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Date:      Thu, 19 Dec 1996 09:52:02 +0200
From:      Nadav Eiron <nadav@barcode.co.il>
To:        "Christopher J. Booth" <cbooth@onyx.interactive.net>
Cc:        questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Stuck in xdm-Land
Message-ID:  <32B8F422.107@barcode.co.il>
References:  <aede171f000210044325@[208.192.234.127]>

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Christopher J. Booth wrote:
> 
> Okay, this is an odd one, but, I don't know what to do.
> 
> I decided to try to get X started up, so I followed (I think I followed)
> the directions on p. 99 of _The Complete FreeBSD_ to start xdm.
> 
> I opened up /etc/ttys with vi and keyed in
> 
>    ttyv4 "/usr/X11R6/bin/xdm -nodaemon" xterm   on secure
> 
> at the end of the file.
> 
> Then I did
> 
>    kill -1 1
> 
> Yup, most gratifying, xdm started. An uninteresting-looking window manager.
> I would rather play with fvwm, I think.
> 
> But now I can't get rid of it. The xdm login comes up at boot, and it won't
> let me log in as root. I hadn't set up my alter-ego users as permitted to
> run as su. Control-alt-delete just causes xdm to restart, and I can't
> interrupt. Likewise control-c. And it is living on alt-F1 through alt-F2.
> As the man in the Fiat yelled to the man in the sports car racing down the
> highway, "How do I get this thing our of second gear?"
> 
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Christopher J. Booth   This speech of yours hath moved me,
> cbooth@mordor.com      And shall perchance do good: but speak you on;
>                        You look as you had something more to say.
>                                                 --Edmund, _King Lear_

A couple of things:

1. To get back to a different virtual console after starting Xwindows
you need to use ctrl+alt+F1/F2/F3. This should get you to the familiar
login prompt (don't be too hasty with that, if you hit that while xdm is
still starting up it sometimes locks your keyboard).

2. It's kind of a flame maker, but running xdm through /etc/ttys kinda
makes xdm immortal, because init will restart it whenever it is killed.
If you want to be able to kill xdm (and the X server for that mater, as
xdm will restart X if it gets killed) you should start xdm from
rc.local. For details, look at the FAQ:
http://www.freebsd.org/FAQ/FAQ88.html#88

This way, you can simply kill -9 xdm's pid and be done with it if it
really gets up on your nerves.

Nadav



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