SHAME ON me! I became impatient and saved the page in xorg.conf window that I posted a screen shot of In a post up above. SIGH! now I cannot boot the computer what do i do?..... My computer now does not get past the setup screen . I can't get it to go to setup or to the boot menu . I'm sure i took the keyboard and mouse out by saving that file. I should have waited for the answers I asked for. Shame on me.!

What do I do now .. i have rebooted ... tried to run a live session in either mint or ubuntu 12.04 but it won't boot that either ... cause it does not get past setup. pulling the plug does not work .. there is a recovery for the windows that use to be on the machine but that dont even work.

Any suggestions?

thanks,
Nate

You should be able to get to a terminal by holding down Crtl and Alt then hitting 1 -- if that doesn't work try hitting 2 instead. That should give you a terminal, then you can do things like "nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf" to sort it out.

I'm sorry how frustrating this can be sometimes. I know this probably is no real help to you, but I've totally fried my Linux installs many times trying to learn what different things did. That's the power (and sometimes the consequences) of Linux in that Linux really does let you open the hood and blow up the engine, so to speak.

When you say you've tried to run a live session, are you talking about rebooting from the original Mint 13 liveDVD (or liveUSB if you made a bootable USB stick)? What do you mean it does not get past setup? Does this mean that it boots into the Mint desktop at all? Is there a way of attaching a picture of it (using a digital camera if you can't get a screenshot)?

You may get it to reboot again if you can get to a command line prompt, navigate to where the xconf.org file that you saved is, and delete it. As 273 said earlier, it appears that your install didn't have a copy of xconf.org installed when you tried to "edit" it. It just ended up creating a new file named "xconf.org" which, of course, was empty because you were creating it anew rather than editing an existing one.

One thing about Linux is that you can always start again from scratch by reformating the partition and reinstalling the OS, since the whole process usually doesn't take much longer than half an hour. I've done that many times, too. I've borked my original install so completely that I just had to reinstall from scratch because it was easier and faster to do that than trying to fix whatever I did to it.

I can't seem to get anything but Mangia 2 setup on this machine. ubuntu never did install. linux mint now hangs up later in the install. and what i mean is this that i can't get past setup.......all computers boot to a setup of some sort to start (well, most computers) where you have an option to choose boot sequence , the arrangement of drives, time and other things ..... I called that setup. the boot will not go past that. I can't get the boot menu provided there. Not talking about grub.
I can get mangeia to install but then the command to edit the xorg.conf does not work in the same way .... I don't want Mangeia though i could use it. I want Mint Cinnamon.

I have tried reinstalling so many times I don't have anything on my hard drive anymore that resembles the old system.


WONDERING! I'm pretty sure I could get ubuntu 10.1 (an older ver of ubuntu) installed. how would i edit the right files with that ? and also why is it retaining the x config files before even it goes to setup? (long time ago I learned setup as CMOS)

thanks,
Nate

WELL! I'm back !... After about 10 attempts at re install with various distros of linux i have finally gotten linux mint back on this machine. Now how do i get the proper configuration files right for my video card .



i posted what the command "gksu gedit /etc/x11//xorg.conf" brings up on the first page of this thread ....What do I do with that.

I still don't understand how that things went causing me not to be able to boot. Is that conf file read BEFORE what I call the setup I thought these operating systems were not read until after the setup and after grub or whatever boot program is being

The results of reading xorg.conf.failsafe in X11 ( I think)

nate@Nate3 /etc/X11 $ more xorg.conf.failsafe
Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "vesa"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection
nate@Nate3 /etc/X11 $

Keeping in mind i know little would this line under Section "Device"
. Driver "Vesa"

Have something to do with this and how do i edit it from there if it does

thanks,
Nate

I found this article! It seems to be directed to me.... What i'm wondering is how do i create that file??///


Get To Know Linux: Understanding xorg.conf

For most Linux users the xorg.conf file is one of those files that makes many Linux users cringe with fear upon the threat of having to configure. There is a reason for that, it’s complex. But when you have an understanding of the pieces that make up the whole puzzle, configuring X Windows becomes much, much easier.

But now the Linux community has distributions, such as Fedora 10, that do not default to using an xorg.conf file. This is great news for many users. However, it’s bad news when, for some reason, X isn’t working or you have specific needs that the default isn’t meeting. With that in mind we’re going to break down the xorg.conf file so that you will be able to troubleshoot your X Windows configuration when something is wrong.

The Basics

The first thing you need to know is that xorg.conf (located typically in /etc/X11) is broken up into sections. Each section starts with the tag Section and ends with the tag EndSection. Each section can be broken into subsections as well. A subsections starts with the tag SubSection and ends with the tag EndSubSection. So a typical section with subsections contains the tags:


Section Name
Section Information
SubSection Name
SubSection information
EndSubSection
EndSection


Of course you can’t just use random sections. There are specific sections to use. Those sections are:

Files – pathnames for files such as fontpath
ServerFlags – global Xorg server options
Module – which modules to load
InputDevice – keyboard and pointer (mouse)
Device – video card description/information
Monitor – display device description
Modes – define video modes outside of Monitor section
Screen – binds a video adapter to a monitor
ServerLayout – binds one or more screens with one or more input devices
DRI – optional direct rendering infrastructure information
Vendor – vendor specific information

