LinuxQuestions.org - Unable to start xserver on Mandrake 9.2

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Unable to start xserver on Mandrake 9.2

Hey, I'm basically a linux noobie, and have a problem with one of my machines I use for work.

As the title states I am unable to start my xserver, using the startx command I have been using for the past 5 years. It goes to the blue loading screen with the x for a cursor, hangs there for about a min or so then goes back to the command screen.

I get an error:
..
..
giving up.
xinit: Permission denied (errno 13): unable to connect to xserver

waiting for xserver to shut down

xinit: Server error.

I have tried logging on as root and trying startx again. Same error.

Any help to diagnose/solve this problem would be great.

Mandrake 9.2 is from 2003. It is unsupported for a very long time, you don't get any security updates and bugfixes and haven't got them for the past years. If that machine is connected to the net it is wide open for everyone to break into that system. Why are you using such an old version?

The machine is on a closed network, and connected to a printer via scsi for the past 10 years.

The printer is still very useful, but the software that drives the printer is very old, and I believe can only run on a mandrake environment.

I understand finding help for this old version is probably slim to none. I wanted to try everything before I attempt a fresh install, as I know very little, and may not ever be able to get back running again.

Since my first post. I tried using the install CD's to find a repair utility. No dice, all I can find is an upgrade to 10.x or install fresh. That may be my only option.

Your hidden .Xauthority file might be the culprit. Copy it to another location, a new one will be created automatically. See if that helps.

Before attempting a fresh install, try using a live cd and see if your printer is still supported.

Thanks for the idea, Nexus.

I moved the file, and then tried running startx again. Stalled the same way.

When it returned to the command screen I checked that it made a new file with the ls -a command. Sure enough it made a new one.

The printer I use is a large format machine and can only be driven using this old software. As far as I know there is no standard printer driver for it. So a live CD would probably not help unless I could load this rip software on it as well.

Any other ideas?

What model printer? What software are you using with it? Do you know what model video card is in the machine? If you don't know please post the output of

Code:

lspci

I can't remember if Xorg was used with Mandrake 9.2, just in case it was can you post the contents of your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file. This file is likely to have a lot in it, perhaps it would better to post it to pastebin, then post the link to it here. Also the contents of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file should one exist.

Lets see if we can't find where things are going wrong before suggesting further solutions.

It's an x2Tech, from when Xerox dabbled in color graphics ~9 years ago. To this day it still prints faster than most printers on the market. The rip software I use is Caldera, a french imaging software.

I'm sorry. The lspci command posted a lot of info. Not sure if you need it all, but the bottom return is nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4200

I have no Xorg.0.log, or xorg.conf file. In either of those directories.

Closest to that name is XF86Config in /etc/X11/
or XFree86.0.log in /var/log

If that is what you want posted to pastebin let me know. I unsure how to get the contents of those files to a text file on a usb, but I'll try and find that tonight while I'm at home.

The good news is Caldera RIP (from version 5.06 up to version 7.22) will work with Mandriva 2005. The discs can be downloaded from DistroWatch.

Newer versions of Caldera RIP run on other distros see here: Compatible Distributions.

That's all the info I need with regards to the make/model of graphics card.

The contents of XF86Config and XFree86.0.log will do. You can get them into a text file by typing (no need to navigate to the actual directories):

Code:

cat /etc/X11/XF86Config > xfconfig.txt

and

Code:

cat /var/log/XFree86.0.log > xfree86.txt

You should now have 2 txt files in your current directory. 1 called xfconfig.txt the other called xfree86.txt

I made the txt files, but am having trouble mounting and getting the files to a usb drive...

They are too large for a floppy.

