[SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

Jakkin · 2014-10-16 02:29:01

I've been through the guides on the wiki several times and even reinstalled arch to make sure everything was clean. My problem is, no matter what I do, I'm unable to get any desktop environment to run. (Well, I can get the really really basic X desktop to work.)
I have an old Dell Latitude D630 and wanted to try arch since it has the capability to be lighter then the "mainstream" distros like Ubuntu and OpenSuse. (Plus having root access is nice. (Way to go, Ubuntu.))
In my attempts to install a desktop environment, I've followed guides I've found by googling and on the wiki and I've followed them to the letter. By following the wiki, t when I start my *.service for the environment, I'll get a black screen with a blinking cursor. There was a guide online for installing gnome that I used and the best I got was a frozen gnome interface. I had to shut down the laptop to get back to the CLI.
Is there anyone out there who wants to yell at me for being an idiot, then explain in excruciating detail how to actually do it?

Last edited by Jakkin (2014-10-18 04:34:00)

eduardojunio · 2014-10-16 02:46:01

Run this:

# pacman -Syu xorg

And this:

# pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies

After do this things run this:

$ startxfce4

Last edited by eduardojunio (2014-10-16 02:47:34)

ewaller · 2014-10-16 03:28:21

Well, first off, welcome to Arch Linux. You will not find step by step hand holding here. Sorry, it is not how this community works.

We are happy to provide help with specifics. Your post does not provide many. Consider your post, what did you tell us?
We don't know the specifics of a Dell Latitude D630. Don't expect us to research it. What video system does it use? What processor?
You said, you "cannot get any desktop environment to run". Which ones? You said Gnome. What else? i3? Xfce4?
How are you starting Gnome? Are you using a login manager like GDM, or did you use startx?
Which wiki article did you use? Specifically. As to any other guides aside from our wiki, we don't support them.
What error messages did you receive? Specifically.

Jakkin · 2014-10-16 04:40:08

Thank you, ewaller. You're post was really helpful. Specifically the parts where you pointed out the shortcomings of my post. ;-)
As for the answers to your questions, the graphics card is a Quadro NVS 135M (revision 1, if that's something to worry about).
I installed the open source nouveau driver for it, along with mesa. (If there's more that I need to post, let me know. The lack of specifics earlier was because I didn't know what specify. (Still a newb at this.))
Don't get me started on the processor, please! (It's an old Intel Core 2 Duo, specifically the T7250.)
For this install, I tried to install KDE along with is display manager, KDM. (For specifics, it was pacman -S kde .)
After the whole download and install portion, I used the systemctl command to enable and start the kdm.service.
After that is when the blinking cursor appears. There's no errors that appear on the CLI, everything runs like normal except for KDE, which doesn't run at all.
The other desktop environment I tried on this install was GNOME. I did everything exactly the same way, pacman -S gnome, systemctl enable gdm.service, systemctl start gdm.service.
The only thing different with GNOME is that nothing happens. The commands run fine, but the computer doesn't react in any way.
Attempting (just for craps and giggles) to run startx gives me a fatal server error.

Fatal server error:
(EE) no screens found (EE)
Please consult the X.org foundation
(More stuff like how to find their wiki and to check the log foot more info.)
Server terminated with error (1)
After which, it gace up, saying the connection was refused.

Get on my case for more specifics if you need them.

scar · 2014-10-16 06:47:53

Maybe try to start plain X (with the command startx, provided by the package xorg-xinit).
Do not forget to install the following:

xorg-xclock, xorg-twm, xterm;

unless plain X will not start with the default configuration.
If this works, your Xorg setup could be clean of any issues. This is important, as all your display managers are built upon X.

Also, you could have a look on your driver installation. (Have you enabled KMS?)

drcouzelis · 2014-10-16 11:45:32

Jakkin wrote:

In my attempts to install a desktop environment, I've followed guides I've found by googling and on the wiki and I've followed them to the letter.
Is there anyone out there who wants to yell at me for being an idiot, then explain in excruciating detail how to actually do it?

Well, since you asked for it... The only guide you should be using to install Arch Linux is the Beginner's Guide and what is linked in it. Everything else is unsupported and probably out dated. Use Google to get help when working on bugs, but not for installing Arch Linux.

Jakkin wrote:

Attempting (just for craps and giggles) to run startx gives me a fatal server error.
Fatal server error:
(EE) no screens found (EE)
Please consult the X.org foundation
(More stuff like how to find their wiki and to check the log foot more info.)
Server terminated with error (1)
After which, it gace up, saying the connection was refused.

