[SOLVED] Autologin problem

Bearded_Blunder · 2018-07-28 19:58:57

Am I missing something? Or has something changed?

Tried setting autologin on a new Helium (32 bit if it makes a difference) install, first by following the simple instructions here:

https://wiki.debian.org/LightDM

Which work perfectly in Hydrogen, but apparently not in Helium :S

Also tried the slightly different instructions outlined here:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LightDM

In both cases, rebooting presents me with the standard LightDM login screen.

Help would be appreciated if anyone has any insights, typically my problems are missing something obvious rather than bugs, though I was tempted to post as a bug report.

Last edited by Bearded_Blunder (2018-07-29 08:26:25)

johnraff · 2018-07-29 05:22:11

Tested just now (in detail for any other googlers):

Menu>System>Login Settings

Two tabs will open, go to /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

Scroll down below the [Seat:*] header to find the commented-out line:

#autologin-user=

Uncomment it (remove the #), add the appropriate user name after the =, save the file and reboot.

---
All entries in this file are commented by default. Some settings have been made in /usr/share/lightdm but anything set in /etc/lightdm will take priority.

Bearded_Blunder · 2018-07-29 05:40:49

So I wonder why it's not working?
Since that's exactly what I did first, before looking on the debian and arch wikis?

Any advice on how to twist it's tail to find any recorded errors?

This is a new install (VM) under VMWare EXSi 6, for what it does, if needed I can look into dispensing with a DM altogether, though I'd rather keep things relatively stock, less chance of later updates b0rking things. Heck, what the VM is actually for doesn't even need a gui, just makes administering it easier. Hence a light one, hence Bunsen.

That's my easier issue, I may ask about the other later maybe in "Help & Support (Other)" though the natural habitat for the problem would be stackexchange, the whole purpose of the vm is to host some compile at runtime 32 bit software written by someone I've lost touch with back in the Debian Etch era.. it compiles perfectly and silently under Jessie, but spews a ton of warnings & then bombs out with an error under Strech.. but that's for another post, possibly on another forum. Sadly my coding skills amount to .. um.. well you've seen some of my shell scripting attempts, now magnify the issues to C ]:D

johnraff · 2018-07-29 05:52:43

/usr/sbin/lightdm --show-config

To see what's configured, and where it's coming from.
A common error seems to be having settings in the wrong section of a file, ie under the wrong header. You haven't put [Seat:*] in twice, I suppose?

Bearded_Blunder · 2018-07-29 06:20:32

All I did was delete a couple of # and type my username per the Debian wiki...

https://wiki.debian.org/LightDM wrote:

Enable autologin
Look up these lines in lightdm configuration file, uncomment them and customize to your preference.
[Seat:*]
#autologin-user=
#autologin-user-timeout=0

Looked em up after accessing the config via the menu & did just that.
Output of : $ /usr/sbin/lightdm --show-config

   [Seat:*]
A  greeter-session=lightdm-greeter
B  greeter-hide-users=false
A  session-wrapper=/etc/X11/Xsession

   [LightDM]
C  autologin-user=beardy
C  autologin-user-timeout=0

Sources:
A  /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/01_debian.conf
B  /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50_bunsen.conf
C  /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

Now I'm wondering if uncommented I need to specify a non-zero timeout.. off to experiment...

Edit: wrote:

No different either way, also tried
dpkg-reconfigure lightdm
to ensure it picked up changes, since someone suggested on this forum years back that that might be the key ( did my due dilligence).

Last edited by Bearded_Blunder (2018-07-29 06:29:35)

johnraff · 2018-07-29 07:40:09

Bearded_Blunder wrote:

Output of : $ /usr/sbin/lightdm --show-config

   [Seat:*]
A  greeter-session=lightdm-greeter
B  greeter-hide-users=false
A  session-wrapper=/etc/X11/Xsession

   [LightDM]
C  autologin-user=beardy
C  autologin-user-timeout=0

Sources:
A  /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/01_debian.conf
B  /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50_bunsen.conf
C  /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

You've got the autologin setting in the wrong place. It should be under [Seat:*] (as I said above) not [LightDM]. If you want instant login, keep the timeout setting commented out.

Bearded_Blunder · 2018-07-29 08:25:45

:8 :8
In my defense, I did open with "Am I missing something?"
Chronic fatigue syndrome + keeping odd hours == poor concentration.
Before I developed that curse I'd never have missed such a detail.

Please forgive me for wasting your time by not being sufficiently careful.

hhh · 2018-07-30 04:09:25

Lol, no worries, I'm sure.

#1 2018-07-28 19:58:57

[SOLVED] Autologin problem

#2 2018-07-29 05:22:11

Re: [SOLVED] Autologin problem

#3 2018-07-29 05:40:49

Re: [SOLVED] Autologin problem

#4 2018-07-29 05:52:43

Re: [SOLVED] Autologin problem

#5 2018-07-29 06:20:32

Re: [SOLVED] Autologin problem

Enable autologin

#6 2018-07-29 07:40:09

Re: [SOLVED] Autologin problem

#7 2018-07-29 08:25:45

Re: [SOLVED] Autologin problem

#8 2018-07-30 04:09:25

Re: [SOLVED] Autologin problem

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