Can't get Xfree86 going
 

Bonjour,

This post maybe in wrong section. But I'm not really sure where else to post it.

Here's my problem everytime i try to get debian going i always run into the same problem. The damn Xfree86 wont start. Whenever i type the startx command the computer shoots backs a ton of errors (i'll detail them after i give specs)

My system consists of the following:

BIOS = IntelR - 42302e31
Processor Type = x86 family
Processor = Intel Celeron 1.9 GHz
Graphics Card is part of the mobo its an Intel Extreme Graphics Controller and its got 16 mb of video ram.

My moniter is a nokia 446xs i've done the reasearch and its horzizontal frequencies are 30.0-96.0, the vertical frequencies are 50.0-150.0. These numbers are all in KHz. Now during the X86 config process i punch these numbers in but the system wont seem to start x. I'm pretty sure that im not telling it the right video drivers to use and that's why it doesnt load properly. But i dont see my video driver there. I've tried i810 and it didnt work. I havent tried i740 but im pretty sure its not going to work either.

Nowhere's the errors it spits out after i type startx:

Now i've run RedHat for a whille and then i switched to Ubuntu because it was similar to Debian and both systems ran X-windows perfectly im not sure why i cant get it to work on debian.

I've tried running startx - probeonly and -configure still wont work. After some reasearch i read about the program SuperProbe but when i try to run it i get the error "command not found" then i tried apt-get install superprobe but it seems it wont download.

I feel like i've tried almost everything to get it to work but still i get fatal errors. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,:)
jamez15

I would first try using the "vesa" video driver.

If that doesn't work check out your /etc/X11/XF86Config or /etc/X11/xorg.conf (whichever you use) in Ubuntu if you still have it installed, and see what driver it uses.

Try running XFree86config. This should give you options to configure your XFree86config file. Just remember to back it up before editing. If you have no luck then then just edit your config file and put in vesa for a driver.

Thanks for the replies i've tried updating the config file by inserting vesa into the video driver section heres the output:

Different but still a fatal error none the less. Does anyone know what these libGLcore errors mean?? Maybe debugging that will solve the problem.

Thanks
jamez515

Please post the entire contents of your xorg.conf (or similar). Like the error said, you don't have any screens defined. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out once I see the whole file.

~Justin

i've run into another problem i want to post the whole config file but its too much text to type. So i'm trying to get the contents onto a usb key i have. But i cant seem to do that either. I'm pretty sure theres no usb support in the damn kernel because when i put the key into the pc it lights up for a sec and then shutdowns.

i've tried

get the error

I've also tried modprobe, but as usual that doesn't do what its suppose to do either.

I am so pissed with debian right now its not even funny...this is why i used to use ubuntu. But i really want to get this going.

How do i get usb support into the kernel so i can write a text file with the printout of the config file?

thanks
james

Is this the device that "fdisk -l" shows it as. If not, then this is the problem. If you didn't compile the kernel yourself originally (which I'm assuming you didn't), then I can't imagine that USB support was not already built in.

I'll just go ahead and tell you what to look for in your xorg.conf. There should be a section labeled "ServerLayout" which is probably near the bottom. Within this section there should be a directive called "Screen" whose identifier could be set to anything (although it's probably set to "Default Screen"). If there is no "Screen" directive in this section, then you will definantly need to add one (see below for mine). Now go back and find the section called "Screen" with the same identifier (be careful, because there could be more than one screen defined). Make sure this section has a "Device" directive and a "Display" subsection that lists your available color depths and resolutions (there should probably also be a DefaultDepth directive). Now find the device section with the appropriate identifier. This is where the driver you will use is defined as well as the BusID (which you probably won't need to change). The vesa driver should work for your laptop as it is the most general driver available for laptops. Double-check and make sure all the identifiers correspond and that the syntax is correct, as a small mistake will cause the server to fail. I've included some scripts from my xorg.conf for reference:
Hopefully this will turn up a common error that will be easy to fix. If not, then I will probably need you to try to post the relevant parts (the parts I've posted). Good Luck,

~Justin

Debian 3.1/Sarge/Stable doesn't use xorg.conf; it uses /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.

I've had similar issues with trying to get X up and running with some old HP Pavillions with on board Intel graphics (using i810 driver). I had strange looking errors something like what you got, but it turned out that these "errors" occured when it was WORKING also (complaining about AGPGART and stuff). After much frustration, it turned out that the reason X was failing was because the MOUSE was configured wrong.

Please post the contents of /etc/X11/XF86Config-4; if you can boot up in Knoppix or another LiveCD, then you'll be able to access your files in a nice GUI environment so you can cut-and-paste. Also tell us what sort of mouse and keyboard you're using, and what interfaces (USB or PS/2). X is fussy about having the mouse and keyboard configured properly or it won't start up at all (by default--there are options to allow mouse failure and such; but it's not exactly very usable).

Like we said earlier in this thread, which ever one you're using. It doesn't make any difference, the syntax is still the same.

IcaacKuo is right though, there could be something wrong with your mouse setup. Look at what port the mouse is defined. You can check to see if your mouse is actually connected through this port by running "cat /dev/input/mice" or whatever the port is. You will probably need to be root to do this. Anyway, when you move the mouse, random crap will scroll across the screen. And the plus side is that you can do this without the X server running.

~Justin

Thanks for the replies.

Well a few of you guys must have misunderstood my english, my appologises for this, I'm trying to install debian on desktop. I've did a little more research looking online and looking through log files. I've found out that the chipset inside the box is an "Intel 845G" and i even found the video drivers for support on linux systems on the intel site.

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scri...&ProductID=865

These might help

But i cant download them without a graphical user interface. I installed lynx but im not sure if it could handle such a task or how to make it handle such a task.

So i kept playing with the xf86config-4 file and changed a few things i set the video it to generic VGA compatible set the moniter scan frequecies and the color depth to 256 colors or 8 bit i think it is.

Now after this i run startx and the moniter turns blacks for a nice amount of time and when it comes back it is no longer returning screen/moniter errors. Actually for a sec i saw the graphical user interface. :D It's telling me something is wrong with the mouse. Here are the actual errors:

Now i'm pretty sure we're getting closer to solving this problem. Because mouse errors probably happen often. I am really appreciative of the help you guys are giving me. I really wanna get this system going.

Thanks
jamez515

I just tried running

and i recieved the same error for each:

So there's definetly a problem with the mouse

Hi,

for the mouse try:

thanks for the help i finally got x-windows running and i'm right now looking at gnome.

i ran cat /dev/psaux and it worked so i went into the config file and pointed it toward /dev/psaux, then i saved and ran startx and everything is now running.

The screen resolution is extremely big but im pretty sure if i download the proper drivers and then install them and update the config file everything should be normal

thanks for the help and i'll see you guys around on the forums
jamez