Xfree86 Config Problems

Tue Jun 24 13:40:20 PDT 2003

On Tue, 24 Jun 2003 11:00:27 -0600, "Timms, Simon"
<STimms at petro-canada.ca> said:
> sounds like you are doing pretty good.  If you are getting the gray
> screen
> and black X then your video card is supported and you have started X. 
> What
> you are missing is a window manager.  I don't know what window manager
> you
> want but give fluxbox a try, it is in the ports collection.  If you want
> something a little heavier try KDE or GNOME.  I am aware that KDE/Gnome
> aren't window managers, thank you.  Once you have installed a window
> manager
> they edit your .xinitrc and add a call to your window manager (exec
> startkde
> for kde, exec fluxbox for fluxbox).  Check the archive of this list
> somebody
> has done a good walk though for this before.  If you do install kde from
> ports then allow a good few hours for it to finish.
> 
> try:
> http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/x11-wm.html the
> friendly handbook for some good examples.  
> 
> good luck!

A *very* helpful article:

http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2000/06/21/FreeBSD_Basics.html

In fact, the whole "FreeBSD Basics" series on O'Reilly's Onlamp.com is
excellent.  You might want to scan the topics that have been covered in
the 3 years the series has been running to see what else is relevant to
your situation.

Jud

> -----Original Message-----
> From: bsd at sleve.mailshell.com [mailto:bsd at sleve.mailshell.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2003 10:22 AM
> To: questions at FreeBSD.org
> Subject: Re: Xfree86 Config Problems
> 
> 
> Thanks for prompt reply, guys.  I enjoy this community, but hate the
> install.  
> 
> While I didn't mention it in my email, I did try this as well:
> > > # XFree86 -configure
> And it didn't work.  Gave me X cursor in gray screen and could not get
> out.
> 
> As for checking for multiple config files, how would I know?  Where would
> I
> find them? What would I do with them all, just rm them?  What if I found
> more than one?  How do I know which one is being used?  Why so many
> config
> utils?  Why are there so many possible locations? 
> 
> This is my first install of BSD, and while I've installed Linux a dozen
> times, I don't know where to find things in BSD.  I'm overwhelmed and
> frustrated.  Please walk me through the steps before I give up on BSD.  
> 
> I wonder if my S3 Savage 2000 video card is supported, even though it was
> on
> the list.  I saw many posts about S3 problems, none with obvious
> solutions.
> I could use the FreeBSD 5.1 Release if that would help.  I saw this link
> about S3 Savage at http://www.xfree86.org/support.html a private
> developer
> at  http://www.probo.com/timr/savage40.html where he says:  "xvideo on
> the
> Savage2000 still seems to be broken. I don't know when I'll be able to
> get
> around to this." 
> 
> Thus far, the install process is overly complicated and not inviting to
> new
> users.  I could provide specific feedback on this if anyone wants it.
> 
> 
> >From Viktor Lazlo <viktorlazlo at telus.net> on 23 Jun 2003:
> 
> > 
> > 
> > On Sun, 22 Jun 2003 bsd at sleve.mailshell.com wrote:
> > 
> http://cgisleve.tripod.com/bsd/xfreebad.html is a web page of this info.
> > >
> > > XFree86 Configuration Problems
> > >     by Steve LeBlanc © 2003.6.22
> > > Installed FreeBSD for first time.  Text login was fine. NIC worked.
> > Did a telnet and ftp to computers on the Internet. All seemed to work
> > except for configuring XFree86. No screen found when I did startx. Below
> > are the details:
> > >
> > > The full commented files: XF86Config.txt and XFreelog.txt
> > >
> > > Settings
> > > XFree86 Ver:4.2.1 
> > > Release Date: 3 September 2002
> > > OS: FreeBSD 5.0 RELEASE
> > > Video: S3 Savage2000 (generic) 64MB, 3D
> > > Monitor: Cornea MT1700 17" LCD H: 31.5-80, V: 56-75
> > >
> > >
> > > After install I tried both: xf86cfg -textmode and xf86config to
> > > reconfigure. I read the docs deeply and redid this 15 times, using the
> > > various command line tools. Each of the last 10 times, I typed in my
> > > settings and selected my Graphics card from the list. I just can't get
> > > startx to work. Below are my XF86Config file and my XFree log file,
> > with comments removed.
> > >
> > > Fatal server error:
> > > no screens found
> > 
> > Check the handbook:
> > 
> > 5.4.2 Configuring XFree86 4.X
> > 
> >    Configuration of XFree86 4.X is a multi-step process. The first step
> > 
> > is to build an initial configuration file with the -configure option to
> > XFree86.   As the super user, simply run:
> > 
> >      # XFree86 -configure
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > 
> > Viktor
> 
> 
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