>> "MMD" == Matthew Myers Davis <mmd@nwe.ufl.edu> writes: MMD> a) why X won't start as root (the account with "exec MMD> gnome-session" in the .xsession file) Check ~/.xsession-errors for clues about why it didn't start properly. MMD> c) how to get out of XDM so that I can start fixing the above two MMD> problems This has been answered by someone else. Ciao, Martin