(Using KDE 4.6.4; sorry, the guided bug reporting form is too annoying with the "steps to reproduce" and "expected results" requirements) Even when Preloader is commented-out in kdmrc kdm_greet attempts to execute it. It is either a bug in the program or the documentation in kdmrc should be updated. $ grep -B4 Preloader /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc # A program to run while the greeter is visible. It is supposed to preload # as much as possible of the session that is going to be started (most # probably). # Default is "" #Preloader=/usr/bin/preloadkde
impossible. maybe you are looking at the wrong kdmrc? try restarting kdm with "-debug 2" and check the syslog. see the kdm README for more info on debugging.
Sorry for taking so long to get back. (In reply to comment #1) > impossible. maybe you are looking at the wrong kdmrc? try restarting kdm with > "-debug 2" and check the syslog. see the kdm README for more info on debugging. The kdmrc I'm using is /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc (from the Debian package), and whatever change I make _is_ reflected. That includes enabling a Preloader. From the audit log the call to preloadkde _is_ there (that's how I noticed it tried to execute it): type=SYSCALL syscall=11 exit=-13 comm ="kdm_greet" exe="/usr/lib/kde4/libexec/kdm_greet" type=PATH name="/usr/bin/preloadkde" mode=0100644 (this time I did have a preloadkde file that I tried to use to debug but forgot to make it +x) Anyway, looking at the init script, I see it uses genkdmconf. So let's try... $ mkdir /tmp/kdm-test $ genkdmconf --in /tmp/kdm-test/ Information: reading pre-existing kdmrc /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc (config version 2.4 $ grep Preload /tmp/kdm-test/kdmrc Preloader=/usr/bin/preloadkde $ grep Preloader /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc #Preloader=/usr/bin/preloadkde Mystery solved, the bug is in genkdmrc
not so much a bug as expected behavior. to persistently disable it, use Preloader=. fwiw, it's a bit weird that the init script calls genkdmconf - it's only meant for post-install. maybe ask the debian guys what their reasoning for that is.
(In reply to comment #3) > not so much a bug as expected behavior. to persistently disable it, use > Preloader=. I beg to differ, the file itself says the default is "", and that's what I expect. Is there a place where genkdmrc's behaviour is documented? Even if, as you say, that's the expected behaviour I think it could be (better?) documented to avoid similar confusion in the future. Perhaps a notice in kdmrc providing some pointers. Thanks
defaults refer to kdm's built-in defaults. genkdmconf is an installation helper tool kdm knows nothing about. one could certainly document genkdmconf, but given that it is a heuristics-based helper, it is expected to produce unexpected results anyway (it generates a README file which says exactly that). the Instance fields in http://quickgit.kde.org/?p=kde-workspace.git&a=blob&f=kdm/config.def are the authoritative "documentation".