.gconf-test-locking-file ---what IS that?

[steve]

I've been using Linux at home pretty steadily for three years. For the past
three months it's been Red Hat 9 which I like the best so far. But suddenly
I've got a problem. I can log on as root. But when I try to log on as a
user, I get this: "could not open or create file
/home/steve/.gconf-test-locking-file"

Apparently it has to do with permissions. The user "steve" is UID 500. But
the folder /home/steve is owned by 501 ! Huh. I logged on as root and
changed the folder to UID 500. But it still didn't work. A search in
Google seemed to show that others had run into this, but I couldn't find the
solution.

Any help would be appreciated.

stevebee

[Jeffrey Silverman]

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 13:10:20 +0000, steve wrote:

> I've been using Linux at home pretty steadily for three years. For the
> past three months it's been Red Hat 9 which I like the best so far. But
> suddenly I've got a problem. I can log on as root. But when I try to log
> on as a user, I get this: "could not open or create file
> /home/steve/.gconf-test-locking-file"
>
> Apparently it has to do with permissions. The user "steve" is UID 500.
> But the folder /home/steve is owned by 501 ! Huh. I logged on as root
> and changed the folder to UID 500. But it still didn't work. A search in
> Google seemed to show that others had run into this, but I couldn't find
> the solution.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> stevebee

I don't know if this will help, but try this

as root, either chown /home/steve/.gconf-test-locking-file or rm it.

Sometimes removing locking files will fix probelms like this.
--
Jeffrey D. Silverman | jeffrey AT jhu DOT edu
Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD
Website | http://www.wse.jhu.edu/newtnotes/

[steve]

Jeffrey --

Yeah, I've had locked file problems before where deleting them cured it.
But, well, see there IS no /home/steve/.gconf-test-locking-file. Cause it
couldn't create it. So that one doesn't apply. Anyone else?

"Jeffrey Silverman" <jeffrey@jhu.edu> wrote in message
news:pan.2003.09.23.18.26.28.539695@jhu.edu...
> On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 13:10:20 +0000, steve wrote:
>
> > I've been using Linux at home pretty steadily for three years. For the
> > past three months it's been Red Hat 9 which I like the best so far. But
> > suddenly I've got a problem. I can log on as root. But when I try to
log
> > on as a user, I get this: "could not open or create file
> > /home/steve/.gconf-test-locking-file"
> >
> > Apparently it has to do with permissions. The user "steve" is UID 500.
> > But the folder /home/steve is owned by 501 ! Huh. I logged on as root
> > and changed the folder to UID 500. But it still didn't work. A search
in
> > Google seemed to show that others had run into this, but I couldn't find
> > the solution.
> >
> > Any help would be appreciated.
> >
> > stevebee
>
> I don't know if this will help, but try this
>
> as root, either chown /home/steve/.gconf-test-locking-file or rm it.
>
> Sometimes removing locking files will fix probelms like this.
> --
> Jeffrey D. Silverman | jeffrey AT jhu DOT edu
> Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD
> Website | http://www.wse.jhu.edu/newtnotes/
>

[Paul Lutus]

steve wrote:

> Jeffrey --
>
> Yeah, I've had locked file problems before where deleting them cured it.
> But, well, see there IS no /home/steve/.gconf-test-locking-file. Cause it
> couldn't create it. So that one doesn't apply. Anyone else?

Use your head. Why can't a process owned by steve create a file in the steve
directory? Look at the directory's permissions and ownership.

And avoid the use of numbers for group and owner designations as much as
possible. Use the names of users and groups as much as you can. It prevents
the kind of confusion you are experiencing right now.

It's obvious that you changed the ownership or permissions on the directory
in question. Just change it back.

--
Paul Lutus
http://www.arachnoid.com

[steve]

"Paul Lutus" <nospam@nosite.zzz> wrote in message
news:vn1r045s2j5a9@corp.supernews.com...

> Use your head. Why can't a process owned by steve create a file in the
steve
> directory? Look at the directory's permissions and ownership.
>
> And avoid the use of numbers for group and owner designations as much as
> possible. Use the names of users and groups as much as you can. It
prevents
> the kind of confusion you are experiencing right now.
>
> It's obvious that you changed the ownership or permissions on the
directory
> in question. Just change it back.
>
> --
> Paul Lutus
> http://www.arachnoid.com


Paul - Thanks for the kick-in-the-butt. My mistake was searching Google
and getting sidetracked when it was a simple ownership/permission issue.
All is well now.
Stevebee