can't start kde, can't start ksmserver

[James Gray]

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Christopher J. Bottaro wrote:
> Any ideas?  I can't use my computer because of this...
> 
> I deleted /var/tmp/kdecache-<user> and /tmp/kde-<user>
> and /tmp/ksocket-<user> as per some instructions on the internet.  I also
> moved $HOME/.kde to $HOME/.kde.bak.  Nothing has worked.

I've seen this sort of mess before when a noob decided to change their
UID and wondered why everything broke.  Here's something else to try:
- - move $HOME/.Xauthority to $HOME/.Xauthority-old and try again.

There's a few other hidden files in $HOME that X/KDE use for IPC and
DCOP so you may need to rename a few others too.

If all else fails, move your entire $HOME directory to $HOME-old like
this from a terminal (CTRL+ALT+F1):
0. Log in as you (eg "chris").
1. sudo -i
2. mv /home/chris /home/your-user-OLD
3. mkdir /home/your-user
4. cp /etc/skel/* /home/chris
5. chown -R chris:chris /home/chris
6. chmod -R 0775 /home/chris
7. CTRL+D (this should drop you back to your normal account)

Log out then switch back to KDM (ALT+F7) and restart the X server.  Now
log in as your normal user account via KDM (ie, "chris").  You should be
up and running again.  If not, see if there's any useful info in
~/.xsession-errors

> To reiterate, when I start KDE, it makes it half way through the splash
> screen progression, then I get an X dialog saying something about ksmserver
> can't start, please check my installation.  ksmserver exists and is in my
> path.

Sounds like screwed up permissions/ownerships somewhere.

> Kubuntu is really frustrating me.  I'm trying so hard to use it because it's
> suppose to be *the* KDE distro, but so far in my experiences, Fedora Core
> 2-5 + the kde-redhat project has been far superior as a KDE distro.

Now, now, no need to start a flame war just coz you're having problems.
 There are MANY good reasons to avoid Fedora (and every other RPM-based
distro) but that's a whole other holy war ;)

> Please help me out, I don't want to ditch Kubuntu for a third time...:(

Yikes - you do this often?  Wow.  I've only ever done this ONCE and I
knew exactly what I'd changed to made it go "pop". PEBKAC maybe? :P

Hope this helps :)

Cheers,

James
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