problems using the GUI

[Kevin Kinsey]

Ken Stevenson wrote:

> Kris Wieschhaus wrote:
>
>>
>>   I've been using FreeBSD for about a month now as I will be presenting
>>   it to my class in a couple of weeks. I am having a problem getting the
>>   the Windows X System to work. I have been trying for the last 2 weeks
>>   to get it to work. I have looked in the FAQ's section and the FreeBSD
>>   Handbook, but I am still unsuccessful.
>>
>>   When I run startx I get
>>
>>   (EE) Failed to load module "fbdev" (module does not exist, 0)
>>   (EE) <default pointer>: Cannot find which device to use.
>>   (EE) xf860OpenSerial: No Device specified
>>   (EE) <default pointer>: cannot open input device
>>   (EE) PreInit failed for input device "<default pointer>"
>>   No core Pointer
>>
>>   Fatal server error:
>>   failed to initialize core devices
>>
> fbdev sounds like the Linux frame buffer device. What's fbdev doing in
> a nice operating system like FreeBSD?
>

Heh, I like that question, but it may well be a better
question than I can even hope to guess at.  It is, however
sitting around in ports in a couple of locations, and it's
installed on this desktop:

[289] Fri 17.Mar.2006 12:05:49
[kadmin at archangel][/usr/ports]
pkg_info | grep fb
xorg-vfbserver-6.8.2 X virtual framebuffer server from X.Org

I seem to recall setting up one boxen within the last 4 months
or so that needed this port to even run X.  The X on this box
dates back to ?? and has been portupgraded a few gazillion
times, so I can't say when it was installed, exactly.

For the OP:  Xorg will attempt to run (and do it successfully
in many cases) without a config file at all.  So, make sure
(by reading the logs, most likely) that the file you are modifying
is actually being used by the server, or you're just spinning
your wheels.

Kevin Kinsey

-- 
He who fears the unknown may one day flee from his own backside.
		-- Sinbad