Don't upgrade gdm to 1:3.4.0.1-4.fc17

[secipolla]

It will crash at login.
There's a 1:3.4.0.1-5.fc17 already but it didn't make to my local mirrors yet.

[dd_wizard]

Just to be safe, I downloaded gdm-3.4.0.1-5.fc17 from koji and installed it since I had already gotten the bad update.

dd_wizard

[Dan]

Ayup. She's broke. In a big way.

For anyone who is a GUI user, you can still get into your GUI by editing the kernel line in GRUB to append a "3" at the end of the kernel line. (Boot into run level 3) Then when you hit the console login, go ahead and log in per usual, and then run startx from the prompt.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by dd_wizard

Just to be safe, I downloaded gdm-3.4.0.1-5.fc17 from koji and installed it since I had already gotten the bad update.

dd_wizard

Did that clear up the problem there? Kinda sounds like he was tossing guesses at it at this point. Works here, but that may be completely accidental.
<....>

[nonamedotc]

Guys, I do not know how, gdm-3.4.0.1.4-fc17 works fine for me. No issues whatsoever.

yum list installed | grep gdm
gdm.x86_64                           1:3.4.0.1-4.fc17           @updates-testing

[secipolla]

I eventually downgraded to 3.4.0.1-1 because it was what was available (yum couldn't 'undo' for gdm).
Good to know about startx, the problem is editing the grub menu which deletes about 7 characters in front of the cursor (no problem, but reported).

---------- Post added at 11:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 PM ----------

Originally Posted by nonamedotc

Guys, I do not know how, gdm-3.4.0.1.4-fc17 works fine for me. No issues whatsoever.

yum list installed | grep gdm
gdm.x86_64                           1:3.4.0.1-4.fc17           @updates-testing

There were two bugs for gdm: one for it not working in live mode and one about PAM or something like that. I don't know if any is this one, so I don't know what's the specific problem.

[DBelton]

I didn't even realize there were issues with it until I saw this thread here. I have had that version installed without any issues. (well, except for the borked login box where it shows disabled system users.)

Installed Packages
Name        : gdm
Arch        : x86_64
Epoch       : 1
Version     : 3.4.0.1
Release     : 4.fc17
Size        : 6.2 M
Repo        : installed
From repo   : updates-testing
Summary     : The GNOME Display Manager
URL         : http://download.gnome.org/sources/gdm
License     : GPLv2+
Description : GDM provides the graphical login screen, shown shortly after boot
            : up, log out, and when user-switching.

[Dan]

Hmmm. Might have been specific to us lowly 32 bit users.

[DBelton]

I don't have F17 on a 32 bit machine yet, so I really can't compare it to see if that is the case or not. If I had more time this past weekend, I would have a 32 bit install, but.. The weather was soooooo nice and that lake was just calling my name!

[Dan]

Agreed. The WX was so nice here yesterday afternoon, I even enjoyed mowing. <....>

[DBelton]

*** makes a call to the guys in the white coats, telling them to bring Dan one of those stylish jackets with the extra long sleeves ***

I do believe that Dan has finally just lost it completely.

[hadrons123]

Why is gdm always buggy before a release, whereas LXDM is smooth?

[secipolla]

Originally Posted by hadrons123

Why is gdm always buggy before a release, whereas LXDM is smooth?

I guess because of all GNOME services it deals with.
Anyway, for non-GNOME users, the solution is to have an alternative. I noticed here in F17 that enabling the GNOME services in Xfce would override even the keyboard shortcuts (it didn't use to be like that, at least in Debian which was what I used until recently).

[hm_shurt]

I just used xdm.
preferred=xdm in /etc/X11/prefdm.

works fine with gnome, if not so pretty.

---------- Post added at 07:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:23 AM ----------

I see the fixed gdm is now available on yum.

[DBelton]

Originally Posted by secipolla

I guess because of all GNOME services it deals with.
Anyway, for non-GNOME users, the solution is to have an alternative. I noticed here in F17 that enabling the GNOME services in Xfce would override even the keyboard shortcuts (it didn't use to be like that, at least in Debian which was what I used until recently).

And that is one of the major problems.

A desktop manager should not be dealing with services of the desktop environment. It should start up, give the user a place to login, and then start the desktop environment the user wishes. Then the desktop environment should deal with all of the services it needs.

Even for Gnome users, and alternative desktop manager works better than GDM. I used KDM for awhile and it ran much better starting Gnome than GDM did. The other desktop managers are even more lean and trim, and work better than either GDM or KDM.