Compress them:

Code:

gzip -9 NAMEOFTEXTFILE

Should make them much smaller.

xfree86.txt link: http://pastebin.com/8MTrqNNB

xfconfig:

Code:

Section "Screen"

    Driver "svga"

    Device "device1"

    Monitor "monitor1"

    DefaultColorDepth 16

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 8

        Modes "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

    EndSubsection

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 15

        Modes "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

    EndSubsection

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 16

        Modes "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

    EndSubsection

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 24

        Modes "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

    EndSubsection

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 32

        Modes "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

    EndSubsection

EndSection

Thanks for the tip Toby.

Nothing flagged up as an error in your xfree86 log. I can see something stange about your xfconfig though. The Driver section should have nv or nvidia not svga.

You can generate a new xfconfig by running as root:

Code:

XFdrake

then using your cursor keys select the correct videocard from the list.

Another option would be to select vesa as the vidoecard option, that should at least allow you to log in to a desktop.

Either way you'll get the opportunity to test your selection to see if the X server will work.

I chose the GeForce 4 (generic) from the list, went to test and the screen went black and never came back. I had to hard reboot after 10min.

I just tried the vesa option under xfree4, same deal, I am looking at a black screen.

Also I wanted to thank you for taking the time, and I hope this is not as frustrating on your end as it is on mine.

I can sympathise with your frustration. I'm happy to help out when time permits :) Can you take another look at your xfconfig and tell me what it says under the Driver section. Just use:

Code:

cat /etc/X11/XF86Config

and let it output to your screen.

Ok, I got the report but it zoomed by really fast.

Newbie question is there a way to make it go page by page instead of blasting the whole thing past me?

Code:

| less

works! I'm learning!

Under driver it says "svga"

Apologies I forgot it'll do that.

Code:

cat | less /etc/X11/XF86Config

(the | character is shift & \) you can now use your enter key to step through the listing. Use the letter q to quit.

I have another thought, while we can spend a lot of time diagnosing the problem here's a quick test to see if it's related to your current login.

If you have the permission to do so:

1. Create a new user with the command:

Code:

adduser <username>

2. Create a password for that user with

Code:

passwd <username>

Once you have done this, login as that user and see if you get the desktop to load.

logged in under new user. startx -> same blue screen with x for cursor -> after a min back to command prompt with same error.

How are you at editing via commandline? If you are able I'd like to see what happens if you manually change the svga in your XF86Config to vesa if that works and you get a desktop, you can use the Control Centre to change the video driver. If it fails, try changing it to nvidia and if that fails try nv.

But before doing any of that make a backup of your current XF86Config file to your current location with:

Code:

cp /etc/X11/XF86Config .

check you have a copy at your currrent location with the ls command.

I meant the basic black command screen, not sure what is the proper term for that. The one it puts you in on booting

I am unsure on how to edit that file from that screen. Would I just change it in the XFdrake menu without using the test option?

There's no special name for it. Terminal is generally used to let folks like me know you are at a command prompt. The XFdrake option doesn't seem to be generating a new XF86Config or we wouldn't still have svga under the driver section.

Yes, and no. It hung up when I when into the internal "Test" option it had, and had to hard re-boot.

So technically I never changed it, or so as I see it.

Possibly force it to a different driver, without it's internal "test", then try and startx would change the XF86Config file?

I see what you're saying, yes I agree do the changes but not the test and see if the changes get written to the XF86 file.

Ok, it definitely changed the format of that file when I chose the NVidia GeForce4 (generic) option.

But well down the page now it still says Driver "svga" even though it says Nvidia for vendor and board name above it.

Also in XFdrake it said that the driver was supposed to be named nv...

So it is properly formatting the file just not using the proper driver as I can tell.

It's quitting time here again, though I am in tomorrow as well. If you are available I would love to resume this testing. Thanks again.

Sure thing. I think we're looking at manually putting the name of the driver to use. I'm not sure if you have your own text editor installed. If not you'll need to read up on vi that will most certainly be there as the default commandline editor.

Ok, I worked in vi. Was pretty simple once I got the idea of command and input modes.

