Installation of ARCH

hemant2007 · 2013-01-17 07:26:36

Hi
I have installed arch linux as per ur instructions till point number 17 in virtualbox as guest on windows XP as host.
Now when I reboot my arch, it shows blank screen and nothing happens after initial steps as I have enabled gdm using systemctl enable command.
Now I am unable to see basic command line interface.
Also I saw output of grep EE /var/log/Xorg.0.log command, it is blank it shows nothing.
Also I saw output of grep WW /var/log/Xorg.0.log command, it is blank it shows nothing.
I think it is unable to start xorg server.
What should I do ?
Thanks in advance.

chris_l · 2013-01-17 07:41:13

point number 17?
The Official Installation Guide don't have a point 17.
The Beginners' Guide neither.

What instructions you did follow? can you provide the link to the wiki article?

hemant2007 · 2013-01-17 08:09:17

Sorry for that
I followed this article and Begginers Manual as well
http://wideaperture.net/blog/?p=3851
Thanks for ur prompt reply.
How to go basic command line interface , please tell me. The screen goes blank and nothing happens.

Scimmia · 2013-01-17 08:22:14

edit the boot loader kernel paramaters, add systemd.unit=multi-user.target

hemant2007 · 2013-01-17 08:26:31

Ok
But I am new to arch, can u tell me step by step procedure

hemant2007 · 2013-01-17 08:27:21

I am using syslinux as bootloader

lucke · 2013-01-17 08:36:38

Append it to the APPEND line in /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg.

-edit-

I'd say appending that wouldn't help. What happens when you run "startx"?

Last edited by lucke (2013-01-17 08:40:47)

Scimmia · 2013-01-17 08:38:04

lucke, he can't boot the system, that's no good.

hermant, the bootloader menu tells you to hit a key to edit the kernel command line. Just add what I said to the end and it should boot to the CLI.

tomk · 2013-01-17 09:24:32

hemant, general advice - we don't do step-by-step here. Read some more about Arch, make sure it's the right distro for you.

If you still want to install it, forget about random blog posts and use the official install guide or the beginners guide, as linked above. Read them first from start to finish, make sure you understand what you're doing.

hemant2007 · 2013-01-17 11:35:48

Thanks a lot Scimmia !!
It really worked.
Now I am able to see CLI.
I logged in and run startx command. After some initializations it shows blank screen.
Also output of grep EE /var/log/Xorg.0.log and grep EE /var/log/Xorg.0.log is nothing
i am unable to figure out problem.
Also I am currently logged in as root and when i tried to remove file rm ~/.xinitrc, it gives no such file found error.

zrianc · 2013-01-17 11:54:00

Try disabling vboxvideo in /etc/modules-load.d/virtualbox.conf .
Right now it's affected by a bug.

hemant2007 · 2013-01-17 12:11:56

i tried removing vboxvideo in /etc/modules-load.d/virtualbox.conf .
but didnot worked
please suggest me hint

Trilby · 2013-01-17 13:03:25

You have already been given a hint: follow the beginners guide. This includes step by step informtation on how to ensure X is set up and running before you install a DE.

Once users are pretty confident with installing arch we may skip some of those steps (installing and testing twm). But if you are new to arch, you shouldn't skip steps. And even the most experienced users, when they face such a problem, should go back and do every one of those steps.

From your posts I already see at least three important points that you have skipped, and I suspect also a fourth. These will be easily found if you follow the instructions that people who know what they were doing spent a good amount of time crafting.

EDIT: If you still run into problems after following the beginners guide, by all means stop back in here. But when it is blatantly clear that you have ignored all the good advice that has already been laid out in the wiki, why would anyone want to give you more good advice to be ignored.

Last edited by Trilby (2013-01-17 13:06:26)

hemant2007 · 2013-01-17 13:32:28

@ Tribly
Do u think that u r / R u moderator / Owner of ARCH Linux ???
Don't post post such thing.
I have already told I am new to ARCH rather linux still I want to learn/use/build my own customized desktop using arch. I am trying
to learn Arch Linux. Why r u posting such discouraging post. If u don't know the answer then ignore it.
I have already read Installation guide and followed different posts on community.But nowhere I found solution of my problem.
@ To all
I logged in and run startx command. After some initializations it shows blank screen and nothing happens, no GUI.
Also output of grep EE /var/log/Xorg.0.log and grep EE /var/log/Xorg.0.log is nothing
i am unable to figure out problem.
Also I am currently logged in as root and when i tried to remove file rm ~/.xinitrc, it gives no such file found error.

weedfreak · 2013-01-17 13:57:52

I am experiencing the same problem, this is my 5th or so install of Arch. In fact one last month went flawlessly. This time there is a problem with startx.

Initially I missed out the step in the beginners guide for testing x and went straight to installing xfce. XFCE does not load and I am left with a blank screen and nothing to do but reboot. I have gone back a few steps to testing x and that seems to work as expected, a couple of terminals and a clock. Following the instructions in the unofficial beginners guide I type exit into the terminals on the last one the screen blanks and does not return to a text page, once again the only option is hard reset.

Log files are empty of xorg messages and .xinitrc does not exist yet. Until the vanilla xwindows works there is no point in chasing the xfce install, or so I think.

Is there any other information I can provide?

