[Linux] Xfec crashes after login

Disclaimer: This off-topic post is about a solution to a problem that you will only have if you use Linux. If you are of the Mac or Windows persuasion, you’re free to look at some cool photos of mine, because this is definitely not your problem. 🙂

If you log in and then Xfec (or Gnome) crashes before the desktop is visible, and you can’t read the error message that briefly appears on a console screen, you are probably seeing the bug I saw today.
Try this:

1. Start a terminal session so you can log in. You do this by pressing  <1> in the login screen. Then log in. To get back to the graphical screen, press <8>.
2. After logging in, you will be in your home directory. Check if the file .ICEauthority is readable by you:
   $ cat .ICEauthority
3. You should get an error message. If you do not, you have a different problem and I won’t solve it (at least not in this post ;-).
4. If you did get an error message, delete the file and re-create it:
   $ rm .ICEauthority
   $ touch .ICEauthority
5. If you log in now using the graphical login screen, xfce (or Gnome) should start up just fine.

Enjoy using Linux!