Changed the XF86Config file to read Driver "nv" like what it said in XFDrake.

Checked it after I was back in the terminal, It did change to be named "nv".

Tried a startx. Same hang, then same error.

How about if you change it to nvidia? Also can you check if the nvidia module is being loaded, type:

Code:

lsmod | grep nvidia

I just tried naming "nvidia" and same thing.

I ran the lsmod command and got lsmod:command not found.

In root the lsmod command gave no return.

I've just taken another look at the /etc/X11/XF86Config contents you posted. There seems to be a lot of info missing. I want to make sure we are working with the correct one. Please do a

Code:

ls /etc/X11

and tell me how many XF86Config files you see. In particular is there one named XF86Config-4.

Yes there is. Here is a complete listing of the x11 directory.

Code:

app-defaults/

encodings.dir

fs/

lbxproxy/

prefdm*

proxymngr/

rstart/

twm/

wmsession.d/

X@

xdm/

XF86Config

XF86Config-4

XF86Config-4.old

XF86Config.old

XF86Config.test.old

XftConfig.README-OBSOLETE

xinit/

xinit.d/

xkb/

Xmodmap

Xresources*

xserver/

Xsession*

xsm/

Can you post the contents of XF86Config-4 and XF86Config-4.old perhaps we can see what has changed.

XF86Config-4

Code:

# File generated by XFdrake.



# **********************************************************************

# Refer to the XF86Config man page for details about the format of

# this file.

# **********************************************************************



Section "Files"

    # Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)

    # By default, Mandrake 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of

    # the X server to render fonts.

    FontPath "unix/:-1"

EndSection



Section "ServerFlags"

    #DontZap # disable <Crtl><Alt><BS> (server abort)

    #DontZoom # disable <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching)

    AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse doesn't work

EndSection



Section "Module"

    Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension

    Load "v4l" # Video for Linux

    Load "extmod"

    Load "type1"

    Load "freetype"

    Load "glx" # 3D layer

EndSection



Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier "Keyboard1"

    Driver "Keyboard"

    Option "XkbModel" "pc105"

    Option "XkbLayout" "en_US"

    Option "XkbOptions" ""

EndSection



Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier "Mouse1"

    Driver "mouse"

    Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"

    Option "Device" "/dev/usbmouse"

    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

EndSection



Section "Monitor"

    Identifier "monitor1"

    VendorName "Generic"

    ModelName "Flat Panel 1600x1200"

    HorizSync 31.5-90

    VertRefresh 60

    

    # Sony Vaio C1(X,XS,VE,VN)?

    # 1024x480 @ 85.6 Hz, 48 kHz hsync

    ModeLine "1024x480"    65.00 1024 1032 1176 1344  480  488  494  563 -hsync -vsync

    

    # TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output.

    # 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 kHz hsync

    ModeLine "768x576"    50.00  768  832  846 1000  576  590  595  630

    

    # 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 kHz hsync

    ModeLine "768x576"    63.07  768  800  960 1024  576  578  590  616

EndSection



Section "Device"

    Identifier "device1"

    VendorName "NVidia"

    BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce4 (generic)"

    Driver "nv"

    Option "DPMS"

EndSection



Section "Screen"

    Identifier "screen1"

    Device "device1"

    Monitor "monitor1"

    DefaultColorDepth 16

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 8

        Virtual 1280 960

    EndSubsection

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 15

        Virtual 1280 960

    EndSubsection

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 16

        Virtual 1280 960

    EndSubsection

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 24

        Virtual 1280 960

    EndSubsection

EndSection



Section "ServerLayout"

    Identifier "layout1"

    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"

    Screen "screen1"

EndSection

XF86Config-4.old

Code:

# File generated by XFdrake.



# **********************************************************************

# Refer to the XF86Config man page for details about the format of

# this file.

# **********************************************************************



Section "Files"

    # Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)

    # By default, Mandrake 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of

    # the X server to render fonts.

    FontPath "unix/:-1"

