Several scripts including earlyxdm are linked to /dev/null under /lib/systemd. I have applied all updates as of yesterday to my 12.2 installation.
I see that earlyxdm is executed early on but the graphics login (KDM) doesn’t start until the end, thereby delaying the appearance of the desktop.
Is this a bug or how its supposed to be ? Before the KDE 4.8.5 updates, the system booted a little faster ( about 5 secs). I suspect this has something to do with the earlyxdm script.
Is there supposed to be a kdm service script also ? If so, that is missing too.
Hi!
This is intended. A link “name.service” in /lib/systemd/system to /dev/null masks this service for systemd. Usually this is used for scripts in /etc/init.d which are not needed when booting with systemd (e.g. because systemd brings its own implementation, with a different name). Without this link systemd would start this service. (BTW: A similar link in /etc/systemd/system can be used to mask services from /lib/systemd/system).
Considering earlyxdm: I don’t even have an earlyxdm in my init.d anymore (openSUSE 12.2), so I guess this link is without effect now (I remember there existed an earlyxdm in former openSUSE versions). However, there is /etc/init.d/xdm which gets started by systemd the usual way.
You say your kdm starts early but it needs much time to load. I presume you use systemd. I can’t really judge why this is the case, but after xdm got started there is nothing more systemd can do, so maybe there are just too many other services loading parallel and generating cpu/hdd load… ?
Re kdm.service: No, there is no kdm.service. The displaymanager is configured in /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager. The xdm init script starts the appropriate displaymanager as set in this file.
I think the delay is in the update for the Xserver. Reinstall the Catalyst driver, it creates some symlinks, which now have been overwriten by the x11-xorg-server package.
I have not installed the catalyst driver at all - it has been the open source driver since the beginning. I did a fresh install recently and stuck with open source driver. I probably should try the catalyst driver again ( it failed to work for me in an earlier attempt) - it seems to be a lot faster and KDE starts up twice as fast with it ( it did with 11.4).
But first I want to solve the mystery of KDM screen appearing later after the updates. I am not sure what to look for in systemd-analyze. If earlyxdm is a dummy then what service should I follow - I see no other services related to xdm/kdm.
It is also listed in the svg of “systemd-analyze plot”. Please check the output of “systemctl status xdm.service”. If it is running it should be listed in the analyze output.
– Yarny
No, its not kdm but xdm that starts early. I thought that was earlyxdm but it is the xdm service that starts early but kdm logon screen takes > 10 secs after that. It shouldn’t take that long and when I first installed the system, it didn’t.
Earlyxdm is the service name visible in yast - it is enabled and I did not disable it.