This is a very important message. It doesn't matter what desktop environment or window manager you try to start, because if there's "no screens found" none of them are going to work.

Installing KDE and KDM and trying to get "everything" working all at once can lead to a lot of confusion when something goes wrong, because you don't know what went wrong. Start simple by following the advice from scar above.

If you'd like us to look at it with you, please post your "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" and "/var/log/pacman.log" files. (And don't forget to use [ code ] tags on the forums.)

Trilby · 2014-10-16 11:59:02

The no screens found error means there is no appropriate video driver installed.

What is the output of "lspci | grep -i vga"?

ewaller · 2014-10-16 15:06:42

Also, the next time you get the blinking cursor of death, you might try to switch to a different console by typing Ctrl-Alt-F2 (or F3 through F6). You should get a login prompt. This will let you log in and diagnose the problem and to kill the X session. I agree with drcouzelis, lets not jump in with both feet to a display manager like kdm at first. Let's use startx to start the kde session. startx dies more gracefully, and allows you to see console messages after the crash.

As to just running startx, Trilby is probably on the right track with regards to the driver. But, now I am confused. When you had stated you managed to get the "Really basic X desktop to work", I thought that meant you managed to get twm to run, presumably with startx twm will, be default, display three xterm windows and a xclock window. Is it that to which you were referring?

karol · 2014-10-16 17:01:29

eduardojunio wrote:

Run this:
# pacman -Syu xorg

Don't. At least don't install everything from that group.

Jakkin · 2014-10-16 20:32:50

Trilby wrote:

The no screens found error means there is no appropriate video driver installed.
What is the output of "lspci | grep -i vga"?

Running that command, I got:

 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation G86M [Quadro NVS 135M] (rev a1)

I found another command that gave me a bit more info.

 lspci -k | grep -A 2 -i "VGA"

Running that, I got:

 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation G86M [Quadro NVS 135M] (rev a1) 
            Subsystem: Dell Device 01f9
            Kernel driver in use: nouveau

Should I try installing the driver from the nvidia site? I've been avoiding doing that since it isn't a part of arch and the repos have been tested, so everything in them should be stable for most everyone.

Found out that I wasn't supposed to do

 pacman -Syu xorg

the hard way, karol. :$

UPDATE: I did find that it was a driver missing (I thought I installed it, but apparently it wasn't what Arch was looking for.); however, now all I get is the X server crashing. I uploaded the Xorg log file to pastebin. (Since I don't want to put a big long post on here. ;-) )
http://pastebin.com/wTkq6Z9U

ewaller · 2014-10-16 20:53:39

Actually, that log looks pretty good. It did not crash, it exited normally.
How did you start X ? Using startx ? If so, please share your ~/.xinitrc file. It looks like whatever you used as a window manager exited.

Jakkin · 2014-10-16 21:06:29

Here's the .xinitrc
http://pastebin.com/UkmpFsY6

ewaller · 2014-10-16 21:11:10

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

Ah ha! You have to un-comment (remove the #) the line that contains the WM you want to use. You are getting close

Jakkin · 2014-10-17 06:37:39

ewaller wrote:

# exec gnome-session
# exec startkde
# exec startxfce4
# ...or the Window Manager of your choice
Ah ha! You have to un-comment (remove the #) the line that contains the WM you want to use. You are getting close

Now I really feel stupid. I even remember reading about having to edit that. :$
Thanks so much for helping me out with this. This probably would have taken another week (and ludicrous configurations) before I'd figure it out. You guys are awesome!

Last edited by Jakkin (2014-10-17 06:41:23)

karol · 2014-10-17 21:18:29

Next time you get stuck on something, just try re-reading the wiki. Carefully.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinitrc :

The Fabulous Arch Linux Wiki wrote:

Now, edit ~/.xinitrc and uncomment the line that corresponds to your DE/WM.

Please remember to mark the thread as solved https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=130309

Arch Linux

#1 2014-10-16 02:29:01

[SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#2 2014-10-16 02:46:01

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#3 2014-10-16 03:28:21

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#4 2014-10-16 04:40:08

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#5 2014-10-16 06:47:53

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#6 2014-10-16 11:45:32

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#7 2014-10-16 11:59:02

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#8 2014-10-16 15:06:42

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#9 2014-10-16 17:01:29

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#10 2014-10-16 20:32:50

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#11 2014-10-16 20:53:39

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#12 2014-10-16 21:06:29

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#13 2014-10-16 21:11:10

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#14 2014-10-17 06:37:39

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

#15 2014-10-17 21:18:29

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop Environment issue

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