post-install woes... [solved]

[null]

Ok, I installed 2006 powerpack DVD a couple weeks ago, with KDE. Well, KDE worked a week or two ok, but then it started refusing to load ("the KDE deamon kded caused a fault...."). I then used IceWM a couple of days, but continued to get the kded daemon error...

 

So I re-installed (not an upgrade) and chose gnome instead of KDE. I was happy as could be for the past few days, gnome was working great, and I was really happy with everything. Well, today when I got home from work, and logged in to my linux box, gnome would not load, gave me messages like "your session only lasted a couple of seconds, you may have an installation problem, or your disk may be full..."

 

I don't know why I am having so many probs on 2006, is it me...??? :huh: Is it my file structure or something, maybe some partition is not big enough...? Hard to believe since I have a 200 GB hard drive and am using the same size partitions I was using the past couple years under FC2, 3 & 4. I mean, yesterday my 2006 box worked great, today gnome won't even load. I have hardly been doing anything on my linux box anyway, just checking email, browsing the web a little. I don't know why it only works for a week or so then it goes bad.

 

On this same machine, I used FC2,3 & 4 for a couple years without any kind of "system" probs... I mean, I could log in every single day without problem. If I had any questions or problems on FC, it was about yum or something like that. The main system worked fine every single day.

 

I''d appreciate any ideas why mandriva works for less than a week, then either KDE or gnome won't even load any more.... I would like to keep using 2006.

 

thanks for any comments

Edited December 8, 2005 by null

[michaelcole]

It just a guess...

 

login as root go to your /var/log/ directory

cd to change directory..

 

and check the space being used by these files

 

ls -l

 

du will show you the space used on the harddisks - partitions...

 

Try uninstalling KAT.. I have found this to be annoying when running in the background and having lots of files to index..

 

To delete the old logs type this in rm *.gz

this will delete your old logs if you are in the directory /var/log/

 

could be also in your apache log directory if you have apache and logging enabled..

[null]

when I do the rm *.gz, I'm supposed to answer "y" to all the messages about Delete regular file blahblah.gz?

 

How do you uninstall Kat? with rpm -e kat ??????

 

I found alot of complaints while googling this. I found this statement from mandriva:

 

Of course, if you think it shouldn't be launched automatically, please create an empty file ~/.mdv-no_kat

 

does that mean to start an editor in your home directory and make an empty file called .mdv-no_kat ?

can a file start with a "." ?

 

also, shouldn't there be something in MCC to turn off kat ?

[michaelcole]

You can turn off KAT as a regular user..

 

We will deal with that once you are into the KDE or Gnome..

 

 

Press Y to all those files since you not checking them normal its not going to make any difference, they are just old log files from the last few days of weeks..

 

do you have KDE - Gnome running yet -

 

How much space did you have left when you did the du

[polemicz]

I think what I and others have done is remove kat via urpmi: urpme kat. It's been a good habit for me to use urpmi instead of rpm, although I do use rpm from time to time.

[michaelcole]

The question about the dot

 

If you name anything with a dot preceding it, will cause the file to be hidden. In Konqueror you may have noticed the .

View

---> Show Hidden Files

 

This will show all files and directories with the dot prefix and normal files..

 

So yes you can name any file with a dot but normally you will not see it..

 

At the Konsole you can do a

ls

enter

this will show all normal files and directories

ls -a

enter

will show the hidden files and directories as well

[michaelcole]

Of course, if you think it shouldn't be launched automatically, please create an empty file ~/.mdv-no_kat

 

in the case with this question you are right just open up kate - kwrite - vi - emacs whatever you like best and add this file to your home directory..

 

I have not seen this option before but it may work..

[null]

thanks, guys. I'll get back into messing with it after work today. Interesting about the "dot" lesson above, I didn't know that.

 

Also, last night when I was in a terminal, I wanted to copy & paste some output from the commands suggested (such as du), but the terminal was not letting me highlight & copy stuff... I wanted to paste the output here so you could see it.

[null]

Well... success !! I am in gnome right now, for the first time in a few days...

 

I rm'd all the log files as suggested. Then I did an urpme kat, then I rebooted, and.... gnome now loads ok !

 

My early experience with mandriva (installed with KDE) was that KDE loaded just fine for a few days, then quit loading... So I said, well, this sucks. So I reinstalled, but chose gnome instead. Same thing. Worked great for a few days, then gnome would not even load anymore. By now I am highly pissed about linux in general (even though my past experience with various FC releases was mostly good).

 

Its good to find out that it was just "kat". I can't believe they even put something in a major distro that causes so much trouble.

 

Anyway, thanks to all who helped.

[michaelcole]

I was wrong with the command for seeing the harddisk utilization it is

 

df

 

shows you a quick and dirty way to show disk utilization on the console (Konsole)

 

for the partitions you have as well as the mounted drives you may have..