Can't get graphical desktop environment on FBSD12

[Polytropon]

On Thu, 19 Sep 2019 17:18:57 -0400, Trey Sizemore wrote:
> 
> 
> On Thu, Sep 19, 2019, at 3:40 PM, Polytropon wrote:
> 
> > 
> > Summary: Find out what graphics card you need to support, install
> > the appropriate drivers, test with a minimal configuration first,
> > then extend to what you need for your desktop environment; in case
> > of errors, examine the X log file.
> > 
> > 
> 
> Thank you.  I have graphics working now such that I'm presented with
> gdm and can log in to gnome3 or kde, but I don't have the option for
> Cinnamon.  Do I need to use a differnet display manager (like xdm)?

Ideally, you should be able to launch a non-Gnome session with gdm,
but gdm is ignorant and doesn't seem to support that. My suggestion
is to use slim as a display manager (instead of xdm). It will then
execute whatever you have in ~/.xsession. Something like this should
work (not tested):

	exec cinnamon-session

I've had a comparable setup with slim + mate as a replacement when
Gnome 2 became Gnome 3 (and therefore unusable). To start slim, I
think the /etc/rc.conf entry is

	slim_enable="YES"

but I cannot tell for sure as I currently have no access to that
particular system where that setup is running.



Sidenote regarding graphics:

Make sure you do actually use the correct one, and not just VESA.
You will probably notice when window movement is slow or sluggish.



For further reference if you wish to try XDM anyway (I'm one of the
last ones still using and _liking_ it):

	https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/x-xdm.html

It's fast and does what it says on the can. Nothing more, nothing less.
And customizing it isn't that hard, if you need to.



-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...