KDE won't start anymore

Hi all,

since about a week I got a serious Problem on my Multimedia Homeserver. It firstly happened after doing normal updates with ‘zypper dup’. Starting the Machine xdm starts up normally, but after logging in KDE (4.6.0, OpenSUSE 11.4 64Bit) shows its progress bar and finally ends up hanging at about 80% completion. Repos are the original distro repos (except nvidia, packman and VLC Repos) for stability reasons - this means no KDE-factory or Tumbleweed repo is activated here. Icewm starts fine so I can use Xine but I’d like to get KDE back running again for using amarok and others.

Here is what I tried so far:

tried another user - same result
tried root-user - same result
renamed ~/.kde4 - same result
created a completely new user with a $HOME from scratch - same result
uninstalled nvidia-driver (270.41.06, card is a Geforce 7300SE) from nvidia repo and installed this version ‘the hard way’ back again - same result
removed /etc/X11/xorg.conf and let nvidia setup create a new one - same result

googling helped nothing so far as solutions found there mostly lead to start with a new ~/.kde4 to solve a not starting kde or lead to problems caused by mixing up kde install files from incompatible repos which is not the case here.

If any logs are needed, I’ll post them here later.

Is there any way to remove KDE completely (something like apt-get purge) and reinstall it back again which may solve my problem as I believe that there may be some global configs screwed up for whatever reason - after two days fumbling without any progress.

Thanks in andvance

phimeas

On 05/09/2011 11:06 AM, phimeas wrote:
>
> It firstly happened after doing normal updates with ‘zypper dup’.

where did you read to do “normal updates” with “zypper dup”??

zypper dup is for doing distribution upgrades, which is not anything
near a normal update. (not even the same “u” word)

i think you have probably murdered your system…and, the easiest way to
bring it back to life is to restore from backup…


CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
[openSUSE11.3 + KDE4.5.5 + Firefox3.6.17 + Thunderbird3.1.10 via NNTP]
HACK Everything → http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5b4CCe9pS8&NR=1

Thanks for your answer, DenverD!

where did you read to do “normal updates” with “zypper dup”??

zypper dup is for doing distribution upgrades, which is not anything
near a normal update. (not even the same “u” word)

Not really without configuring your repos to use a new version before, I think - so this makes no difference to ‘zypper up’. Never has been a problem before nor is one on any of my other machines. Don’t know if ‘dup’ even must be used to install updates that require a System reboot (e.g. kernel updates) as it is mandatory with apt-get on debian-distros.

It would be no Problem to do a new OS 11.4 install and copy my configs back - what I will do, if I can’t find no other solution - rather than restore an old backup and do the upgrade to 11.4 again (which was not the cause for KDE to fail). It would be just more time consuming. So I asked here before.

Think you’re right to rather use ‘zypper up’ than ‘zypper dup’ for minor updates and I’ll do this in future but I don’t think that this difference really caused the trouble.

Any other suggestions? Complete deletion and reinstall of KDE4 could solve it I think - but I have no clue how to purge it without travelling into RPM-dependency-hell.

Thanks again

phimeas

It all depends on what repos you have active how bad you mangled the system. VLC repo is not recommended you need to get that stuff from packman, but I doubt if that is your problem since that should only effect multimedia. Sure you don’t have factory in there somewhere? Let’s see zypper lr -d

Thanks, gogalthorp!

Here’s the output you requested…


# | Alias                 | Name                  | Aktiviert | Aktualisieren | Priorität | Typ    | URI                                                             | Dienst
--+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------+---------------+-----------+--------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+-------
1 | NVIDIA_Repository_1   | NVIDIA Repository     | Ja        | Ja            |   99      | rpm-md | ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/11.4/                        |       
2 | Packman_Repository    | Packman Repository    | Ja        | Ja            |   99      | rpm-md | http://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/mirrors/packman/suse/11.4        |       
3 | VideoLan_Repository   | VideoLan Repository   | Ja        | Ja            |   99      | rpm-md | http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/SuSE/11.4/        |       
4 | openSUSE-11.3-Debug_1 | openSUSE-11.4-Debug   | Nein      | Ja            |   99      | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/distribution/11.4/repo/oss/  |       
5 | openSUSE-11.4-Non-Oss | openSUSE-11.4-Non-Oss | Ja        | Ja            |   99      | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.4/repo/non-oss/    |       
6 | openSUSE-11.4-Oss     | openSUSE-11.4-Oss     | Ja        | Ja            |   99      | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.4/repo/oss/        |       
7 | openSUSE-11.4-Source  | openSUSE-11.4-Source  | Nein      | Ja            |   99      | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/source/distribution/11.4/repo/oss/ |       
8 | openSUSE-11.4-Update  | openSUSE-11.4-Update  | Ja        | Ja            |   99      | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/update/11.4/                       |       


