x starts in failsafe mode, but not regular mode

[Kurt Lieber <debian@kirpatrick.com>]

I've set up xfree86-4 on my debian woody box using the nvidia binary drivers 
and KDE.  Now, when I run the kdm, I get to the KDE login screen, but when I 
log in in default mode, the screen blanks for a minute, then a simple blue 
background displays with a black bar at the top, and then I am returned ot 
the login screen.

If I log in in failsafe mode, I get in far enough to see konsole and I'm 
assuming that's all failsafe mode is designed to provide.

I'm not familiar enough with linux to know if this is a KDE problem, xfree86 
problem or nvidia driver problem -- can anyone offer some suggestions on what 
might be causing this problem?

Thanks.