Arch Linux

r_mosaic

Member

Registered: 2013-04-18

Posts: 5

After installing gnome packages, always black screen when startx

Hello everyone,

I am a newbie to Arch Linux, also not quite experienced at bare-bones Linux installation. I installed Arch Linux by following the steps in the installation guide up to X. Then I installed X by referring to the wiki Beginner's Guide: pacman -S xorg-server xorg-server-utils xorg-xinit. Then I installed vmware video: pacman -S extra/xf86-video-vmware. Now I tested startx. It works fine, tmw fires up, xterm windows open and xclock displaying. I can also switch to other virtual consoles by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1~F6 (on VMware, I do Ctrl+Alt+(Space,F1))

Then I did: pacman -S gnome. Because I didn't startx during the installation, and I didn't install dbus by that time, I got some warning message regarding dbus, "GConf-WARNING **: Client failed to connect to the D-BUS daemon:", but that was installing gnome-shell, gnome-terminal, etc., so I guess it doesn't affect gnome startup. However, after this installation, startx goes into a black screen and cannot switch to other virtual consoles by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Fn. And even if I remove all files from /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ and /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d, leaving only the /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc (and no ~/.xinitrc), it still doesn't work. The /etc/xinit/xinitrc contains starting of twm, xterm and xclock near its end.

Could some experts shed some light on this?

Thanks a lot and best regards,

Robbie

Mr.Elendig

#archlinux@freenode channel op

From: The intertubes

Registered: 2004-11-07

Posts: 4,092

Re: After installing gnome packages, always black screen when startx

There is several knows issues with vmware and xorg 1.14. Check your logs for segfault in X and other relevant errors.

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Evil #archlinux@libera.chat channel op and general support dude.
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Arogers10

Member

Registered: 2012-06-20

Posts: 68

Re: After installing gnome packages, always black screen when startx

after installing gnome try

systemctl start gdm.service

instead of startx to begin using gnome. I only mention it because I did not see any reference to systemctl in the OP

Edit: The Gconf/Dbus errors seem to be normal any time installing gnome from the console without an active x-server so don't be concerned about those.

Last edited by Arogers10 (2013-04-18 17:12:27)

r_mosaic

Member

Registered: 2013-04-18

Posts: 5

Re: After installing gnome packages, always black screen when startx

There is several knows issues with vmware and xorg 1.14. Check your logs for segfault in X and other relevant errors.

Hi Elendig,

I checked the log file, it seems there is no Fatal error. Could you please provide some links to the other issues?

Thanks,

Robbie

r_mosaic

Member

Registered: 2013-04-18

Posts: 5

Re: After installing gnome packages, always black screen when startx

after installing gnome try

systemctl start gdm.service

instead of startx to begin using gnome. I only mention it because I did not see any reference to systemctl in the OP

Edit: The Gconf/Dbus errors seem to be normal any time installing gnome from the console without an active x-server so don't be concerned about those.

Hi Arogers,

Unfortunately, the result is still a black screen...

I'll try to post the x.org log later.

Best regards,

Robbie

r_mosaic

Member

Registered: 2013-04-18

Posts: 5

Re: After installing gnome packages, always black screen when startx

There is several knows issues with vmware and xorg 1.14. Check your logs for segfault in X and other relevant errors.

Following your suggestion and search, I found this:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=158882
I uninstalled the vmware video driver (pacman -R local/xf86-video-vmware) and installed the vesa driver (pacman -S extra/xf86-video-vesa). Now the desktop is visible, but freezes after being visible. I'll try to revert to x.org 1.13 and retry.

r_mosaic

Member

Registered: 2013-04-18

Posts: 5

Re: After installing gnome packages, always black screen when startx

Latest update: tried many options: downgrading to xorg-server 1.13.0, using vesa driver instead of vmware driver, starting gnome not via .xinitrc but with systemctl (as suggested by Arogers), upgrading VMware Player from 2.5 to 4, and upgrading VM hardware from 6 to 8. Now: I find using the newest xorg-server 1.14 works with vesa driver. GLX also works fine although disabling it provides snappier graphics responsiveness. Gnome works but after the X is displayed all virtual consoles are gone. Still need to find out how to fix it.