startx
 

i suddenly can't get x to start when starting the computer. just happened for the first time. don't know what i did to get it to start this time except start smacking every button on the keyboard as it was loading. i've gone through gdmsetup and videoconfig. did a startx -- -config /etc/X11/xorg.conf.svga once. nothing has made it start right. actually, this is the second time i've gotten it to load xserver after smacking all the key at boot. here's my xorg.cong file if that helps.


# **********************************************************************
# This file was generated by videoconfig (Zenwalk Xorg configuration tool)
# If you changed your video card or monitor, please run videoconfig again
# from runlevel 3. Don't modify this file yourself until you know what you do Wink
# **********************************************************************


# **********************************************************************
# Files section. This allows default font and rgb paths to be set
# **********************************************************************

Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
ModulePath "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this section is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load.
# **********************************************************************

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "extmod"
Load "xtrap"
Load "record"
Load "dbe"
Load "dri"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerFlags"
# Option "NoTrapSignals"
# Option "DontVTSwitch"
# Option "DontZap"
# Option "DontZoom"
# Option "DisableVidModeExtension"
# Option "AllowNonLocalXvidtune"
# Option "DisableModInDev"
# Option "AllowNonLocalModInDev"
# Option "blank time" "10" # 10 minutes
# Option "standby time" "20"
# Option "suspend time" "30"
# Option "off time" "60"

# Option "EstimateSizesAggresively" "0"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Core keyboard's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard1"
Driver "kbd"
# Option "Protocol" "Xqueue"
# Option "AutoRepeat" "500 5"
# Option "Xleds" "1 2 3"
# Option "XkbDisable"

Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
# Option "XkbVariant" "us"
# Option "XkbOptions" ""
EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Core Pointer's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

# Identifier and driver
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "Auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
# Option "Protocol" "Xqueue"
# Option "BaudRate" "9600"
# Option "SampleRate" "150"
# Option "Emulate3Buttons"
# Option "Emulate3Timeout" "50"
# Option "ChordMiddle"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Monitor section
# **********************************************************************

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "DPC"
ModelName "3770"
### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC:
HorizSync 30.0 - 70.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0

Option "DPMS"
EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Graphics device section
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of graphics device sections may be present

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard1"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
BoardName "Radeon RV100 QY [Radeon 7000/VE]"
Driver "ati"
BusID "PCI:0:9:0"
EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Screen sections
# **********************************************************************

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Videoconfig"
Device "Videocard1"
Monitor "Monitor1"

DefaultDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# ServerLayout sections.
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Simple Layout"
Screen "Videoconfig"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Ok, you want Xwindows to start automatically after boot, right? This is the job of the gdm/kdm/xdm program (depending on which you have installed). I assume you have gdm installed because you mention gdmsetup.

If that program is working properly, then Xwindows may have a problem loading. In that case, we would need to see the errors that it was outputing.

yes, i want xwindows to start all the time (as it did up until today) and yes, i have gdm installed. where would i get the errors from? i see none at startup. of course, i see NOTHING at startup!!

i am getting a little closer. it is loading fully to the desktop now whether i have vesa or ati drivers loaded, but the fonts seem very small. have screen size set at 1024x768, i think, it goes to default after setting it.

i'm giving up on this for tonight. going to go downstairs and see if this is maybe related to those last updates or not. have another very similar machine that has always worked good. so far!

If you desktop is able to load then I would assume the problem is with gdm. I wish I could tell you more, but I know nothing about setting up gdm. What distro are you using?

well, heck yeah and hallelujah!! i got it!!

somehow /etc/X11/xorg.conf was set for vesa, which i did do once, but thought i had set it back to ati (a couple/few times even). this time i edited the file manually and changed vesa to ati, rebooted, and poof!! even have desktop is back at 1024x768. the small fonts was due to it being set at next higher settings and i couldn't change it.

i'm outta here before something else screws up on this thing.

thanks for the help!!

Definitely a feminine quote there. :)
Nice to see more females on these Linux forums. This is a a pretty good sign that Linux is becoming more popular in the desktop zone.