kdm dies

[Daniel Jones <ddjones@speakeasy.org>]

Running XF86 4.1 and KDE 2.2 on Debian unstable with kernel
2.4.12.  kdm starts on boot up but then dies.  Passing kdm
-debug 255, I get tons of stuff in my syslog but nothing
that appears to be an error:

Oct 16 19:44:18 corwin kdm[2501]: Forked helper
/usr/bin/kdm_config, pid 2502
Oct 16 19:44:18 corwin kdm[2501]: Sending int 255 (0xff) to
helper
Oct 16 19:44:18 corwin kdm[2501]: Getter ready
Oct 16 19:44:18 corwin kdm[2501]: Sending int 1 (0x1) to
helper
Oct 16 19:44:18 corwin kdm[2501]: Receiving int from helper
...
Oct 16 19:44:18 corwin kdm[2502]: execute:
/usr/bin/kdm_config ; CONINFO=3 6
Oct 16 19:45:59 corwin kdm[2501]:  -> 1 (0x1)
Oct 16 19:45:59 corwin kdm[2501]: Receiving string from
helper ...


kdm parses the kdmrc file, then there are a number of
"Receiving int..." and "Receiving already allocated
string..." entries, then:

Oct 16 19:45:59 corwin kdm[2505]: Found new display: :0
local@tty1 /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_SVGA -dpi 100 -nolisten tcp
vt7
Oct 16 19:45:59 corwin kdm[2505]: StartDisplay :0, try 1
Oct 16 19:45:59 corwin kdm[2505]: startConfig
Oct 16 19:45:59 corwin kdm[2505]: Getter ready
Oct 16 19:45:59 corwin kdm[2505]: requesting config 4

followed by a great many more "Receiving..." entries and
finally

Oct 16 19:45:59 corwin kdm[2505]: SetLocalAuthorization :0,
auth XDM-AUTHORIZATION-1
Oct 16 19:45:59 corwin kdm[2505]: GenerateAuthorization
XDM-AUTHORIZATION-1

As you can see, the first log entry was at 19:44:18 and the
last one at 19:45:59, so it takes roughly a minute and a
half before dropping to the command line.  (This delay
disappears if I remove the debugging flag.)  During this
time frame, the screen will go blank but the monitor never
changes resolutions nor gives any other indication that X is
trying to start.  (X works fine if started manually via
startx.)

Thanks in advance for any hints or ideas as to what may be
going on.