OK. I am psychologically preparing for having to reinstall the system (the easy way out :side: ) But before I do that I have a few questions:

Is there a way to reinstall this distro so it keeps the settings and config files? I mainly use this box as a web server - I use xampp for linux which I am very familiar with - so migration won't be a problem. I am more concerned about other customizations I made for I don't want to do anything from scratch. Next time I will make sure I will have everything backuped.
Can you please give me proper command for reinstalling xorg and gnome, so everything is by the book.

I guess it's wise to prepare a backup machine (or VM) and move my homepages to keep them online, before I reinatall. I read the article about P2V virtualization of existing machine - but it seems too complicated?

Last thing. I chose Centos because it's community version of redhat enterprise server with all its functionalities. Like I said I use the box mostly for the web hosting which can be done withy any linux distro, but I like to try to do the same things like I do e.g. with WIN2K3 server. So what is your opinion the best server (enterprise) edition linux based alternative to Win2K3, that has all services already bundled (without having to install additional packages), KDE and GNOME GUIs and is suitable for user like me (can customize config files, knows the file structure of linux, use the software, install and configure the software, mostly uses GUI but not totally unfamiliar with the terminal but not knowing how to troubleshoot and administer linux system YET:)

Thanks for your time and great support by the way.

This thing must be cursed. I checked all the log files (with your method and manually) and there's no frick'n error. I will post the messages log later. I also tried the procedure that you posted earlier, but when I put 'init 3' in the terminal the system's UI hangs - white x on black background. Everything still works in the background, but if I want to do anything a hard reset is required. Any other ideas?

mfillpot wrote:

To start off, I haven't seen an OS start as slow as centos since win 95.

I will try to look in the logs (any logs that I should pay a special attention to) and try what you suggested in terminal and will get back to you after 4pm. My Timezone is GMT+1. Thanks for the info

mfillpot wrote:

Sorry for the delay, it took a while to download the 64-bit iso for installation, I am installing it now.

I don't know how comfortable you are with Linux based systems, but have you looked at the log files to see if anything was noted about this problem?

This is how the desktop shouldn't look like:

I posted the video of the whole bootup on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVSMM-132R0

1. At 1:29 I get the following error:

COULDN'T RECOGNIZE THE IMAGE FILE FORMAT FOR THE FILE '/USR/SHARE/GDM/THEMES/TREEFLOWER/BACKGROUND.PNG

which is immediately followed by:
THERE WAS AN ERROR LOADING THE THEME AND THE DEFAULT THEME COULD NOT BE LOADED. ATEMPTING TO START THE STANDARD GREETER.

2. At 1:43 a login windows appear where you choose the user and the type of logon (terminal, KDE, GNOME) Default is GNOME

3. At 2:13 GNOME Loads with no background, question marks for icons in the upper taskbar, and improper icons on the desktop.

4. At 2:30 I Log out of GNOME

5. At 2:34 when the white X appears, the system freezes until I move the mouse (I don't know what caused that either)

6. At 2:44 The errors from step 1 reappear

7. At 2:50 This time I choose KDE as GUI and everything works like it used to in GNOME

8. At 3:38 I logout again, the system freezes until I move the mouse, then I get the same errors from step 1

That's all. I apologize for the crappy video and no talking.

I am really grateful for your effort and anything that you'll be able to dig out will be of help. Will post the screenshots in two hours when I get home.

I am running Centos 5.4 x86_64 >>> http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/5/isos/x86_64/

@mfillpot

Thanks for the quick reply. I am afraid I am not so advanced in Linux to do many stunts :) If I understood you correctly you want me to run two sessions one with GUI, one with console. The problem is that the error occurs before the login window (where I can choose the type of session) and I think that CentOS doesn't allow multiple sessions out of the box:

http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/forums/showthread.php/19413-Centos-5-4-need-multi-user-gui-%28Gnome-or-KDE%29

I can post screenshots of the error later if it will help.

I checked if I can open the file(s) that supposedly cannot be recognized and I actually CAN open all the PNG's. Like I said, if I choose KDE as GUI the desktop shows all the graphic. But this first error actually shows before the login window (the window where you can choose user for login and type of GUI) so the problem must be in Centos SHELL (X, nautilus), not GNOME. Sorry for inacurate terms.

Guys you are my last resort, I've posted that on few forums but there were no response. Any ideas?

I am running CentOS 5.4 and the following error started out of the blue:

COULDN'T RECOGNIZE THE IMAGE FILE FORMAT FOR THE FILE '/USR/SHARE/GDM/THEMES/TREEFLOWER/BACKGROUND.PNG

THERE WAS AN ERROR LOADING THE THEME AND THE DEFAULT THEME COULD NOT BE LOADED. ATEMPTING TO START THE STANDARD GREETER.

If I choose GNOME and login I get more errors (for every icon I guess) saying:

COULD NOT LOAD ICON. UNRECOGNIZED FILE FORMAT.

Desktop then loads but there is no background image (other backgrounds don't work either) and instead off the icons there are question marks. All the menus and programs work normally.

KDE on the other hand works normally with all visuals, so I assume there must be something wrong with GNOME PNG library or something, maybe GNOME corruption. If I make another user it's the same story.

I mostly use the machine for web hosting (Xammp for Linux), however I made some other customizations. Is there a way to reinstall (repair) Centos to keep all the settings and folders?

THX