Saturday, June 4, 2011

Troubleshooting: Could not update .ICEauthority file

Here is the error message that might encounter duing gnome desktop startup.
Could not update .ICEauthority file 
/var/lib/gdm3/.ICEauthority
I have resolved this problem by simply removing that file and let gdm3 daemon re-create it. The commands below must be executed with root privileges.
/etc/init.d/gdm3 stop
rm /var/lib/gdm3/.ICEauthority*
/etc/init.d/gdm3 start
Note, restarting gdm not helps all the time, so try reboot computer instead.

17 comments :

  1. I tried that to no avail. finally, I just reinstall, and that did the trick.

    sudo apt-get install --reinstall gdm3

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  2. Try reboot computer (instead of starting gnome)... gdm3 reinstall seems a long way...

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  3. Thanks a lot!
    Save me a big headache.
    Allan

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  4. Thanks for this, just hit this problem in Debian 6 stable. I tried reinstalling to no avail, but deleting the .ICEauthority* files as described worked perfectly.

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  5. saved me too, bigtime...
    in my case had to remove gdm.

    sudo apt-get remove gdm

    sudo apt-get install gdm

    answer gdm to the gdm/kde default desktop manager question.

    Reboot. starnge thing is it came up as KDE Plasma Desktop, but it's working and I'm a happy guy.
    No more .ICEauthority error upon login.

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  6. This issue happens pretty often... however I have never removed gdm, just simple file removal per post. Note, that restarting gdm not helps all the time, so try reboot computer instead.

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  7. Thanks! Saved me grief, headache and pain.
    Followed your post to the letter and it worked on my Linux Mint LMDE box.

    //Michael.

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  8. gracias me saco de apuros!!

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  9. shared knowledge is the key! thanks

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  10. I tried to do that but there was no file .ICEauthority in the /var/lib/gdm3/ directory. The directory is totally empty. Any ideas?

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    Replies
    1. Note, that file is `hidden`. Try ls -lha /var/lib/gdm3/ as root since regular user might have no permission.

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  11. Sufficed Just That: "rm /var/lib/gdm3/.ICEauthority*.".

    Muito obrigado!!!

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  12. Thanks mate, that was really helpful! Worked for me ;)

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  13. Wow my debian just died at the end of my master thesis. Your fix saved my life! I had no time to reinstall!

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  14. merci pour votre aide

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  15. thanks a lot it was very usefull

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