Hi,

I have been using unix and linux for a few years now, but have only just installed it on my own computer. Therefore I know how to use the system, just not administer it.

I installed Mandrake 9.0 on my computer and decided as my first task to try and get to know everything a little more intimately, to upgrade X to 4.3.0. To do this I logged out, and switched to a different console.

I ran the XInstall script file with all the req'd packages and a couple of extras (whats the advantage of installing 100dpi fonts? Are they better or worse than the others?). I answered yes to every question involved in adding links or overwriting configuration files. Now Im guessing this might have been the wrong thing to do (although the installation notes said it shouldnt be a problem).

Anyway, after doing this I switched back to console 7 and tried to log in... It didnt work, just kept resetting back to the login screen, even after choosing to reset the X windows system.

So I reset the computer. Now I can log in, but instead of booting into KDE it automatically boots into TWM (or something similar), however once it gets in, I can only type into the terminals for about 2 seconds before the keyboard becomes unresponsive (I am using a USB keyboard if that makes a difference), I cannot even switch consoles, the mouse (also USB) however, still works. I can use the mouse to copy and paste (using the middle button) into the xterms, so they are still responsive.

I can access the menu to exit, but when I exit, the title bars of the xterms disappear, but thats about as far as it gets, the mouse is still responsive, but the menu no longer works. The only thing I can do is physically reset.

I am doing all this as a learning experience, so I have no critical data on the system (which is why I was a bit gung-ho about upgrading X).

Can anyone tell me if a) It is possible to recover from this (if someone could tell me how to stop Mandrake auto-logging in that would be a start), and b) How to properly upgrade X without this happening, or refer me to a detailed description of such.

Thanks very much...

Hello floyd what do you mean by "auto-logging"? You mean auto-logging to X or into console?

My self also tried to upgrate X-windows to 4.3.0 from the RH7.1 Kernel, but got some other problems like no desktop. I am new to Linux and I am not sure the compatitability of X4.3.0. I deleted everything finally and install the RH9, with the kernel2.4.0-8 and everything came back.

By auto-logging in I mean, it auto logs into my account, I guess this is because I am the only user (besides root) that is set up on the system.

I have found I way around this, even though it auto-logs in, I can switch to one of the other consoles and use the text based interface before the TWM stops the keyboard responding in console 7.

I would much prefer to "repair" the problem rather than re-install, because I will probably learn more that way.

Wow, upgrading X to become personalized with your system is like buying a car then rebuilding the transmission to become familiar with it

Anyway, you might just need to reconfigure X, with mandrake a tool exists called:
XFdrake
If you log in as root from your console and type:
XFdrake
It should start the process. After you've set it up, try using:
startx
To get into your graphical environment. It's very important to swith runlevels while doing all this too. If something does't work, you don't want your system to try to get into a gui if there isn't one right? So...
Open up (with your favorite command line text editor, for newbies I suggest using pico or nano if it's there) your /etc/inittab file (be careful in here) and change the following line:
id:5:default:
to :id:3:default: (the 5 to a 3)
This way your system will start in text mode, and then from there to get into your graphical environment (gui) you can type:
startx
And thest things this way. You will also recieve better error message to post up here so we can see what's going on by using startx.

Cool

Thanks for the help guys...

I ended up reverting to the original Mandrake XF86 (after working out how) and upgraded again, this time only updating the font server config file. Everything seems to be running smoothly. (Do I loose mandrake fonts? I checked the updated fs config file and it is quite different)

Just installed the Nvidia driver and that is going nicely too.

But if anyone can explain to me, or knows of an article explaining in detail, which config files to keep and which to update and why when upgrading X, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!