I apologize if this question has been answerd before. If it has, I couldn't find a solution that works for me.

I have installed Gentoo on a fresh system, and it is working from the CLI. I have installed Xorg 7.1 and have been twiddling with the config now for a couple of weeks (part-time of course), but it doesn't work. When I do a startx I just get a blank screen. I can get the CLI back by pressing Ctl-Alt-F1 and it shows these startup messages:

--------------------------------
auth: creating new authority file /root/.serverauth.2213

X Window System Version 7.1.1
Release Date: 12 May 2006
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 7.1.1
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.18-gentoo-r4 i686
Current Operating System: Linux alpha 2.6.18-gentoo-r4 #1 SMP Tue Jan 2 21:01:04 CST 2007 i686
Build Date: 03 January 2007
Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
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 implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Wed Jan 17 13:38:41 2007
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"


Backtrace:
XIO: fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"
after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining.
--------------------------------

From this I can't see why the connection was reset.

Here is what my /etc/X11/xorg.conf looks like right now.

---------------------------------

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "freetype"
# Load "xtt"
Load "extmod"
Load "glx"
# Load "dri"
Load "dbe"
Load "record"
Load "xtrap"
Load "type1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "Microsoft"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Emulate3Buttons"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "pc101"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"

### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC:
### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC:
Identifier "Monitor0"
### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC:
# HorizSync 31.0 - 60.0
# VertRefresh 40.0 - 60.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
EndSubSection
EndSection

---------------------------------

It's probably messed up by now but I would really appreciate getting some help getting it right. If you need more listings, etc., let me know.

Thanks.

That was just when you pressed ctr alt <-
Driver "nvidia"
What happens when you modprobe nvidia.
Have you tried;
Driver "nv"
or
Driver "vesa"
Do have this in /etc/make.conf
VIDEO_CARDS="nv nvidia vesa"
Did you;
X -configure
Did you follow this;
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xorg-config.xml

The nvidia driver is loaded ...

alpha / # lsmod | grep nvidia
nvidia 4214228 0

It is also specified in make.conf ...

VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia"

When I use Driver "nv" or "vesa" ...

(EE) Failed to load module "vesa" (module does not exist, 0)
(EE) No drivers available.

Fatal server error:
no screens found
XIO: fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"
after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining.

I followed the gentoo doc carefully while installing and configuring. At least I think I did. I tried both the automatic and the semi-automatic methods of configuration.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

Try recompiling x.

I've done that.

comprookie2000 said:

>> That was just when you pressed ctr alt <-

I just did some more testing by sending the error output of startx to a file. The "Connection reset... " messages appears there before I press Ctl-Alt-F1. BTW, Ctl-Alt-Bksp does not work.

What this tells me is that something else is causing X to abort without displaying anything, but not releasing the screen back to the CLI until explicit action is taken.

I'm pulling my hair out over this.

It will not build the nv or vesa modules if you don't have it in make.conf.
Your xorg.conf does not look like one generated by X -configure.
I will move /root/xorg.conf.new and rename it xorg.conf to /etc/X11
then delete the one in root if it is still there.

Read though the xorg log in /var/log/. Using "less" and searching for the pattern (EE) will show what the errors are.

Thanks for the suggestions. I am at work right now but I will try this stuff tonight.

I think that the xorg.config used to look like what was generated from X -configure and what I posted was after many tries at tweaking it (obviously unsuccessfully).

I have tried multiple methods of configuring and none of them have worked. I am getting frustrated and probably this is why I can't get my head wrapped around a solution.

I didn't put nv in the make because of advice that I have read in the forums say that I should use nvidia instead. Do I still need it available anyway? What about vesa? Why do I need more than one driver? Sorry if some of these questions seem elementary. I'm still a newbie to gentoo. My previous installs have all been full blown binary distros.

Once I correct /etc/make.conf, what do I need to recompile?

Thanks.

OK, I am at least making some progress. As long as I us "nv" instead of "nvidia" I can get into X. I currently only have twm so it's nothing to brag about.

When I change my driver to "nvidia" I still get the same results as before. For a while I was getting errors related to the glx module, and the doc said to run "eselect opengl set nvidia" to switch to the nvidia version. When I did that the glx error messages went away but X is still not starting.

What are the advantages of using "nvidia" over "nv"?

You could use the nv or vesa drivers as a first step. If the nv driver works, you probably have the monitor settings correct in your xorg.conf file. The nv would probably function better then the generic and universal "vesa" driver. You just use one of the video drivers.

Nvidia is the binary driver supplied by NVidia that includes acceleration support. Part of the problem could be that you need a newer version of the driver. You will need the kernel-source and kernel headers installed to run the installer. You will also need module_init_tools for a 2.6 kernel. The installation program compiles a new nvidia module.

Also, you could use the gtf program to generate the modelines. This is what I used for my laptop that has a 1280x800 resolution. However, the glx message indicates there is more to it. If the glx module depends on libGL, you could try installing Mesa. That was a step I used to get things working when I had an update not work fully.

Also check if you have nvidia's documentation installed in /usr/share/doc/packages/x11-video-nvidia/.