Could not start kstartupconfig

[antalgebra]

ok, Im getting this error message:

Could not start kstartupconfig. Check your installation.

I've had yellow dog installed for about a week now. the only thing I installed was an snes emulator. I've looked through some troubleshooting posts I've found on this site, unfortunately, their aren't allot of specific error posts, or even a general checklist on troubleshooting. has anyone else had this problem?