[SOLVED] xauth/.serverauth issue with startx

rkfb · 02-17-2019, 12:25 PM

I don't use sudo, I switch to root when I need to. I can read and write to /tmp anyway as a normal user.

I'm not sure where it's all coming from to be honest, I can hit Ctrl-C to interrupt whatever the delay is and it will proceed with logging in. There's something goimg on with Xauthority and serverauth that's delaying things. I may jus re-install at some stage and see what that does.

GazL · 02-17-2019, 12:57 PM

My guess would be a reverse ip/ipv6 lookup on one of your interface addresses.

Check that you have an entry in your /etc/hosts for all of your ip interfaces and especially your hostname.

I wouldn't worry about that message from xauth, it's always done that.

rkfb · 02-17-2019, 04:23 PM

Code:

#
# hosts		This file describes a number of hostname-to-address
#		mappings for the TCP/IP subsystem. It is mostly
#		used at boot time, when no name servers are running.
#		On small systems, this file can be used instead of a
#		"named" name server.  Just add the names, addresses
#		and any aliases to this file...
#
# By the way, Arnt Gulbrandsen <agulbra@nvg.unit.no> says that 127.0.0.1
# should NEVER be named with the name of the machine. It causes problems
# for some (stupid) programs, irc and reputedly talk. :^)
#

# For loopbacking.
127.0.0.1		localhost
127.0.0.1		openbox.slacknet openbox

# End of hosts.

I have eth0 and wlan2, what should I add? The ip address can change. How does /etc/hosts make startx complain about a missing .serverauth.XXXX file in my home directory?

GazL · 02-17-2019, 06:28 PM

The missing serverauth file message is a red-herring. It's been showing up from a startx like that for years.

As for which addresses to add I'd start with any that show up from an ip addr list | grep inet. Don't forget the ipv6 link-local ones starting with FE80:

Another thing you may want to try is doing an xauth list after you've logged in to X, and look for any addresses that show up as numbers rather than names.

rkfb · 02-18-2019, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GazL

The missing serverauth file message is a red-herring. It's been showing up from a startx like that for years.

As for which addresses to add I'd start with any that show up from an ip addr list | grep inet. Don't forget the ipv6 link-local ones starting with FE80:

Another thing you may want to try is doing an xauth list after you've logged in to X, and look for any addresses that show up as numbers rather than names.

That's done the trick, thank you!

Code:

[root:openbox ~]# ip addr list | grep inet

gave me:

Code:

inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host
    inet 192.168.1.141/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global noprefixroute wlan2
    inet6 fe80::523e:aaff:fe9c:93dc/64 scope link

I edited /etc/hosts to:

Code:

#
# hosts         This file describes a number of hostname-to-address
#               mappings for the TCP/IP subsystem. It is mostly
#               used at boot time, when no name servers are running.
#               On small systems, this file can be used instead of a
#               "named" name server.  Just add the names, addresses
#               and any aliases to this file...
#
# By the way, Arnt Gulbrandsen <agulbra@nvg.unit.no> says that 127.0.0.1
# should NEVER be named with the name of the machine. It causes problems
# for some (stupid) programs, irc and reputedly talk. :^)
#

# For loopbacking.
127.0.0.1               localhost
127.0.0.1/8             openbox.slacknet openbox
192.168.1.141/24        openbox.slacknet openbox
inet6 fe80::523e:aaff:fe9c:93dc/64 openbox.slacknet openbox
# End of hosts.

and login has returned to normal.

GazL · 02-18-2019, 07:04 PM

Good, glad you got it sorted.

Code:

127.0.0.1/8             openbox.slacknet openbox
192.168.1.141/24        openbox.slacknet openbox
inet6 fe80::523e:aaff:fe9c:93dc/64 openbox.slacknet openbox

The bits in red shouldn't be in the hosts file.

Also, I'm not a fan of assigning the hostname to 127.0.0.1, or having multiple addresses assigned to the same name. Here's how I do mine:

Code:

# loopback
127.0.0.1               localhost
::1                     localhost

# Hostname
127.1.1.1               ws1.local ws1

# IPV6 link-local:
fe80::aaaa:bbb:cccc:dddd ws1-wlan0.local ws1-wlan0

# local IPV4 dhcp pool:
192.168.0.201           d201.local d201
192.168.0.202           d202.local d202
192.168.0.203           d203.local d203
192.168.0.204           d204.local d204

# alternate dhcp pool:
192.168.1.2             d002.local d002
192.168.1.3             d003.local d003
192.168.1.4             d004.local d004

I use 127.1.1.1 for the primary hostname to keep it separate from localhost. My wifi will pick up an ipv4 address from one of the dhcp pools, and the link-local interface uses a $hostname-$interface scheme.

rkfb · 02-18-2019, 07:26 PM

Thanks, I've adjusted my /etc/hosts according to your suggestions and all is well.