xfce doesn't stay put!

[Arjen Stolk]

Cristel,

On 3/5/06, Christel Robert <c.robert at inx.co.za> wrote:
> Sorry newbie here, you'll have to excuse my plain english vocabulary.
> I'm using xfce4. As for starting, it is definitely not a command line: when I switch on I
> have this xunbuntu splash (pitch black with dard blue xubuntu) that indicates what's
> loading, then an unbuntu pinkish screen asking for username, then password, with an
> option for which session I want.
When you get that screen which asks for your username and password
(this is your display
manager, by the way, one of those is XDM, which Erik refered to), you
can choose your session. One of the options is usually "failsafe
session" or "failsafe terminal". Select it (and don't make it your
default if the display manager asks). Now you should get a screen with
a command line window on it. On this command line type "startxfce4",
like Olivier suggested. An xfce session should now start. This will
probably fail, just like before. However, unlike before, you can now
look at the output on the command line to figure out what went wrong.

> As for .xsession-errors, I've no idea what you're talking about. Sorry I'm a newbie. On my
> way to look for it, though.
It is a file which should be in your home directory
(/home/whateveryourusernameis, or ~ for short), although you may not
normally see it in a file browser (most of these hide the files whose
name starts with a dot.) It basically gathers up all the errors and
diagnostic messages generated by programs you run. So it should
contain some hints as to what went wrong with your session.

Hope this helps, at least to clarify what the others said. If not,
feel free to ask.

- Arjen