Gentoo

red vex

Ive tried to install Gentoo and although i hit a lot of problems with it along the way, maily down to trying a dual boot with xp but i think ive got it now.
The problem is that i dont know how to launch kde at startup or even launch it at all
ive used "emerge --usepkg kde" and it seem to have installed perfectly but i cant find a command to launch kde
thanks in advance

egan007

are you getting a command login?
If so login and type startx
- im not sure where you are having the problem

maxheadroom

Did you edit /etc/rc.conf and change xsession to kde-3.2.whatever ?

did you set your dm to kdm in the same file?

Finally, did you do #rc-update add xdm default?

red vex

it flashes black when i type startx
i think im in framebuffer mode if thats any use

maxheadroom

try startkde instead of startx

I'm assuming you've set up your xorg.conf file?

red vex

http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=207029&highlight=udffs
i had the exact same problem as this guy so i took out the parts that the guy reccomended and it works now.
It starts up in the framebuffer and i cant launch kde from here.
Should i post up my fstab or is the problem elsewhere?

maxheadroom

you haven't answered any of the querstions I asked you.

Have you made the changes to /etc/rc.conf?
Have you set up xorg.conf?

In fact, are you using xorg-x11 or xfree-x11 as your x server?

red vex

Have you made the changes to /etc/rc.conf?

yes

Have you set up xorg.conf?

i presume i did that during setup(Its been a long setup process )
how can i tell if i have or not
when i run Xorg it gives me the error

Fatal server error:
Cannot run in framebuffer mode. Please specify busIDs

maxheadroom

red vex wrote:

i presume i did that during setup(Its been a long setup process )

Believe me, I know

Have you run through all the steps in this document?

If so, can you post up your /etc/X11/xorg.conf and your /var/log/Xorg.0.log

red vex

it might have been that i havent yet configured xorg, just trying emerge there now
time for another coffee

nadir

I think this is an ATI problem really, are you running a 9800?
try xorgconfig to generate the config file

are you also getting " (EE) Unable to locate/open config file " error?

you really need to post up some log output and prper error messages.

red vex

i tried to run xorg-configure but it failed to create the xorg.conf file
im running it on a laptop with a 9600 mobility graphics card
ive no real way of posting over /var/log/Xorg.0.log but here is an example of what it says:

(II) Primary Device is: PCI 01:00:0
Symbol XAAScreenIndex from module /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/siliconmotion_drv.o is unresolved!
....
...
Fatal server error:
Caught signal 11. Server aborting

red vex

i wont be back till morning..ill try doing a manual config.
thanks for the help everyone

nadir

those mobility cards are the pits for *nix.
you can probably still get it to work, but its going to be fun. :eek:

Azza

Is the KDE problem just limited to the 9800pro card or are all ATI cards affected.

nadir

its not a kde problem, its an x.org - x11 problem. Or rather an ati problem, the drivers basically suck, especially for non standard models like mobility.
in X11 you would use fglrxconfig to give a basic config file, change the name from XF86Config-4 to XF86Config to keep gentoo happy, and then try to trouble shoot from there.
If only ATI supported their hardware fully for linux.

red vex

This would explain why Mandrake 9, Fedora core1, Mandrake Move and a few others all failed to install.
Knoppix worked fine which makes me wonder what driver it uses that he others dont. I thought Xorg might have been the answer but it looks like it isnt

red vex

is fglrxconfig for XFree86 and xorgconfig for Xorg?
i tried fglrxconfig but it gives me a black screen when i run startx(i must have chosen yes too many times)

would this be of any use to me?
ati drivers
another link
if it is how would i go about installing them

red vex

its now running with kde although it looks like crap
do seperate drivers have to be made for the 2.6 kernel or do the 2.4 drivers suffice.
basically should i keep tweaking my .conf files to get it running or wait/look for ati mobility 9600 drivers for kernel 2.6?
thanks for the help. it feels good to finally get linux running on this laptop

OfflerCrocGod

Check if the new release of X-Org is in portage it has improved ATI driver support it might solve your problem, ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86". It was going to be released on the 25th of August but it's been delayed so maybe portage has the Beta or RC or something.

nadir

yea, Im sure its all troubleshooted to death on forums.gentoo.org .
You know you dont even have to use your gfx card at all, the machine itself ought to run kde perfectly at 1024x768 24 Bit. at least.
Just use a standard config, and not fglrxconfig. I am guessing this is what knoppix did.

do seperate drivers have to be made for the 2.6 kernel or do the 2.4 drivers suffice.

nah. those drivers are closed source so it shouldnt make any difference.
You could also try using the xfree drivers instead of the closed source ones.
thats what i use on my old radeon here, I can just about run a decent game of quake3 with those drivers.

to use the x drivers, do this.

lspci |grep AGP

that should tell you what AGP you have. Build that into the kernel with the ati card support like this.
┌─────────────────────────── Character devices ───────────────────────────┐

<M> /dev/agpgart (AGP Support)
< > ALI chipset support
<M> ATI chipset support
< > AMD Irongate, 761, and 762 chipset support
< > AMD Opteron/Athlon64 on-CPU GART support
< > Intel 440LX/BX/GX, I8xx and E7x05 chipset support
< > NVIDIA nForce/nForce2 chipset support
< > SiS chipset support
< > Serverworks LE/HE chipset support
[*] Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support)
<M> ATI Radeon

use a config file like this

http://rafb.net/paste/results/yZroVZ78.html

---

if you want to use fglfx drivers then use fglrxconfig and compile the kernel the same way, but without the radeon module
fglrx will make a file called XF86config-4 change this to xorg.conf or whatever its called and put it in the correct location.
If you are still having problems print out full log files, and ill have a look at em.
Also you should check out what OfflerCrocGod said about newer xorg ati support.

you could have problems like agp stuff, when you lspci |grep AGP make sure it looks right in the config file, as in the correct bus and stuff BusID "PCI:1:0:1"
maybe you would need PCI:0:0:1 or something.

red vex

i had to reinstall due to a problem with grub. Its worked fine until i tried to setup a windows manager. i tried doing various basic configs with xorgconfig and both Xorg and startx either gave me a blank screen or errors
Then i tried fglrxconfig and saved it as XF86config, same again
Then i copied XF86config into xorg.conf. This wouldnt work with Xorg but launches with startx
Why is this the case and when i boot up why wont it go straight into kde even though i have it enabled in my rc.conf file. I have to use startx at he command line to start kde.
It seems that before kde launches a few lines are thrown up onto the comand line but i cant see what they are

maxheadroom

red vex wrote:

i had to reinstall due to a problem with grub. Its worked fine until i tried to setup a windows manager. i tried doing various basic configs with xorgconfig and both Xorg and startx either gave me a blank screen or errors
Then i tried fglrxconfig and saved it as XF86config, same again
Then i copied XF86config into xorg.conf. This wouldnt work with Xorg but launches with startx
Why is this the case and when i boot up why wont it go straight into kde even though i have it enabled in my rc.conf file. I have to use startx at he command line to start kde.
It seems that before kde launches a few lines are thrown up onto the comand line but i cant see what they are

what happens if you type

/etc/init.d/xdm start

at a root shell? If this works, you can issue this command:

rc-update add xdm default

To have your display manager (graphical login box) appear at each boot.