I've chased this one for a while. Martin Bialasinski tried to help via private email, but neither of us could figure out what is wrong.
# xauth -i generate westgac3/unix:0 . xauth: creating new authority file ~/.Xauthority xauth: unable to open tmp file "~/.Xauthority-n" xauth: unable to write authority file ~/.Xauthority-n With Martin's guidance, I learned about using strace, so here's the 'strace' result: ------------------- # strace xauth -i generate westgac3/unix:0 . execve("/usr/X11/bin/xauth", ["xauth", "-i", "generate", "westgac3/unix:0", "."], [/* 25 vars */]) = 0 mmap(0, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x40007000 mprotect(0x40000000, 20301, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC) = 0 mprotect(0x8048000, 23763, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC) = 0 stat("/etc/ld.so.cache", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=8784, ...}) = 0 open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY) = 3 mmap(0, 8784, PROT_READ, MAP_SHARED, 3, 0) = 0x40008000 close(3) = 0 open("/usr/lib/libgnumalloc.so.5", O_RDONLY) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\1\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3"..., 4096) = 4096 mmap(0, 12288, PROT_NONE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x4000b000 mmap(0x4000b000, 5832, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0) = 0x4000b000 mmap(0x4000d000, 1988, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0x1000) = 0x4000d000 close(3) = 0 mprotect(0x4000b000, 5832, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC) = 0 stat("/etc/ld.so.preload", 0xbffffadc) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) open("/usr/X11R6/lib/libXmu.so.6", O_RDONLY) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\1\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3"..., 4096) = 4096 mmap(0, 73728, PROT_NONE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x4000e000 mmap(0x4000e000, 62925, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0) = 0x4000e000 mmap(0x4001e000, 3612, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0xf000) = 0x4001e000 mmap(0x4001f000, 232, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x4001f000 close(3) = 0 mprotect(0x4000e000, 62925, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC) = 0 open("/usr/X11R6/lib/libXt.so.6", O_RDONLY) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\1\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3"..., 4096) = 4096 mmap(0, 270336, PROT_NONE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x40020000 mmap(0x40020000, 251891, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0) = 0x40020000 mmap(0x4005e000, 13596, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0x3d000) = 0x4005e000 close(3) = 0 mprotect(0x40020000, 251891, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC) = 0 open("/usr/X11R6/lib/libSM.so.6", O_RDONLY) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\1\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3"..., 4096) = 4096 mmap(0, 36864, PROT_NONE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x40062000 mmap(0x40062000, 27717, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0) = 0x40062000 mmap(0x40069000, 4640, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0x6000) = 0x40069000 close(3) = 0 mprotect(0x40062000, 27717, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC) = 0 open("/usr/X11R6/lib/libICE.so.6", O_RDONLY) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\1\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3"..., 4096) = 4096 mmap(0, 86016, PROT_NONE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x4006b000 mmap(0x4006b000, 71563, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0) = 0x4006b000 mmap(0x4007d000, 3180, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0x11000) = 0x4007d000 mmap(0x4007e000, 6236, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x4007e000 close(3) = 0 mprotect(0x4006b000, 71563, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC) = 0 open("/usr/X11R6/lib/libXext.so.6", O_RDONLY) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\1\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3"..., 4096) = 4096 mmap(0, 45056, PROT_NONE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x40080000 mmap(0x40080000, 36153, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0) = 0x40080000 mmap(0x40089000, 4300, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0x8000) = 0x40089000 close(3) = 0 mprotect(0x40080000, 36153, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC) = 0 open("/usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6", O_RDONLY) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\1\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3"..., 4096) = 4096 mmap(0, 647168, PROT_NONE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x4008b000 mmap(0x4008b000, 624417, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0) = 0x4008b000 mmap(0x40124000, 17760, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0x98000) = 0x40124000 close(3) = 0 mprotect(0x4008b000, 624417, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC) = 0 open("/lib/libc.so.5", O_RDONLY) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\1\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3"..., 4096) = 4096 mmap(0, 765952, PROT_NONE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x40129000 mmap(0x40129000, 531571, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0) = 0x40129000 mmap(0x401ab000, 22276, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED, 3, 0x81000) = 0x401ab000 mmap(0x401b1000, 205164, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x401b1000 close(3) = 0 mprotect(0x40129000, 531571, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC) = 0 munmap(0x40008000, 8784) = 0 mprotect(0x8048000, 