Blank blue screen after logging into an account for the first time with gdm & choosing window manager
On one of my computers, running Debian Squeeze, I have two user
accounts. One has been used exclusively for running Nautilus and GNOME
applications. The other has been used exclusively over SSH. At
start-up, gdm automatically logs into the "graphical" account, but
today I decided that I wanted to use Nautilus with the other account
as well.
After gdm automatically logged me into the "graphical" account, I then
logged out and entered my username and password for the other account.
Once the gdm screen cleared, I immediately saw a full-screen
wizard-like GUI that was asking me to choose a window manager. There
were two options: "metacity" and "Twm" with "metacity" selected by
default. I unchecked "Ask every time" and clicked OK. That screen
disappeared, but all that I saw was a blank blue screen and the mouse
cursor. I could move the mouse and the cursor would move, but nothing
else loaded. In particular, Nautilus and the GNOME panels did not
load. I had to forcefully shut down the computer just to get out.
The content of the account's .xsession-errors file is:
/etc/gdm/Xsession: Beginning session setup...
Added '/usr/bin/metacity' to list of window managers, as it is the
configured default.
So why didn't Nautilus start after I selected a window manager?
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