The problem with xdm that became apparent when installing xlogin is fixed with Relase 5! If you still run Release 4, read on! xdm is broken, because there is no authorization file at the time the Xstartup-script is executed! As such any program that is run in the Xstartup-script cannot open a display connection. There are three possibilities to fix this: 1) use X without authorization (not good I think). 2) use xdm.patch01 to simply move the deletion of initial authorization file until after the execution of Xstartup. 3) use xdm.patch02 supplied by Tim Theisen to write an authorization record for root to the file /.Xauthority. in the latter two cases, you should set the environment variable XAUTHORITY so that it points to the authorization file. Thus your Xstartup script might in the 2nd case look like: |> #!/bin/sh |> |> XAUTHORITY=/usr/lib/X11/xdm/auth-server |> export XAUTHORITY |> or in the 3rd case like: |> #!/bin/sh |> |> XAUTHORITY=/.Xauthority |> export XAUTHORITY |>