As you can see, there’s no factory repo in there (enough experiences with that to NOT use it on ‘production’ systems [well this one is more for home DVBS video recording, but one can imagine that this one should simply work]). Maybe a priority issue because they all have 99?

cheers

phimeas

It is impossible to see in Alias this repo
openSUSE-11.3-Debug_1
And in Name
openSUSE-11.4-Debug

Erase the 3 repo

su
# zypper removerepo 3

It is not the solution but a very small fixing.

Also you should not have both videolan and packman. Get the multi media from packman. Thy have same packages but may be at different version mixing can cause multimedia problems. But that should not cause KDE not to run.

@stamostolias

ok, removed the repo. But as you can see it was deactivated before - so this is a pure cosmetic action…

@gogalthorp
also removed vlc repo…

Thanks for the hints. But this doesn’t solve the issue and it ran for several years before. I now post my ~/.xsession-errors. Is it usual that akonadi requires a mysql-db (I myself configured none - mysql is running but there is no dedicated db for akonadi…

/etc/X11/xim: Checking whether an input method should be started.
sourcing /etc/sysconfig/language to get the value of INPUT_METHOD
INPUT_METHOD is not set or empty (no user selected input method).
Trying to start a default input method for the locale de_DE.UTF-8 ...
There is no default input method for the current locale.
Dummy input method "none" (do not use any fancy input method by default)
startkde: Starting up...
Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString)
kbuildsycoca4 running...
kded(3359) synaptiks::Touchpad::findTouchpad: device properties unsupported 
QDBusObjectPath: invalid path ""
X Error: BadValue (integer parameter out of range for operation) 2
  Major opcode: 102 (X_ChangeKeyboardControl)
  Resource id:  0xffffffe0
Fetched layout groups from X server:    layouts: ("de")         variants: ("nodeadkeys") 
No outputs have backlight property
QDBusConnection: name 'org.kde.kglobalaccel' had owner '' but we thought it was ':1.8'
QDBusObjectPath: invalid path ""
QObject::connect: Cannot connect (null)::deviceCreated(Device*) to Monolithic::deviceCreated(Device*)
OpenGL vendor string:                   NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string:                 GeForce 7300 SE/7200 GS/PCI/SSE2
OpenGL version string:                  2.1.2 NVIDIA 270.41.06
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.20 NVIDIA via Cg compiler
Driver:                                 NVIDIA
Driver version:                         270.41.6
GPU class:                              NV40/G70
OpenGL version:                         2.1.2
GLSL version:                           1.20
X server version:                       1.9.3
Linux kernel version:                   2.6.37
Direct rendering:                       yes
Requires strict binding:                no
GLSL shaders:                           limited
Texture NPOT support:                   yes
kded(3359) PowerDevilUPowerBackend::brightness: org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper.brightness failed 
Object::connect: No such signal QDBusAbstractInterface::Changed()
Invalid D-BUS member name 'idle-hint' found in interface 'org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session' while parsing introspection
Invalid D-BUS member name 'is-local' found in interface 'org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session' while parsing introspection
Invalid D-BUS member name 'x11-display-device' found in interface 'org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session' while parsing introspection
Invalid D-BUS member name 'x11-display' found in interface 'org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session' while parsing introspection
(...)
'org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session' while parsing introspection
klauncher(3357) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry OnlyShowIn in "/etc/xdg/autostart/ksmolt-autostart.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon). 
QDBusObjectPath: invalid path ""
top(3476)/libplasma Plasma::FrameSvg::resizeFrame: Invalid size QSizeF(0, 0) 
plasma-desktop(3476)/libplasma Plasma::FrameSvg::resizeFrame: Invalid size QSizeF(0, 0) 
Object::connect: No such signal KWindowSystem::windowChanged(WId,unsigned long*)
plasma-desktop(3476)/libplasma Plasma::FrameSvg::resizeFrame: Invalid size QSizeF(-5, -3) 
link XMLID_34_ hasn't been detected!
plasma-desktop(3476)/kdecore (services) KServicePrivate::init: The desktop entry file  "/usr/share/kde4/services/sysinfo.protocol"  has Type= "Application"  but no Exec line 

