On Fri, 4 Jan 2002, Shlomi Fish wrote: > > I am using Mandrake Linux 8.1 and recently got a problem when using su > under xterms. > > The problem is that when su exits I get a "Bus Error" > signal. The reason is that the pam_xauth PAM module tries to create a very > large file at $HOME/.xauth/refcount/root/localhost.localdomain/unix\:0. (I > traced this problem into a bug in pam_xauth and reported it to the PAM > mailing list) > > Now, when I try to su again, I get a "File size limit exceeded" notice > after I type the password. > > I can overcome this method by deleting my $HOME/.Xauthority file. However, > when I run startx, it is created once more, so I have to delete it time > and again. I don't know what I did to trigger this problem because since I > installed Linux Mandrake 7.1 (and upgraded it to the more recent versions) > su ran fine.
WorksForMe . Just a note about your current workaround: deleting .Xauthority prevents you from authenticating to the X server. In that case pam_xauth does nothing. If pam_xauth is indeed buggy and there is no easy way around it, disable pam_xauth . At least you will be able to use X Authority for your user's clients. Instead of using xauth you can manually forward X authority. Or, you can use: alias xsu=='su -c "env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY XAUTHORITY=$XAUTHORITY $SHELL" -' Or: alias xsu=='su -c "env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY XAUTHORITY=$HOME/.Xauthority $SHELL" -' This is supposed to run a root shell that uses the same DISPLAY and XAUTHORITY file as the original shell. -- Tzafrir Cohen mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.technion.ac.il/~tzafrir ================================================================= To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
