CDE error

[Jeff Pleau_1]

When I start a CDE session, I get the error "The desktop messaging system could not be started.

to correct the problem:

1. Choose [OK] to return to the login screen.
2. Select Failsafe Session from the login screen's option menu and log in.
3. Check to see that the desktop is properly installed, the hostname is correct (/etc/hosts) and that the network is properly configured."

I have done all above, and I believe everything is OK - are there any signs for #'s 2 & 3 in above list that I can check from the command line?

Thanks
Jeff

[Patrick Wallek]

From the command do:

# nslookup hostname

# nslookup ip_address_for_host

Do this for both the hostname and IP address of your system. Each should return the proper value for the other. If they don't then you need to fix whatever the problem is.

If you are using DNS, check your /etc/nsswitch.conf file for the line:

hosts: files [NOTFOUND=continue] dns

I would put files first and then dns so that local hostname lookups don't have to go to DNS.

[S.K. Chan · Accepted solution]

See if this will help ..

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x72b479bffde7d4118fef0090279cd0f9,00.html

[Craig Rants]

Just a thought, but is rpc.ttdbserver running, what about tftp. Also, how are you using CDE, from a connected monitor, xterm, exceed? That may help in the troubleshooting.

GL,
C

[Peter Kloetgen]

Hi Jeff,

you told us, that you checked your networking configuration. Did you also check the entries in the namsvrs file? Is there an entry for DNS or NIS and that service is not used? If so, you get the CDE- error you described.

Allways stay on the bright side of life!

Peter

[Jeff Pleau_1]

SK Chan

That link was most helpful, I ran the dr_dt command and was able to find the source of my problem (I hope) - the file /var/adm/inetd.sec is missing, how would I go about recreating this or is it automatically done on install?

[Patrick Wallek]

/var/adm/inetd.sec is just a plain text file. You can re-create it with vi.

There should be a sample inetd.sec in /usr/newconfig/var/adm/inetd.sec that you can look at.

Keep in mind that anytime you modify /var/adm/inetd.sec you will need to get inetd to re-read its configuration with an 'inetd -c'.

[S.K. Chan]

If you got a big inetd.sec then you can copy it from another similar "setup" machine and change the hostname in that file appropriately.

[Jeff Pleau_1]

I went through the errors that I received via dr_dt and corrected all of them, now I seem to be getting a cyclical error. dr_dt reports that the permissions on / directory is not properly configured. The current configuration is
permissions=dr-xr-xr-x
owner=root
group=sys
For HP CDE to function correctly, it should be a directory with the following configuration:
permissions=drwxr-xr-x
owner=root
group=root

If I change the group with chgrp root /, then it says the group should be sys. If I change the permissions using chmod u+w /, then it reports that the permissions should be dr-xr-xr-x

What's going on - I am fairly new to UNIX, having a real hard time getting the A-class server up using CDE

Thanks
Jeff

[Patrick Wallek]

The permissions on the / directory on my machine are:
drwxr-xr-x 31 root root 2048 Feb 6 09:38 /

CDE is working fine on my machine with those permissions.

Have checked hostname resolution?

# nslookup hostname
should return appropriate IP address

# nslookup ip_address
should return appropriate hostname

Incorrect resolution can cause some screwy problems.

[Sanjay_6]

Hi Jeff,

The permissions should be like this,

/etc/hosts -r--r--r-- bin:bin
/etc/nsswitch.conf -rw-r--r-- root:sys
/etc/resolv.conf -rw-r--r-- root:sys
/var/adm/inetd.sec -r--r--r-- root:sys
$HOME drwxr-xr-x (user):(group)
$HOME/.dt drwxr-xr-x (user):(group)
$HOME/.TTauthority drwxr-xr-x (user):(group)


Hope this helps.

Regds

[Sanjay_6]

Hi Jeff,

You can give this link a try,

http://us-support2.external.hp.com/cki/bin/doc.pl/sid=b41445fe0a48140f36/screen=ckiDisplayDocument?docId=200000058694013

Hope this helps.

Regds

[Jeff Pleau_1]

Also, I checked the errorlog from the .dt folder and it is getting the following:

*** ERROR(4): dtsession: PID 3311: Mon Feb 11 15:39:44 2002
The ToolTalk session server (ttsession) could not be started. This indicates that either ToolTalk is not installed or that it is not installed correctly on this machine

When I log in via Failsafe mode, ttsession and rpc.ttdbserver are both running in the process management window of SAM, directed to the proper IP of my X-terminal. BTW, I'm using Xfree86 w/Cygwin to access CDE, using the command
Xwin -query [host] -from [terminal] -fp tcp/[host]:7100

Thanks

[Sanjay_6]

Hi Jeff,

this link explains the tooltalk errors,

http://us-support2.external.hp.com/cki/bin/doc.pl/sid=7473c4de07d627f70c/screen=ckiDisplayDocument?docId=200000058693859

Also check out this link,

http://us-support2.external.hp.com/cki/bin/doc.pl/sid=7473c4de07d627f70c/screen=ckiDisplayDocument?docId=200000058693886

Hope this helps.

Regds

[K.Vijayaragavan.]

Using the commands,

#set_parms hostname
#set_parms ip_address

Specify the same host name and IP addresses once again. This should update all the required files with the right hostname and ip address.

After this, ensure that /etc/hosts file has read permission to all.(becasue the set_parms command will update the /etc/hosts file and sets it permission as per the default umask setting)

Most of the time this error used to appear because of improper permission set on the /etc/hosts file or even if there is an IP Clash.

To determine whether there is an IP clash or not, you can disconnect your server from the network and ping the IP address of the server from some other system in the network.

Hope this helps you!

-K.Vijay

[Jeff Pleau_2]

Thx to all who helped with my CDE error. After making the changes outlined and restarting the server, I have been able to use CDE!!!