Configuring and Troubleshooting X
Last updated: September 25, 1998
Development stage: Beta
This section is guaranteed to be long, so if you want to read the whole
thing, it's your choice. This includes just some basic things for Red Hat
5.1, based on XFree86 version 3.3.2. This information should also work for
other Linux distributions.
I'm assuming you already have XFree86 installed, along with its libraries.
If not, install them. In Red Hat, they come in RPM files that start with
XFree86*. If you want to install the files from the tarred and gzipped
form, read Upgrading and Installing X.
What's an X Server?
An X server is sort of like a video driver (that's the best I can explain
it...) that the system uses to run the graphical user interface. There are
too many changing X servers to list here, but there are SVGA, VGA, and
Monochrome, which are the most basic. There are also commercial X servers
which I know virtually nothing about.
The X server you choose to use depends on the type of chip your video card
uses to process graphics. It also determines how many colors will be
displayed in X (the amount of video memory you have also determines that).
When you key in startx and the error under "A Common Error Message"
appears, you should make sure that you installed the server that you
configured for.
The X server I use is the S3V. That stands for S3 ViRGE, since my Diamond
Stealth 3D 2000 uses that chip.
Configuring X
If there is any kind of error given when you execute the startx script, you
probably should run Xconfigurator or xf86config. These will configure the
keyboard, the mouse, the video card, the monitor, and some other stuff so
that X will run properly. The settings are stored in a file called
XF86Config. On my system, it's in /etc/X11/XF86Config. You can edit that
with a text editor such as pico, vi, joe, jed, or emacs.
A lot of people have trouble configuring X, especially beginners and
long-time text mode users. The best thing to do when there are no manuals
available is to guess. It might take a few hundred tries, but using
defaults will usually get you by. For example, I didn't know which RAMDAC
and Clockchip setting to use when eventually I read the little
comments/tips on the screen and decided to try not using a RAMDAC or
Clockchip setting for my card. It turns out that I wasn't supposed to use
those settings in the first place.
It will help you greatly if you know your hardware settings or have your
hardware manuals handy. If not, experiment.
A Common Error Message
The following error message is very common among new users, and often very
confusing as well:
_X11TransSocketUNIXConnect: Can't connect: errno = 111
giving up.
xinit: Connection refused (errno 111): unable to connect to X server
xinit: No such process (errno 3): Server error.
Solution One
One solution to this is to install the server you chose for your video
card's chipset (the type and brand of chip it uses to process video
information). In Red Hat, you install the RPM package that describes which
server it is by the first few characters in its filename. The common X
servers are as following, with their RPM package filenames in parentheses:
* AGX (XFree86-AGX-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm)
* I128 (XFree86-I128-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm)
* Mach32 (XFree86-Mach32-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm)
* Mach64 (XFree86-Mach64-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm)
* Mach8 (XFree86-Mach8-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm)
* Mono (XFree86-Mono-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm) - Black and white display
* P9000 (XFree86-P9000-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm)
* S3 (XFree86-S3-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm)
* S3V/S3 ViRGE (XFree86-S3V-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm)
* SVGA (XFree86-SVGA-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm) - Works with most cards, 256
colors
* VGA (XFree86-VGA16-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm) - works with most cards, 16
colors
* W32 (XFree86-W32-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm)
To avoid as much trouble as possible, install these RPM packages if you're
using Red Hat.
1. XFree86-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm - XFree86
2. XFree86-devel-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm - Lets you compile stuff
3. XFree86-libs-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm - X libraries
4. XFree86-SVGA-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm - 256 color X server
5. XFree86-100dpi-fonts-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm - Fonts
6. XFree86-75dpi-fonts-3.3.2-8.i386.rpm - Fonts
7. Xconfigurator-3.57-2.i386.rpm - Helps with configuring X
For more information on installing and upgrading X, you might want to read
Installing and Upgrading X.
