[newbie] Error when trying to load KDE and Gnome

[Wade Waldron]

I have tried to run both KDE and Gnome and get hung up on either.  They start to load and then just stop and the system hangs.  I have pressed Alt Ctrl F1 to get to a prompt.  From here I pressed the windows key on my keyboard.  This brings up a list of errors which are scrolling by so fast I can not read them.  I have been able to make out part of the error.  It says "localhost xinetd [A seemingly random number] sgi fam PID [A process number I assume] from <no address> ....I can not tell what is here.... local host is not connected"  It also flashes "warning: can't get client address" although I can not tell where this fits in.  Does anyone know what this error means and how I can stop it?  I should note that the number for xinetd and PID both change each time the message flashes.  It seems like the system gets hung up because it is trying to perform an operation but keeps failing so it tries again.   Incidentally, someone suggested that I look in var/log/messages.  I tried, but I can not access the file because I do not have permission.  I tried to login as root, but that does not seem to work.  The login prompt I am recieving is "localhost login: " when I enter root and the password it tells me incorrect login.  I know the password is correct so am I also doing something wrong here?   Please, any help would be very much appreciated.   Wade