[vox-tech] X is blown out

[rscofield]

>===== Original Message From vox-tech@lists.lugod.org =====
>[Cc'ing research@afes.com as requested.  Any followups should do
>likewise.]
>
>Quoting rscofield (rscofield@afes.com):
>
>> This morning as I was booting into Linux the electricity in my house went 
out,
>> and as a result my X has been blown out.
>>
>> When I boot into Mandrake I get an error message that goes by so fast that 
I
>> can't read it.  It starts out like this:  "Can't remove..." and then this 
is
>> followed by a filename.
>>
>> After I log on and type "startx" I get these error messages:
>>
>> "xauth:  error in locking authority file /home/bob/.Xauthority
>>
>> Fatal server error:
>>
>> Can't read lock file /tmp/.X0-lock"
>
>The obvious question, of course, is what's going on with the /tmp
>directory.  (Is it, by some chance, a separate /tmp filesystem?  If so,
>is it getting successfully mounted at boot time?  Check /etc/fstab and
>the output of /bin/mount, if you're unsure.)

It seems to be mounted.  I can access the directory.  Also /etc/fstab shows 
that it's supposed to be mounted.  I don't know how to check the output of 
/bin/mount/
>
>What are the ownership and permissions on the /tmp directory?

The permissions are drwxrwxrwt.  I'm not familiar with the "t".

> Is there
>anything in it?  Maybe /tmp/.X0-lock, for example?  If so, what are the
>ownership and permissions on that?

There's stuff in there but no .X0-lock.  I guess that' the problem.

>
>Does the symptom you describe happen for the root user, as well as for
>your non-root username?

Yes.  However, I also have Red Hat on this machine, and when I boot into Red 
Hat 
X works.  So it looks like something in Mandrake has been fried; like maybe 
/tmp/.X0-lock.
>
>About the boot-time error message that scrolls off-screen too quickly to
>read:  You need to examine the console log:  Try "dmesg | less".

I can't find that message with dmesg.  I actually tried that earlier.

Bob