#731508 xdm: session will not execute correctly / login works

Package:
xdm
Source:
xdm
Description:
X display manager
Submitter:
Date:
2026-10-02 22:05:03 UTC
Severity:
important
#731508#5
Date:
2013-12-06 06:28:22 UTC
From:
To:
Dear Maintainer,

   * What led up to the situation?
     Launching session with xdm/gdm/kdm
   * What exactly did you do (or not do) that was effective (or
     ineffective)?
     Credentials given to xdm
   * What was the outcome of this action?
     Login works but session fails to start
   * What outcome did you expect instead?
     Working session

currently xdm, gdm and kdm seem to be broken due to a bug I can not locate.

The Login itself works, but the window manager won't execute and the login due
fails to start.

Running startx works and I get a working X session.

I attached my .xinitrc file.

With many greetings,

Adrian Immanuel KIEß
#731508#10
Date:
2014-04-06 13:16:42 UTC
From:
To:
Hi,

I'm providing an update to the bug report as I seem to have a
similar bug. I am running testing (jessie) on amd64 with a
HD7970 graphics card and debian's fglrx code was working.

I was running gdm3 and did an upgrade to vlc, then upgraded
the installation via apt-get dist-upgrade. On re-booting,
a black blank screen presented, and I used the termnal console
to remove gdm3 and install xdm.

on rebooting, xdm offered the usual greeting panel and login
proceeded as normal. (there are a couple of bugs that I will
report separately)

When the session is idle the screen blanks. On resumption, the
login presents as a white rectangle with password entry field,
and two buttons "switch user" and "login"?

No matter what password is entered, the login always fails.
#731508#15
Date:
2014-04-07 18:13:04 UTC
From:
To:
xdm has nothing to do with the screensaver, and doesn't know anything
about user switching, so whatever problem you're having with the screen
saver is unrelated to xdm.

Cheers,
Julien
#731508#20
Date:
2026-10-02 22:02:44 UTC
From:
To:
Control: notfound -1 1:1.1.11-1
I'm closing this bug, as the problem does not appear to be in xdm:
you saw the same failure with xdm, gdm and kdm, while startx worked.

Note that display managers do not read ~/.xinitrc; that file is only
used by startx/xinit. xdm (like the other display managers) runs
Debian's /etc/X11/Xsession, which starts ~/.xsession if it exists, and
otherwise x-session-manager or x-window-manager. So a setup that lives
only in ~/.xinitrc will not be used after a graphical login. If a
session started from a display manager fails, the reason is usually
written to ~/.xsession-errors.

If you can still reproduce a failure that is specific to xdm with the
current version (1:1.1.17), please reopen this bug and attach
~/.xsession-errors.

Thanks,
Boyuan