LightDM in LMDE 201204

[swiftlinuxcreator]

Has anyone been able to get LightDM to work properly in the latest release of Linux Mint Debian Edition (201204)? I can replace the default MDM with LightDM with just apt-get commands.

The problem comes when trying to boot up with LightDM. During the process of loading up LightDM, the screen blacks out and does nothing. I know from the logs I looked at (had to boot up with a live ISO and mount the LMDE installation) that LightDM did try to start up.

Why doesn't LightDM work properly?

[artouk]

I've got lightdm installed with unity-greeter but I just installed lightdm with apt..

[schtufbox]

Agreed, I had no issues installing and running LightDM, aside from the hideous default theme
Had a fun morning today getting a version of unity greeter working with it. It's the only bit of Unity I like and a nice look for a login screen.

[rop75]

Hi, does your login screen look like the Ubuntu (or Mint main) login screen?, if so, how did you manage to do it?.

I would really appreciate if you could paste the files you changeD (I guess these files are those located at /etc/lightDM), and what you changed.

[schtufbox]

I downloaded the source from an earlier version on launchpad, and compiled it, then used checkinstall to make a deb package. I wanted to use a later version for the dynamic background switching etc, but to do that would have required either compiling loads of updated stuff, or perhaps switching to testing or unstable repositories. As I want to just use a clean LMDE setup not debian testing etc I elected to just compile the one I was able to.
It still looks fantastic, and I even made the default look to have Linux Mint Debian branding

If you want I can upload the deb package I made to dropbox, it should work, but use at your own risk
Only editing needed then is to edit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf to use the unity-greeter instead of gtk-greeter and the unity-greeter.conf to set background/font etc

If you want me to upload the package, then I can do so in about 8 hrs when I finish work.

[schtufbox]

If you wish to compile it yourself, then I used the following version https://launchpad.net/unity-greeter/0.1/0.1.1/+download/unity-greeter-0.1.1.tar.gz
I had to install a few development libs, but it'll soon tell you which ones when you do ./configure

./configure --PREFIX=/usr --SYSCONFDIR=/etc

once that's done do

make

then either
sudo make install
to install
or
checkinstall --install=no

Which will instead build a deb package that you can then install, with an easier method of removal should you wish to.
Not sure this is the ideal way to go about it but it worked for me.

You will still need to edit lightdm.conf to use the unity greeter but if I remember correctly it shows you how within the conf file itself. I can't remember off the top of my head as I am at work

[schtufbox]

Here is the checkinstall package I made, though I again stress that you use at your own risk. It should just get any dependencies it needs from the repositories, I don't think I have any other non-standard packages, but you'll soon know if it refuses to install due to unsatisfiable dependencies.

Oh, yes I forgot, it's 64bit package too, so if you're on 32bit you'll just have to compile it yourself, sorry.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10455347/packages/unity-greeter_0.1.1-1_amd64.deb

[xircon]

Cheers, looks good, but can't change the mouse pointer theme (running Cinnamon). I normally use DeepSky, but with LightDM I get the DMZ-black theme. Anyone?

[rop75]

If you wish to compile it yourself, then I used the following version https://launchpad.net/unity-greeter/0.1/0.1.1/+download/unity-greeter-0.1.1.tar.gz
I had to install a few development libs, but it'll soon tell you which ones when you do ./configure

./configure --PREFIX=/usr --SYSCONFDIR=/etc

once that's done do

make

then either
sudo make install
to install
or
checkinstall --install=no

Which will instead build a deb package that you can then install, with an easier method of removal should you wish to.
Not sure this is the ideal way to go about it but it worked for me.

You will still need to edit lightdm.conf to use the unity greeter but if I remember correctly it shows you how within the conf file itself. I can't remember off the top of my head as I am at work

Hi, thanks for your answer, I've managed to make lightDM look like the Mint12's lightDM, my only problem is that when I start my laptop, I have to login in a terminal and then run startx to open my DE (lightDM login screen is not loaded unless I enter sudo lightdm in a terminal). I would like to login using lightdm, but I must have done something wrong.

[schtufbox]

If you wish to compile it yourself, then I used the following version https://launchpad.net/unity-greeter/0.1/0.1.1/+download/unity-greeter-0.1.1.tar.gz
I had to install a few development libs, but it'll soon tell you which ones when you do ./configure

./configure --PREFIX=/usr --SYSCONFDIR=/etc

once that's done do

make

then either
sudo make install
to install
or
checkinstall --install=no

Which will instead build a deb package that you can then install, with an easier method of removal should you wish to.
Not sure this is the ideal way to go about it but it worked for me.

You will still need to edit lightdm.conf to use the unity greeter but if I remember correctly it shows you how within the conf file itself. I can't remember off the top of my head as I am at work

Hi, thanks for your answer, I've managed to make lightDM look like the Mint12's lightDM, my only problem is that when I start my laptop, I have to login in a terminal and then run startx to open my DE (lightDM login screen is not loaded unless I enter sudo lightdm in a terminal). I would like to login using lightdm, but I must have done something wrong.

have a look at /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log it should tell you what the error is.
I had a similar issue at first and it turned out it was because the default ./configure sets it to install to /usr/local, hence why I added the --PREFIX=/usr

[rop75]

Well finally I fixed it, I don't know why my /etc/init.d/lightdm file was broken, and there was a second file in /etc/init.d called something like lightdm.dkg_new, so I deleted the broken one and I changed the name of the second file to/etc/init.d/lightdm.

Thanks for your help.

[schtufbox]

Cool, glad you got it fixed. I'll know what to look for if I have similar issues on my laptop which is soon to be running LMDE too

[diazepan11]

Well. I achieved to install the 0.2.8 version but i cant see the power button

[diazepan11]

nevermind. I installed indicator-session. But it has this bug when you try to shutdown from the greeter window
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... bug/976911

[luis.nando]

Hello all,

schtufbox, could you please give the link for the .deb file again? The other one is not working. One question, are you still using the unity-greeting?

Regards.

[rop75]

Hi, I downloaded the unity greeter from the Ubuntu 12.04 repos. However, unlike the previous versions, I have not been able to make it work properly in LMDE (the main problem is that it did not let me change the background (and the default background remind me to Ubuntu), and the screen showed lots of pixels for 5 - 10 secs after finishig plymouth splash and starting lightDM). I must admit that this was not surprising as it is never a good idea mixing different repos, but I tried to install it because I really liked the look of LightDM with the unity greeter

So I finally gave up, I installed MDM , and I installed some GDM theme (from gnome-look web) to make MDM look better (I don't like the Mint default MDM theme at all), and I am quite happy it.