Can't login through gdm, but startx works (karmic)

[gward]

I first installed karmic Xubuntu around alpha 4, and back then I was able to login via gdm: it started my XFCE session no problem. But for several weeks now, login via gdm has failed. It spins for a few seconds and then goes back to the user selection screen.

/var/log/daemon.log hints at the problem:



Oct 30 21:14:19 gollum gnome-session[3840]: devkit-power-gobject-WARNING: Couldn't enumerate devices: The name org.freedesktop.DeviceKit.Power was not provided by any .service files
Oct 30 21:14:19 gollum gnome-session[3840]: WARNING: Could not launch application 'metacity.desktop': Unable to start application: Failed to execute child process "metacity" (No such file or directory)
Oct 30 21:14:20 gollum gnome-session[3840]: WARNING: Could not launch application 'gnome-power-manager.desktop': Unable to start application: Failed to execute child process "gnome-power-manager" (No such file or directory)


Huh? Why is gdm running gnome-session under Xubuntu?

If I login on the console and then run startx, it's fine: that starts up my XFCE session as expected.

[gward]

Forgot to mention: while this was a clean OS install, I'm using the same home directory that I've been carrying around for ~12 years. So there is some history there. Most recently, I used it with GNOME under intrepid and jaunty.

Hypothesis: something in my home directory is making gdm run gnome-session, which then fails.

Confirmation: I created a test user with a barebones home directory. Can login just fine via gdm as the test user.

Hmmmm. Now I just have to whittle down what's in my home directory that is screwing up gdm.

[lidex]

Look in "/home/username/.config/autostart" (username=your user name) and delete "metacity.desktop" and "gnome-power-manager.desktop"




Hmmmm. Now I just have to whittle down what's in my home directory that is screwing up gdm.
Run this command in terminal:

locate gnome-session