FreeBSD 5.2.1 / XFree86 4.3 .0 on Dell Inspiron 5000

[orig injun]

Hello Epi,

Thanks for your kind reply. Some comments inline :

--- epilogue <epilogue at allstream.net> wrote:

> On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 10:41:00 -0700 (PDT)
> orig injun <originjun at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> >  
> > > Hello,
> > > 
> > > I am wondering if somebody can help me get X up and running on
> > > my Dell Inspiron 5000 Laptop. 
> 
> hello,
> 
> most likely.  it has been running just fine on mine for years now.

That's good to know. Could you mail me your XF86Config file. Even
if versions of X vary, I can use it as a guide for my config.

Just as an FYI, I had RH Linux 6.2 running on this box before and
the version of X that shipped with it worked fine for 4 years.

>  
> > > After installing the OS and X, I generated XF86Config using
> > > XFree86 -configure. I am attaching the file below. When I
> > > run 'startx' with this configuration file in /etc/X11, the
> > > machine just hangs. 
> > > 
> > > The console shows:
> > > xauth: (argv):1: bad display name "machinename:0" in "list" 
> > > command
> > >
> > > xauth: (stdin):2: bad display name "machinename:0" in "add"
> > > command
> 
> i haven't bumped into either of these errors before, but whenever i'm
> in
> doubt, i google.  did you?
> 
>
http://www.google.ca/search?q=xauth:+(argv):1:+bad+display+name&sourceid=opera&num=30&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
> 
> just from a cursory glance at the hits, methinks your 'hostname'
> might
> be the issue.

Yes, I saw posts which indicated that. I obscured the hostname
in my mail, but as best I can see, the host and domain names are
set correctly on the machine. So I am a bit surprised that X
doesn't pick it up. It turns out that X wants to look for
a hostname in /etc/hosts and I added the name there. The
xauth logs disappear but the machine still hangs exactly
the same way as before.

> 
> > > followed by XFree86 and FreeBSD version information
> > > before it freezes. Nothing gets written to XFree86.0.log
> > > 
> > > I am running FreeBSD 5.2.1 Release #0 as downloaded from
> > > freebsd.org. The XFree86 version that comes with this is
> > > 4.3.0 released on 27 February 2003. The machine itself is
> > > a 500Mhz PIII laptop with 256MB or RAM. Is X supposed to
> > > work with this configuration. If so, could somebody tell
> > > me what I am doing wrong or send me a good XF86Config 
> > > file.
> > > 
> > > My only alternative would be to try Linux (Fedora 2 or 
> > > Gentoo) but I would much prefer to stick with FreeBSD
> > > if I can.
> 
> well, you most certainly can go that route, if you prefer not to
> research the problem.  however, keep in mind that X is X, regardless
> of
> the platform upon which you decide to plop it.  in other words, good
> luck with that solution.
> 
> at any rate, i hope that this gets you moving in the right direction.
> 
> 
> cheers,
> epi
> 
> p.s. there are much newer versions of XFree and Xorg.  both are
> shipped with an autoconfigure tool.  is there any reason you've
> decided not to run those?

I was hoping to take the path of least resistance and use the
out-of-the-box version. Using a more recent version of X is a 
good suggestion and I will look into it...

Thanks again,
Anouk.

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