If you want to run at more than 256 colors use another X server that is
made especially for the type of chip that's on your video card. The special
X servers are made for the newer PCI video cards, but ISA graphics
accelerator cards could possibly also use the special X servers.
Solution Two
Another possible cause for the "_X11TransSocketUNIXConnect" error is that
the mode that is chosen (or the mode that you set it to) is not valid. This
can be because of monitor settings that are too high or too low for your
video card. I discovered this when I set my monitor's hsync (horizontal
sync) and vsync (vertical sync) ranges to settings that were too high,
although I had the proper X server for my card. Then I tried them really
low, and then I was allowed into X--but the resolution was very low. I
finally decided on something in the middle and that seemed to work.
Those monitor settings (hsync and vsync ranges I think) will also have an
effect on what resolution you can run at. Again, setting those too low will
get X to make you run at a very low resolution, so that everything looks
huge and blocky. Try entering your own ranges if your monitor manual has
the settings. You can also select what type of monitor you have from
XFree86's list of monitors. My MAG Innovision DX15T was not listed but
something close was, the DX1595, and it had the exact hsync and vsync
ranges that my monitor had (when I finally found it in the manual).
Otherwise, you can try the lowest setting and work your way up, try the
highest setting and work your way down, or choose something in the middle
and see if your monitor supports it. Be careful: if the setting you choose
is too high, you could seriously damage your monitor.
The Infamous Gray Screen
Many people encounter the problem of starting X (startx), seeing an
X-shaped mouse-pointer-thingy, a gray screen, and being taken back to text
mode with no window manager loading and no error messages. If it doesn't
take you back to text mode, try the Ctrl-Alt-[Backspace] combination.
The way I found I could solve this was to create a .xinitrc in my home
directory and putting the line exec afterstep in it. That seemed to work
fine and it loaded the AfterStep window manager. As you can probably figure
out, you'll have to replace afterstep with whatever window manager you're
using. If I wanted to use fvwm, I'd put in exec fvwm instead.
Now suppose you want to run multiple window managers; of course, you can
run only one at a time in each X session, but you don't want to type
everything in again. The solution is to type in the startup lines of each
window manager then comment out all the ones that you don't want to use,
leaving one line uncommented so that it'll run. Here's how my .xinitrc file
looks like:
# exec afterstep
# exec fvwm95-2
if [ -f $HOME/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/.workspace_state ]; then
sh $HOME/GNUstep/Library/WindowMaker/.workspace_state &
fi
exec wmaker
That is set to run WindowMaker when I start up, and the commented lines,
the ones with the pound signs (#) at the beginning of the lines, are
ignored. If you leave everything commented out, it'll give you the gray
screen with the X-shaped mouse, so if that happens, you should know what to
look for. :)
Alias to Start X
On my system, I start X by typing x at the prompt, and it starts up in 24
bits per pixel mode when I do that. I can type startx -- -bpp 24, but that
takes time to type up. I can do this because I added a line to /etc/bashrc
that goes like this:
alias x='startx -- -bpp 24'
Of course, if you prefer to run at some other video mode other than 24 bits
per pixel (16.7 million colors, I think) then you would replace "24" with
15, 16, 32, or whatever you may wish to run as the default.
With Slackware, you might have to edit /etc/profile instead of /etc/bashrc
if it doesn't look in /etc/bashrc when a user logs in. I don't think
aliases are supposed to go in /etc/profile, but it works.
Turning Off Virtual Desktop
XFree86 usually annoys new users with something called virtual desktop.
This can be described as a screen bigger than the one displayed, so that
when a user moves the mouse to the edge of the screen, it scrolls down
instead of staying there.
Only after using Linux for a year did I discover how to turn that off.
