Some of the UCC's terminals run X Windows (and are called X-Terminals) -- for example the small white Labtams. There can be a few problems when logging into these, and hopefully this section will help. A dumb terminal can only operate in text mode -- we have a few of these outside the clubroom.
If, after logging in, the screen goes blank for a second or two and then the login prompt reappears you probably have a problem with your '.xsession' file. This file specifies the commands to be run immediately upon logging in to an X Session Manager. A neat trick that works on most X session managers is to enter your username and password, but instead of pressing <enter> after entering your password, press F1. You will be given a secure startup, usually giving you a command prompt so you can run a window manager.
This file may attempt to run a command (such as a window manager) which doesn't exist. The easy way to fix this is to log in to a plain text console (for example the dumb terms) and execute the command 'mv .xsession .xsession.broken'. You should now be able to log into X. It is probably a good idea to have a look at the '.xsession.broken' file and see what was wrong with it. Also see the file '.xsession.errors' which will explain the reason for past failures.