LinuxQuestions.org - Just installed linux(partition) no virtual desktop

Quote:

Originally posted by TomM
Hello, I have recently installed debian as a partition on my computer(i also have windows xp pro installed) once i installed debian instead of having a kde or some other kind of platform, whenever i start it it only goes to the er, linux "dos" i have tried apt-get install kde/gain, what should i do? thankyou in advance

First of all check that you have KDE installed, then (on the console, which is what you call DOS) type:

Code:

apt-get install kdm

After download and install you will get a screen asking you some questions. On this screen you can enable the graphical user interface to start automatically. (use the TAB key to browse trough the options).

Once you are sure everything is installed (Rebooting is not necessary) you will need to test if everything is running fine. First of all start the X font server:

Code:

/etc/init.d/xfs start

And now you will first try to get the X server running just to see if there are errors:

Code:

startx

You will probably get Debian's default window manager (Windowmaker), don't worry about this, it's just for testing.
If everything went fine you can logout of the windowmanager with CTRL+ALT+Backspace.
If the windowmanager doesn't start copy the error message and post a question to this forum pasting the error.
In order to paste the error you will need to send the output to a text file so that you can access it from within WinXP:

Code:

startx 2> file.txt

If you know where your windows partition is and if it's mounted you can send the file there:

Code:

startx 2> /mnt/windows/whatsoever/file.txt

or you can copy it with the cp command:

Code:

cp file.txt /mnt/windows/whereyoulike

In case your X are running w/o errors you will need a final step to get KDE up and running:

Code:

/etc/init.d/kdm start

If everything is OK you will come to the login screen, type your name and password and, welcome to KDE ;)

The next time that you reboot KDE will start automatically. if this doen't happen you will need to make a symlink for it to happen:

Code:

ln -s /etc/init.d/kdm /etc/rc5.d/S44kdm

The number '44' after the S is an ordinal number, it's meant for the services to startup in a gien order. it's not very important in this case, and you can change it to anything you want, just watch that the X server has a lower number.

That should be all, if you have any problems or questions don't hesitate to ask ;)