Seems my sweet LCD monitor died on me, so I'm using a backup, clunk CRT monitor. However, after Slackware 10.2 boots up and I log in, startx doesn't start. Or at least it tries to, but the "core devices" don't load properly and it dies. I'm sure it's the monitor. How can I setup the new monitor from the command line?

Did you do a search for 'x start' in this forum?

I'm going to assume not, otherwise the answer would be obvious.

(hint: think setup)

Search is your friend.

Use xorgconfig or xorgcfg for Xorg.

Changing a monitor is not likely to be the cause that X does not start. It will start but your screen might go blank, looks ugly or whatever.

Slackware uses mainly xorgsetup and xorgconfig

Log-on as root at run level three and run xorgconfig. Over-write your old xorgconfig file. Your settings for the LCD monitor will perhaps be different than the CRT.
Check the specs for your CRT monitor and set accordingly. You should be fine.

Please consider not overwriting you old config file! Save a backup copy of the file. When/if you replace the clunky CRT monitor with a newer LCD, you'll have a config file to work from to configure your newer monitor. If you obtain the same model LCD monitor then all you need do is copy the backup config file.

FWIW, many people struggle with the command line xorg config tools. So please consider saving a backup of your config file before tinkering.

Lastly, you can edit the config file with multiple device settings. After you get things working with the temporary CRT monitor, add that monitor configuration to you original config file "Monitor" section. Name that new section something that makes sense, like Identifier "Viewsonic 7 CRT". This way, in the future, should you have problems with your monitor you can then quickly edit the config file to use the CRT monitor or the LCD monitor.

Yep, that'll work just fine. Great suggestions:-)
I personally don't have a lot of difficulty setting up xorgconfig.

Personally, I like the file that 'xorgsetup' does as compared to 'xorgconfig'. It seems a bit more consise....


But the main thing is to get it working, and from what you said, it does.

That's a great point, but I personally wouldn't back up the xorg.conf file. Rather, I would just write down the relevant vertical and horizontal refresh rates for the monitor. The other values are imho pretty obvious.

Okay. Thanks. I haven't tried xorgsetup yet. I'll perhaps give that a try when 11.0 is released.
Thanks for the tip.

xorgsetup works with most versions of Xorg included since at least Slackware 10.0, not just -current. Backup your xorg.conf, and run xorgsetup like this (Do as root, or su):

Thanks, man! I've book marked this thread for future reference. Much appreciated!

I think I found out what the problem was. I had just man rc.hotplug non-executable and had rebooted to see fast the computer would boot up now. I had been putting up with long boot time for months because I didn't know how to turn it off. Anyhow, when I reboot, the LCD died.

It was saying mouse not found errors, no /dev/mouse device or something to that effect, whenever I tried running startx. I made rc.hotplug executable again and now X boots up. Go figure. Now I need to figure out a way to make that mouse configuration permanent, because hotplug start takes ages.

Thanks for the tips and the newly acquired knowledge however.

Slackware doesn't have a preference. There are at least five available options:

X -configure
xorgsetup
xorgcfg
xorgconfig
Manually edit xorg.conf

Try them all. See which you like. Make sure to read the logfile. It can get frustrating if xorg.conf gets saved to an alternate location. You will edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and nothing will change.


Everything is obvious, unless it's not. Backing up the whole file A) Reminds you what those "obvious" config options were when you forget, and B) Puts everything somewhere where you won't lose it (as opposed to writing it down).