Yes, the practice in Debian-Sid is to use the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 for current (4.x.x) versions of X.
To configure X in Debian-Sid, you have several options.
1. Edit /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 by hand (of course). You may find this tricky, if your prior experience is only with X11R6 3.x.x, because 4.x.x is *very* different.
2. Use dpkg to do it. As I recall, the appropriate command is "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86".
3. The command-line program "xf86config" is still available (I'm nor sure what .deb has it, but surely it is one included in the X task install). I haven't used it in years, though (I use method 2 above for video-card or montor changes and 1 for fine tuning), so I can't tell you how tricky, or just different, it might be actually to use.
I assume you are having this problem both with and without the "fluxbox" edit you mention making. I also assume you've redirected X's STDERR output to a file and looked there for anything of interest. If not, try these things if you can ... by way of an ssh or telnet session into the problem host, if necessary, for the second of them.
(The safer way to switch WMs in Debian, BTW, is to use the Debian X popup menu to do it. Assuming you've installed fluxbox through apt-get, or another "official" method, it shoul be available to switch to via the WindowManagers menu line. These changes do persist.)
As to your actual symptoms, it is (again, of course) meaningless to say that the failure persists "no matter what I do" except insofar as it applies to the things you actually think of to do, something I and others can only guess about. So, if you need more help than the prior comments offer, please be more specific about the symptoms and what you try. For example:
1. Is the power light on the monitor green or orange when the screen is blank?
2. Do you try CTRL-ALT-F1 to get back to a vt? If so, what happens?
3. If just doing #2 doesn't show a vt display, does power-cycling the monitor *after* you do #2 have any effect?
4. If "no" to #3, do you at this point have an "invisible" vt? Can you, for example, reboot the system (assuming you are or can become root) with the command-line "reboot" command? (Or substitute some other test ... I can't offhand think of another command-line app that has an effect that shows up someplace other than the display, but surely there are ones that beep the speaker or make the CD-drive whirr or something.)
Just as a guess ... your X configuration **may** be trying to set the monitor to a frequency that it does not support. Half-smart monitors detect this and turn themselves off to avoid damage; I've hit this in the past, with "vintage" 14" monitors (that I, thankfully, no longer use except on cl-only hosts like my router). If this is the source of the problem, you can usually fix it by choosing more conservative settings via dpkg-reconfigure or xf86config. And make sure you have ONLY 640x480 (and probably ONLY 8-bit color) selected.
Also, if you post again on this, please mention what settings the Slackware version uses for the monitor variables ... hfreq, vfreq, and whatever the others are. And which xserver you are using in both cases (Slackware and Debian).
Last thought ... the X 4.x.x did, I believe, drop support for some older hardware. You might be getting snagged by that (with respect to the video card). I don't *think* this applies to S3Virge, but I'd have to check at xfree86.org to be certain, and you can check there as easily as I can.
At 01:42 PM 11/11/2003 -0600, James Miller wrote:
I'm fiddling with a test Debian install on an older machine (486 DX4 100, 64 MB RAM, S3Virge/VX 4MB PCI video card). I installed the base Debian system via network, then switched sources.list to Sid. I used tasksel to install the Xwindows system: I believe this is 4.2.something. So far, no luck in getting a GUI display (runs fine in command line mode). I should mention that, on this same machine, I have gotten Xwindows working fine on another partition that uses a Slackware distro with XFree 3.3, I think. The monitor is an older Epson EVGA - 14" (does only 640x480, I believe). I want to use fluxbox as a desktop, btw.
I thought getting a working display might be as simple as copying over the XF86Config file from my Slackware partition. Thus far, that hasn't worked. I've also tried running the command "xf86config" and entering in all the same values I've used for the other, working, X display. That also has not worked. By "not worked," here is what I mean: after doing the configuration and generating the XF86Config file with it (or copying it over, as the case may be), I issue "startx" from the command line. When I do so, I get a blank screen - almost as if the monitor is turned off, though there is obviously some low level of phosphor excitement. The display becomes totally useless at this point: I can't get to any virtual terminals, for example. I can't kill X with ctrl-alt-backspace. I only get this blank screen display, no matter what I do. When I get exasperated, I hit ctrl-alt-del, hear the system bell, and the computer reboots (so it is accepting keyboard input, apparently). So, I'm a bit confused about what to do to get a working GUI display.
One point of confusion is the two XF86Config files I find in /etc/X11: one is named just XF86Config, while the other is XF86Config-4. I'm guessing the system is using the latter. Any clarification on this, anyone? Also, I was hoping there is something like XF86Setup (like under the older Slack I have on this system) for Debian, but I've been unable to find such. apt-get install xf86setup returns a message saying it's been superseded by xbase-clients. Looking over info I've found on the web about xbase-clients however, doesn't reveal anything that sounds like the XF86Setup program (this is a GUI program for generating the XF86Config file that runs in VGA mode, as I understand it). Is there such a program that runs under Debian?
Feedback on this problem, anyone? Further details needed, Ray?
Thanks, James
PS I should also mention that I edited /etc/X11/Xsession.d/99xfree86-common_start and inserted "fluxbox" there, since I understood that is where the desktop is specified. Usual disclaimers about my ignorance in these matters are appended here as a formality.
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