[techtalk] X11 and xauth

[Jeff Dike]

> xauth has been partially overwritten with bad data

xauth or your .Xauthority?

> .Xauthority for my personal account is listed when I do ls, but I
> can't get a text editor to read it.

It's (at least partly) binary data.  Mine has some readable strings in it, but 
it's definitely data.

> So the big question is: can I rebuild my xauth file on my own?

I don't think you want to.

The way this works is that when xdm logs you in, it generates a hunk of random 
data, sticks it in your .Xauthority file and tells the X server what it is.  
Then the server expects all clients that connect to it to pass it that same 
hunk of data.  Since your .Xauthority file is only readable by you, any 
clients that manage to get that data must have been started by you.

So, your .Xauthority file is regenerated every time you log in and it doesn't 
make too much sense to try to rebuild it.

If you can post the errors you're getting or any relevant-looking readable 
parts of your .xsession-errors, that might help.

				Jeff



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