cant activate UI

[wizman90]

ok, so, i just installed linux on a laptop of mine, and got a user interface, i downloaded the UI through netsend and installed it. i belive the name is like gnome or something.when i go to run it i type "startx" and nothing hapens. it just sais that it does not recegnise the comand. any ideas???

[smolloy]

Which distribution are you using? Slackware? Fedora? Gentoo? Knoppix? SuSE?

Also, post the contents of /etc/inittab.

less /etc/inittab

[wizman90]

I am using Debian and when i put that code snippet in, i get some wiered stuff like on what to do if computer crashes or how to put in a getty on a serial line???????(whatever that means)

[smolloy]

Your system sounds pretty screwed-up. How did you install it? Were there any error messages during installation?

Try

su -
<your root password>
less /etc/inittab

If that doesn't work try this,

su -
<your root password>
init 5

[wizman90]

ok i did the file directory thing under SU and got this

# /etc/inittab: init(8) configuration.
# $Id: inittab,v 1.91 2002/01/25 13:35:21 miquels Exp $

# The default  runlevel
id:2:initdefault:

# Boot-time system configuration/initiation script.
# this is run first exept when booting in emergency (-b) mode.
si::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS

# what to do in single-user mode.
~~:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin

# /etc/init.d executes the S and K scripts upon change
# of runlevel.
# 
# Runlevel 0 is halt.
# Runlevel 1 is single-user.
# Runlevels 2-5 are multi-user.
# runlevel 6 is reboot.

L0:0:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 0
L1:1:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 1
L2:2:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 2
L3:3:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 3
L4:4:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 4
L5:5:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 5
L6:6:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 6
# Normaly not reached, but fallthrough in case of emergency.
z6:6:respawn:/sbin/sulogin

# What to do when CTRL-ALT-DEL is pressed
ca:12345:ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t1 -a -r now

# Action on special keypress (ALT-UpArrow).
#kb::kbrequest:/bin/echo "Keyboard Request--edit etc/inittab to let this work ."

# What to do when power fails/returns.
pf::powerwait:/etc/init.d/powerfail start
pn::powerfailnow:/etc/init.d/powerfail now
po::powerokwait:/etc/init.d/powerfail stop

# /sbin/getty invocations for the runlevels.
#
# The "id" field MUST be the same as the last
# characters of the devise (after "tty").
#
# Format:
#  <id>:<runlevels:<action>:<process>
#
# Note that no most Debian systems tty7 is used be the X Window System,
# so if you want to add more getty's go ahead but skip tty7 if you run X.
#
1:12345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty1
2:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty2
3:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty3
4:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty4
5:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty5
6:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty6

# Example how to put a getty on a serial line (for a terminal)
#
#T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt100
#T1:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS1 9600 vt100

# Example how to put a getty on a modem line.
#
#T3:23:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -x0 -s 57600 ttyS3

(END)

i typed that almost exactly as i see it. is that what you are looking for?

[smolloy]

The default runlevel for your machine is 2, which I can see from this line

# The default runlevel
id:2:initdefault:

Change to a higher runlevel with the second little code snippet I sent you in my last post, and let us know what happens.

[wizman90]

it sais this:

webhoster:/home/brett/brett# init 5
INIT: switching to runlevel: 5
INIT: sending processes the TERM signal

then it goes back to the comand line where i can type stuff

[smolloy]

Now try "startx" again. Or "gdm".

[wizman90]

nither of those worked, is there a way i could just reinstall the UI? The computers full HDD capacity is 2.5GB so i need to save as much space as possible



edit:corected some minor typos