Arch Linux

ktzqbp

Member

Registered: 2008-12-08

Posts: 13

[SOLVED] startx shows terminal, but no borders

Disclaimer: I have been searching for the past half hour, but all my google results seem to have little relation to my problem.

Hey guys,

Arch freshman here, and I'm almost at the end of the Beginner's installation guide. More specifically, I'm up to testing my Xorg configuration files by issuing startx and the like.

The guide mentioned invoking 'xterm' to test your X config files, but when I did, I recieved the error:

xterm Xt error: Can't open display:
xterm:  DISPLAY is not set

I opened my xorg.conf file back up, added the dpi setting (I possibly did something else, but I can't remember), and retried 'xterm'. It then worked - I had a few windows that I could move about on a black background. I played around with it a bit, and without really considering the alternate possibilities, in xterm I held left-click down to open the drop-down menu, and selected 'exit'.

I had assumed that this would've been an alternate to Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, but it merely stripped the windows of their borders, rendering me incapable of moving them about any more. So, I hit Ctrl+Alt+Backspace and continued on with the guide.

I reached the step of issuing 'startx'. This worked straight up, but similar to the results of xterm after selecting exit, startx merely displays a grey terminal box that I can't move around. I assumed that this wasn't normal.

When I attempted to re-issue 'xterm', it was back to square one - I was recieving the error I mentioned above.

So, I was wondering if anyone here had some ideas as to how I could go about getting 'xterm' to work, or how to fix startx so that the grey terminal box has window borders (if it's even meant to)?

I apologise if I haven't provided enough info. I doubt I'll be able to get entire logs off the system, as I don't believe I have any method of transferring them over without a DE, but I'll happily type some important bits if you narrow it down.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Last edited by ktzqbp (2008-12-13 18:40:18)

ktzqbp

Member

Registered: 2008-12-08

Posts: 13

Re: [SOLVED] startx shows terminal, but no borders

D'oh!

I rebooted, and whaddaya know

"Have you tried turning it off 'n on again?", I say to myself in an irish accent.

Sorry guys

bgc1954

Member

From: Edmonton, AB, Canada

Registered: 2006-03-14

Posts: 1,160

Re: [SOLVED] startx shows terminal, but no borders

Glad to see you're getting somewhere. Welcome to Arch.  Don't hesitate to ask if you get stuck along the way.

---

Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils ... - Louis Hector Berlioz

skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: [SOLVED] startx shows terminal, but no borders

Welcome to the forums ktzqbp.

Go ahead and mark this thread [SOLVED]. Just append it to the title. You can modify the title by editing the opening post.

ktzqbp

Member

Registered: 2008-12-08

Posts: 13

Re: [SOLVED] startx shows terminal, but no borders

Cheers guys, it's a relief to see that there's no harsh reception of my somewhat knee-jerk reaction to post a thread without rebooting...given it was my first post and all

I didn't want to make a negative impression, so thanks for your understanding.

Last edited by ktzqbp (2008-12-13 18:52:05)