Yeah, it gives me more desktop space, but as new users frequently complain,
it's annoying. :)
Anyway, the way I turned it off was by finally finding the right place to
edit in the /etc/X11/XF86Config file. The following is the area that you
should edit:
Section "Screen"
Driver "accel"
Device "Diamond Stealth 3D 2000"
Monitor "My Monitor"
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "800x600"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 800 600
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "800x600"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 800 600
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 800 600
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 800 600
EndSubsection
EndSection
This can be found towards the end of the file. At first I heard of people
editing this file and successfully getting the results that they wanted; I
tried it, but I edited the wrong part of the file and that didn't make a
difference at all.
Anyway, the way I got rid of my virtual desktop was to set it to be the
same resolution as the resolution I was running at. In my case that was 800
by 600 (all modes from 8 bpp to 32 bpp). You can also try commenting out
the lines starting with "Virtual" by putting a pound sign (#) at the
beginning of the line.
Additional Fonts
Most people might not be satisfied with the fonts included with the
standard distribution of X, so if you're one of them, read Zach Beane's
tutorial on adding fonts to X.
The fonts themselves are available from ftp.cdrom.com/pub/os2/fonts.
They're scalable Adobe Type1 fonts, which means that they won't get jagged
when enlarged to large font sizes.
You can also get a couple of packages containing fonts from
ftp.gimp.org/pub/gimp/fonts. They're the .tar.gz files.
With Zach Beane's tutorial, it's also possible to add other types of fonts,
such as 75dpi and 100dpi.
Mouse Trouble
There are a lot of possible problems people might encounter with mice. Just
make sure you have it pointing to the correct device (usually /dev/ttyS0,
which is COM1 under DOS and Windows) when the X configuration utility that
you use (xf86config, Xconfigurator, etc.) asks you where your mouse is. If
you have a PS/2 mouse, use /dev/psaux.
If you want to edit /etc/X11/XF86Config, look under the section "Pointer".
Here's what it looks like:
Section "Pointer"
Protocol "Microsoft"
Device "/dev/ttyS0"
If it's on another device, such as COM2 under DOS, it would be /dev/ttyS1.
COM3 under DOS/Windows would then be /dev/ttyS2, and so on.
andres salomon wrote in to say that if your PS/2 mouse doesn't work in X
but works in normal text mode, you should try killing the GPM mouse
services (killall gpm as root should do the trick). He also mentioned a
workaround, which he didn't successfully use. It's adding /dev/gpmdata to
/etc/X11/XF86Config, supposedly, and starting GPM with the "-R" flag.
Fotis Karpenissiotis wrote, "I had several problems using a Microsoft Mouse
(Serial Mouse 2.0A) under XFree86 3.3.2. (Under 3.3.1 it worked fine). The
solution I found was to start gpm using:
gpm -t ms -R
and the following lines in XF86Config:
Section "Pointer"
Protocol "MouseSystems"
Device "/dev/gpmdata"
Emulate3Buttons
That's about all the information I can give about mouse trouble and their
solutions right now, but if you've got a different problem and a different
solution then please let me know.
User Feedback
Dragoon let me know how he got his X card to work. Here's what he wrote:
Hey friend thanks for the information. I have downloaded the MACH64
drivers for X, but unfortunately they didn't work for the ATI
All-In-Wonder. But, I have found another set of Mach64 drivers from a
different company called XSuSE. I downloaded all the drivers and there
configuration tool and got it working. They have a wide range of ATI card
support, including the real ATI All-In-Wonder. I couldn't use the
All-In-Wonder driver for some reason, but there was a substitute driver
there that is completely compatible to the ATI All-In-Wonder.
If you want, you might want to put this information on your site for other
ATI card users. It help me out, so this information being on your site
will help out alot of people. Face it, your site RULEZ!!!!!
Anyway, here is the URL to the XSuSE drivers and information.
http://www.suse.de/XSuSE/XSuSE_E.html
This site also has drivers for other top brand cards. :)
Did you read that? He said my site rules. He's a nice guy, don't you think?
Anyway, be sure to check out that site if you have a newer card or
something.
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