N00b looking for help with auto login [SOLVED]

[1624]

"when the netinst image is installing, it absolutely makes calls out to the mothership and grabs files over the Internet."

That is what network install do. Has always do.
No any new things. https://www.debian.org/distrib/netinst

If this Auto login is solved, can you mark this as Solved.

[road hazard]

"there is no way to select dispalay manager in installer. No on Text mode, Graphical mode or Expert mode."

That is incorrect. When I first downloaded the netinstall package, I reloaded my system at least twice and both times, I absolutely had the option to pick between gdm3 or lightdm. Some package that the netinstall grabbed from the Internet during setup must have been changed and this option was removed.

[1624]

"there is no way to select dispalay manager in installer. No on Text mode, Graphical mode or Expert mode."

That is incorrect. When I first downloaded the netinstall package, I reloaded my system at least twice and both times, I absolutely had the option to pick between gdm3 or lightdm. Some package that the netinstall grabbed from the Internet during setup must have been changed and this option was removed.

Ok, that sounds really weird.
Never happen to me and i have use Stretch installer from RC1,2,3,4,5 and now stable 9.0.0.

[furquan]

That is incorrect. When I first downloaded the netinstall package, I reloaded my system at least twice and both times, I absolutely had the option to pick between gdm3 or lightdm. Some package that the netinstall grabbed from the Internet during setup must have been changed and this option was removed.

You're saying that you had the option of choosing the DM at install which is not possible. The only time the choice of DM is presented is either when
a) a new DM is installed when one is already present
b) the user runs "dpkg-reconfigure" as root on a DM package when another DM is installed.

Debian doesn't come with a specific DM, it defaults to the TTY if none is installed. A DM is usually installed as a part of a desktop package, for example GNOME depends on GDM:

Code: Select all

$ apt-cache depends gnome-core | grep "gdm"
  Depends: gdm3 (>= 3.22)

If you're seeing this kind of message then it means that you already have a DM installed and have installed a new one on top of that (or installed two DMs simultaneously).

Strangely enough, cinnamon-core (the DE which you seem to be using) doesn't depend on any DM (I might be wrong though) but recommends both LightDM and GDM:

Code: Select all

$ apt-cache depends cinnamon-core | grep "dm"
 |Recommends: lightdm
 |Recommends: gdm3
    nodm
    gdm3
    lightdm
    lxdm
    sddm
    wdm
    xdm

And since APT installs recommends by default, perhaps this could explain how you got both LightDM and GDM in the first place, hence the choice prompt. (You can make the prompt reappear by running "dpkg-reconfigure" on the current DM package as root, if there is more than one DM installed).

As for calling Linux user friendly, I guess that depends on a few things...... your background, familiarity with the *nix world and technical aptitude. Trust me, I'm well on my way to ditching Windows and will never return to it. My future is 100% Linux. To reach that next plateau, some of us need a helping hand. Sometimes, LOTS of helping hands as we ascend into Linux nirvana.

Being snarky to new comers is no way to spread the gospel about Linux. Were you born into this world with all your Linux knowledge or did you hunt around on forums and ask dumb questions as you were cutting your teeth using it? If I was exposed to Linux in my early teens, things might have been different...
...

If you'd ever take the time to read my post, you'd see that the "solution" offered up by Dasein does NOT apply to me and he jumped me and said I was "busted" for not reading the entire link he posted. That solution does NOT APPLY TO ME and he had nothing further to say after he realized he was in the wrong.

Along with the rude responses, I'm just having some other issues with Debian 9 and since there are so many choices, maybe it's just not the right distro for me.

Actually it's you who is wrong here and Dasein is right. There is information on this all over the Internet since this isn't some obscure issue that only a few in a million get. Before crying about that the information "doesn't apply to you", you should have first determined what DM you're using because you don't seem to be sure about that.

Code: Select all

$ cat /etc/X11/default-display-manager

If indeed you were using GDM then the guide should have worked for you because daemon.conf is supposed to be included with GDM:

Code: Select all

$ apt-file list gdm3 | grep "daemon.conf"
gdm3: /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf

If it the file wasn't there as you alleged, you should have at least shown some initiative and searched for it:

Code: Select all

$ dpkg -L gdm3 | grep "daemon.conf"
/etc/gdm3/daemon.conf
$ locate daemon.conf | grep "gdm"
/etc/gdm3/daemon.conf

If it still wasn't there then you probably messed up and needed to reinstall the package.

Code: Select all

#apt install --reinstall gdm3

Then you could have followed the guide, all without our help. And if something still didn't work then we had been glad to help. The point is that you should have shown some effort and listed what steps you've taken prior to posting this but you chose to be vague and got offended when someone suggested that you did not completely follow the guide you claimed to.

The same applies if you were using LightDM.

And before you start about that a beginner won't know these things, you're right they won't but a quick search doesn't hurt (http://lmgtfy.com?q=how+to+check+what+d ... i+am+using http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+list+files+in+a+package+apt http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+reinstall+a+package+apt).

If you found the actions of the forum members rude because of laziness on your part, I recommend reading ESR's excellent essay How To Ask Questions The Smart Way. Good work for solving your problem but remember that a little effort on your part doesn't hurt and makes it easier for forum members to address your problem.

[Wheelerof4te]

^

If it still wasn't there then you probably messed up and needed to reinstall the package.

