CDE 'desktop messaging will not start'

[Dave McAllister]

Hi,

I've done a fresh install of HPUX 11i on an HP Visualize B132L. The installation goes fine, but when I try to login, I get the 'desktop messaging did not start' error.

I have checked /etc/hosts and /etc/rc.config.d/netconf, and the hostname is the same.

I've tried running set_parms initial, and editing the config files directly.

I've fixed all the errors I get from dr_dt, except one: Could not contact host. Make sure the hostname is correct and an absolute pathname is specified (beginning with "/"). I'm not sure what config file it's referring to.

swinstall also can't seem to find the host.

No matter what I set the hostname to, my DHCP server (router) shows either no hostname for the HPUX box's IP, or gibberish.

Does anyone have any ideas?

For some reason I can't find
KBRC00004688 CDE Login Troubleshooting
or
KBRC00004164 Unable to initialize or connect to the Desktop messaging system
which have been mentioned by others in relation to similar problems. Does anyone have a direct link to either of these articles?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

[Eric Antunes]

Hi Dave,

Check this thread:

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=735717

Best Regards,

Eric Antunes

[Eric Antunes]

Also check this one:

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=55180

[RAC_1]

nslookup $(hostname)
Is that OK?? Unless host resolution is resolved, you will not have nay luck with "messaging system error"

Also check in /etc/rc.config.d/ directory. The script netconf sets the host name. Check if ou have some unrequired files under /etc/rc.config.d like netconf.bak, *.org. These files may cause problem settign the host name.

Anil

[Ivajlo Yanakiev]

First:
in your /etc/hosts

your.ip.address my.server.full.name name

like
192.168.1.1 server1.mydomain.com server1


in your /etc/nsswitch.conf

hosts files dns

[Dave McAllister_1]

Thanks to all for the quick replies. Adding nsswitch.conf did the trick.

One wonders why it isn't added by default on installation.

Dave

[Bill Hassell]

nsswitch.conf is an optional file to sort out what to do with DNS, NIS and /etc/hosts. It used to be supplied in the past with a name resolution order of DNS then FILES. The problem is that workstations (in particular) would have lots of problems if the DNS server wasn't working, the subnet mask did not match the network, or a slew of other config problems.

CDE simply won't start without valid nameserver beavior. By putting something into /etc/resolv.conf, you turned off /etc/hosts because there was no nsswitch.conf file. Before the nsswitch.conf file was meaningful, you had to choose hosts or DNS with no failover. nsswitch.conf directs the hostname/IP resolution order and the steps needed to resolve the address. Since the:

hosts: files dns

line is now in your workstation, your address will now be resolved in /etc/hosts. My guess is that your DNS server(s) do not know anything about your workstation and that is why CDE will not start. To verify this, use nslookup to lookup both your hostname and IP address using the first nameserver listed in resolv.conf:

nslookup myhost 12.34.56.78
nslookup 87.65.43.21 12.34.56.78

When you give nslookup the second parameter, it bypasses nsswitch.conf and uses only the DNS server specified by the second parameter.

[Dave McAllister_1]

You're right, that's exactly what it was. I am behind a router, and the nameserver can't see me. Of course, when I tried connecting the box outside the firewall, the nameserver assigned it a 16-character hostname, which I guess HPUX doesn't like either. The techs were sympathetic but insisted that they couldn't assign me a hostname individually.

Does anyone have any idea why the router's DHCP server would be displaying nonsense instead of the HPUX box's hostname? It doesn't seem to make any difference, just strange behaviour.

Dave

[Bill Hassell]

It's the tail wagging the dog. DHCP means that your computer is asking for a random address and therefore the router assigns a name made up from MAC addresses or somnething similar. There is no way for the router to know your hostname. DHCP is a nice feature for purely client machines like PCs, but for Unix boxes, it can introduce a number of 'interesting' behaviors. Luckily, the nsswitch.conf file can sort this out by being the first source of information about hostnames.