[lug] pam_unix closes session

[D. Stimits]

Benno Stein wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I'm running Redhat 7.3, Gnome desktop, and the gdm display manager.
> 
> I've the following problem with the graphical login:
> 
> When a normal user logs in, the graphical login disappears, and
> instead of to be logged, the graphical login comes again. This
> only appears at the first login after a shutdown/reboot.
> 
> However, root is always able to log in normally.
> 
> 
> The respective lines in /var/log/messages reflect this behavior:
> 
> [...]
> Sep 25 02:24:49 pc-chaos gdm(pam_unix)[1083]: session opened for user 
> jeanclaude by (uid=0)
> Sep 25 02:24:51 pc-chaos gdm(pam_unix)[1083]: session closed for user 
> jeanclaude
> Sep 25 02:25:11 pc-chaos gdm(pam_unix)[1083]: session opened for user 
> root by (uid=0)
> [...]
> Sep 25 02:25:20 pc-chaos gnome-name-server[1370]: starting
> [...]
> 
> 
> The settings in pam.d file have not been modified.

I have run into something vaguely similar, though not exact. Stale /tmp/ 
files for the user, or stale auth files in the user's home directory, 
had to be removed to get it to work. See if the ~/.xsession-errors has a 
clue to help, and try deleting that user's ~/.ICEauthority file. Similar 
failures might occur if some part of authentication files can't be read, 
e.g., insufficient permissions.

D. Stimits, stimits AT attbi.com