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Can't get past X login - keyboard is dead [solved]


Guest Robbomac
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Guest Robbomac

Hi -

 

A new Linux user here (but a 27 year computer veteran). My main computer is a Macintosh (OS X), but I am trying to set up an old Compaq Deskpro for file serving and as a backup machine.

 

Downloaded and installed Mandriva LE 2005 (10.2) without difficulty. Added all the suggested urpmi sites, and downloaded KDE 3.4. Now, when given the X Login window, my keyboard is dead - I can't type anything with it - and the lock buttons don't light. It works fine in text mode, and I successfully got into GUI Mode (oddly, still KDE 3.3) by loggin in at runlevel 3 and issuing the "startx" command from the command line.

 

On the subsequent boot to the X Login, the keyboard was still dead and I could proceed no further.

 

I assume some kind of settings file is corrupt and/or the KDE 3.4 install didn't complete (although it looked successful in rpmdrake), but I'm not sure where to look or what to alter. Linux is a heck of a lot more user-friendly than it was 3 or 4 years ago, but if it confounds me (a 20+ year veteran of the DOS prompt), it's still not quite ready for non-techie "prime time".

 

Obviously, I could just reinstall LE 2005, but there must be an easier way, since it is apparently something with my X-Window/KDE setup that is awry.

 

I'd appreciate any pearls of wisdom from the Linux gods out there!

Edited by Robbomac
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I'm assuming your using the mdk-kdm display manager when you attempt to login? I had this problem too when I upgraded to KDE 3.4 on MDK 10.1.

 

There are some threads on this, but what you could do temporarily, is change from mdk-kdm to xdm and you would be able to login as normal.

 

If you wanted to fix the mdk-kdm issue, then the threads I saw mentioned doing this:

 

Remove mdkkdm

Remove kdekdm (this will remove dependencies, so make a note and reinstall later (not kdekdm though).

Install mdkkdm again

 

Then you can use mdkkdm to login again as normal. Or, just use the xdm instead, depends which you like the most!

 

Hope this helps.

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Guest Robbomac

Thanks, Ian! Switching to xdm/gdm did the trick. I deleted all traces of KDE (a weird mix of 3.3 and 3.4 components), and began using GNOME. Now, when I try to reinstall KDE 3.4, I get a bunch of dependency and checksum errors from thac's KDE RPM set. I have all the RPM repositories set up (main, config, plf-nonfree, plf-free, jpackage, updates).

 

The new problem is minor, though - as long as I can login and get a console window or any GUI, I'll be fine.

 

Best regards - :thanks:

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