Object::connect: No such signal QDBusAbstractInterface::Changed()
Object::connect: No such signal QDBusAbstractInterface::StateChanged(uint)
Object::connect: No such slot AbstractItemView::iconSettingsChanged()
"/usr/bin/kactivitymanagerd(3467)" Soprano: "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown - The name org.kde.nepomuk.services.nepomukstorage was not provided by any .service files"
"/usr/bin/kactivitymanagerd(3467)" Soprano: "QLocalSocket::connectToServer: Connection refused"
"/usr/bin/kactivitymanagerd(3467)" Soprano: "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown - The name org.kde.nepomuk.services.nepomukstorage was not provided by any .service files"
"/usr/bin/kactivitymanagerd(3467)" Soprano: "QLocalSocket::connectToServer: Connection refused"
"/usr/bin/kactivitymanagerd(3467)" Soprano: "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown - The name org.kde.nepomuk.services.nepomukstorage was not provided by any .service files"
"/usr/bin/kactivitymanagerd(3467)" Soprano: "QLocalSocket::connectToServer: Connection refused"
Invalid D-BUS interface name 'org.kde.plasma-desktop.PlasmaApp' found while parsing introspection
New PolkitAgentListener  0x640900 
Adding new listener  PolkitQt1::Agent::Listener(0x6f4eb0) for  0x640900 
(knotify4:3472): GStreamer-CRITICAL **: gst_debug_add_log_function: assertion `func != NULL' failed
plasma-desktop(3476)/plasma StatusNotifierItemSource::refreshCallback: DBusMenu disabled for this application 
kded(3359)/kmix sink_input_cb: Ignoring sink-input due to it being designated as an event and thus handled by the Event slider 
krunner(3497)/libakonadi Akonadi::AgentManagerPrivate::createDBusInterface: AgentManager failed to get a valid AgentManager DBus interface. Error is: 1 "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner" "Could not get owner of name 'org.freedesktop.Akonadi.Control': no such name" 
Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString)
krunner(3497)/libakonadi Akonadi::SessionPrivate::socketError: Socket error occurred: "QLocalSocket::connectToServer: Invalid name" 
search paths:  ("/home/chris/bin", "/usr/local/bin", "/usr/bin", "/bin", "/usr/bin/X11", "/usr/X11R6/bin", "/usr/games", "/usr/lib64/jvm/jre/bin", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/libexec", "/usr/libexec", "/opt/mysql/libexec", "/opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin", "/opt/mysql/sbin") 
Found mysql_install_db:  "/usr/bin/mysql_install_db" 
Found mysqlcheck:  "/usr/bin/mysqlcheck" 
QSqlDatabasePrivate::removeDatabase: connection 'qt_sql_default_connection' is still in use, all queries will cease to work.
QSqlDatabasePrivate::addDatabase: duplicate connection name 'qt_sql_default_connection', old connection removed.
I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/usr/share/qalculate/prefixes.xml"
I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/usr/share/qalculate/currencies.xml"
I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/usr/share/qalculate/units.xml"
I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/usr/share/qalculate/functions.xml"
I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/usr/share/qalculate/datasets.xml"
I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/usr/share/qalculate/variables.xml"
I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/usr/share/qalculate/currencies.xml"
I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/home/chris/.qalculate/eurofxref-daily.xml"
I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/home/chris/.qalculate/eurofxref-daily.xml"
krunner(3497)/libplasma Plasma::Package::isValid: Could not find required file mainscript 
akonadi.collectionattributetable                   OK
akonadi.collectionmimetyperelation                 OK
akonadi.collectionpimitemrelation                  OK
akonadi.collectiontable                            OK
akonadi.flagtable                                  OK
akonadi.mimetypetable                              OK
akonadi.parttable                                  OK
akonadi.pimitemflagrelation                        OK
akonadi.pimitemtable                               OK
akonadi.resourcetable                              OK
akonadi.schemaversiontable                         OK
mysql.columns_priv                                 OK
mysql.db                                           OK
mysql.event                                        OK
mysql.func                                         OK
mysql.general_log
Error    : You can't use locks with log tables.
status   : OK
mysql.help_category                                OK
mysql.help_keyword                                 OK
mysql.help_relation                                OK
mysql.help_topic                                   OK
mysql.host                                         OK
mysql.ndb_binlog_index                             OK
mysql.plugin                                       OK
mysql.proc                                         OK
mysql.procs_priv                                   OK
mysql.servers                                      OK
mysql.slow_log
Error    : You can't use locks with log tables.
status   : OK
mysql.tables_priv                                  OK
mysql.time_zone                                    OK
mysql.time_zone_leap_second                        OK
mysql.time_zone_name                               OK
