Some X-Windows Issues ...

[michael-r]

Hello friends:

Thanks for all of your help in getting my Debian system up and running thus far. I'm making a bit more headway each day, and am learning a lot from this forum. But, I've got some more stupid questions about X-Windows - my latest "thing" in trying to get started.

1. From what I understand, is X-Windows just a platform, or is it an actual, complete GUI? I've read some posts on here, and a lot of topics talk about X-Windows, along with emulators like Gnome, KDE, etc. Do I need to have one of these desktop emulators installed along WITH the X-Windows components in order to have a GUI on my system?

2. I've also got some specific issues with X-WIndows loading - graphical and hardware related. These are the error messages I'm getting:

There were several messages related to:
/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libGLcore.a:m_debug

After this is given, there is a remark that says: no symbols found. Is that anything to be concerned about? I did remember installing the font packages, but am not sure about this particular message.

Then, I've got these messages:

(EE): x86OpenSerial: Cannot open drvice /dev/input/mouse
No such device.

(EE): Configured mouse: cannot open input device.

(EE) Pre-init failed for device "Configured Mouse"
No core pointer.

Fatal server error:
failed to initialize core devices.

I think I must have chosen the wrong location for the mouse when the setup wizard was asking me about the location for the mouse, and this is causing issues.

The display also flickers. I'm guessing that my display settings are incorrect. I did ask for 800x600 resolution, so that might be the issue. The system I have Debian installed on is a Dell OptiPlex GXpro, and the video card used is a Matrox Millennium II. I'm just looking for the ability to see a GUI - don't need any fancy settings or "good" graphics - this machine is just going to be a server, so the bells and whistles aren't necessary.

MANY thanks for your continued help - I do appreciate it.

[michael-r]

Still trying to work through this issue ... will try and bring it back to the top again. I'm wondering if a re-install wouldn't be best?

Thanks again.

[TheBigPhish]

I have the same requirements of both of my servers at work, they need a GUI for simplistic stuff...and not many bells and whistles...

First of all, how did you install it? NetInst? DId you install any of the frontend packages for the sessions, like Gnome or KDE? If you did install all them, the issues that you appear to be having are primarily Xsession setup related. Do you have a stable system from the prompt? What i would do is run

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg (or xfree86-which ever you have)

and change the setup of the mouse (pointer) options, to some other settings like /psaux or something else. . . and when it gets to the point about the display driver, select VESA for your video driver, and pay attention to the selection screens for resolution - for those will solve that flickering screen issue . . . again, plain jane for these - lowest resolution you can get, and work your way up, minimal color depth too, and then work up from there.

Let me know how it goes...i've debian-ized some dinosaurs and gotten gui's on to them...and dealt with the EXACT same issues you had.

[eraker]

I've had some similar problems with getting debian working on old computers in the past, and what I've done usually is start with a really low color depth (which you can specify when you reconfigure X) with VGA and work up from there. You should also try what TheBigPhish suggested regarding trying /dev/psaux for the mouse. That worked for me in one instance. Also, if VESA doesn't work, I would try VGA as your graphics driver.

[michael-r]

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to these posts - haven't had time to sit down and tinker with the system.

I did the netinstall, and to be honest, I don't remember any prompts about installing x-windows-server or any desktop packages (gnome, kde).

When I got to the install instructions where it told me to install x-windows-server, I went ahead and did that. I answered the questions as best as I could, but obviously, didn't provide answers to make the computer "happy"!

I followed the dpkg-reconfigure command, and typed dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg and dpkg-reconfigure xfree86-xorg, but the system responded that none of these packages are installed. That's weird, because all of the x-server stuff boots up when the system is started.

I installed whatever gets installed when one installs x-windows-server. Are there additional things that I need to install?

Thanks for the continued help.

[eraker]

I followed the dpkg-reconfigure command, and typed dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg and dpkg-reconfigure xfree86-xorg, but the system responded that none of these packages are installed. That's weird, because all of the x-server stuff boots up when the system is started.

I installed whatever gets installed when one installs x-windows-server. Are there additional things that I need to install?

The command to reconfigure xfree86 (which you probably have) is this:

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

not this:

dpkg-reconfigure xfree86-xorg

xorg and xfree86 are two different things.

[michael-r]

Thanks, eraker. That's just the command I needed!

Many thanks to Phish for the help with the display and the mouse... got that working, too.

I also went ahead and installed the KDE Desktop environment, and got that working too! The computer gods are smiling down on me today.

Now on to my next tasks of installing Samba and NetaTalk. I'm sure I'll be posting more.

Many thanks again!