cannot start kde

yotama9 · 2010-10-10 13:52:02

Hi guys.

I have just installed arch on my machine. I installed kde and everything went fine but kde doesn't start when I start the computer and I'm left on init 3. When I run startkde I get:

$DISPLAY is not set or cannot connect to the X server.

I didn't find any documentation about this in the wiki.

I will appreciate your help

Yotam

Snip · 2010-10-10 13:56:35

Edit ~/.xinitrc and add the line "exec startkde" to it (or unquote it if it's already there). Then run startx. I think that should solve your problem.

yotama9 · 2010-10-10 16:28:41

hmmm.... that file doesn't exist. should I create it?

skunktrader · 2010-10-10 16:36:57

There is a simple template

cp /etc/skel/.xinitrc ~/.xinitrc

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinitrc

You may have better results by adding this

exec ck-launch-session startkde

to your ~/.xinitrc

Last edited by skunktrader (2010-10-10 16:39:28)

yotama9 · 2010-10-10 16:46:44

Will you be mad if I'll say that .xinitrc doesn't exist in that folder as well?

skunktrader · 2010-10-10 17:06:07

Maybe it has been deprecated in newer arch releases. Its just boilerplate anyway. Here is what it looks like on my machine

cat /etc/skel/.xinitrc 

#!/bin/sh
#
# ~/.xinitrc
#
# Executed by startx (run your window manager from here)

# exec gnome-session
# exec startkde
# exec startxfce4
# ...or the Window Manager of your choice

Hyugga · 2010-10-10 20:56:34

I had the same problem last night. The solution for me was this:

Open the bin file of startkde in /usr/bin/startkde. Something like sudo nano /usr/bin/startkde
And look for this piece of code:

LD_BIND_NOW=true /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/start_kdeinit_wrapper +kcminit_startup
if test $? -ne 0; then
  # Startup error
  echo 'startkde: Could not start kdeinit4. Check your installation.'  1>&2
  test -n "$ksplash_pid" && kill "$ksplash_pid" 2>/dev/null
  xmessage -geometry 500x100 "Could not start kdeinit4. Check your installation$
  exit 1
fi

Break the line:

LD_BIND_NOW=true 
/usr/lib/kde4/libexec/start_kdeinit_wrapper +kcminit_startup

Here's the original thread where i saw this: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=106348

Thanks to mcordv for that.

Last edited by Hyugga (2010-10-10 20:57:39)

yotama9 · 2010-10-11 06:28:43

skunktrader:
I don't have the command startx I think that there are some dependencies which are not intalled. Could it be that I need a special driver for my video card? When I read the wiki they simply say "install kde" and nothing is mentioned about setting up the display.

My video card is radeon 200M

Hyugga:
I tried what you said and nothing is changed.

Thanks

Primoz · 2010-10-11 10:44:36

yotama9 wrote:

skunktrader:
I don't have the command startx I think that there are some dependencies which are not intalled. Could it be that I need a special driver for my video card? When I read the wiki they simply say "install kde" and nothing is mentioned about setting up the display.
My video card is radeon 200M
Hyugga:
I tried what you said and nothing is changed.
Thanks

Yeah you have to install a driver. Did you read the Beginner's guide in ArchWiki?
I don't use ATI, but AFAIK there's free ATI drivers, proprietary drivers (not sure) and DRM (direct render module?) which compiles drivers into kernel itself.
Now you just have to decide which one you wish to use.

And to get startx or xinit you have to copy .skel from somewhere to your home. Again this is nicely explained in Beginners guide.

yotama9 · 2010-10-11 11:35:36

No.

I run threw it and only saw that there are installtion guides. I checked again and noticed there is a section about installing X which I missed before.

Thank you, I'll keep you posted

[band his head on the wall]

Yotam

yotama9 · 2010-10-11 14:34:01

OK.

I followed the arch wiki and got kde running. I still don't have any sound (I followed that part as well on the wiki) do you have any hint where should I start looking?

Thanks

Hyugga · 2010-10-11 15:59:18

For your ATI 200M you have to install the open source drivers. I think there is no longer compatibility with the propietary drivers for your card (i have an ATI x1200 and i can't install them).
You must install:

pacman -S xf86-video-ati ati-dri

That should give you full resolution and good performance with compiz.

And for your sound problem, do you have ALSA installed? If you don't see the alsa wiki: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Alsa

Good luck!

Primoz · 2010-10-11 22:15:28

Also with sound in KDE I'd also advise you to go to system settings > multimedia > phonon and check that. Especially check the backend, I found that VLC works best for me.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-10-10 13:52:02

cannot start kde

#2 2010-10-10 13:56:35

Re: cannot start kde

#3 2010-10-10 16:28:41

Re: cannot start kde

#4 2010-10-10 16:36:57

Re: cannot start kde

#5 2010-10-10 16:46:44

Re: cannot start kde

#6 2010-10-10 17:06:07

Re: cannot start kde

#7 2010-10-10 20:56:34

Re: cannot start kde

#8 2010-10-11 06:28:43

Re: cannot start kde

#9 2010-10-11 10:44:36

Re: cannot start kde

#10 2010-10-11 11:35:36

Re: cannot start kde

#11 2010-10-11 14:34:01

Re: cannot start kde

#12 2010-10-11 15:59:18

Re: cannot start kde

#13 2010-10-11 22:15:28

Re: cannot start kde

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