23763, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC) = 0 mprotect(0x4000b000, 5832, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC) = 0 mprotect(0x4000e000, 62925, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC) = 0 mprotect(0x40020000, 251891, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC) = 0 mprotect(0x40062000, 27717, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC) = 0 mprotect(0x4006b000, 71563, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC) = 0 mprotect(0x40080000, 36153, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC) = 0 mprotect(0x4008b000, 624417, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC) = 0 mprotect(0x40129000, 531571, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC) = 0 mprotect(0x40000000, 20301, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC) = 0 personality(PER_LINUX) = 0 geteuid() = 0 getuid() = 0 getgid() = 0 getegid() = 0 sigaction(SIGINT, {0x804a100, [], SA_INTERRUPT|SA_NOMASK|SA_ONESHOT}, {SIG_DFL}) = 0 sigaction(SIGTERM, {0x804a100, [], SA_INTERRUPT|SA_NOMASK|SA_ONESHOT}, {SIG_DFL}) = 0 sigaction(SIGHUP, {0x804a100, [], SA_INTERRUPT|SA_NOMASK|SA_ONESHOT}, {SIG_DFL}) = 0 access("~/.Xauthority", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) umask(077) = 02 brk(0x80529b4) = 0x80529b4 brk(0x8053000) = 0x8053000 brk(0x8054000) = 0x8054000 open("~/.Xauthority", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) access("~/.Xauthority", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) write(2, "xauth: creating new authority f"..., 50xauth: creating new authority file ~/.Xauthority ) = 50 brk(0x8055000) = 0x8055000 brk(0x8056000) = 0x8056000 brk(0x8057000) = 0x8057000 brk(0x8058000) = 0x8058000 socket(PF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0) = 3 connect(3, {sun_family=AF_UNIX, sun_path="/tmp/.X11-unix/X0"}, 19) = 0 brk(0x8059000) = 0x8059000 uname({sys="Linux", node="westgac3", ...}) = 0 fcntl(3, F_SETFD, FD_CLOEXEC) = 0 access("~/.Xauthority", R_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) writev(3, [{"l\0\v\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0", 12}], 1) = 12 fcntl(3, F_SETFL, O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK) = 0 read(3, 0xbffffa44, 8) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\0\v\0\0\0$\0", 8) = 8 brk(0x805a000) = 0x805a000 read(3, "\344\f\0\0\0\0\0\3\377\377?\0\0\1"..., 144) = 144 write(3, "7\0\5\0\0\0\0\3&\0\0\0\10\0\0\0\377"..., 64) = 64 read(3, 0xbffff9d4, 32) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\351\2\0\0\0\0\0\1\204\0\0\30\0"..., 32) = 32 read(3, "\1\10\3\0001\0\0\0\37\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 32) = 32 readv(3, [{"*XmText.translations:\t#override"..., 196}, {"", 0}], 2) = 196 write(3, "\204\0\1\0", 4) = 4 read(3, 0xbffff9f4, 32) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\351\4\0\0\0\0\0\377\377\17\0\0"..., 32) = 32 writev(3, [{"b\0\5\0\t\0\0\3", 8}, {"XKEYBOARD", 9}, {"\0\0\0", 3}], 3) = 20 read(3, 0xbffff8d0, 32) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\351\5\0\0\0\0\0\1\210T\210\0\0"..., 32) = 32 write(3, "\210\0\2\0\1\0\0\0", 8) = 8 read(3, 0xbffff958, 32) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\1\6\0\0\0\0\0\1\0\0\0\244\351"..., 32) = 32 write(3, "\20\0\4\0\7\0\0\0Compose\0", 16) = 16 read(3, 0xbffff904, 32) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\351\7\0\0\0\0\0\275\0\0\0\0\0"..., 32) = 32 writev(3, [{"b\0\4\0\10\0\0\0", 8}, {"SECURITY", 8}], 2) = 16 read(3, 0xbffff978, 32) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\351\10\0\0\0\0\0\1\216W\215\0"..., 32) = 32 write(3, "\216\0\2\0\1\0\0\0", 8) = 8 read(3, 0xbffffa30, 32) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\341\t\0\0\0\0\0\1\0\0\0\244\351"..., 32) = 32 write(3, "\216\1\10\0\22\0\0\0\0\0\0\0MIT-"..., 32) = 32 read(3, 0xbffffa24, 32) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\341\n\0\4\0\0\0005\0\0\0\20\0"..., 32) = 32 readv(3, [{"q56\23>#&fK)\7u<Nfu", 16}, {"", 0}], 2) = 16 write(3, "+\1\1\0", 4) = 4 read(3, 0xbffffa1c, 32) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\2\v\0\0\0\0\0\24\0\300\0\0\0\0"..., 32) = 32 write(3, "<\1\2\0\0\0\0\3+\0\1\0", 12) = 12 read(3, 0xbffffa10, 32) = -1 EAGAIN (Try again) oldselect(4, [3], NULL, NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [3]) read(3, "\1\2\r\0\0\0\0\0\24\0\300\0\0\0\0"..., 32) = 32 shutdown(3, 2 /* send and receive */) = 0 close(3) = 0 unlink("~/.Xauthority-n") = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) open("~/.Xauthority-n", O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC, 0666) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) write(2, "xauth: unable to open tmp file "..., 50xauth: unable to open tmp file "~/.Xauthority-n" ) = 50 write(2, "xauth: unable to write authorit"..., 55xauth: unable to write authority file ~/.Xauthority-n ) = 55 umask(02) = 077 _exit(0) = ? exit --------------------------------- Additional info: # cd /; ls -al ... drwxr--r-- 2 root root 1024 Jan 15 09:34 root drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 2048 Nov 28 21:52 sbin drwxrwxrwt 3 root root 1024 Jan 15 09:26 tmp ... # cd tmp; ls -al drwxrwxrwt 2 root root 1024 Jan 15 08:30 .X11-unix ... # cd .X11-unix; ls -al srwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Jan 15 08:30 X0 # cd /root; ls -al drwxr--r-- 2 root root 1024 Jan 15 09:34 . drwxr-xr-x 26 root root 1024 Dec 8 11:59 .. -rw-rw-rw- 1 root root 0 Jan 15 08:49 .Xauthority -rw-rw-rw- 1 root root 0 Jan 15 08:33 .Xauthority-n .... And all above was done as the root user in /root. BTW, xdm & startx both complain about .Xauthority as well. -- -= Sent by Debian 1.3 Linux =- Thomas Kocourek KD4CIK @[EMAIL PROTECTED]@westgac3.dragon.com Remove @_@ for correct Email address --... ...-- ... -.. . -.- -.. ....- -.-. .. -.- -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .