help with kde/gnome

sysboy · 2005-08-04 15:40:45

hello everyone .. I have just install arch linux ( installed all packages on cd )
and now im stuck with runlevel4 .. I tried to startx but that brings me into a version ugly graphical desktop . I guess my real question is . How do I get KDE or Gnome running ?

tomk · 2005-08-04 15:44:08

Click on the Docs button above right to get to our wiki - it's all there.

sysboy · 2005-08-04 16:26:39

Ok so i install xorg , configured it ... and now when I startx its telling me

(EE) VGA(0): Given Depth (24) is not supperted by this driver
(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration
Fatal Server error:
no screens found

so i changed the color depth to 16 ... same error only with (16) ..

any know my problem ?

Snowman · 2005-08-04 16:43:03

To help with the x-server config, you can use hwd (pacman -S hwd) to get a sample xorg.conf:
hwd -x

sysboy · 2005-08-04 17:20:35

Ok so I got xorg.conf.hwd ,,, I looked at it for a while ,, then deleted my old xorg.conf and rename xorg.conf.hwd to xorg.conf ... ok so it when I startx it boots into some ugly desktop .. ( not KDE or Gnome ) .. So what must I do to make it boot to KDE ??>

Snowman · 2005-08-04 18:11:57

Install kde (if you haven't done it yet):
pacman -S kde
Then, put:
exec startkde
in ~/.xinitrc

tomk · 2005-08-04 18:23:51

OK, it turns out I was exaggerating a little - it's not ALL in the wiki just yet. In particular, the KDE page has only been started - sorry about that.

Now I don't use KDE myself, but I can tell you that startx runs the commands found in ~/.xinitrc, and if you add (or uncomment) startkde in that file, startx will bring you into KDE. I'm sure some other K-person will be along shortly to explain how you boot into it.

sysboy · 2005-08-04 19:56:05

ok just finished getting KDE -- now where exactly is ~/.xinitrc ???

open it with vi right ?

ozar · 2005-08-04 20:01:37

If you don't already have it, you can create one. It goes in the /home folder. Be sure to put the "." in front of it. Yes, vi or vim work great.

sysboy · 2005-08-04 20:11:23

ok so now there is a file in /home called .xinitrc --- and the only content in .xinitrc is

exec startkde

but when i enter startx .. i get into that ugly desktop again ... hmmm

tomk · 2005-08-04 20:17:00

ozar meant to say that it should be in your home directory i.e. /home/sysboy or whatever your user name is. That's what that ~ character stands for.

sysboy · 2005-08-04 20:22:13

ok thanks for clarifying that .. but currently i dont have any users , and my root has no password .. which isnt a good thing .. so how shall i go about creating users / passwords ??

sysboy · 2005-08-04 20:26:23

wooo .. first off sorry for the double post .. and I moved .xinitrc to /root ...
because im logging in as root .. i started x and KDE started but iv got another problem ...

a windows pops up and states

Could not find kdeinit. Check your installation

but i did install the kde pkgs ..

ozar · 2005-08-04 20:39:36

oops... thanks for clarifying that tomk, I didn't realize there were no users created just yet.

sysboy, the .xinitrc file goes in the user's /home directory. You shouldn't run your machine as root. I usually use "adduser" to make new users. Just run the command and answer the questions as they are presented, then move the .xinitrc file to that directory.

sysboy · 2005-08-04 20:53:37

ok so i created a new user ( admin )-- moved .xinitrc into /home/admin/

and started x --- same thing .. kde starts up but a window comes up saying kdeinit not found ...

i tried pacman -S kdeinit ... but it didnt find anything ...

Snowman · 2005-08-04 21:26:25

That's the kde starting bug: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=12947
I haven't read the whole thread. There doesn't seem to be a specific solution yet.

You can try gnome if you want.
pacman -S gnome gnome-extra
and exec gnome-session in .xinitrc
There are also other WM/DE if you are concerned about dowload size/disk space.

sysboy · 2005-08-04 21:52:48

hmmm .. i would really like to use KDE -- can I use a later version ? or maybe a newer version ?

if not then i guess ill install gnome ..

scarecrow · 2005-08-04 22:05:31

(as root) "nano /etc/inittab"
Change the default runlevel to 5
id:3:initdefault:
to
id:5:initdefault:
and then the default init5 login manager to kdm:
x:5:respawn:/opt/kde/bin/kdm -nodaemon
This should work, even with the above bug present.
BTW the last KDE version (3.4.2 from "testing") seems working fine.

sysboy · 2005-08-04 22:08:42

hey scarecrow where and how can I get 3.4.2 on my system

pacman im guess ???

scarecrow · 2005-08-04 22:22:09

sysboy wrote:

hey scarecrow where and how can I get 3.4.2 on my system
pacman im guess ???

Simply edit /etc/pacman.conf and uncomment the lines related to "testing".
After that, "telinit 3" (as root), login as root, and "pacman -Syu" (or maybe "pacman -Sy kde", as the previous command will also fetch you the new xorg version from testing, which seems being OK, but I'm not 100% sure....)
This should effortlessly upgrade you to 3.4.2 (after some time, of course!).
To avoid nasties, get sure that NO external kde apps are installed (else uninstall them BEFORE the upgrade and recompile them after the upgrade...), and for safety rename your old .kde user (hidden) directory to something else (in case that some useful data were stored there- else simply delete it before logging to KDE again).
The biggest worry with KDE 3.4.2 is that it also brings gcc 4.0.1 with it, which still has some quirks (maybe this is the sole reason it's still at "testing"), but IMO we all should get accustomed to it- sooner rather than later...

sysboy · 2005-08-05 01:17:26

ok so i install 3.4.2 .. everything went well there .. but I still get ..

cannot contact kdeinit

whats wrong ????

T-Dawg · 2005-08-05 01:42:21

I haven't used kde in a while to experience the start bug...

you could try running the login daemon instead of startx (as root):

/etc/rc.d/kdm start

then login as your user.

sysboy · 2005-08-05 01:52:49

tried that but it starts kdm then kiks back out to command line

T-Dawg · 2005-08-05 01:58:51

your probably just going to have to wait unitl its fixed.
There's other good options in the meantime though, gnome and xfce4. I would recommend xfce4, its very fast compared to kde and pretty straight forward.

pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies

then add exec startxfce4 to ~/.xinitrc

sysboy · 2005-08-05 02:16:02

so i unistalled kde and install xfce4 --- all is good its running but it gives error when loging on ..

Could not look up internet address for archserver.
This will prevent Xfce from operating correctly. It may be possible to correct the problem by adding archserver to the file /etc/hosts on your system

Could this be whats stoping kdeinit from running ??

Arch Linux

#1 2005-08-04 15:40:45

help with kde/gnome

#2 2005-08-04 15:44:08

Re: help with kde/gnome

#3 2005-08-04 16:26:39

Re: help with kde/gnome

#4 2005-08-04 16:43:03

Re: help with kde/gnome

#5 2005-08-04 17:20:35

Re: help with kde/gnome

#6 2005-08-04 18:11:57

Re: help with kde/gnome

#7 2005-08-04 18:23:51

Re: help with kde/gnome

#8 2005-08-04 19:56:05

Re: help with kde/gnome

#9 2005-08-04 20:01:37

Re: help with kde/gnome

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Re: help with kde/gnome

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Re: help with kde/gnome

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Re: help with kde/gnome

#14 2005-08-04 20:39:36

Re: help with kde/gnome

#15 2005-08-04 20:53:37

Re: help with kde/gnome

#16 2005-08-04 21:26:25

Re: help with kde/gnome

#17 2005-08-04 21:52:48

Re: help with kde/gnome

#18 2005-08-04 22:05:31

Re: help with kde/gnome

#19 2005-08-04 22:08:42

Re: help with kde/gnome

#20 2005-08-04 22:22:09

Re: help with kde/gnome

#21 2005-08-05 01:17:26

Re: help with kde/gnome

#22 2005-08-05 01:42:21

Re: help with kde/gnome

#23 2005-08-05 01:52:49

Re: help with kde/gnome

#24 2005-08-05 01:58:51

Re: help with kde/gnome

#25 2005-08-05 02:16:02

Re: help with kde/gnome

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