Ok, here's a clarification of the problem, and the resolution.
I upgraded my glibc packages from 2.1.3-16mdk to 2.1.3-18.3mdk. I did
this from the command line as advized by the Mandrake site (my Mandrake
Update was refusing to propperly handle them).
I then found that I could not use the "su" command in the gnome terminal
while in Gnome. I also found that I could not open administrative GUI
programs in Gnome (as user) that would normally bring up a password
dialogue box.
With the help of some friendly folks at #gnome-help over at
irc.gnome.org , I learned the problem was with the xalf v. 0.42 package.
So I went over to rpmfind.net found v. 0.8 and violla! Problem
resolved. Another potential resolution is to simpply uninstall xalf.
Thanks for hearing me out, folks.
Just wanted to leave this documented here in case anybody else runs into
this problem.
-Paul R
PS for the record:
xalf:
This is a small utility to provide feedback when starting X11 applications.
Feedback can be given via four different indicators:
* an invisible window (to be used in conjunction with a task pager
like Gnomes tasklist_applet or KDE Taskbar)
* an generic splashscreen
* an hourglass attached to the mouse cursor
* or an animated star
Paul Rodríguez wrote:
> I upgraded the glibc libraries on my computer from glibc "2.1.3-16mdk" to
> "2.1.3-18.3mdk" for glibc, glibc-devel, and glibc-profile. I tried doing
> this from within MandrakeUpdate, but the install would stall, not giving me
> any error messages. So I downloaded them from rpmfind.net (not the cooker
> version, the normal mandrake ones). I exited X, from a virtual desktop I
> typed (a la mandrake website):
>
> rpm -Fvh glibc-2.1.3-18.3mdk-i586.rpm
> rpm -Fvh glibc-devel-2.1.3-18.3mdk-i586.rpm
> rpm -Fvh glibc-profile-2.1.3-18.3mdk-i586.rpm
>
> Everything seemed normal, except, after re-entering X, I found I couldn't
> access the "su" command. I get the following error:
>
> "error in loading shared libraries:libxalflaunch.so.0:cannot open shared
> object file:no such file or directory"
>
> This only happens in Gnome. Trying to open DrakConf, rpmdrake, or anything
> that would normally open up a password dialog window, doesn't do anything.
>
> What happenned? How can I fix it?
>
> -Paul R
>
>
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