I've just installed Debian 7.7 on my laptop. When I try to start the gui with 'startx' I get the message, 'startx -command not found'. In my /etc/X11 folder there is only one document, 'xkb'. Has a gui been installed at all? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi,

sounds like you didn't install X. What method did you use to do the installation? Eg what installation iso? Also, do you have networking (either wired or wireless)? Assuming your have network (or the appropriate CD/DVDs) you should be able to install a GUI by running tasksel and selecting a desktop environment.

Evo2.

startx should belong to display manager. Did you install any of DM?

it's part of the xinit package.

Run, as root,
then try installing Xorg,
install a window manager, Fluxbox,

When I installed Debian, the DHCP network configuration failed. I chose to continue the installation and configure the network later. I did not know if it was referring to a lan or my internet. My internet is connected via a USB wi-fi.

I am only just starting to learn about package managers and how software is installed in Linux. Both aptitude and tasksel are installed on my system. Is one of these my package manager?
When I run:
#tasksel --list-tasks
I get no output. When I try to install kde I get the following:
#aptitude install ~t^desktop$ ~t^kde-desktop$
No packages will be installed, upgraded or removed.
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B of archives. After unpacking 0 B will be used.

When I try to install xorg:
#apt-get install xorg
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree.
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package xorg

I get a similar message if I try to get install xfce with apt-get.
I've run all of these commands logged in as root and with my install CD mounted.
So is tasksel looking for my packages off the internet? If so how do I configure my network?
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Is it an ethernet connection?
If network failed then you need to check & edit sources.list

it really depends on how you installed.
last time i looked, the first debian installation cd did contain debian's default gui, however there was a choice to install a "desktop environment" or not.
maybe the netinstall does not have that.
even if a gui has been installed, a display manger might get by without the xinit package (i don't think so, but who knows), which provides the "startx" command.
so the question stands: how did you install?

What iso did you download? If it was a netinstall one you need a net connection, if you are relying on a wifi connection then the chances are it won't work.Try 'apt-get update' with a wired connection, no quotes.Maybe netinstall should include some stuff for wireless?

Fred.

Thanks to everyone for their help. My wifi is not my lan or nic card. It is my internet connection. I don't know if it is something peculiar to the sorry state of the internet in my country, or maybe I misunderstand the advice.
Unfortunately I think I will wipe and try another install over this Debian install. The package manager has not configured properly which is why I was not given the option to install a desktop. Only the base system has been installed. It was not a net install, there is something wrong with the cd install packages. I ran an integrity check and the dvd came up fine.
So I think I will try something else. Thanks again to everyone.

Which iso did you download?
You should probably install from the live-dvd
https://www.debian.org/CD/live/

to clarify: wifi stands for wireless network, same as wlan.
wireless means that the computer is connected to the internet without a cable.
it has nothing to do with how the internet comes into your house.
it refers to a technology where there is a device nearby (usually in the same room, at least in the same house) that sends out an internet signal (*) that your computer picks up with a wifi card.

this is different from mobile broadband, which uses the same network as mobile phones do, so the internet signal (*) indeed comes from further away - the next transmitter/receiver tower can be a few miles away. the computer also needs a different device to pick it up (usually a so-called dongle containing a sim card)

there might be another option that involves direct links to satellites, but i know nothing about that.

i'm saying all this because those terms might cause confusion if one is not familiar with them. they are not technically precise, one simply has to know what they mean.

(*) maybe technically wrong to say it like that, but it serves the purpose in this explanation.