DSpider · 2013-01-17 14:18:15

Run 'startx' if you got no ~/.xinitrc? So hardcore! But no, not really. Read the Xfce wiki page, from the top, twice.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xfce

weedfreak · 2013-01-17 15:05:15

Well the beginners guide does say to run startx without an .xinitrc file, it even suggests removing the .xinitrc file if it is there.

I have read the xfce page several dozen times, it states early on that startx must be installed and configured correctly first, which is logical. I think there is something wrong with startx as it causes the system to hang when trying to close it.

Running startxfce4 from the cli or creating .xinitrc file with the start command in it does not work as expected, it switches to a blank screen and system hangs totally, no option other than a hard reset.

Trilby · 2013-01-17 15:09:13

weedfreak, can you create a ~/.xinitrc with just the following line

xterm

Then run xinit (not startx), and see if that will exit as expected after you close the xterm.

@hemant2007, I'm sorry if you found my post offensive - I don't see why. I was giving you the advice you'd need to solve your problem. Your unwillingness to accept it is not my concern. You may notice that weedfreak clearly followed the beginners guide and posted the results of the twm test run. Those test results (and those that will come from my suggested follow up test) will greatly help narrow down the problem. So by contributing this, weedfreak has not only done something productive to solve his/her own problem, but has also contributed to the community by being a cooperating participant in the problem solving process. As a result of this, weedfreak's test results may help solve *your* problem, and may even track down an issue that could affect other users.

Do I "own" this community, and am I a moderator - certainly not. But I am a member of this community, and any community must be maintained by its members. If you wish to be a productive/contributing member, learn to provide information as weedfreak has done. And at the risk of getting "reported", if you don't want to be a productive member of this community, then **** ***

[edited and self sensored. This post is worth keeping around and the previous content would have had it removed ... but you can fill in the blank.]

Last edited by Trilby (2013-01-17 15:32:00)

weedfreak · 2013-01-17 15:40:21

There might be a clue here.

Running xterm as root brings up a long message about running it as root or sudo is not the best option then there is a failure message
cant open display %s
DISPLAY is not set.

Running as user just gives the same error message.

Running xinit, with or without an .xinitrc still locks the system.

Trilby · 2013-01-17 15:43:23

Just to be clear, if you run as regular user (don't start X as root), and have "xterm" in ~/.xinitrc, it brings up the xterm and only freezes after you type 'exit' into that xterm, right?

weedfreak · 2013-01-17 15:58:28

Sorry about this, reading is getting to be a problem after 2 days trying to solve this.

I am now doing what you originally asked. Running as a user with xterm in .xinitrc brings up the xterm and only freezes after I type 'exit' into that xterm.

I had misread your original post and typed xterm on the cli to create .xinitrc, which gave the display error messages, obviously not thinking straight.

Trilby · 2013-01-17 16:26:33

Good news is that does rule out the problem being in the systemwide default xinitrc. Bad news is that I was hoping that was what it was as that'd be an easier fix.

Next step: Try the same thing, but when it does freeze, can you switch to TTY1 (or whichever tty you ran xinit from) by hitting Ctl-Alt-F1. If you can, you should see output from X there, hopefully with some error message.

weedfreak · 2013-01-17 16:37:47

Sorry to say once it freezes it is totally unresponsive, I cannot get back to TTY1 and any error messages.

Inxsible · 2013-01-17 17:08:22

hemant2007 wrote:

@ Tribly
Do u think that u r / R u moderator / Owner of ARCH Linux ???
Don't post post such thing.

Well, I am a Moderator/Admin and I find your post to be offensive and disrespectful. Arch is not for people who need "step-by-step" instructions as advised to you by tomk as well.

Read the relevant wiki entries and come back with specific problems.

weedfreak, you are hijacking this thread. Please start a separate thread for your problems.

Closing.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-01-17 07:26:36

Installation of ARCH

#2 2013-01-17 07:41:13

Re: Installation of ARCH

#3 2013-01-17 08:09:17

Re: Installation of ARCH

#4 2013-01-17 08:22:14

Re: Installation of ARCH

#5 2013-01-17 08:26:31

Re: Installation of ARCH

#6 2013-01-17 08:27:21

Re: Installation of ARCH

#7 2013-01-17 08:36:38

Re: Installation of ARCH

#8 2013-01-17 08:38:04

Re: Installation of ARCH

#9 2013-01-17 09:24:32

Re: Installation of ARCH

#10 2013-01-17 11:35:48

Re: Installation of ARCH

#11 2013-01-17 11:54:00

Re: Installation of ARCH

#12 2013-01-17 12:11:56

Re: Installation of ARCH

#13 2013-01-17 13:03:25

Re: Installation of ARCH

#14 2013-01-17 13:32:28

Re: Installation of ARCH

#15 2013-01-17 13:57:52

Re: Installation of ARCH

#16 2013-01-17 14:18:15

Re: Installation of ARCH

#17 2013-01-17 15:05:15

Re: Installation of ARCH

#18 2013-01-17 15:09:13

Re: Installation of ARCH

#19 2013-01-17 15:40:21

Re: Installation of ARCH

#20 2013-01-17 15:43:23

Re: Installation of ARCH

#21 2013-01-17 15:58:28

Re: Installation of ARCH

#22 2013-01-17 16:26:33

Re: Installation of ARCH

#23 2013-01-17 16:37:47

Re: Installation of ARCH

#24 2013-01-17 17:08:22

Re: Installation of ARCH

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