10.4.5. Problems with the X Server Crashing and Non-Root Users
If you are having trouble with the X server crashing when anyone logs in, you may have a full file system (or, a lack of available hard drive space).
To verify that this is the problem you are experiencing, run the following command:
df -h
The df
command should help you diagnose which partition is full. For additional information about df
and an explanation of the options available (such as the -h
option used in this example), refer to the df
man page by typing man df
at a shell prompt.
A key indicator is 100% full or a percentage above 90% or 95% on a partition. The /home/
and /tmp/
partitions can sometimes fill up quickly with user files. You can make some room on that partition by removing old files. After you free up some disk space, try running X as the user that was unsuccessful before.