gdm hangs; sddm doesn't

Issues related to applications and software problems
Post Reply
rdtennent
Posts: 4
Joined: 2015/12/15 20:50:40

gdm hangs; sddm doesn't

Post by rdtennent » 2018/04/20 20:58:26

On my CentOS 7. booting into gdm hangs (blank screen), but if I switch to sddm using system-switch-displaymanager, the login screen appears and all is well. How can I find out what's wrong?

desertcat
Posts: 843
Joined: 2014/08/07 02:17:29
Location: Tucson, AZ

Re: gdm hangs; sddm doesn't

Post by desertcat » 2018/04/23 02:19:12

On my CentOS 7. booting into gdm hangs (blank screen), but if I switch to sddm using system-switch-displaymanager, the login screen appears and all is well. How can I find out what's wrong?
The answer to that question is the same one I had a fight with at RH. There seems to be a problem with GDM. It *seems* around 3 March 2017, at 11:25 hrs RH issued an update that caused both /var/log/Xorg*.log to run WILD!!! TrevorH Posted the following:

Code: Select all

 Root Cause:

The messages are logged due to -audit 4 argument passed to Xorg process while gdm launches it.
The options is hard-coded in new update of gdm package.
I am posting the two threads that pertain to the problem. Me?? I stopped using gdm and switched permanently to sddm. Maybe the problem has been fixed in RHEL 7.5 but I would not hold my breath on that.

https://www.centos.org/forums/viewtopic ... 47&t=62294

https://www.centos.org/forums/viewtopic ... 47&t=62431

These two threads discuss the problems I ran into which prompted me to go a-hackin' . I discovered that sddm avoids all the mess with the run away audit problem.

Hope this helps.

rdtennent
Posts: 4
Joined: 2015/12/15 20:50:40

Re: gdm hangs; sddm doesn't

Post by rdtennent » 2018/04/23 16:11:39

Thanks for your reply. My issue seems to be different as my /var/log is not unusually big.

desertcat
Posts: 843
Joined: 2014/08/07 02:17:29
Location: Tucson, AZ

Re: gdm hangs; sddm doesn't

Post by desertcat » 2018/04/23 19:54:47

rdtennent wrote:Thanks for your reply. My issue seems to be different as my /var/log is not unusually big.
No but somehow, after what happened with my own experience whatever was broken may still be fundamentally broken. Up until March of 2017 gdm worked fine, and then..??? RH did something. Unless you actually NEED gdm -- and some people do -- sddm is simply far less wonky. It is sort of like using grub customizer and having a background wallpaper. Not a BIG thing since you will see it maybe for 4-5 seconds once or twice a month unless you are using a laptop. The sole purpose is to allow you to log into your account. *MAYBE* it is time for me to switch back to gdm just to see if I still get that runaway process. If you are using LVM just for FUN (and because you have nothing better to do :grin: ) you might want to check your /var/log/Xorg.0.log and see if it it is eating up your partition or reaches a certain size then rolls over. Given that I use fixed sized partitions a runaway process that repetitiously fill up with AUDIT files was a non starter. If you decide to scratch that itch either because you HAVE too (as was my case) or simply because you simply want to *know* the WHY, I for one would like to know the results of your research (probably the ONLY reason I might switch back to gdm -- just to see if it is still broken, or if RH finally fixed the problem they created back in 2017). The ONLY reason I might NOT want to switch back to gdm is the old motto, "If it ain't broke, don't "fix" it!". Please keep me posted if you discover what the problem is, or if you decide to simply do the sane thing and simply switch to sddm. If you decide to do the insane thing know I stand with you -- cats are a curious lot: "Curiosity killed the cat..." but remember, "...satisfaction brought him back!!".

Thanks

Post Reply