Code: Select all
#apt install --reinstall gdm3

I guess the OP hadn't read it but I told him exactly that:

First try installing gdm3 package again:

Code: Select all
su -
apt-get install gdm3


Now follow that link dasein gave you to the letter. You should reboot first to make sure you are using GDM, not LightDM.

Man, we could have solved this a long time ago...some people can't be bothered to read. Oh, the sadness.

[GarryRicketson]

It is sad, I am not upset, but it is saddening, and depressing,..

Being snarky to new comers is no way to spread the gospel about Linux. Were you born into this world with all your Linux knowledge or did you hunt around on forums and ask dumb questions as you were cutting your teeth using it?

I am not sure now, who said this, it was within a quote, in another quote,... but anyway,
here comes another rant from garry:

by Wheelerof4te »Man, we could have solved this a long time ago...some people can't be bothered to read. Oh, the sadness.

This is the biggest problem, and when some one claims they searched, and read some documentation, but what they are asking, and the way they ask makes it obvious they
did not read the material, or search results carefully, well it tends to make me wonder
what would be the point in trying to write a detailed tutorial/explanation, it all ready is
obvious they won't, or are unable to read it.
Sometimes, it may seem that we are "snarky", most of the time that is not intentional,
but the reader takes it that way,.. I certainly wouldn't take the time , and make the effort to try to point someone toward search results, and documentation , just to be "snarky",..
I have better things to do, then hang out on a forum deliberately being snarky, or offensive, any response I make is a genuine attempt to help the person, but any way,..
Quoting again:

Were you born into this world with all your Linux knowledge or did you hunt around on forums and ask dumb questions as you were cutting your teeth using it?

And talk about being "snarky"
Of course not, nobody was born with all their knowledge, about any thing,... It is a process, that takes years, and depending on how much the person actually reads, and studies, maybe read it several times,
then the practice, actually trying various things.
But not repeatedly try the same thing that did not work over and over, various methods,
when one method works well and the person is comfortable with it, repeating that makes it become almost automatic, so it gets easier.
There is no such thing as a stupid question, or dumb question, but if one does not ask, or look for the answer they will remain ignorant.
When I started with computers, there was no search engines at all, and forums like this
one did not exist.
Everything is so much easier now a days, the young people have all the information, we have struggled to put together, and keep in archives, etc.
It is all available, simply by using a search engine, yes I know, the search engines are not perfect yet, but for someone that has no clue as to how it was before we had them, well they have no idea as to how much easier it is to tap into the sources of knowledge.
As far as " is no way to spread the gospel about Linux" Linux is not a religion, it is just a
OS, it happens to be much easier, user-friendly, and reliable then the commercial Malware created by Microsoft, and Bill Gates.
True Unix, is even more user friendly then Linux, but when Unix was corrupted with greed and they made it closed source, the only option was to start developing open source "unix like" systems, and there are many, besides just Linux,...
History of Unix like systems, open-source

A good one, : http://www.unix.org/what_is_unix/history_timeline.html

Computer aided design, manufacturing control systems, laboratory simulations, even the Internet itself, all began life with and because of UNIX systems. Today, without UNIX systems, the Internet would come to a screeching halt. Most telephone calls could not be made, electronic commerce would grind to a halt and there would have never been "Jurassic Park"!

All though this may not be completely true now, with Linux and the BSDs, at&t and microsoft, do not have as much control over things as they would like to believe.
But that is even another topic.
Once we had the beginnings of a system, now known as internet, a system where we could communicate with each other, on-line, and start using e-mail, networks, and "usenet", things started getting easier,... and we could also share the positive results
when something actually worked.
Not so much by bothering people with questions, but instead, reading books, and papers, along with actually trying various code, etc.
Then when something worked, sharing it with others, advances were made rapidly,
mostly because the persons that figured something out posted to Usenet, explaining what they actually did, then those that were interested, and wanted to do the same thing
could read it, and maybe accomplish their goal, some times , due to different hardware, or other factors, what worked for one person, did not work for another, so yes , at that point
one might need to ask , after showing exactly what they had done, and clear details on the hardware involved, Does any body have any ideas why this does not work ?
Quite often nobody did, but eventually either someone else would find a solution, or
the user their self , finds a solution, and then follows up with documentation on what they did.
It is just sad to me , so many people now a days do not bother to even try to read any of the documentation so many have taken considerable amount of time to write, and
place in servers, where it is available to every one, and free of charge.
So many that took considerable amount of time writing the manuals, that come with Debian and most other linux distros, and also the volunteers that put so much effort into
trying to keep the http://debian.org website up to date, and the http://wiki.debian.org/ but the "users", do not even try to read any of it,... like wise, now that I think about it, writing this is pointless, it is long, and not likely any one will read it,...
Often it reminds me of the people standing in a "soup line", waiting for their free meal,
then once they do get to the servers, and have been served, most are grateful and say
thank you, and go sit down and eat.
But there all ways is one or 2, that I suppose really are not that hungry, when they get
their free meal, and are served, they look at it, and get up set, throwing the plate or bowl
on the floor, and go off with a empty stomach, angry because the free meal was not good enough for them.

Oh well, such is life,.. "Wisdom cries out in all the corners", but nobody listens.

[GarryRicketson]

by road hazard »It's petty ironic that I got treated 10 times better on Arch forums (raw Arch....not Antergos or Manjaro) than I did on a Debian forum.

The logical thing to do then ,
would be to ask your questions on those forums.