Installation difficulties

[Matthew Seaman]

On 11/12/2011 06:01, Jeffry Killen wrote:
> So, I installed x-developer and attempted to install Apache from the
> included
> ports. None of the listed version would install:  error code -1.

7.2 is out of support now, see: http://www.freebsd.org/releng/index.html

Inter-alia this means that there won't be packages available on the FTP
servers specifically for that version.  Unless you've got all your
necessary packages on your DVD you aren't going to have much luck there.

> I also tried MySQL. The first time it also failed to install. But did
> sysinstall and tried
> a different version than originally selected, and it did install.

Verb. Sap.  sysinstall(8) as a system management tool is like those
dinky little training wheels kids get on their first bikes.  Best to
learn how to use pkg_add(1) from the command line; it will give you much
better results in the end, and be a lot less frustrating to debug if it
goes wrong.

> Since I wanted the GUI, I ran xinit when I got a shell prompt and xwindows
> failed to load and run, the error is "failed to load module fbdev
> (module does
> not exist).

That can optionally be installed from the x11-drives/xorg-drivers port,
but it's not enabled by default, so you won't find it in a precompiled
package.  You'll need to install a copy of the ports tree and use it to
compile from source, selecting the fbdev option in that port.

However, first I'd recommend updating your system to the latest
available (given it is a new install of FreeBSD).  There are several
possible ways of doing that -- peruse the Handbook for details -- but
probably the path of least effort would be to download a new DVD or USB
stick installer image and start again with that.  It's free, apart from
the cost of media, bandwidth and your time.

Also, if you want a quick start into a desktop based system, PC-BSD is
probably worth a look.  That's FreeBSD underneath, but with a lot of
GUI-ness layered on top as part of their standard system.  You should be
able to run mysql and other servers on it just as if you were on a
vanilla FreeBSD setup.

	Cheers,

	Matthew

-- 
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.                   7 Priory Courtyard
                                                  Flat 3
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey     Ramsgate
JID: matthew at infracaninophile.co.uk               Kent, CT11 9PW

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