I have a RHEL 5 machine here which is a Dell Precision T3500.

I'm an Ubuntu guy, but I'm having a heck of a time with this machine.

After processing its first security update, we cannot log in via the gdm greeter. A new kernel was installed; then I installed the nVidia drivers for our Quadro NVS 295.

I know the X configuration is valid because the gdm greeter does display; however, upon login all we can get is a blank, black screen with a cursor.

I thought perhaps our python installation was corrupted but a reinstall via yum has not helped.

I have searched & googled extensively for a potential fix for this and can find nothing.

Below are outputs from uname, a tail of an error in /var/log/messages, and the Xorg.conf.

Can anyone suggest a course of action?

[sean@cheetah ~]$ uname -a
Linux cheetah.*.* 2.6.18-308.8.1.el5 #1 SMP Fri May 4 16:43:02 EDT 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[sean@cheetah ~]$ sudo tail /var/log/messages
Jun  5 15:03:04 cheetah gconfd (sean-4592): Resolved address "xml:readonly:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults" to a read-only configuration source at position 2
Jun  5 15:03:05 cheetah hcid[3855]: Default passkey agent (:1.8, /org/bluez/applet) registered
Jun  5 15:03:05 cheetah pcscd: winscard.c:304:SCardConnect() Reader E-Gate 0 0 Not Found
Jun  5 15:03:05 cheetah last message repeated 2 times
Jun  5 15:03:06 cheetah gconfd (sean-4592): Resolved address "xml:readwrite:/home/sean/.gconf" to a writable configuration source at position 0
Jun  5 15:03:06 cheetah setroubleshoot: [program.ERROR] exception ImportError: /usr/lib/libatk-1.0.so.0: undefined symbol: g_assertion_message_expr Traceback (most recent call last):   File "/usr/bin/sealert", line 952, in ?     from setroubleshoot.gui_utils import *   File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/setroubleshoot/gui_utils.py", line 26, in ?     import gtk   File "/usr/lib64/python2.4/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gtk/__init__.py", line 48, in ?     from gtk import _gtk ImportError: /usr/lib/libatk-1.0.so.0: undefined symbol: g_assertion_message_expr
Jun  5 15:03:07 cheetah setroubleshoot: [program.ERROR] exception ImportError: /usr/lib/libatk-1.0.so.0: undefined symbol: g_assertion_message_expr Traceback (most recent call last):   File "/usr/bin/sealert", line 952, in ?     from setroubleshoot.gui_utils import *   File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/setroubleshoot/gui_utils.py", line 26, in ?     import gtk   File "/usr/lib64/python2.4/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gtk/__init__.py", line 48, in ?     from gtk import _gtk ImportError: /usr/lib/libatk-1.0.so.0: undefined symbol: g_assertion_message_expr
Jun  5 15:03:08 cheetah pcscd: winscard.c:304:SCardConnect() Reader E-Gate 0 0 Not Found
Jun  5 15:07:01 cheetah ntpd[4114]: synchronized to 64.16.211.38, stratum 3
Jun  5 15:07:01 cheetah ntpd[4114]: kernel time sync enabled 0001


[sean@cheetah ~]$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 295.53  ([email protected])  Sat May 12 00:34:20 PDT 2012

# Xorg configuration created by system-config-display

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "single head configuration"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc105"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"

 ### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC:
 ### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC:
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    ModelName      "LCD Panel 1600x1200"
    HorizSync       31.5 - 74.7
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 65.0
    Option         "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Videocard0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Videocard0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection