It is the right list, I think, but the wrong style of trouble report. Figurative terms like "catatonic" and "lost" don't tell us enough. Remember, we can't *see* the actual problem; we know only what you *write* about it. Also, some X configuration stuff varies by distribution, and you haven't mentioned which Linux distro you use. Or which version of X. Or *how* you switched WMs (not "always a mistake", if, for example, your X popup menu offers a way to do it). For that matter, if you switched WMs, how it is that you only "think" you are running Sawmill now?
You haven't said what e-mail software you use, but it would be surprising if your e-mail is stored in a manner that would be threatened by even a complete reinstall of X. It is unclear what you have in mind when you talk about having X "start with the default settings". For some X settings -- like the ones specified in XF86Config or XF86Config-4 -- there are no meaningful defaults. Perhaps you mean you want a specific user to start up with the systemwide defaults? To accomplish this, you probably just rename (or delete, but that's riskier, as you already understand) the files /home/$USERID/.xinitrc and /home/$USERID/.xserverrc (but do check the startx script to see if your distro uses different names for these files). You might also need to check for (and rename if found) /home/$USERID/.Xsession and /home/$USERID/.Xresources . Check your system for other home-directory files that begin with .x or .X as well. I fear I cannot offer more specific advice -- in part because your trouble description, in part because I do not use Gnome, Sawmill, or Nautilus here. If that general advice doesn't help ... or if my guess about what you meant was wrong ... please try again, with a more careful description of the problem and a description of the basics of your system. Then perhaps someone here will be able to offer more than general advice based on guesses. At 01:35 AM 7/17/02 +0000, Chris Rodliffe wrote: >This may not be quite the right list, but I'm getting desperate. >My Gnome desktop has gone catatonic. First I lost the pager, then >the bar with the applets (can't remember its name). Quitting & >reloading X wouldn't bring it back. I tried switching window managers >(which is always a mistake) and now all I get when I start X is (I think) >Sawmill, with icons for Nautilus and the Trash can. If I start Nautilus >the title bar is off the top of the screen and I can't get it down. >The right mouse button works but the centre button does nothing, >so I can't get any applications, the only way I can get out of X >is Alt-Ctrl-F2. > >(If I log in as root, which happens to be configured for KDE, >everything works). > >OK, what I *want* to do at this stage is delete some config files so >X will start with the default settings. But I don't want to delete >the wrong files and kill X altogether. I have a heap of emails I >don't want to lose, for starters. Can anyone help? -- -----------------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"-------------- Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo Palo Alto, California, USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-newbie" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.linux-learn.org/faqs
