The link to dbus should be in /etc/rc2.d, same as kdm. Could you check that dbus gets loaded before the kdm daemon, i.e. has a lower number?

root@Ghostdive:~# ls -l /etc/rc2.d/
total 4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 32 Sep 11 12:14 K08vmware-USBArbitrator -> /etc/init.d/vmware-USBArbitrator
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 677 Jul 26 20:23 README
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 Sep 11 12:14 S19vmware -> ../init.d/vmware
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 Sep 10 14:36 S20kerneloops -> ../init.d/kerneloops
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 Sep 10 14:36 S26gpsd -> ../init.d/gpsd
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 Sep 10 14:36 S50pulseaudio -> ../init.d/pulseaudio
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Sep 10 14:36 S50rsync -> ../init.d/rsync
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Sep 10 14:36 S50saned -> ../init.d/saned
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 32 Sep 11 12:14 S50vmware-USBArbitrator -> /etc/init.d/vmware-USBArbitrator
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 35 Sep 11 12:14 S55vmware-workstation-server -> ../init.d/vmware-workstation-server
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Sep 10 14:36 S70dns-clean -> ../init.d/dns-clean
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 18 Sep 10 14:36 S70pppd-dns -> ../init.d/pppd-dns
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 Sep 10 14:27 S75sudo -> ../init.d/sudo
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 Sep 10 14:36 S99acpi-support -> ../init.d/acpi-support
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 21 Sep 10 14:39 S99grub-common -> ../init.d/grub-common
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 18 Sep 10 14:27 S99ondemand -> ../init.d/ondemand
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 18 Sep 10 14:27 S99rc.local -> ../init.d/rc.local

Like I said, I didnt change the system from default, and it worked fine, until that fateful hd filler.

Oops, Ubuntu does things differently from Debian, should've known - no sight of dbus or kdm in rc2.d - perhaps in rc3.d? Whatever, a full disk cannot have changed those around.

Have you tried the "agricultural" method of a total deinstall followed by a reinstall?

I have no idea what an 'agricultural' de/reinstall is

toad wrote:What about the comprehensive approach: sudo apt-get remove --purge kdm followed by a sudo rm /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc in case that file is still there and finally a sudo apt-get install kdm?

Zwetschge wrote::

Removing/Reinstalling KDM sounds like a good idea. What would I lose? What could go wrong?

Hehe, thanks for pointing that out, overlooked that...

Nothing could go wrong and here is what I would do:

Step 1
sudo dpkg-reconfigure kdm

Step 2
Stop and start kdm to generate a new kdmrc, edit the newly created file to enable autologin (as described in my first post). Stop and start kdm to see whether it worked.

If not, then

Step 3
del /etc/kde(4)/kdm/kdmrc

followed by a repeat of step 2.

If it still doesn't work I'd try a complete reinstall of kdm.

Many roads lead to Rome, see where your curiosity takes you

You forgot the "young padawan" after your last sentence :>

I just tried stopping/restarting kdm, as well as deleting kdmrc. No dice.

I noticed something else that doesnt work, today. The system notifier informed me about package updates(gpg). Usually when I click it, I'm asked to provide the password. Not anymore. It takes some seconds, then I get an error message: "This operation cannot continue sinc eproper authorization was not provided".

Since this is all related I suppose, any idea? Any dead lock file that could be the issue?

Bah! Rename your ~/.kde(4) folder to ~/.kde(4).bak and reboot? But iirc google had something similar in mind when he asked you to try it with a new user...

Out of ideas here. You could always try the very helpful www.kubuntuforums.net people - maybe they've stumbled across something similar. In any case, please keep us updated!

So I created a new user form within KDE. Rebooted, tried to log in as the new user. Seems to have the same problem as the old one.

I tried apt-get update from the console. It complained about an existing lock file(!). I deleted it.
rm -f /var/lib/dpkg/lock

Tried that again. I then was notified of about 190 or so kde related packages that could be updated(??). So I did that. Rebooted again. Still the same problem.

I do consider very much to reinstall from scratch :/

driftice@Ghostdive:~$ systemsettings
QDBusConnection: session D-Bus connection created before QCoreApplication. Application may misbehave.

Have a go over at www.kubuntuforums.net - they know more about your specific distro and its (apparent) bugs.

Trying to. Registered. Waiting for approval from moderator atm.
Thanks for your help anyhow.

Fingers crossed and you're welcome

Zwetschge wrote:Removing/Reinstalling KDM sounds like a good idea. What would I lose? What could go wrong?

Nothing probably, at most your autologin settings and your login manager theme settings. It's not incredibly likely that it'll help tough.

Ok, so dbus is running, but is it working correctly? Can you run "qdbus" (not check whether it's running)? It should print a list of registered services.

Cheers