Each section will have different information/options and is set up:

Option Variable

Let’s take a look at a sample section. We’ll examine a Device section from a laptop. The section looks like:

Section "Device"
Identifier "device1"
VendorName "VIA Technologies, Inc."
BoardName "VIA Chrome9-based cards"
Driver "openchrome"
Option "DPMS"
Option "SWcursor"
Option "VBERestore" "true"
EndSection


The above section configures a Via Chrome video card (often a tricky one to get running) using the openchrome driver. Here’s how this section breaks down:

The identifier (labled “device1″) connects this section to Screen section with the Device “device1″ option.
The VendorName and BoardName both come from the make and model of the video adapter.
The Driver is the driver the video card will use.
Option “DPMS” – this enables the Display Power Management System.
Option “SWcursor” – this enables the cursor to be drawn by software (as opposed to the HWcursor drawing by hard ware).
Option “VBERestore” “true” – allows a laptop screen to restore from suspend or hibernate.

The lengthiest section of your xorg.conf file will most likely be your Screen section. This section will contain all of the subsections that contain the modes (resolutions) for your monitor. This section will start off like this:

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 24


Notice how the above section references both a device and a monitor. These will refer to other sections in the xorg.conf file. This section also contains the DefaultColorDepth which will define the default color depth for your machine. In the case above the default is 24. Now, take a look below at the SubSections of this section:

Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection
EndSection


As you can see there is a SubSection for four different color depths. Included in those subsections is the default 24. So when X reads the DefaultColorDepth option it will automatically attempt to set the modes configured in the Depth 24 subsection. Also notice that each subsection contains two resolutions. X will attempt to set the first resolution (in the case above our first default is 1440×900) and move on to the next if it can not set the first. Most likely X will be able to set the first.

Final Thoughts

This is only meant to be an introduction to the xorg.conf configuration file. As you might guess, xorg.conf, can get fairly complex. Add to the complexity numerous options available for each section and you have a valid case to make sure you RTFM (read the fine man page.) And the man page is an outstanding resource to find information on all of the available options. To read the man page issue the command man xorg.conf from the command line.

By having a solid understanding of the xorg.conf file you won’t have any problems fixing a fubar’d X installation or tweaking your xorg.conf file to get the most from your new video card.
Related Articles:



Thanks,
Nate

Please could you wrap the output from commands in [ code ] tags and quotes in [ quote ] tags if possible? The former makes it easier to see indents and other things in outputs, making it easier to read, and the latter makes the text black on white or blue rather than pale blue on blue making it easier to read (the quotes thing may be just me though so unless someone else comments feel free to ignore).
As to your question of creating an oxg.conf you can either copy the failsafe and modify that by:Or create a new one, if you know what you need to add after reading that article, by using the command you already did:Then add what you want and save it.
If X doesn't start properly after the changes you can press Ctrl+Alt+1 to get to a console login and use:This will let you edit the file in nano, one of the easiest text-mode editors. You can restart your machine with

Nate,

I strongly suggest that you follow 273's first suggestion, i.e.

and then do

and edit the file to make the changes you need. It is far more easy to edit the xorg.conf file than it is to create it from scratch.

jk07:

I already did the first line of 273's suggestion I now have a xorg.conf file it's not the one i want but then I'm not at all sure what i want .... the resolution is wrong because the screen stretches my desktop picture horizontally but that is just resolution when i get it right. However the original reason for me doing this is to get a driver going that will run the 3D that cinnamon is supposed to display. I'm not sure from this point What it is that I need to do ..... I'm still working on 273's suggestions in fear of making another mistake like i made 2 days ago and not being able to boot again.

What is it that i need to do in
code: gksu gedit /etc/x11/xorg.conf

I am also trying to wrap commands and quotes in the appropriate formats ?????

Thanks,
Nate

This is my present xorg.conf


code:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "vesa"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Nate,

To put text inside the code box as the others are asking, wrap the text with the html tags [ CODE ] and [ /CODE ] but without the spaces inside the brackets.

According to your xorg.conf file, it looks like your video is set to the most basic (and thus most compatible) video driver, which is VESA. But VESA won't turn on 3D acceleration on your video card. You will need to replace this line:

under the "Device" section with the name of the driver for your VIA card.

Ginsu543:

I don't know what to put there. In fact though i posted here what i thought my driver was I'm I don't know how to retrieve that information anymore. I forgot what I did. SIGH! I can copy it from that post but do i need that whole line (which is quite long ) or do I need just the name? Do I need something else?

thanks
Nate

This is what my new xosrg.conf looks like and i have no changes that I can see. So what do I need to do to get it to show the 3D that this thing is capable of .... OR isit not possible with this video card?

do i put all of this info in the device line or some of it or is this not it at all. I don't remember where i went to retreive this

I went ahead and replaced the line again with the above info. my new xorg.conf file looks like this............ and nothing changed but my resolution which makes everything a bit larger. I don't know how to change that either.

thanks,
Nate

Well! new developement. Sigh!

the computer seems to have lost the new xorg.conf I could not boot the computer several times and the symptoms were the same (would only boot to the setup).
However i got the laptop out to do this post and while doing so in the background the other or this computer booted. Does it have a delay of some kind that overrides..... like last boot option or something .
The xorg.conf file is still there and the same.

Thanks,
Nate