[NTLUG:Discuss] stupid questions

[kbrannen@gte.net]

Fred wrote:
> I forgot what process L/M and KDE use when going into init 5... I have been
> trying to fix the fact that in the login window, my keyboard's number lock is
> turned off and the enter key on the keypad won't work. In init 3 it works, and
> once KDE is running the enter key works. If I knew which rc file to use, I
> could fix the prob.... but I don't seem to be able to find it.

You want to check out the files in /etc/rc.d/rc5.d (and in /etc/rc.d/rc3.d for 
comparison).  These are the standard startup script dirs.  The other run 
states have their own dirs too (next door so to speak. :-)

> 
> Also, in a related note, what does KDE use as a .profile after a user logs in?
> I do not have .xsession, it doesn't read .bash_profile, so what does it read?

Depends on your shell I would think.  In addition to any .bash_profile and 
.bashrc that you may have, it probably also uses /etc/profile.  Bash may do 
other things, see the man page, I'm not a bash expert (I'm a ksh kind of guy).

I am making the assumption that the shell you're questioning is told its a 
"login" shell.  If it's not, it will skip reading some of your config files. 
I force this on every xterm on my system with a line in my .Xdefaults like:

*xterm*loginShell: true

Anyway, after the login from xdm (in init 5), it should create a "login" 
shell, then start your .xsession or since you say you don't have one, it 
should use a system-wide default one.  The KDE docs may be useful here too.

> 
> I feel like I am supposed to know all this, but I feel like the lawnmower man
> at times. Like, where is a detailed description of the login process, from the
> time the system goes to init 5 to the time your desktop settles down? That I
> have never seen.
> 
> I know that I could spend a lot of time digging through scripts to get the
> info, but I just don't have the time and would rather be able to have a
> reference, either in print or in a HOW-TO..... besides, the time that I have
> spent has obviously not done much good if I am asking these questions.

Well, since you don't know all of this, we'll just have to... ;-)

This may not be what you're searching for, but look for a file called 
From-PowerUp-To-Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.gz.  For me, it's in /usr/share/doc/howto/en 
(on a Suse system).  If you don't have one, I'm sure a google search will find 
it.  For init 5, also see:

/usr/share/doc/howto/en/html/mini/XDM-Xterm/xdm.html
/usr/share/doc/howto/en/html/mini/XDM-Xterm/xdm-advconfig.html
man xdm

Of course, you system may use kdm, or one of the other "dm" programs.

HTH,
Kevin