If I log on through kdm, instead of getting the desktop I get what I
think is an xterm window.
This is a common problem apparently caused by a misunderstanding of what happens after you login in the KDM GUI login dialog.
What happens, and absolutely all that happens, is that an: "Xsession" script is called. It is called just as if you called it with a command:
Xsession <session type>
where "<session type>" is the *exact* string that you selected in the dialog list box: "Session type". KDM does not call: "~/.xsession" and using an: "~/.xsession" script is *NOT* the proper way to specify your desktop with KDM.
So, the problem is that your: "Xsession" script is running (otherwise you wouldn't get any X session at all) but it is failing to execute: "startkde".
I have 2 Xsession files:
/etc/X11/xdm/Xsession /opt/kde3/share/config/kdm/Xsession
If when I am in that xterm(?) window, I type Xsession, then I get file not found. If type the full path then sure enough up comes KDE. This happens without me passing an argument to it. The 2 scripts seem to do something slightly differently because the background behaves slightly differently just before my desktop shows up.
Have I maybe got something missing that tells kdm where to find Xsession? Remember that if my chooser is xdm, then KDE comes up OK; I imagine that is running the /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession? But who knows...
By the way, the "xterm" window is always named after the session I chose in kdm, eg "kde3", "/opt/kde3/bin/startkde", or whatever, so that parameter is getting picked up by kdm in some way.
There should be a line in your: "$KDEDIR/share/config/kdm/kdmrc" file:
[X-*-Core]
Session=/opt/kde3/share/config/kdm/Xsession
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