EndSection



Section "ServerFlags"

    #DontZoom # disable <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching)

    #DontZap # disable <Crtl><Alt><BS> (server abort)

    AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse doesn't work

EndSection



Section "Module"

    Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension

    Load "v4l" # Video for Linux

    Load "extmod"

    Load "type1"

    Load "freetype"

    Load "glx" # 3D layer

EndSection



Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier "Keyboard1"

    Driver "Keyboard"

    Option "XkbModel" "pc105"

    Option "XkbLayout" "en_US"

    Option "XkbOptions" ""

EndSection



Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier "Mouse1"

    Driver "mouse"

    Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"

    Option "Device" "/dev/usbmouse"

    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

EndSection



Section "Monitor"

    Identifier "monitor1"

    VendorName "Generic"

    ModelName "Flat Panel 1600x1200"

    HorizSync 31.5-90

    VertRefresh 60

    

    # Sony Vaio C1(X,XS,VE,VN)?

    # 1024x480 @ 85.6 Hz, 48 kHz hsync

    ModeLine "1024x480"    65.00 1024 1032 1176 1344  480  488  494  563 -hsync -vsync

    

    # TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output.

    # 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 kHz hsync

    ModeLine "768x576"    50.00  768  832  846 1000  576  590  595  630

    

    # 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 kHz hsync

    ModeLine "768x576"    63.07  768  800  960 1024  576  578  590  616

EndSection



Section "Device"

    Identifier "device1"

    Driver "vesa"

    Option "DPMS"

EndSection



Section "Screen"

    Identifier "screen1"

    Device "device1"

    Monitor "monitor1"

    DefaultColorDepth 16

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 8

        Virtual 1280 960

    EndSubsection

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 15

        Virtual 1280 960

    EndSubsection

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 16

        Virtual 1280 960

    EndSubsection

    

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth 24

        Virtual 1280 960

    EndSubsection

EndSection



Section "ServerLayout"

    Identifier "layout1"

    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"

    Screen "screen1"

EndSection

Quote:

Originally Posted by sin667 (Post 4410038)

XF86Config-4

Code:

Section "Device"

    Identifier "device1"

    VendorName "NVidia"

    BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce4 (generic)"

    Driver "nv"  <-- Change to read nvidia

    Option "DPMS"

EndSection

This is more like it. I have indicated where to insert a change. Before doing so make a back up of XF86Config-4 by typing:

Code:

cp /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 XF86Config-4.bkup

Once this is done, make the change as indicated above. After you save the change issue these two commands.

First:

Code:

telinit 3

this will make sure X is stopped.

Second:

Code:

telinit 5

this should start X again. If all is well you should see your normal graphical login screen.

After doing all above. The screen goes black, 3 times, for a half second each time. Then I'm back in terminal.

After the telinit 5 command it says:

Code:

INIT: Switching to runlevel: 5

Starting dm: [OK]

Starting caldera: [OK]

It stays there until I hit enter, and it brings me back to the prompt.

Ooo Something interesting.

I decided to give startx a shot in my default user name. Returned with a new error.

Code:

Waiting for X server to begin accepting connections (EE) failed to load module "nvidia" (module does not exist, 0)

(EE) No devices detected.



Fatal server error:

no screens found



.

giving up.

xinit: Permission denied (errno 13): unable to connect to X server]

xinit: No such process (errno 3): server error.

Ok time to take another look at what's being reported in your /var/log/XFree86.0.log can you do

Code:

cat /var/log/XFree86.0.log > xfree86.txt

and post the contents of xfree86.txt to pastebin and post the link here.

Can you change the driver section to say vesa Save the change, do the telinit 3 then telinit 5 then try to login as your normal user again.

I've got to step out. Let me know what the state of play is. I'll take a look at any problems when I get back.

