[SOLVED] start x window?

aagaag · 09-06-2014, 10:42 AM

I wanted to get X windows to start, but I am stuck. I have installed PuTTY and Xming on my PC, and I have enabled X11 forwarding to display localhost:0.0. On the Archlinux remote, I have installed Xorg.

But nothing works! Doing "startx" on the remote seems to start and immediately stop the server with the following message:

Code:

error setting MTRR (base = 0xf8000000, size = 0x00400000, type = 1) Invalid argument (22)
/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc: line 55: exec: xterm: not found
/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc: line 54: xterm: command not found
xinit: connection to X server lost

waiting for X server to shut down error setting MTRR (base = 0xf8000000, size = 0x00400000, type = 1) Invalid argument (22)
(EE) Server terminated successfully (0). Closing log file.

Couldn't get a file descriptor referring to the console

And the PuTTY session just gives me a normal SSH command line but no graphics. What is it that I am doing wrongly?

jpollard · 09-06-2014, 11:02 AM

You don't use startx.

Startx is intended to start an X server. You don't do that as you don't have control over the console display.

Using X forwarding you just start the X application. The sshd server will forward (if it is configured to do so) the X connections (as defined by the DISPLAY environment variable that sshd sets for you) and your X server (Xming on on your PC) will then display the window.

jailbait · 09-06-2014, 11:03 AM

sshd is running at runlevel 3. You need to set Arch up so that sshd runs at runlevel 5. Using google I could find examples of how to do this in Red Hat and Debian but I could not find any Arch examples. Here is a link for Red Hat and Debian:

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~rlug/help/tips-ssh.html

"On Debian boxes, save this script to your /etc/init.d directory. Then, use update-rc.d to create the symlinks to the appropriate runlevel directories.
update-rc.d -f ssh defaults 20

This will set sshd to start in multiuser runlevels."

----------------------------
Steve Stites

aagaag · 09-06-2014, 11:37 AM

Thank you all. My question, then, is: "How do I configure the SSH demon in Arch to forward X connections?".
many thanks in advance!

jpollard · 09-06-2014, 04:05 PM

If you look in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config there is a line (usually commented out) for XForwarding, and the default value. If the value is no, you can uncomment and change the value to yes. Personally, I prefer to copy the line, then comment it out and change the value. This way there is still some documentation about what the default value really is.

jpollard · 09-06-2014, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jailbait

sshd is running at runlevel 3. You need to set Arch up so that sshd runs at runlevel 5. Using google I could find examples of how to do this in Red Hat and Debian but I could not find any Arch examples. Here is a link for Red Hat and Debian:

normally sshd runs at 3 AND at 5. There should be no need for any changes.

Quote:

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~rlug/help/tips-ssh.html

"On Debian boxes, save this script to your /etc/init.d directory. Then, use update-rc.d to create the symlinks to the appropriate runlevel directories.
update-rc.d -f ssh defaults 20

This will set sshd to start in multiuser runlevels."

----------------------------
Steve Stites

jailbait · 09-06-2014, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpollard

normally sshd runs at 3 AND at 5. There should be no need for any changes.

Be that as it may agaag was getting the typical error messages that you get when you startx while running at runlevel 3.

----------------------
Steve Stites

jpollard · 09-06-2014, 06:06 PM

Startx doesn't work over ssh, and cannot. The default X server requires a video access - and an ssh connection doesn't have one, nor can it get one.

Now running a nested X server would work - and also wouldn't get the same errors as nested X servers use the X protocol for the display and not a video connection.

astrogeek · 09-06-2014, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jailbait

Be that as it may agaag was getting the typical error messages that you get when you startx while running at runlevel 3.

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Steve Stites

Not sure what you mean.

"Typically" if you get error messages from X when you startx from runlevel 3 - something is wrong.

More typically, if you startx from runlevel 3, X starts... but not over SSH as jpollard has explained.