mysql.time_zone_transition                         OK
mysql.time_zone_transition_type                    OK
mysql.user                                         OK
Database "akonadi" opened using driver "QMYSQL" 
DbInitializer::run() 
checking table  "SchemaVersionTable" 
checking table  "ResourceTable" 
checking table  "CollectionTable" 
checking table  "MimeTypeTable" 
checking table  "PimItemTable" 
checking table  "FlagTable" 
checking table  "PartTable" 
checking table  "CollectionAttributeTable" 
checking relation  "PimItemFlagRelation" 
checking relation  "CollectionMimeTypeRelation" 
checking relation  "CollectionPimItemRelation" 
DbInitializer::run() done 
Nepomuk Query Server not available 
DataStore::unhideAllPimItems() 
Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString)
Database "akonadi" opened using driver "QMYSQL" 
PLUGINS:  "/usr/share/akonadi/agents" 
PLUGINS:  ("birthdaysresource.desktop", "contactsresource.desktop", "icalresource.desktop", "imapresource.desktop", "kabcresource.desktop", "kcalresource.desktop", "kolabproxyresource.desktop", "localbookmarksresource.desktop", "maildirresource.desktop", "maildispatcheragent.desktop", "mboxresource.desktop", "microblog.desktop", "mtdummyresource.desktop", "nepomukcalendarfeeder.desktop", "nepomukcontactfeeder.desktop", "nepomuktagresource.desktop", "nntpresource.desktop", "notesresource.desktop", "pop3resource.desktop", "vcarddirresource.desktop", "vcardresource.desktop") 
search paths:  ("/home/chris/bin", "/usr/local/bin", "/usr/bin", "/bin", "/usr/bin/X11", "/usr/X11R6/bin", "/usr/games", "/usr/lib64/jvm/jre/bin") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_birthdays_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_contacts_resource" 8 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_ical_resource" 1 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_imap_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_kabc_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_kcal_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_kolabproxy_resource" 0 ("Resource", "Unique", "NoConfig") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_localbookmarks_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_maildir_resource" 1 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_maildispatcher_agent" 0 ("Unique", "Autostart", "NoConfig") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_mbox_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_microblog_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_mailtransport_dummy_resource" 0 ("Resource", "MailTransport") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_nepomuk_calendar_feeder" 0 ("Unique", "NoConfig") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder" 0 ("Unique", "Autostart", "NoConfig") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_nepomuktag_resource" 0 ("Resource", "Virtual", "Unique", "NoConfig") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_nntp_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_notes_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_pop3_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_vcarddir_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
PLUGINS inserting:  "akonadi_vcard_resource" 0 ("Resource") 
Akonadi server is now operational. 
krunner(3497)/libakonadi: Unable to obtain the KConfigXT D-Bus interface of  "akonadi_contacts_resource_8" 
"AgentManager::setAgentInstanceName"  Agent instance  "akonadi_contacts_resource_8"  has no resource interface! 
Database "akonadi" opened using driver "QMYSQL" 
Known subscriber "akonadi_maildispatcher_agent" subscribes again 
"/usr/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder(3576)" Soprano: "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown - The name org.de.nepomuk.services.nepomukstorage was not provided by any .service files"
"/usr/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder(3576)" Soprano: "QLocalSocket::connectToServer: Connection refused"
"/usr/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder(3576)" Soprano: "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown - The name org.de.nepomuk.services.nepomukstorage was not provided by any .service files"
"/usr/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder(3576)" Soprano: "QLocalSocket::connectToServer: Connection refused"
"/usr/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder(3576)" Soprano: "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown - The name org.de.nepomuk.services.nepomukstorage was not provided by any .service files"
"/usr/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder(3576)" Soprano: "QLocalSocket::connectToServer: Connection refused"
"/usr/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder(3576)" Soprano: "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown - The name org.de.nepomuk.services.nepomukstorage was not provided by any .service files"
"/usr/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_contact_feeder(3576)" Soprano: "QLocalSocket::connectToServer: Connection refused"
Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString)
Database "akonadi" opened using driver "QMYSQL" 
kbuildsycoca4 running...
plasma-desktop(3476)/kdecore (services) KServicePrivate::init: The desktop entry file  "/usr/share/kde4/services/syinfo.protocol"  has Type= "Application"  but no Exec line