I get the same blue screen where the "x" for the cursor is, but it is all distorted and there are 4 of them across the screen. Still no desktop or login option.

Here is a link to my XFree86.0.log:
http://pastebin.com/QQfaPXeh

No errors in your log. Back to XFdrake. Choose vesa and change your colours to 16 bit and your screen resolution to 640x480 do the test. If it appears to hang try Alt & Ctrl & Backspace to try and force an X server restart or try Alt & F2 - F6 to see if you can get a command prompt. Then do a graceful system restart with:

Code:

shutdown -r now

before choosing the hard reset option. If this is successful you can try changing only the screen resolution at first to get the display smaller. Or just log in, do what you wanted to do then tinker around after.

No dice. I try the test option and get nothing but a black screen that I cannot get out of.

So I tried just setting it to vesa 640x480 and 16bit, shutting down orderly, then trying startx after the reset. Same thing. For fun I tried the nvidia 4 (generic) one as well @ 640x480 and 16bit, same thing.

At any rate. It's time to hit the road for the weekend, have a drink, and resist the urge to punch little fluffy things.

I'll be back here on Tuesday. Have a good weekend.

When you get back let's create a new XF86Config file. Type:

Code:

XF86Config

Answer the series of questions. When done try logging in and doing startx

Ok gave that a shot. Created a new XF86Config file, after renaming the one I had. Signed in and tried startx. Same problem.

I was curious to see if it was the card itself, so I swapped in another GeForce card I had laying around, and got the same results.

I also tried using the generic nvidia option instead of the geforce one, in the XF86Config file, but got the same results.

Here is the contents of my current XF86Config file. (The one I generated with the xf86config dialog)

Code:

# File generated by xf86config.



#

# Copyright (c) 1999 by The XFree86 Project, Inc.

#

# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a

# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),

# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation

# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,

# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the

# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

# 

# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in

# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

# 

# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR

# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,

# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL

# THE XFREE86 PROJECT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,

# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF

# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE

# SOFTWARE.

# 

# Except as contained in this notice, the name of the XFree86 Project shall

# not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other

# dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from the

# XFree86 Project.

#



# **********************************************************************

# Refer to the XF86Config(4/5) man page for details about the format of 

# this file.

# **********************************************************************



# **********************************************************************

# Module section -- this  section  is used to specify

# which dynamically loadable modules to load.

# **********************************************************************

#

Section "Module"



# This loads the DBE extension module.



    Load        "dbe"          # Double buffer extension



# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables

# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.

    SubSection  "extmod"

      Option    "omit xfree86-dga"  # don't initialise the DGA extension

    EndSubSection



# This loads the Type1 and FreeType font modules

    Load        "type1"

    Load        "speedo"

#    Load        "freetype"

#    Load        "xtt"



# This loads the GLX module

#    Load      "glx"

# This loads the DRI module

#    Load      "dri"



EndSection



# **********************************************************************

# Files section.  This allows default font and rgb paths to be set

# **********************************************************************



Section "Files"



# The location of the RGB database.  Note, this is the name of the

# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db").  There is normally

# no need to change the default.



    RgbPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"



# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),

# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath

# command (or a combination of both methods)

# 

# If you don't have a floating point coprocessor and emacs, Mosaic or other

# programs take long to start up, try moving the Type1 and Speedo directory

# to the end of this list (or comment them out).

# 



#    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local/"

    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"

    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"

#    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"

    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"

    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"

#    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TrueType/"

#    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/freefont/"

    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"

#    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"



# The module search path.  The default path is shown here.



#    ModulePath "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"



EndSection



# **********************************************************************

# Server flags section.

# **********************************************************************



Section "ServerFlags"



# Uncomment this to cause a core dump at the spot where a signal is 

# received.  This may leave the console in an unusable state, but may

# provide a better stack trace in the core dump to aid in debugging



#    Option "NoTrapSignals"



# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><Fn> VT switch sequence

# (where n is 1 through 12).  This allows clients to receive these key

# events.



#    Option "DontVTSwitch"



# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><BS> server abort sequence

# This allows clients to receive this key event.



#    Option "DontZap"



# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> mode switching

# sequences.  This allows clients to receive these key events.



#    Option "Dont Zoom"



# Uncomment this to disable tuning with the xvidtune client. With

# it the client can still run and fetch card and monitor attributes,

# but it will not be allowed to change them. If it tries it will

# receive a protocol error.



#    Option "DisableVidModeExtension"



# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local xvidtune client. 



