't know CtrlAltF1
> either. Correct? May I suggest to document at least the CtrlAltF1 so they can
> go back to a text console?
Actually, Just yesterday I was attempting an install of the hamm on a
laptop, and got myself stuck in the reset loop. I couldn't figure out what
to do about it.
Major problem was, after the test of X ran during install (which went OK)
the screen went a nice, white color and refused to budge. I've had this
happen on a couple other laptops with a C&T card in them. Only way out was
Ctrl-Alt-Del, bounce the machine, and be done with it. Unfortunately, XDM
was set to run on startup, so we got a wonderful blinky-blink of the
text-login, in which you could type, if you timed everything correctly.
C-A-F1 didn't work, niether did the rest of the F-keys. We couldn't telnet
into the box ("Connection Refused") which is probably due to the fact that
we interrupted Dselect in the middle of an install run. It was a mess, so
we had to start all over again. Whee.
> > The fact is that newbie users shouldn't be pulling in xdm on thier
> > machines.
> Hmmm, it means that Joe User will not have what he calls on Usenet "a
> graphical login". It is a problem, too.
Sorry to say it, but I have to agree with Stephane. The fact that newbies
"shouldn't install XDM" is idiotic. Do you seriously think that even half
of the people whos brains have been turned to cheese curd by Win95 could
handle not using the mouse at all? Hell, I've done 5-6 installs, and have
had a different problem with XDM every stinkin time. I'm in no way a
newbie, but I sure ain't a guru like most of the people around here.
At one early point in my linux career, I was told "you're a newbie. You
shouldn't be recompiling the kernel!". Hey, I wanted sound. And in the
Debian FAQ there are rather simplistic instructions on how to do it. So...
I didn't break anything, but got really confused when the compile kept
failing because I didn't have bin86 installed...
> > I know it's late to change this but I do think it's
> > important.
>
> My personal opinion is: yes, it's too late, much too late. We have enough work
> with "indisputable" bugs and I suggest to let "dubious" bugs live.
>
:) well said. The only concern that I have, as an end user, is "I sure
hope these other bugs get fixed eventually too".
-Jeremiah Merkl
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