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Old 07-31-2004, 10:22 PM   #1
crashmeister
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xserver crash


I got a rather funny little problem with the xserver on a new debian install with testing.
The box starts,tries to get X up and running and it doesn't.When I try startx after that it aborts with:

(EE) xf86OpenSerial: Cannot open device /dev/psaux
No such device
(EE) Mouse1: cannot open input device
(EE) PreInit failed for input device "Mouse1"

When I start it for the third time and from there on it works just fine, including mouse and everything.
 
Old 07-31-2004, 11:43 PM   #2
SirSlappy
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you need to check out your mouse configuration..

Then check it how it is setup in xorg.conf

The X-server is trying to load a mouse that isn't there.. it doesn't find any mouse so it don't like you :-)

I think..

mouseconfig might help you out
 
Old 07-31-2004, 11:51 PM   #3
crashmeister
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The problem is that I got no idea how it comes up with that:
(EE) xf86OpenSerial: Cannot open device /dev/psaux
stuff.There is only a reference to xf86OpenSerial when the server crashes.When it starts (with the same config file) that stuff doesn't show up anywhere.
Don't think anything is wrong with the config - on the third try it starts and works fine.After that I can kill the server as often as I feel like and start it again w/o any trouble.
 
Old 08-01-2004, 01:05 AM   #4
zero79
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an "apt-cache search mouse" search implies that you should try out mdetect.

mdetect - mouse device autodetection

do

Code:
su -c mdetect
 
Old 08-01-2004, 05:51 AM   #5
Dead Parrot
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Check (uname -r) if you've got a 2.4.x kernel or 2.6.x. For PS/2 mice /dev/psaux is the correct device to use with 2.4.x kernels but with 2.6.x kernels the proper device for PS/2 mice is /dev/input/mice. With a 2.6.x kernel you also need to add "psmouse" (without quotes) to /etc/modules. USB mice might need even more tweaking than this.

Like zero79 says, you can first install mdetect and then you can run (as root) "dpkg-reconfigure -plow xserver-xfree86" to change your mouse settings.

BTW, you should always begin your question by telling your Debian version (stable/testing/unstable) and the kernel version you're using. This helps you to get better informed answers.
 
Old 08-01-2004, 07:10 AM   #6
crashmeister
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OK - thanks guys.
It's testing and kernel 2.6.7 and it seems to work now (with /dev/psaux - I'll try the /dev/mice thing to see what that does).
To make a long story short:
Tried mdetetct and that basically told me to add Option CorePointer to the mouse configuration but that didn't help any.
After adding psmouse to /etc/modules it worked but something is screwed up there because lsmod showed psmouse as loaded when I checked.It seems like it gets loaded without being in the /etc/modules file but just too late for the xserver to start up the first time it tries - beats me.
 
Old 08-01-2004, 08:36 AM   #7
Dead Parrot
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Quote:
I'll try the /dev/mice thing to see what that does
It's /dev/input/mice.

Mdetect is useful if you're unsure which mouse type you've got. The "-plow" option in "dpkg-reconfigure -plow xserver-xfree86" sets DebConf priority to the value "low", so that DebConf lets you configure as many aspects of X as possible. Adding psmouse to /etc/modules makes Debian load it already during boot time, so that it's ready when X starts. As you've noticed, the mouse driver is otherwise loaded too late and X server cannot find it -- hence it fails to start.
 
Old 08-01-2004, 08:39 AM   #8
k.van.hagen
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I had the same problem, I solved it by adding 'psmouse' to my /etc/modules
The driver wouldn't load otherwise.
 
Old 08-01-2004, 09:07 AM   #9
crashmeister
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The whole thing was slightly complicated by the fact that for some reason xfree uses /etc/X11/XF86Config the first time it starts and /root/XF86Config the second time.
Kept me scratching my head for a while until I figured that one out.
 
Old 08-01-2004, 10:06 AM   #10
Dead Parrot
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Quote:
for some reason xfree uses /etc/X11/XF86Config the first time it starts and /root/XF86Config the second time
XFree86 should use /etc/X11/XF86Config-4. I suggest that you remove the /root/XF86Config altogether.
 
  


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