Comment 12 for bug 24533

OK, I managed to create a text-login runlevel. It really wasn't that difficult, just edited /etc/inittab to change the default runlevel to 3, and then using kde's system settings/system services tool, I disabled kdm in runlevel 3.
  So the 686 kernel boots on my system to a text console just fine.
  I executed the 'startx' comand, and for a while, I thought it just might work. Kde started up, and I actually got as far as setting up the desktop, and it began to launch applications to restore my session.
  The first clue came when my Konsole window opened with just one tab, not the four I had when I logged out. Sure enough, the system was locked up solid. keyboard, mouse were unresponsive. System didn't respond to ping or ssh login attempt from a neighbor system.

What can I do to enable more verbose kernel logging, and make sure it gets written right up to the point of failure?