Again my question: is there a way to purge kde4 to reinstall it including the global configs? Maybe this would deliver a solution…

cheers

phimeas

You might want to try a reload of KDE. Never did this for a full desktop so it could be tricky. In Yast select the KDE basic and desktop patterns. This should list all the KDE stuff that you have installed. Mark all that is installed to reload by right click select “all in this list” update unconditionally.

And to add: in the odd chance that this works (I give it less than 5% chance of succeeding, but it would beat having to do a full system reinstallation), I would create a “clean” new user account before logging in. It could be that your home folder will conflict with the reinstalled KDE version (since this could take you from “newer” to “older”).

Howdy,
I just had a similar problem on my machine this past week, in my case I uninstalled an app I had installed temporarily, but in doing so it removed an essential part of KDE.

I resolved this by
I was able to boot at least to the point where I chose a User to login.
I observed that a login option was to select a non-KDE desktop (I don’t remember what the name was, I’d have to reboot my machine again to find it if you need the info).
When I choose that alt desktop (non-KDE) option, I was presented with something that looked like a <very> old Gnome desktop, but it did preserve most of the menu launch configuration (not everything worked). Most critically, it thankfully also had a working Network Manager if I needed it.
From that I was able to put a distro DVD into the machine, launch YAST Software Management, choose the KDE pattern and update every component.
Voila! after a reboot, everything (including KDE) worked, I then did an Update and everything is back to normal.

HTH,
Tony

@twelveeighty

Thanks for your reply! And: nope, it wouldn’t take me back to ‘older’ because I only use the original repo. So it would go from 4.6.0 to 4.6.0. Otherwise I would temporarily rename my home-folder to get a chance to start from scratch.

cheers

phimeas

Hi Tony, thanks for your reply.

sounds like you used Icewm - which also starts perfectly in my case. Reinstall of KDE is what I want to try. The problem is, that I think that a part of the system-wide config of KDE has gone mad (otherwise the hang wouldn’t happen for all users on the machine) - I didn’t uninstall a thing, I only updated as 1000 times before. So I’m searching for a way not only to reinstall KDE but to delete it before and then reinstall to ensure the global config of KDE is gone - without uninstalling half of the system which rpm thinks I don’t need then. And it would be no Problem to do it from an plain text console or from whatever $WM. I think I’ll try to delete the whole pattern an then reinstall it.

@All:

anyone here who’s familiar with the log entries in my formerly posted ~/.xsession-errs? I’d like to know what’s going wrong…

Thanks in Advance.

phimeas

Moving ~/.kde to a backup before starting the desktop could be a start to get a clean KDE without the need to reinstall and reconfigure all other apps.

I’d still recommend <updating> the KDE components and see what you get. IMO it should catch all missing and possibly even improper files which ought to return you to a working state. This ought to also preserve your any KDE custom settings, I’m not sure that Bruno’s suggestion to recreate KDE from scratch (post #14) would preserve all settings.

In my case, I also couldn’t logon to KDE using any User (even root).

Tony

Tony

@brunomcl

Thanks for your help. Already tried that as I wrote before (took a completly new homedir), if ~/.kde was the problem that should have fixed it. It didn’t help.

@tsu2/Tony

Thanks again. A simple reinstall would probably preserve the config files in case they were customized before. AFAIK the un/reinstall of a software doesn’t delete and reinstall the program’s (global) configs because they could have been customized. Therefore you have to purge it to ensure a broken config is substituted by a working default one. I know this behaviour from ubuntu and don’t think that OS does it any other way. I don’t mind loosing my global KDE config (not the configs in ~/.kde and ~/.kde4 but those in /usr/share/kde4 which I believe to be defective) as purging and reinstalling should return the global default config by openSUSE. I didn’t customize the global config in any way so it should restore a working config. I’ll try the reinstall of KDE today if I find the time and will report the result here of course.

cheers

phimeas

Re-reading your OP,
I notice now that your problem is after “zipper dup” not an ordinary update so you haven’t had a working KDE to return to.

In this forum you’ll find numerous posts about problems and warnings using the “zipper dup” method, you might want to peruse relevant posts.

Tony

Solved it at last. Reinstall of KDE didn’t make any difference. Found the solution here: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=118775.

Compositing had stopped working (don’t know why, don’t need it anyway on a vidoerecorder/server-machine) and had to be disabled:

Had to edit ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc:

[Compositing]
Enabled=false
  • login worked again immediately. Thanks a lot to all who cared.

cheers

phimeas

That points to a problem with the video driver.

yes, that’s true. On my system it’s the actual nvidia driver 270.41.06 and a GeForce 7300GS. Though I’m fine without compositing on this machine I’ll maybe try a downgrade to 260.19.44. I don’t know exactly but I think it firstly ran with 270.41.06, too.

cheers

phimeas