Can't get gui in archlinux
 

I successfully dual booted windows 7 and archlinux :D However I can't get the x server to start. I followed this guide https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_Guide and tried using the vesa drivers but it just brought up a black screen with a bunch of random lines and colours. I uninstalled them and installed nvidia drivers via pacman -S nvidia and now when I do startx the nvidia splash screen flashes then goes back to the command line with some errors. here's a link to my Xorg log file. http://pastebin.com/pH5ghuSr

Also I have a 335m nvidia card.
The computer is an Alienware m11x
I also tried installing xfce to see if that would fix the problem.

Will post more details if I need to.

i encountered same issue using Ubuntu, and here's what I did hope it helps you as well.

here's the thread link: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...097/page2.html

Didn't work. Seems like I'm getting the same errors.

I wanted to post this in the archlinux forums but I didn't install in a virtual machine so when I try to register it makes you type in a long string of characters and post the results. I don't really want to write the entire string down and enter it in manually just so i can post on their forum.

have you check manufacturer's website of your video card for any drivers for Linux?

No all the other forums I read said not to use the installation program because it messes everything up. They said to just do the pacman -S nvidia command. I have similiar problems when using the vesa drivers so i figured it isn't the drivers but some other configuration. I'm a noob though so i have no idea. Maybe i'll try it.

I haven't tried the nouveau drivers but they always make my system crash in other distros so I don't know if I want to use them.

don't just install any drivers..make sure the driver is compatible to your graphic hardware and to your Linux Distro

Manufacturer's graphic card driver should be easy to install, it should be in rpm format..or other format which are easy to use and install..

have you came across with these links:

Guide on how to install for Suse Linux (should give you an idea for your distro)
http://users.suse.com/~sndirsch/nvid...ler-HOWTO.html

Nvidia Driver for Linux:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-d...ia32-195.36.24

I'm used to the gui so I'm not really sure how to go about downloading the proper driver using the lui. I need to do a bit more research but when i had fedora I used this guide http://www.if-not-true-then-false.co...-nvidia-guide/ and it worked flawlessly. I guess I just expected it to be the same somewhat.

Just thought of something. I'm a little slow. I'll download the driver and put it on usb and install from there. I'll post back if it doesn't work.

nvm that's the .run file. On the m11x archlinux wiki it just tells you to install bumblebee but I don't want it to be switchable. I just want to run the discrete nvidia card.

if the driver is in rpm format, go to Terminal and type command below..

please try:

watch out for case-sensitivity file name

It's .run. I tried installing it but it says I need the kernel headers and what not. I'm trying to figure out how to install the kernel-source and kernel-devel or find out if I just need to make a symbolic link.

wooh... why need kernel headers? if its only a graphic card driver...

are you developing something for the kernel?

No I've always had to do that in previous distros to get the driver running. After installing the headers it works. Without this procedure the .run won't install.

I might just need to make a symbolic link but I need to figure out how to do so.

In other forums they say using the .run messes up gl support.

okay, check out this thread:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...er-4175439432/

Here's the output of the installer.

nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log'
creation time: Thu Jan 23 19:25:25 2014
installer version: 331.38

PATH: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/bin/core_perl

nvidia-installer command line:
./nvidia-installer

Using: nvidia-installer ncurses user interface
WARNING: Skipping the runlevel check (the utility `runlevel` failed to run).
-> License accepted.
-> Installing NVIDIA driver version 331.38.
-> Performing CC sanity check with CC="cc".
ERROR: The kernel header file '/usr/src/linux-3.12.8-1-ARCH/include/linux/kernel.h' does not exist. The most likely reason for this is that the kernel source path '/usr/src/linux-3.12.8-1-ARCH' is incorrect. Please make sure you have installed the kernel source files for your kernel and that they are properly configured; on Red Hat Linux systems, for example, be sure you have the 'kernel-source' or 'kernel-devel' RPM installed. If you know the correct kernel source files are installed, you may specify the kernel source path with the '--kernel-source-path' command line option.
ERROR: Installation has failed. Please see the file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log' for details. You may find suggestions on fixing installation problems in the README available on the Linux driver download page at www.nvidia.com.

Okay so I did

pacman -S linux-headers-3.12.8-1

and it installed but after doing

startx

it still didn't work. Here's the new xorg log http://pastebin.com/DEr7hsmx

Given that RPM is not a native package format for Arch Linux, you're probably going to have trouble if you continue down this route. I've never had particular problems installing the .run file (Nvidia provides their own GL libraries, which will, if you give the option, overwrite the system libraries, which is perhaps what you refer to in your previous post).

Given the output of the Xorg.log you posted, though, I actually suspect that the Arch-packaged Nvidia driver is working fine. The server loads it, but then exits immediately. The only thing I see that's strange is that you're trying to load 3-4 other drivers (vesa, nv, nouveau, etc.), but only the nvidia driver actually succeeds in loading.

One of the reasons X might exit immediately is because you never installed a Window manager to give X something to actually run once it's started up. Did you follow the instructions from the guide avbout installing TWM and setting up your ~/.xinitrc file? Long term, you'll probably want something like GNOME, KDE, XFCE, Fluxbox, or the like. These must be installed via pacman if you wish to use them.

Hi weinerwad3000.

I have a suggestion for you and that that you should find out what video card you actually have in your computer and install the right driver for it.
this command will tell you what is the manufacturer and type of video card

Check out this link https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...r_installation

Once you have installed the right video card I would suggest you to install a display manager and enable it using systemctl enable.

Check out this link https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Display_manager

I like GDM, but that is a personal choice

Good news. I had xfce installed but I never tried the command

startxfce4

until today. After doing so the desktop shows up but the computer freezes or the keyboard just isn't working. I have to restart the computer to do anything. I've tried ctrl+alt+del to try to restart but it doesn't work and ctrl+alt+F1-F7 don't work either.

Making progress however.

Okay I got it. The problem is that my mouse and keyboard were getting disabled. In my xorg.conf I had to add under the ServerLayout

Option "AutoAddDevices" "off"

It loaded right up and now pretty much everything is working. Thank you for your help.

Option "AutoAddDevices" "off" did you set it ON or OFF

I set it to off and then I did

Startxfce4 and it loaded up. Been running great since.