After installing Xorg on gentoo I cannot start X via the usual startx command. It doesn't return any error message... just hangs. Control C returns the usual prompt.

Giving the xinit command nvidia logo and wmaker start smoothly.

xdm too just doesn't switch on the window manager called in the ~/.xsession filebut keeps asking the authenticaton username and password.

What could have happened?

Thanks,
Pier

PS

You could try to run it in "debug mode"

sh -x /usr/bin/startx

And see where it gets stuck.

sh -x /usr/bin/startx &> /tmp/startx.log to redirect to a file

Hi,
well it looks like I have been impatience in waiting for X to come up after giving the startx command. As a matter of fact it takes as long as almost ten seconds to start up the window manager with startx whereas the xinit command works as quickly as always.

Debug output file startx.log is actually empty.

Regards,
Pier

Ah ok
Can't be empty!??
You did exactly the command I posted I guess?
Strange ????

Ahem!!! sorry ...my fault.

I tried again the command at home with the ampersand symbol just near the "greater" symbol and the log file was no longer empty (I was typing in & > rather then &>).
I'll paste bin the output from pc at work on Monday.

Thanks a lot,
Pier

Good
&> means redirect both stdout and stderr to the file
& > would mean put in the background (&) and redirect stdout to the file

Well, you would need the timing in front of each line, that's the problem...
Or.. use your eyes

You can then use /var/log/messages, which will stamp with the time.

Prepare one console with this command AS ROOT (he's allowed to read the file)
On another console, start logging:

You will probably have a good timing measure now on the first console

edit:
not sure this will work actually

I past-bin-ed the output of the:
sh -x startx &> startx.log command here:

http://pastebin.com/m1ac99ae

First, I have no clue about nvidia and ati stuffs and closed source stuffs in general.
Now looking at your output, the problem that we have is as expected we don't have the timing, so I don't know where is the delay!? From the tail -f console you could see where it hangs. Do that.

Do you run startx as root? Not good! Dangerous and useless. You've probably seen this posted everywhere, I'm lazy today I won't explain the risks, just an advice. It's not because oldflashioned linux beared people are annoying, it's simply that it's dangerous and useless. Argg I said I shouldn't explain why and am falling in the trap again
"Friends don't let friends run as root"

Things to look:
1)
Try as non root, could be your problem (although unlikely). If it doesn't work as non root, then it's another problem.
2)
hostname: Host name lookup failure
Humm not good.
Try this on a command line and if it doesn't work, fix it.
3) I have no clue what's this wmnd is, looks like it uses the network. Could create a delay problem if it doesn't connect or like in 2) doesn't detect the DNS name (if it tries to access your DNS and asks for what's the name of 127.0.0.1, nobody appart from you will answer)

4) I guess here you hit ctrl-alt-backspace:
Sorry I don't have so much time at the moment, but these are some ideas that should be looked at.

This is the log file when x is run as user:

http://pastebin.com/m2108a58e

I never run linux as root unless sudo-ing but now I am trying to setting all things up and running before adding users.

Host name returns:

pier@labtecn ~ $ hostname
labtecn
pier@labtecn ~ $

Wmnd is a windowmaker applet.

Well, it looks like you hit the point in

hostname -f

It was that that was hanging the whole lot resulting in a lookup failure.

Putting the hostname in the /etc/hosts file did the trick:

/etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 localhost


changed to


127.0.0.1 localhost labtecn


Thanks a lot,
Pier