Xorg wil not start, nv module fails to load

[knowtree at aloha.com]

Yousif Hassan <yousif at alumni.jmu.edu> wrote:

..
>This isn't the problem either.
>
>> (II) LoadModule: "nv"
>> (WW) Warning, couldn't open module nv
>> (II) UnloadModule: "nv"
>> (EE) Failed to load module "nv" (module does not exist, 0)
>> (II) LoadModule: "fbdev"
>> (WW) Warning, couldn't open module fbdev
>> (II) UnloadModule: "fbdev"
>> (EE) Failed to load module "fbdev" (module does not exist, 0)
>> (II) LoadModule: "vesa"
>> (WW) Warning, couldn't open module vesa
>> (II) UnloadModule: "vesa"
>> (EE) Failed to load module "vesa" (module does not exist, 0)
>> (II) LoadModule: "vga"
>> (WW) Warning, couldn't open module vga
>> (II) UnloadModule: "vga"
>> (EE) Failed to load module "vga" (module does not exist, 0)
>> (II) LoadModule: "mouse"
>> (WW) Warning, couldn't open module mouse
>> (II) UnloadModule: "mouse"
>> (EE) Failed to load module "mouse" (module does not exist, 0)
>> (II) LoadModule: "kbd"
>> (WW) Warning, couldn't open module kbd
>> (II) UnloadModule: "kbd"
>> (EE) Failed to load module "kbd" (module does not exist, 0)
>> (EE) No drivers available.
>> Fatal server error:
>> no screens found
>
>This is your problem - X can't find any video drivers ("devices") to
>load - so it can't construct the screen object which is needed to drive
>the display.  The newest versions of xorg are modular - have you built
>at least *some* of the required drivers?
>
>How did you install X?  Package or port?  You should definitely have
>gotten some drivers along with the package (unless you did something
>wrong) and if you built it from source via ports (/usr/ports/x11/xorg)
>it should have gotten you into xorg-drivers; as part of the build.  I
>always build xorg from source and it works like a charm each time.
>
>Anyway look in /usr/ports/x11-drivers/xorg-drivers - check the config
>there (make config) - some default drivers need to be built.  At minimum
>- for your needs anyway - you need "mouse" "kbd" and a video driver.
>You should build "vga" and "vesa" at least, and if you know your NVIDIA
>card is supported by the open source driver, build "nv" too.

..

Thanks for getting me pointed in the right direction. I re-installed Xorg
from the port and all is fine using the nv driver.

In the past I have always installed Gnome from the ports (it used to
require a special install script), but this time I decided to try the
package method, just for kicks.

Building Gnome from pkg_add the process failed several times with a network
timeout. I just re-entered the command and the process seemed to pick up
where it had left off. Maybe that caused this glitch?

Notes to the FreeBSD Gnome team: 

1. The installation instructions at

http://www.freebsd.org/gnome/docs/faq2.html#q1

need some tweaking. The page says Gnome can be installed from packages, but
that method did not produce a functional Xorg for me. Can the meta-package
be tested?

2. The instructions on how to install from ports are, IMHO, unclear.

"To build GNOME 2.20, you must first obtain the latest ports tree skeleton. "

should read 

"To build GNOME 2.20 from ports you must first obtain the latest ports tree
skeleton" etc. Look how it is handled in item 4, which is fine.

Mahalo to everyone who works so hard to get Gnome running on FreeBSD. I
have been using it since 1.4 and still believe it is key to bringing
FreeBSD to the desktop.

Gary Dunn
Open Slate Project