Troubleshooting

Topics :

One-Pagers
Mandriva 2006
Quick Hacks 8.2
Quick Hacks 8.1
Quick Hacks (Pre-8.0)
Troubleshooting on the Mandrakelinux Knowledge Base

Other Sections :

One-Pagers

One-page articles about troubleshooting.

Error Messages - Find the reason: Finding Error Messages / syslog.conf / Generating Error Logs / Making Sense of Error Messages {Oct. 02, 01} Here you find all the steps you should do to get as much information as possible about the piece of software which does not work. Use this information to fix the problems or report them.

Getting Answers: When to Ask for Help / Where to Ask for Help / How to Put the Right Question {Oct. 02, 01}

Principles of Successful Troubleshooting {Oct. 02, 01}

Mandriva 2006

These are some apparently critical problems thay have an easy solution: After installing Mandriva Linux appears a text screen saying 'login'.

Write your username and password (the ones you gave during installation).
After logging write 'startx' as to start the graphical interface (called 'X')
If X does not show, it will give you information on where is the problem.
Write 'su', and you will be asked for your root password (also given during installation). This gets you into 'root' mode.
Write 'drakconf'. Configure your system correcting the issues informed after 'startx'.
Write 'exit' to exit from root mode.
Write 'startx' again and see if you can get into your graphical desktop.

You are able to enter KDE but the option 'logout' does not appear in the menu

This has to do with kdm, the KDE Display Manager.
You will find information in: http://docs.kde.org/development/en/kdebase/kdm/index.html.
Basically, you have to edit the file /etc/kde/kdm/kdmrc and set the value Allow Shutdown to 'everybody' (or the value you want to).
You can use your Mandriva CD to install the GNOME or another window manager. From there you can deinstall KDE and reinstall it again. This will help to get KDE starting again.