#    Option "AllowNonLocalXvidtune"



# Uncomment this to disable dynamically modifying the input device

# (mouse and keyboard) settings. 



#    Option "DisableModInDev"



# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local client to

# change the keyboard or mouse settings (currently only xset).



#    Option "AllowNonLocalModInDev"



EndSection



# **********************************************************************

# Input devices

# **********************************************************************



# **********************************************************************

# Core keyboard's InputDevice section

# **********************************************************************



Section "InputDevice"



    Identifier        "Keyboard1"

    Driver        "Keyboard"



# For most OSs the protocol can be omitted (it defaults to "Standard").

# When using XQUEUE (only for SVR3 and SVR4, but not Solaris),

# uncomment the following line.



#    Option    "Protocol"      "Xqueue"



    Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"



# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))

#    Option        "Xleds"      "1 2 3"



#    Option "LeftAlt"    "Meta"

#    Option "RightAlt"    "ModeShift"



# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the

# lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a non-U.S.

# keyboard, you will probably want to use:

#    Option "XkbModel"    "pc102"

# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:

#    Option "XkbModel"    "microsoft"

#

# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.

# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:

#    Option "XkbLayout"  "de"

# or:

#    Option "XkbLayout"  "de"

#    Option "XkbVariant"  "nodeadkeys"

#

# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and

# control keys, use:

#    Option "XkbOptions"  "ctrl:swapcaps"



# These are the default XKB settings for XFree86

#    Option "XkbRules"    "xfree86"

#    Option "XkbModel"    "pc101"

#    Option "XkbLayout"  "us"

#    Option "XkbVariant"  ""

#    Option "XkbOptions"  ""



#    Option "XkbDisable"



    Option "XkbRules"        "xfree86"

    Option "XkbModel"        "pc101"

    Option "XkbLayout"        "us"



EndSection





# **********************************************************************

# Core Pointer's InputDevice section

# **********************************************************************



Section "InputDevice"



# Identifier and driver



    Identifier        "Mouse1"

    Driver        "mouse"

    Option "Protocol"    "Auto"

    Option "Device"      "/dev/mouse"



# Mouse-speed setting for PS/2 mouse.



#    Option "Resolution"        "256"



# When using XQUEUE, comment out the above two lines, and uncomment

# the following line.



#    Option "Protocol"        "Xqueue"



# Baudrate and SampleRate are only for some Logitech mice. In

# almost every case these lines should be omitted.



#    Option "BaudRate"        "9600"

#    Option "SampleRate"        "150"



# Emulate3Buttons is an option for 2-button Microsoft mice

# Emulate3Timeout is the timeout in milliseconds (default is 50ms)



    Option "Emulate3Buttons"

