First and foremost Thanks to the following for helping me.
Mikeg
(Michal), leebsd(LEEBSD),Tony Sweeny, Steven G.Kargl and #slashdot
I have
been banging my head against the wall to get KDE to work with a non
root
user. Other bright green newbies as myself my also have had this
problem
Last night at 4:00am EST . I finally got it to work. I will explain
what I
did and hopefully this will help someone else out.
1. During the inital
install free BSD will ask you what packages you want
installed. I had put
an X in the XFree86 4 box along with all an X in all
the KDE apps and X 11
and X server boxes. I had checked off a lot of other
stuff. But those I
believe to be the relevant ones to this operation. You
may have initially
configured your X server during the install and made KDE
your default to
run on X I did. Here is the thing, that is for XFree 3 and
if you add XFree
4 package you will have to redo it when you are finally
done loading the
packages.
2. When you finally come to your root login # in my case. You
will need to
be somewhat familiar with Chapter 5 of the handbook. I say
somewhat because
there is a lot of stuff you will have to do that is not
covered there and
there is stuff it will tell you to do that you don't need
to. I am a newbie
and there is a lot of stuff to how X works that will bore
you to tears and
that I don't understand it myself. Lets just say XFree is
like the pie pan
that you put the pie in KDE is the pie. KDE is pretty and
smells and tastes
good. with no pie pan however you get no
pie.
3. Section 5.3 is where things get started on how to install
XFree86 4.
Here is where my problems began. So I am going to show you a
little secret
at the # prompt let's do this.
# X -version
This
a neat trick to tell you what version of X you computer sees , well
at
least some of your computer ( I will explain that in a bit). After I
typed
that in here is what I got.
Xfree86 Version 4.1.0 / X windows
System
(protocol Version 11, revision ), vendor release 6510
Release
Date: 2 June
2001
If
the server is older than 6-12 months, or if your card
is
newer
than the above date, look for a newer version
before
reporting problems. ( See
http://www.XFree86.Org/FAQ)
Build
Operating System : FreeBSD 4.2-BETA i386 [ELF]
Module Loader
present
#
Neat huh, It definitely says I have version 4 so the package
did get install
during the initial installation.
4. Section 5.4.1
asks that you have lots of info handy on video cards and
monitors you will
be using . I working with an old Micron box and have none
of it. I think
the X server was actually pretty good at auto detecting it.
If you have
fancy smancy cards and monitors you are on your own.
5. Section 5.4.2
is where stuff gets juicy you will do some things and get a
response. At
the # let's start making X work.
# XFree86 -configure
OK people BSD is
so Case sensitive that if you don't put the capital letters
where they are
in the handbook you will get nowhere and since you are logged
in as root
you could even screw things up. You type that and nothing seems
to happen,
that is ok read the section in the handbook something happened
behind the
scenes.
Now lets continue typing:
# XFree86 -xf86config
XF86Config.new
You type this and you should get a black and gray pattern
with an X in the
center that works with your mouse . I did so that is
cool . If you didn't
you have bigger problems tha I initially encountered .
I am so new at this I
wouldn't begin to know what to tell you what to do.
From here things get
tricky so pay attention and keep your hand on the
safety bar at all times.
You will now exit out of the test pattern if you
haven't done so already by
pressing ctrl+alt+backspace. You will see a lot
of gibberish on the screen
that means something to the people who really
understand XFree and BSD , you
do not have to worry about it. You are
looking for # at the bottom of the
screen.
# ee XF86Config.new
Okay
you typed that in and the screen brought up a whole bunch of stuff and
your
command prompt disappeared. Don't panic remember this isn't a
windows
type GUI it is a text based setup (for now).You are in an
editor. Your
cursor should be near the top left of your screen
blinking. Use the arrow
keys to move the cursor around (no you can't use
your mouse yet). Start
heading down the page (think of this as notepad
blown up to maximum for ex
windoze users). You are going to see a lot of
stuff look for the Section
"Monitor" like in the handbook. When you find it
It should show your monitor
and it properties if it auto detected them. It
did in my case
Section
"Monitor"
Identifier
"Monitor0"
VendorName
"NOK"
ModelName "Nokia
447Za"
Horizsync
30.0-72.0
VertRefresh 50.0-120.0
EndSection
So I leave
that alone and scroll father down the page:
Section
"Screen"
Identifier
"Screen0"
Device
"Card0"
Monitor
"Monitor0"
DefaultColorDepth 24 Okay I added this line mine
did not
have it so I put it
in.
SubSection "Display" I also
added this one These were in
the handbook so I match them
exactly
Depth
24
This one was there but it
said 1 instead of 24 I changed it to
24
Modes "1024x768" I added
this line
also.
EndSubSection
EndSection
Now that you have made the
appropriate changes press the Esc button will
bring up a box with the
cursor highlighting "a) leave editor" press enter
and it will prompt you to
save the changes . Please save the changes or this
will have been
completely futile.
You should see a # at the bottom. If you did then all is
good.. Now lets
test your work
# XFree86 -xf86config
XF86Config.new
Yeah but I did that earlier. Yes you did but now that you
have changed
things you will need to test again no press enter and show me
you can do it
:)
Did you get the gray and black pattern Yes. Did it look
a little different.
That is ok. If you didn't you may have mistyped
something. Or you monitor
can't handle those settings. Be carefull this
apparently a good way to
really screw up your monitor. But hang on this
rough ride isn't over. It is
just getting fun.
