GUI not starting in FreeBSD 6.2

[S.V.]

Hi all,
I installed FreeBSD 6.2 on my multiboot system(It has WinXP, Ubuntu, openSuSE and Vectorlinux). I'm using GRUB to load all these OSes.

The FreeBSD is working fine except that there is no gui. If I type 'startx' a blank screen with some box |Hz| floating, comes. Then if I go the the terminal I've these error msgs(the lines beginning with (EE)):

Unable to loacate /open config file
.
.
.
Failed to load module 'fbdev' (module does not exist, 0)

I'd selected 'All' in the package selection option so X should have been installed.

I dont have a seperate graphics card but a onboard via 8237A chipset.

I'm new to BSD and Linux. So please guide me step-by-step. Any links with lucid explanation is also welcome.

[daark.child]

Did you install a GUI, configure X and put the GUI you would like to start in your .xinitrc?

[S.V.]

I'm sorry I did not get you. But I tried the following.
1. I'd selected 'All' while installing the packages during installation. Won't that install X11?
Anyway I tried:
cd /usr/ports/x11/xorg
make install clean
but it tried to search something..Mesalib-6.2... and gave Error code 1
2. I then tried:
Xorg -configure and then
X -config /root/xorg.conf.new
It again came to the original blank screen I described.
3. I dont know about ~/.xinitrc.

If you want the output of some command or someother info from my system plz let me know.

[daark.child]

There are several package groups available on the installation disc. Make sure you choose the right one for you and any additional packages you may want. I normally choose the developer+user+X and add custom packages like KDE to the base install. When the system boots, you need to configure X using xorgconfig and then add something like "exec startkde" to your .xinitrc file so that KDE is started whenever you run the command "startx".

One very good resource is the handbook.

[S.V.]

Hey daark.child,
I'm posting the error msgs as I see them on my screen so that it may help you better analyze my problem.
Here are the error msgs I'm getting:
1. Error I get when I run 'startx':
(==)Log file : "/var/log/xorg.0.log",
(EE)Unable to locate /open file
xf86 Autoconfig: Primary PCI is 1:0:0
Running "/usr/X11R6/bin/getconfig -X 60900000 -I /etc/X11, /usr/X11R6/etc/X11, /usr/X11R6/lib/modules, /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/getconfig -V 0x1106 -d 0x3230 -r 0x117s 0x1043 -b 0x81b5 -c 0x0300"
getconfig.pl: Version 1.0
getconfig.pl: Xorg Version: 6.9.0.0
getconfig.pl: 23 built-i rules
getconfig.pl: rules file '/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/getconfig/xorg.cfg', has version 1.0
.
getconfig.pl: 1 rule added from '/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/getconfig/xorg.cfg'
getconfig.pl: Evaluated 24 rules with 0 errors
getconfig.pl: Weight of result is 500
New driver is "via"
(==) Using default built-in configuration (53 lines)
(EE) Failed to load module 'fbdev' (module does not exist,0)

Please note the mention of fbdev. What is it? Is whole problem related to this?
2. Error I get when I run:
# cd /usr/ports/x11/xorg
# make install clean
Attempting to fetch..<URLs of sourceforge and freebsd here>..MesaLib-6.4.1.tar.bz2
No address record.
=>Could not fetch it- please try to fetch this
=>Port manually into /usr/ports/distfiles/ and try again...
***Error code 1
Stop in /usr/ports/graphics/dri
***Error code 1
Stop in /usr/ports/x11/xorg

Now apart from this, I mounted my second FreeBSD cd and went to the directory X11. Here I found many kde and gnome tbz files. I dont know anything but I tried(without knowing what or how it does),
pkg_add -v kde-3.5.4.tbz
It immediately started to install(?) the kde. It took abt 7-8 min! Then I tried startx and startkde but same problem. If unknowly I have done the correct thing but have failed to edit a particular file for this to take effect plz let me know.

[daark.child]

Did you run xorgconfig and enter the correct settings for your keyboard, mouse, monitor and graphics card before running startx? That error indicates that there is something wrong with your settings in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

[S.V.]

Hi daark.child,
Sorry I was overlooking what u said. Now when referred to my monitor's manual it said that if we are getting the |Hz ?| box in the monitor then the monitor's is recieving higher frequencies than it can handle. We will have to set the Horz and Vertical sync rates and also set the maximum resolution to the value our model can handle.

I added the sync rates to my xorg.conf, put the default depth to 24 and changed the max resolution to 1024x768(it was 1280x800, which my monitor didnot support).

Now the X is starting with 'startx' command but there is no clarity. Fonts are bad(appear as if u write with a fountain pen and rub it immediately before drying!) and its monochrome-no colours.

I added a line 'exec startkde' to .xinitrc file and now if I run 'startx' its starting KDE but again the same problem. What can be done?

[S.V.]

Hey I fixed the problem.
The cure was to change the driver from 'vga' to 'generic VESA'. Now my FreeBSD is up and running. No problems till now.

Thanks daarkchild for your suggestions. My main fault was 'overlooking' things. How easy it is to overlook isn't it!

Regards,
SV.

[geekgoddess]

We have been working for 2 days with 3 complete (re)builds.
We couldn't get the video/monitor working.
We confirmed that we installed all GUIs. We tried different monitors.
We tried a ton of different commands. All we had to use was xorgconfig to actually config the GUI.
Blonde moment and it's OK, cause I'm blonde!

You are the best and keep up the great job!

Thanks to you we have a successful GUI installation with all available GUIs running on FreeBSD. Now onto the real hard stuff.

[gtemgire]

I have installed freeBSD6.2 .
It installed successfully and working on shell prompt.
but if run startx then I get some distorted user interface and it gets hang.
I have followed all above procedure.
please guide me.

Thank You.