#    Option "Emulate3Timeout"    "50"



# ChordMiddle is an option for some 3-button Logitech mice



#    Option "ChordMiddle"



EndSection





# **********************************************************************

# Other input device sections 

# this is optional and is required only if you

# are using extended input devices.  This is for example only.  Refer

# to the XF86Config man page for a description of the options.

# **********************************************************************

#

# Section "InputDevice" 

#    Identifier  "Mouse2"

#    Driver      "mouse"

#    Option      "Protocol"      "MouseMan"

#    Option      "Device"        "/dev/mouse2"

# EndSection

#

# Section "InputDevice"

#    Identifier "spaceball"

#    Driver    "magellan"

#    Option    "Device"        "/dev/cua0"

# EndSection

#

# Section "InputDevice"

#    Identifier "spaceball2"

#    Driver    "spaceorb"

#    Option    "Device"        "/dev/cua0"

# EndSection

#

# Section "InputDevice"

#    Identifier "touchscreen0"

#    Driver    "microtouch"

#    Option    "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"

#    Option    "MinX"          "1412"

#    Option    "MaxX"          "15184"

#    Option    "MinY"          "15372"

#    Option    "MaxY"          "1230"

#    Option    "ScreenNumber"  "0"

#    Option    "ReportingMode" "Scaled"

#    Option    "ButtonNumber"  "1"

#    Option    "SendCoreEvents"

# EndSection

#

# Section "InputDevice"

#    Identifier "touchscreen1"

#    Driver    "elo2300"

#    Option    "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"

#    Option    "MinX"          "231"

#    Option    "MaxX"          "3868"

#    Option    "MinY"          "3858"

#    Option    "MaxY"          "272"

#    Option    "ScreenNumber"  "0"

#    Option    "ReportingMode" "Scaled"

#    Option    "ButtonThreshold"      "17"

#    Option    "ButtonNumber"  "1"

#    Option    "SendCoreEvents"

# EndSection



# **********************************************************************

# Monitor section

# **********************************************************************



# Any number of monitor sections may be present



Section "Monitor"



    Identifier  "My Monitor"



# HorizSync is in kHz unless units are specified.

# HorizSync may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a

# comma separated list of ranges of values.

# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S

# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.



    HorizSync  31.5 - 64.3



#    HorizSync        30-64        # multisync

#    HorizSync        31.5, 35.2    # multiple fixed sync frequencies

#    HorizSync        15-25, 30-50  # multiple ranges of sync frequencies



# VertRefresh is in Hz unless units are specified.

# VertRefresh may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a

# comma separated list of ranges of values.

# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S

# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.



    VertRefresh 50-70



EndSection





# **********************************************************************

# Graphics device section

# **********************************************************************



# Any number of graphics device sections may be present



# Standard VGA Device:



Section "Device"

    Identifier        "Standard VGA"

    VendorName        "Unknown"

    BoardName        "Unknown"



# The chipset line is optional in most cases.  It can be used to override

# the driver's chipset detection, and should not normally be specified.



#    Chipset        "generic"



# The Driver line must be present.  When using run-time loadable driver

# modules, this line instructs the server to load the specified driver

# module.  Even when not using loadable driver modules, this line

# indicates which driver should interpret the information in this section.



    Driver    "vga"

# The BusID line is used to specify which of possibly multiple devices

# this section is intended for.  When this line isn't present, a device

# section can only match up with the primary video device.  For PCI

# devices a line like the following could be used.  This line should not

# normally be included unless there is more than one video device

# intalled.



#    BusID      "PCI:0:10:0"



#    VideoRam        256



#    Clocks        25.2 28.3



EndSection



# Device configured by xf86config:



Section "Device"

    Identifier  "NVIDIA GeForce"

    Driver      "nv"

    #VideoRam    131072

    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate

EndSection





# **********************************************************************

# Screen sections

# **********************************************************************



# Any number of screen sections may be present.  Each describes

# the configuration of a single screen.  A single specific screen section

# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"

# option.

Section "Screen"

    Identifier  "Screen 1"

    Device      "NVIDIA GeForce"

    Monitor    "My Monitor"

    DefaultDepth 16



    Subsection "Display"

        Depth      8

        Modes      "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

        ViewPort    0 0

    EndSubsection

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth      16

        Modes      "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

        ViewPort    0 0

    EndSubsection

    Subsection "Display"