Now you need to change
the existing XF86Config file. In the handbook they
give you two possible
locations. Well I am here to tell you there could be
more. But you just
want the file location
# find / -name "XF86Config"
You typed that in and
if you don't get any error messages you harddrive is
going to start
spinning like Jeff Gordon's right front tire. And if you have
a really big
harddrive this is going to take a while. Make yourself a
sandwich, read War
and Peace, you computer is going to be busy for a while.
The results for me
came back as follows:
/etc/XF86Config
/usr/X11R6/bin/x86config.
Now
remember you wan the one that looks just like the way you typed it. So
in
my case the XF86Config is in the /etc/ directory. So I had to copy
this
way:
# cp XF86Config.new /etc/XF86Config
#
Basically I just
overwrote the file in /etc/ Is till have the XF86Config.new
. I guess I
will keep in case I have to do modifications later on. Well just
about
everything in the handbook Section 5.4.2 is almost done. But you ride
is
now going to pick up speed.
# startx
Did your KDE start to come up and
the world is a wonderful place. Right , I
don't think so. You can close out
of KDE by hitting what looks like a little
power button near the middle
bottom. It will ask you if you want to save the
setting for next time. You
can check the box if you want. We will know move
on to the dark side
of X.
6. If you are back at # as root I would like you to exit
and login as a non
root user. Did you do that? Good now at your prompt mine
is $
$startx
If KDE comes up for you you are better than I . And since I
am so new at
this that wouldn't be tough. If on the other hand you get a
bunch of error
messages, welcome to my universe. Lets take a look at the
last lines in
5.4.2
Once the configuration file has been placed in a
common location,
configuration is complete. In order to start XFree86 4.X
with startx(1),
install the x11/wrapper port. XFree86 4.X can also be
started with xdm(1).
If you click on the x11/wrapper link it gives you
definition of x11/wrapper
one I didn't understand. Basically if you want
somebody other than root to
use KDE you are going to need this x11/wrapper.
If you click on xdm you get
the following.
Sorry, no data
found for `xdm(1)'.
You may look for other FreeBSD Search
Services.
That's helps a whole lot. I still have no knowledge as to
what xdm is. But I
didn't need to solve my problem. So nanny boo boo:). Now
that I have shown
you what isn't working lets start by trying to get it to
work.Now lets make
sure you are logged back in as root.
You will
need x11/wrapper. But where the hell is x11/wrapper
# find / -name
"wrapper"
/usr/ports/x11/
You may get some additional ones but that is
the one you want.
# cd /usr/ports/x11/wrapper
That basically puts you in
that directory ,you aren't sure you are
there:
#pwd
/usr/ports/x11/wrapper
will confirm you are in that
directory. Now read this next bit first don't
type everything yet I am
going to show you my screw up.
# make install all clean
Did you see that
you can even try "make install" and you will get this
error
message:
This port designed for XFree 4 not version 3
Basically
it is something like that. Remember in section 3 where I said some
of your
computer would see it as XFree 4 and some as XFree 3. This one of
those
things that sees it as 3 because of where it is remember my XF86Config
is
in /etc/ not where the handbook said it would be. Well now how do I make
it
see it as v 4. Apparently there is a file known as make.conf this
is
apparently a big deal file. It is suppose to be in the /etc/ directory.
Is
lets find out.
# ls -a /etc/
This basically is a list command it
will show all the files in /etc/. Do you
see a "make" file. No, neither did
I. That is because it is actually over in
/etc/defaults/
# ls -a
/etc/defaults/
You should see it there. But that is not where you want it
so let's make a
copy of it in the right place . Don't move it . Copy
it.
# cp /etc/defaults/make.conf /etc/make.conf
#
Basically you
have a copy you can play with now. So lets edit.
# ee /etc/make.conf
A
little note in a file # sign means the computer sees it as a comment
it
doesn't care what you have written after a # sign in a file. It
ignores it.
Not to be confused with the # prompt when you log in as root.
Basically the
ee is an editor that lets you edit the file to suit your
needs. Here is the
thing. This make.conf has # signs almost completely down
the left side. So
almost everything is a comment. You are going to make
something in this a
non comment and to do that you are going to scroll down
using those arrow
keys again. Sorry no mouse yet.:) There is a statement in
the file that
reads:
#By default, the
#ports collection
attempts to use XFree3.3.X. If you are running XFree86
4.X
#,
uncomment this line."
The line under it is this
:
#XFREE86_VERSION=4
Well according to the statement I need to
uncomment this line. Remember when
I told you that this # made a line a
comment. You need to erase the # sign.
You can do that by yourself right? I
couldn't I got terribly confused and
needed help. It was just to simple for
me . Once I got it I was of the
understanding that there are a lot of lines
I can uncomment in this that do
important things but I am babystepping
this. So for right now this is the
only line I have
uncommented.
XFREE86_VERSION=4
I press Esc and save the
changes.
# pwd
/usr/ports/x11/wrapper
I am still in this place it is
where I need to be.
# make install
And it's off to the races the wrapper
started doing it's thing and when it
was done I logged out as root and in
as a non root user and :
# startx
And my KDE came up. I am very happy
now. I still have a long way to go with
this but if this helps anybody
great. I realize it is a long as the
handbook. But it is a complicated
procedure. For all the people who helped
me thank you and I will have more
questions I am
sure..
Thanks
Brendhan
