Should the KDE desktop come up from boot or do I need to type something into the prompt to make it start?
If both can be done please enlighten me.
Thanks

run xwmconfig at the prompt.

choose kde (or what ever)

then startx will get kde running (if X is configured correctly)

If everything starts as hoped and you wish to start from KDM, see /etc/inittab and change the default runlevel from 3 to 4.

So I startx and I get this

(EE) AIGLX: DRI module not loaded

fatal server error:
could not open default font 'fixed'
giving up
xinit: Connection reset by peer (errno 104): unable to connect to xserver
xinit: No Such Process (errno 3): Server Error

Well, you will need to configure X. You haven't provided much info regarding your system so I will suggest you run, as root:

xorgsetup

This will hopefully generate a working /etc/X11/xorg.conf file for you.
Then run startx again and see if it works.

If not, you will need to post some info regarding your system. The output of lspci would be a good start.

Good luck.

Hi,

You need to configure your 'X'. You could use the 'vesa' by copying the '/etc/X11/xorg.conf-vesa' to the '/etc/X11/xorg.conf'.

If you want your system to render better with your hardware then you should run 'xorgsetup' or 'xorgconfig'.

I'm assuming you meant to type 'xorgsetup' or 'xorgconfig'.

Hi,

I just made a slip with my editor. Did not proof the post. Thanks!

So I copy the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf-vesa to /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Then run 'xorgsetup' and 'xorgconfig'
Then I point xwmconfig to KDE
Startx yields the same result:

(EE) AIGLX: DRI module not loaded

fatal server error:
could not open default font 'fixed'
giving up
xinit: Connection reset by peer (errno 104): unable to connect to xserver
xinit: No Such Process (errno 3): Server Error

I'm probably doing something wrong
I just installed slackware a week ago so I'm no linux guru.
Baby steps would be appreciated If anyone has the time.

What if you just copy the VESA configuration:
and then see what happens when you start X using the command ... only if that shows a working X desktop, run xorgsetup and generate a xorg.conf that is tailored to your hardware.

Eric

UNI, the goal is not to run xorgsetup AND xorgconfig. Try Alien Bob's suggestion to see if X will load properly when using the VESA configuration (do NOT run xorgsetup or xorgconfig). If that works, then you know at least SOMETHING will work if all else fails. The VESA configuration is not, however, the optimal solution, even if it does work. What video card are you using (nVidia, ATI, intel, VIA, ...) and what model, if you can figure that out (try `lspci -vv` as root). `xorgsetup` tries to create an xorg.conf file automatically by detecting your hardware. After the VESA config file works, try running `xorgsetup` as root, and then typing `startx` to see if X loads. If it doesn't, then xorgsetup isn't going to work for you, in which case you should try running `xorgconfig` (which requires that you know a lot about your hardware -- you may have to google your parts, for example -- your video card, monitor, etc.), which will generate an xorg.conf file.

The goal is not to do everything I said above. You should follow the instructions until you find something that works. If you can't get anything to work you can always use the VESA config (if that works, that is), but it's definitely not optimal, and you will almost definitely be able to do better. At this point you have provided us with very little information about your hardware, and it's difficult to troubleshoot with precious little information.

Here is my system info
I swapped out the video card long ago and it currently has Nvidia Geforce4 TI 4200 with AGP8x
I can't seem to find the specs for it at nvidia or bfgtech

Also make sure you are using the intended xorg.conf file. Take a look at the first few lines of /var/log/Xorg.0.log and check that it has something like
If you are running as the root user and have an xorg.conf file in your current (probably /root/) directory X will use that first. Many people seem to get caught out on this.

After a quick check of the man page, when running X as root this is the path search order.

You seem to have a legacy video card -- the latest drivers available are 96.43.05, which may or may not compile (probably will on Slackware 12.0, maybe not on Slackware 12.1 unless they are radically different than the newer drivers). If you wish to try the (legacy) proprietary drivers, they're located here for you: http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d..._96.43.05.html (GeForce 4 MX Series). You may also wish to try using the opensource nvidia drivers -- but I know nothing about them or how to use them. Does X start properly using the VESA xorg.conf file?

IIRC, "nv" would be the kernel driver for nVidia cards. You would replace "vesa" with "nv" in the device section of xorg.conf.

If the vesa driver is crapping out though, I'm not sure nv would work any better but it might be worth a try.

Thanks to those who helped me figure out what was wrong. They were all really good sugestions.

Problem:
I was recieving a font error. So I tried to reinstall slackware. During the second installation I saw an error saying yatta yatta yatta font corrupted. Basically saying dl slackware again. It turned out there was some dirt on my disk. I cleaned the disk off did a compete reinstall then I could startx with the 'vesa' configuration and try other suggestions.

Thanks again,