Lost session

[rikona]

Wednesday, December 15, 2010, 11:49:28 AM, MR wrote:

MZ> On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 8:22 AM, rikona <rikona at sonic.net> wrote:
>>
>> I tried this in UB - set up a new user, B, switched to it, and opened
>> Opera. Since this was an 'extension' of Opera, I switched back to user
>> A to see what I wanted to 'extend'. BUT - when I switched back to user
>> A, it didn't 'switch', but gave me a new login screen just as one
>> would have at the beginning.

MZ> First, I'm not entirely clear what UB is - I'd guess Ubuntu, but
MZ> don't know what the "B" part is or what release you're running.

It was. Sorry for the abbreviation. It got started with Mandriva
abbreviated to MD, which could cause even more confusion, :-) but was
always interpreted correctly on their lists.

MZ> As it happens, this morning I had to do just that, and although it
MZ> LOOKED like a whole new login, it wasn't really - when I "logged"
MZ> back in as the previous user from the current user's login, it
MZ> went right back to my screenaver.

On the original loss, it did go back to the 'reboot-style' login
screen, and I did log in as user A, but nothing was there after the
login - just like a completely new login. [BUT - there WAS a very
brief text msg before the login screen appeared. This msg might have
given some info re why this switch failed. This text msg has not been
there for any of the subsequent successful switch tests.]

In the subsequent testing, I always seem to get a completely different
'switch' login screen, which looks exactly like you are switching
users. I so far have not seen a case where I get the reboot-style
screen during a switch.

Are you saying you have gotten the original reboot-type screen during
a switch?

MZ> Are you *sure* you lost all your windows, workspaces, etc. or did
MZ> it just look that way?

It certainly looked that way. At that point, how can I tell if the
stuff is still there but somehow hidden?

MZ> Are you sure you didn't log out as opposed to switching users?
MZ> It's easy to do if your mouse or <return> are quicker than the
MZ> hand.... 

That is a possibility. It's one of those things one just 'does'
without paying special attention to the exact event. But, the dropdown
box is fairly clear, with some spacing between 'switch' and logout.
[But the mind/hand can always play tricks... :-) ]

I do note that in subsequent testing, the other users are clearly
shown with a check mark if logged in. My recollection is that user A
was NOT shown as logged on when I went to switch back to user A, so it
might seem as though user A was logged out even before the switch
back.

My best guess is that something happened during the switch, and the
brief text msg gave some useful/explanatory info about what it was. Is
there ANY way to try to get to that msg after doing updates, reboots,
multiple switches, etc?

Thanks much for the reply,

 rikona