Installation and Desktop Environment questions

PJxSlain · 2015-10-24 00:11:55

Hi guys! I am fairly new to Arch, and have successfully installed the x32 version on my desktop. I loved how the process went and was relatively a smooth process. Now that I have attempted to make the transition onto my laptop, the problems are revealing themselves to me.

My laptop supported the x64 architecture of Ubuntu, which is where i started my Linux adventure. Now that I am trying to install the x64 version of Arch on my laptop, I'm not having any success. I have followed the prcess as best as I could when trying to decypher the installation guide and some other vidoes that I have found. The problems begin when trying to install my video drivers and running "startx" to ensure that everything is set up. Once I try and get visuals installed to have a usable desktop environment (I would like to go with Xfce, but I have Gnome sucessfully installed on my desktop at the moment), all error messages show up and the "startx" fails to load, kicking me back to the terminal.

After several failed attempts to get x64 Arch up and running on my desktop, I thought I would give the x32 version a shot since I have sucessfully installed that before on the first shot. Just as I thought, I got the x32 bit running, but was still a bit wonky. I installed Gnome and was very laggy when it runs smooth as silk on my much older desktop.

As for a later note, I would like some help with the installation with xfce. Gnome was very simple to install and enable, where i just cant seem to get xfce installed properly.

Any help with getting Arch running (preferably x64) would be greatly appreciated, and even moreso after the fact with getting xfce going. Thanks all!

R/S

Last edited by PJxSlain (2015-10-24 01:41:21)

PJxSlain · 2015-10-24 00:27:35

I would like to add a side note to this that I am needing to dual boot with Windows 7. I have 4 partitions set up. My partition setup currently looks like this:
/dev/sda1 = Win7 [51200MiB]
/dev/sda2 = Arch / (in theory) [7680MiB]
/dev/sda3 = Arch /home (in theory) [43520MiB]
/dev/sda4 = extended [remaining space]
/dev/sda5 = logical (remaining HD space for primary storage location to be able to view files in both Win and Arch OS)

Hopefully this will help a little in attempting to explain what setup I am aiming for. Thanks!

Trilby · 2015-10-24 00:34:48

Welcome to the forums. Please note that you can "edit" your post rather than creating a new post with new information. As to the issue at hand:

PJxSlain wrote:

the "startx" fails to load, kicking me back to the terminal.

Ok. We can definitely help with that - but we will also definitely need the actual error. X likely spit out an error - what was it. Please post the full output visible in the terminal after this - alternatively you can find logs in ~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log. The latter is more verbose - but personally I find the former to be more useful (as the full log is sometimes *too* verbose).

Also, please note that your current thread title is not particularly useful. You are able to edit it by clicking 'edit' on your initial post which will allow you to revise the title. In this case, the fact that it is in the Newbie Corner suggests you are a new arch user. And the fact that these are support forums suggest that you are in need of help. So the current title doesn't actually provide any useful information. A suggested revision would be to include what seems to be the most prominent or first error in the Xorg output which I have asked for. Or at very least, you could title the thread "New install - unable to startx".

PJxSlain · 2015-10-24 02:20:36

Ok, so I have updated the title to make it more relevant.

So as of right now, the issues were occuring when I was trying to install x64 Arch. I do not have Arch installed anymore but I am in the process of reinstalling.

At the moment, I have Win7 installed on the first partition. Once I boot Arch x64, and installed "base" and "base-devel", along with generating the fstab, user, and grub, I run:
$sudo pacman -S xorg-server xorg-xinit xorg-server-utils mesa

Then start the issues. I have an Nvidia 460M video card in my laptop that I want to utilize, along with an Intel Graphics chip. So, I run:
$sudo pacman -S nvidia lib32-nvidia-utils

After reboot, running:
$sudo nvidia-xconfig
$sudo pacman -S xorg-twm xorg-xclock xterm

Then startx to make sure that graphics are working. This is where I get failure and cannot proceed.

I apologize ahead of time if this information does not help. This is all that I can provide until more in depth information is asked for. Thanks!

fsckd · 2015-10-24 02:30:00

If you have both Intel and NVIDIA graphics enabled then you may want to see this. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA_Optimus

It would really help to see your Xorg log.

Trilby · 2015-10-24 02:44:07

Trilby wrote:

we will also definitely need the actual error. X likely spit out an error - what was it. Please post the full output visible in the terminal after this - alternatively you can find logs in ~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log.

Repeeating what you have already said is not useful. Posting the information requested would be.

PJxSlain · 2015-10-24 03:22:13

fsckd wrote:

If you have both Intel and NVIDIA graphics enabled then you may want to see this. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA_Optimus
It would really help to see your Xorg log.

I followed these steps when I was installing my Nvidia driver just now. When i load /etc/X11/xorg.conf, the only things that show for nvidia are:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection

In the article that you had posted, it mentions change "BusID" if neccessary. What is the issue of my file not having this? Should I add it at the bottom of that section, or change everything to reflect the post on just the Nvidia section?

