cannot run startx

juno · 10-01-2002, 03:30 AM

I have newly intall a linux , but when I run startx , it pop up the below message.

Parse error on line 242 of section InputDevice in file /etc/X11/XF86Config
"Device" is not a vaild keyword in this section.
(EE) Problem parsing the config file
(EE) Error from xf86HandleConfigFile()

Fatal server error:
no screens found

fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"
after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining.

born4linux · 10-01-2002, 05:00 AM

X is not properly configured. what distro are you using? RH 7.3 and later uses XFree86 4.2.0 and the file in questions should be /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.

juno · 10-01-2002, 05:45 AM

yes, i u se rh 7.3 , how to config /etc/X11/XF86Config-4? Thx.

born4linux · 10-01-2002, 05:58 AM

Try this first from the command line (as user 'root'):

Xconfigurator --expert

Then choose from the list. If you have one of those Nvidia cards, you need the driver from www.nvidia.com

juno · 10-01-2002, 06:37 AM

there is no /etc/X11/XF86Config, should i create this file? Thx.

born4linux · 10-01-2002, 07:29 AM

use the Xconfigurator command first. The file will be created (and it is XF86Config-4).

rayne · 10-03-2002, 09:24 AM

My Xconfigurator says that it is saving changes to file XF86Config not XF86Config-4. I have both in /etc/X11.

Will I need to manually edit the file to get it to work?

GtkUser · 10-03-2002, 10:16 AM

After you run Xconfigurator as root, than you should be able to just type startx to start one of your desktops. If it doesn't work than enter different information during Xconfigurator or else your hardware isn't compatible with Linux. I hear that NVidia is troublesome, yet my Dad has an older NVidia card and XWindows works fine. At any rate Xconfigurator utility should do the job.

If it fails than I'd check the integrety of the iso file with MD5SUM.

nxny · 10-03-2002, 01:57 PM

I run RH 7.3 and use an NVidia card. Haven't had problems yet. The problem we have here seems to be that the config file prepared by Xconfigurator writes an XF86Config. From what I know, this file is not used by XFree86 versions newer than 3.3. The version of X you seem to be running is the latest(4.2) and that uses XF86Config-4. This file is of a different format than XF86Config, so simply renaming the file wont work.

I'm sending you my XF86Config-4. You need to back up your XF86Config-4, and come up with a new XF86Config-4 from the card and driver sections of your XF86Config using the format of my config file. See man XF86Config to learn about the sections. Once you have a simple ( low bits per pix - low resolution ) X server running, change one thing at a time ( so you know what caused the problem ) and tune it to you needs. You can use xvidtune to fine-tune x.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
# XFree86 4.2.0 configuration generated by Xconfigurator 4.10.7

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "XFree86 Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

# Red Hat Linux 6.0 and later use the xfs font server for improved
# interactive performance

Section "Files"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
EndSection

# Module loading section

Section "Module"
Load "dbe" # Double-buffering
Load "GLcore" # OpenGL support
Load "dri" # Direct rendering infrastructure
Load "glx" # OpenGL X protocol interface
Load "extmod" # Misc. required extensions
Load "v4l" # Video4Linux
# Load "record" # X event recorder
# You only need the following two modules if you do not use xfs.
# Load "freetype" # TrueType font handler
# Load "type1" # Adobe Type 1 font handler
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "on"
Option "Emulate3Timeout" "150"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "My Monitor"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 31.5 - 82.0
VertRefresh 50-100
Modeline "1280x1024" 135.00 1280 1316 1460 1684 1024 1025 1028 106
6 +HSync +VSync
Option "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (generic)"
Driver "nv"
BoardName "Unknown"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Linux Frame Buffer"
Driver "fbdev"
BoardName "Unknown"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (generic)"
Monitor "My Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

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