Re: Problem after Installation

[Logan Rathbone <logan rathbone utoronto ca>]

On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 21:16:04 -0800 (PST)
Venkatesh Perumal <vperumal77 yahoo com> wrote:

> I had installed Gnome and it used to work fine, after
> my file system got moved -- I had to install it again
> and this time though the installation went fine. When
> I logged into the Gnome Desktop. All I got was a
> console, a terminal, a clock instead of the
> traditional gnome Desktop.
> 
> Can anyone tell me what i must have done wrong. I have
> a feeling that I am not sourcing the right file.

How do you start X with your distribution?  Do you get booted straight into X and log in using a graphical display manager, or do you boot to a console and start X using startx?

If you use startx, it is a simple matter of editing your $HOME/.xinitrc file.  It is a simple shell script that gives the command to start your desktop.  If you use this method, edit your .xinitrc file with your preferred editor, comment out whatever's there, so that the file looks something like this:

#!/bin/bash
#twm & xterm & xclock
gnome-session
#EOF

If you use a graphical display manager, how you go about changing it is a little different.  If you're using GDM (and I hope to God that you are) then go to the Session menu, then click on GNOME.  Log in as usual, and when it asks you if you would like to use GNOME as default, say Yes.

If you're using XDM, edit your $HOME/.xsession file in the same way you would have edited your .xinitrc file (see above).

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.