PJxSlain · 2015-10-24 03:32:49

Ok, so here is the print out of the output from "startx":

xauth: file /home/pjxslain/.Xauthority does not exist
xauth: file /home/pjxslain/.Xauthority does not exist

X.Org X Server 1.17.2
Release Date: 2015-06-16
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 4.0.4-2ARCH x86_64
Current Operating System: Linux M17xR3 4.2.3-1-ARCH #` SMP PREEMPT Sat Oct 3 18:52:50 CEST 2015 x86_64
Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=a8300ac5-0d1d-4454-a25e-98de5f6ec238 rw quiet
Build Date: 17 July 2015 05:38:19PM

Current version of pixman: 0.32.8
Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
to make sure that you have the latest version.
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (--) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informaional,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Fri Oct 23 20:22:56 2015
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
(==) Using system config cirectory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
additional information.(EE) (EE) Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.oundation support at http://wiki.x.org for help. (EE) Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for
xinit: giving up
xinit: unable to connect to X server: Connection refused
xinit: server error

Trilby · 2015-10-24 11:58:05

PJxSlain wrote:

xauth: file /home/pjxslain/.Xauthority does not exist
xauth: file /home/pjxslain/.Xauthority does not exist

Thanks, there's the problem.

I have not seen this error before myself, but based on a quick search it seems to generally be permissions related. Are you trying to do any X11 over ssh forwarding? Or perhaps did you try to copy or maintain a home partition from a previous distro?

What are the results of the following commands:

whoami
ls -l /home
cat .xinitrc

fsckd · 2015-10-24 14:14:20

Please use code tags when posting terminal output or file contents. (See BBCode help if you are unsure how to use them.)

PJxSlain · 2015-10-24 14:40:01

Ok, so the results of the terminal commands are as follows:

 whoami
           pjxslain

 ls -l /home
           total 2
           drwx------ 2 root       root  16384 Oct 23 23:47 lost+found
           drwx------ 2 pjxslain  users 4096 Oct 23 20:37 pjxslain

 cat .xinitrc
            cat: .xinitrc: No such file or directory

I am not trying to do anything special here, just doing a basic installation with guides that I have found in the beginners guide and other places. When I started this installation, I formatted the entire HD, and started with a completely empyt unformatted partition. Loaded a Gparted live, formatted my partitions out, installed Win7, then installed Arch.

Trilby · 2015-10-24 14:45:12

Thanks - I didn't mean to sound accusatory. We just sometimes go through a lot of troubleshooting to eventually learn there were some special circumstances that weren't mentioned. Unfortunately I am, for the moment, stumped. As noted above, the only times that error seems to be appearing elsewhere is when there is something out of place with user account and/or permissions.

PJxSlain · 2015-10-25 21:52:02

Ok, So I'm going to try to bring some life back into this and hopefully find some answers to get this Arch installation up and running. I have a clean installation of Arch x64, just made the user account. the only additonal things I have done other than basic config (zoneinfo, etc) is installing yaourt and pulseaudio. What is my next step? Would it be installing xorg? If so, what would the commands for that specifically?
A side note for this is I have

 "Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)"

and

 "NVIDIA Corporation GF106M [GeForce GTX 460M] (rev a1)"

for graphics.

I am not trying to do anything special with this installation, other than using it for everyday use. At the end of the day, I would like to have Xfce installed and functioning. From there I can troubleshoot anything else that comes my way in regards to getting other devices, etc working. This one is just kicking me in the behind for some reason and I just cant figure out what the issue is.

Thanks for the help!

Last edited by PJxSlain (2015-10-25 21:57:14)

jasonwryan · 2015-10-25 22:08:24

Follow this: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xorg

PJxSlain · 2015-10-25 22:16:59

Ok, so based on the link posted, would I run

 pacman -S xorg-server

or would I run something else? The problemt that Im having currently is that I find articles like this, but they all base off of packages, not terminal commands which is where Im limited to at the moment.

I understand that there are a plethora of articles about every different component here, but as a newbie to Arch, I'm trying to learn the premise behind all of these packages, and being directed to a different post isnt exactly helpful. I have come here posting my questions because this is after numerous days of scouring forums to try to make some sort of sense out of things.

Thanks!!

jasonwryan · 2015-10-25 22:38:24

That is one of the commands you run. What you are expected to do is work methodically through the wiki page, gather relevant information about your card and the driver it requires (based on your preference for the blob or open source), and then install a setup that meets your needs.

The wiki exists so that the community don't have to keep providing the same advice ad nauseum to newcomers. Learn how to use it; that is how things work here. No-one is going to type out the exact commands that you need to paste into your terminal. That would be enabling help vampirism.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-10-24 00:11:55

Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#2 2015-10-24 00:27:35

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#3 2015-10-24 00:34:48

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#4 2015-10-24 02:20:36

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#5 2015-10-24 02:30:00

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#6 2015-10-24 02:44:07

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#7 2015-10-24 03:22:13

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#8 2015-10-24 03:32:49

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#9 2015-10-24 11:58:05

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#10 2015-10-24 14:14:20

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#11 2015-10-24 14:40:01

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#12 2015-10-24 14:45:12

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#13 2015-10-25 21:52:02

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#14 2015-10-25 22:08:24

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#15 2015-10-25 22:16:59

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

#16 2015-10-25 22:38:24

Re: Installation and Desktop Environment questions

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