Buggered up a Config.. Help!

RetepNamenots · 10-19-2006, 03:23 AM

Hey dudes, I tried following a tutorial on the net to help me use xgl on Gnome in Suse. It was all going well until I restarted, and now it is telling me that I can't start an x-server (runlevel 5) because there's a problem with my graphics card. I edited the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf and I think this is what it doesn't like.

This is the error that I am being given when I try to start:

Quote:

Failed to start the X server (your graphical interface). It is likeley that it is not set up correctly. Would you like to view the X server output to diagnose the problem? < Yes > < No >

Yes gives me this:

Quote:

X Window System Version 6.9.0
Release Date: 21 December 2005
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 6.9
Build Operating System: SuSE Linux [ELF] SuSE
Current Operating System: Linux Petesroom 2.6.16.21-0.25-default #1 Tue
Build Date: 13 September 2006
Before reporting problems, check {Url Removed}
to make sure that you have the latest version.
Module Loader present
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not impletemented, (??) unknown.

(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.93.log", Time: Thu Oct 19 09:14:47 2006
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
Parse error on line 139 of section Device in file /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Multiple "Identifier" lines.
(EE) Problem parsing the config file

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to Linux, but I'm guessing that I added another "Identifier" line where there already was one under that heading. My question is, how can I edit this? I can't use gedit because I'm not being allowed into X-Server..

My questions are, can I restore the file (even from a CD), just from the Userlevel 3? And if not, how can I restore Linux so that I don't loose my settings..?

reddazz · 10-19-2006, 08:07 PM

You will have to login as root in text mode (there should be a login prompt when X fails, if not do CTRL-ALT-F1). Once you have logged in as root, you can use a text mode editor such as Emacs or VIM to undo the changes you made to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf. After that do "init 3" and then "init 5" to see if your changes worked.

If you don't want to tinker with editing the file using a text mode editor, you can do "init 3" and then "sax2". This should configure your graphics settings automatically. If everything works out fine, run "init 5" to restart X.

farslayer · 10-19-2006, 11:29 PM

your error

Quote:

Parse error on line 139 of section Device in file /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Multiple "Identifier" lines.
(EE) Problem parsing the config file

So go to the device section of your xorg.conf and check for Multiple lines that begin with Identifier. there should be only one.. the error looks pretty straight forward..

Example Device section

Code:

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "NVIDIA Corporation NV20 [GeForce3]"
        Driver          "nvidia"
        BusID           "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

RetepNamenots · 10-20-2006, 02:33 AM

Thanks, farslayer, I found it!

And thanks reddazz, that's exactly what I was looking for

Cheers.