X windows freezes on start

[Kam Leo]

On 8/20/07, Langdon Stevenson <langdon at lindenrow.com.au> wrote:
> I decided to check if X works on my new server and ran into the
> following problem:
>
> Server starts at run level 3 and operates fine.
>
> When I:
>
>    startx
>
> from the command line, X loads, then when it reaches the point where it
> displays the splash screen for login, the splash screen flashes up for a
> moment, with the cursor displaying as a hash of colour, then the screen
> goes blank.
>
>
> I can ssh into the machine from another workstation, so the machine
> hasn't hung.  "top" reveals that the X process is now thrashing the CPU
> away at 100%.  But no response from keyboard or monitor of the server
> itself.
>
> Only way to bring it back is to do a shutdown via the ssh session.
>
> Can anyone suggest how I should go about debugging this issue?
>
> Regards,
> Langdon

1. Your chance of getting the proper advice greatly improves if you
told us what video card and display is attached to your system.

2. If you are using a recent model ATI or Nvidia graphics card enable
the Livna repository grab and install the appropriate rpm.

3. Run "system-config-display --reconfigure" to properly configure
your video card and display.