Setting up GUI interface in Debian

[mrjeffy321]

I was under the impression that Debian Linux included a GUI interface/"Desktop" not unlike windows.
I have installed Debian, but all I seem to get is a text-based comand prompt interface. Do I need to install something additional? Is there some setting I need to turn on?

[jledhead]

if you just installed a base system then you probably don't have the desktop installed.

you could try the command startx and gdm, if you get command not found then its not installed and you can use apt

#apt-get update
#apt-get install x-windows-system
#apt-get install gdm
#apt-get install gnome-core
OR
#apt-get install kde-base

then you should be able to run startx and/or gdm.

the packages above will take some time to download. report back with problems.

[mrjeffy321]

I was reading through a bunch of tutorials trying to figure out what I did wrong. I found out that I needed to install something called "X". However, I found it was alrady installed, I just needed to configure the settings file for it to work.

Appearently, the configuration file is a real pain to set up. You need to know a ton of specifics about the monitor, graphics card, .... in order to get everything set just right and allow X to run. I still havent been able to get it to run, it doesnt like one of the settings I gave it, I just done know why.

[bryansmith]

What is the error you get when you try to start X?

You may also want to try to execute the following as root (if you are using xorg):

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

If you are using xfree86, type the following as root:

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

This may be a more friendly interface to configuring X for you.

Bryan