        Depth      24

        Modes      "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

        ViewPort    0 0

    EndSubsection

EndSection



# **********************************************************************

# ServerLayout sections.

# **********************************************************************



# Any number of ServerLayout sections may be present.  Each describes

# the way multiple screens are organised.  A specific ServerLayout

# section may be specified from the X server command line with the

# "-layout" option.  In the absence of this, the first section is used.

# When now ServerLayout section is present, the first Screen section

# is used alone.



Section "ServerLayout"



# The Identifier line must be present

    Identifier  "Simple Layout"



# Each Screen line specifies a Screen section name, and optionally

# the relative position of other screens.  The four names after

# primary screen name are the screens to the top, bottom, left and right

# of the primary screen.  In this example, screen 2 is located to the

# right of screen 1.



    Screen "Screen 1"



# Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and

# optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be

# used.  Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and

# "SendCoreEvents".



    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"

    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"



EndSection



# Section "DRI"

#    Mode 0666

# EndSection

Did you try using XFdrake again too? Go for vesa first, confirm the change has been written to XF86Config-4 before proceeding to startx. Do you know if you have your kernel sources on the machine? Take a look for files ending in .h in your usr/src/<your kernel version goes here>/include/linux. To get your current kernel version do:

Code:

uname -r

Yesterday was crazy busy, sorry I did not have a chance to check in.

I just ran XFdrake and chose vesa, confirmed the change in my XF86Config-4 file. startx gave the same problem.

Inside of the usr/src/ directory I only have another directory named RPM. Inside of that RPMS/, and inside of that are directories named athlon, i386, i486, i586, i686, k6 and noarch. Not sure if any of those are what I need to look into.

My return from uname -r was: 2.4.22-10mkenterprise

I don't see a directory called linux in what you've posted, so I don't think you have the kernel-source installed. Does this system have 1GB (or more) of ram? This seems to be the reason why the enterprise kernel was installed. I did some digging around and cannot find any kernel-source that specifically mentions enterprise. However there is this kernel-source: kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm I'm not sure if it can be used. The reason why I'm talking about kernel-source is after all that we've tried, it seems that the best way forward would be to do a manual re-install of the nvidia drivers. In order to do this you need to have the kernel-source already on the system that matches your current kernel version to compile against. You will also need to download the correct nvidia driver. If you decide to go down this route these are the files you need to download:

1. kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm available from here: http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat....i586.rpm.html (File Size: 173.66 MB)

2. GeForce4 Ti 4200 Driver Version 96.43.19 available here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-d...19-driver.html (File Size: 15.7 MB)

If you can get those two files and transfer them to the system, we can set about installing the kernel-source and then installing the nvidia driver. You only need to put them in a location where we can easily find them.

I do have 2 512 chips in this system, not sure if that is why they chose the enterprise.

I have both of those files copied over to my root directory. I hope that kernel version works.

Please advise on how to go about doing this.

First we'll make sure both files are marked as executable:

Code:

chmod +x kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run

To save some typing use tab completion for both files, i.e. type kernel-source now press the tab key and the rest of the filename will be competed for you.

To install the kernel-source type:

Code:

rpm -ivh kernel-source-2.4.22-10mdk.i586.rpm

again you can use the tab completion method instead of typing the whole filename. When this is done do the following for the nvidia driver:

1. type: telinit 3 to kill the xserver (if you don't see a command prompt after hitting enter, press enter again)

2. type: ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.19-pkg1.run the install process should now start. Follow the onscreen instructions.

At some point you will be asked if you would like to download a module or kernel (I can't remember which) select no and continue with the install.

3. Once the install process has finished, no need to reboot, simply type: telinit 5 close your eyes, hit enter and hopefully when you open them again you have graphical login.

Good Luck :)

off of the rpm -ivh command, I got the following errors.

Code:

error: Failed dependencies

glibc-devel is needed by kernel-source-2.4.22-10mkd

ncurses-devel is needed by kernel-source-2.4.22-10mkd

gcc is needed by kernel-source-2.4.22-10mkd