On Mon, May 27, 2002 at 01:05:57AM -0700, James wrote: > I was able to install 8.2 on a new hard drive, using the same system that > I have my current working 7.2. Well, once everything is installed, I > can't seem to get xwindows to work. During the installation I passed the > point where it asked me if the resolution was correct.. it displayed the > penguins just beautifully, so I hit "ok." > > Now, I can boot 8.2 just find, but when I try to use xwindows, it shows > the "x" cursor, then goes blank, and reboots. I don't understand what is > going wrong. > > james
James- I understand *nix can be frustrating, believe me, I've been there. However, it can aso be very gratifying (that's where I am now ... well, most of the time :). A couple of the things that helps make *nix gratifying are that, for the most part, it is well documented, and it logs its (and your) actions. In the case of XFree86 (the "real" name of the xwindows server), the default location for the logfile is /var/log/XFree86.0.log. At the command line, enter 'less /var/run/XFree86.0.log'. <aside>I highly recommend doing a 'man less' at the command prompt if you are not familiar with the 'less' program. It can do more than just scroll through text, and it is usually what displays manpages. Being able to quickly find what your looking for in manpages is *very* gratifying.</aside> You should be looking at some text that starts with something like: XFree86 Version 4.x.x / X Window System (protocol Version 11, revision 0, vendor release 6600) Now, read the line that starts with 'Markers:' You will see that all lines after this start with one of the "marker symbols". As you can imagine, lines that start with (WW) and (EE) are likely going to hold clues as to what the problem is. Chances are, the last line in the file is going to be the key, since after the server crashes, it's not going to be writing to any files (except maybe a core file ... but that's another day's topic :). Now, if your lucky, you will be able to find some info about the clues you've gathered from the logfile. You may even be able to get info from your built-in manpages. You can use the program 'apropos' to search for relevant manpages. For example, if the error message was "Couldn't locate mouse", then at a command prompt, enter "apropos mouse". With some luck, you will get a listing of manpages about setting up and using a mouse on your system. This is what I get on one of my systems: funk:~/logs/ports_logs% apropos mouse ams (4/MacPPC) - Apple Mouse Support getmouse, ungetmouse, mousemask, wenclose, mouse_trafo, wmouse_trafo, mouseinterval (3) - mouse interface through curses lms (4/i386) - Logitech-style bus mouse driver mms (4/i386) - Microsoft-style bus mouse driver ms (4/SPARC) - workstation mouse pms (4) - PS/2 auxiliary port mouse driver pms (4/Alpha) - PS/2 auxiliary port mouse driver ums (4) - USB mouse support wsmouse (4) - generic mouse support in wscons wsmoused (8/i386) - wsmouse daemon wsmux (4) - console keyboard/mouse multiplexor for wscons mouse (4) - Mouse input driver xeyes (1) - a follow the mouse X demo QCursor (3) - Mouse cursor with an arbitrary shape QMouseEvent (3) - Parameters that describe a mouse event QWSMouseHandler (3) - Mouse driver/handler for Qt/Embedded Now, to view one of those specific pages, for example: mouse (4) - Mouse input driver enter 'man 4 mouse' at the command prompt. <aside>Also highly recommended is 'man man', as this will explain to you that the above command says to search section 4 of the manual for a page named "mouse". 'man man' is the documentation on how to use your built-in documentation. Very useful indeed.</aside> If your apropos command returns "nothing appropriate", don't worry, this was just the first place you will be looking for answers :) Often you will have good luck entering the complete error message as a search phrase on www.google.com. Now, if apropos and google fail to point you in the right direction, then you may also have some luck posting the error message to this list. Sorry to get so long winded, I thought it would be better to show you how to help yourself than saying, "Well, we can't read you mind, and you really haven't told us anything about your system, other than it had been running Mandrake 7.2 and now X doesn't work with Mandrake 8.2. Give us some more info about your system, particularly your video hardware ... and why in the world are you running X on a server?!?" -- <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
