X on my Laptop

JohnSchuster · 2005-02-17 05:01:07

Hello All,

I'm new to Linux and Arch as of last month and am trying to put a lot on this very new, but cheap laptop.

I've got the base and have installed X OK, I think.

I ran the config utility a few times but had to "best guess" a lot.

Initially after this, when I ran X my system froze.

After I added the "AllowMouseOpenFail" "1", to the Option section, I get something I kinda recognize!

I can see two rectangular regions which both contain "[root@myhost /]#" and some other stuff. One item looks like the character 'I' inside a black region, a cursor? The 'exit' command works from here.

Anyway, my X is not well. I've read some Wiki and purused some recent messages. Oh, yeah - the log... I should look for 'EE or 'WW (error or warning) codes.

"Open APM failed...

I also get some "Could not init font path ...removing from list" stuff.

Any direction on Wiki pages or prior posts would be greatly appreciated

arooaroo · 2005-02-17 08:52:26

To correct your mouse, you need to correct your mouse, open /etc/X11/xorg.conf and find your mouse section. The xorgconfig util uses the default /dev/mouse (IIRC) but you actually want /dev/input/mice under Arch.

Secondly, if you only install X and no window manager, then you get a very basic system like what you describe. You need to install kde/gnome/xfce, etc, etc.

The wiki has a section about installing window managers, and also what to put in your .xinitrc so that when you startx, it loads your WM.

HTH

JohnSchuster · 2005-02-18 04:32:33

arooaroo,

Thanks for your response!

I'm checking my X11/xorg.conf file and see in the "InputDevice" Section I have

Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ThinkingMousePS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"

some comments and the EndSection marker. I'm not sure, but I think my cheap laptop's pointing device may be a brand Synoptics with horiz as well as vert sliding regions on its physical surface. Shall I try to install USB support to access a more standard mouse?

Re the X alone v with a windows manager - I think I may not have been clear. The "window" I see is the physical frame of the cheap laptop's panel. Within that ten by seven inch are two frames which i interpret as a bad horiz freq setting. Does that make any sense? I have a wierd context, I'm sorry.

Anyway, I think I have still serious problems with my machine's mouse as well as the horizontal sync. If anyone still wants, I can try to overlay a windows manager on this.

arooaroo · 2005-02-18 12:10:27

Hmm... not exactly sure what the problem is. How about attacking from another approach. I recall a while back trying to create an xorg.conf despite the xorgconfig util not working. The way I solved it was to boot from a recent Knoppix liveCD which did a pretty good job of getting my system up and running. If this loads the xserver correctly, cp the config file to your hard disk and use as necessary.

I dare say that there are many liveCDs that are equally decent, but I'vev only needed to use knoppix as it's always worked ok (except for not correctly guessing my laptop screen resolution of 1280x1024) Still, rather minor, methinks.

JohnSchuster · 2005-02-21 22:37:43

Thanks arooaroo!

I'm having a little trouble downloading Knoppix but may yet get that done. Might there be a small utility to do what the Knoppix Live CD is for but much much smaller?

While I was waiting, I ran accross this..
http://www.cs.utah.edu/~coop/linux/averatec.html
..which suggests for my laptop..
"use(d) a Generic LCD 1024 x 768 for the monitor".

Where does that fit in the conf file.

I'm still stuck. Sorry for taking so long!

Thanks again,

John

kill · 2005-02-21 23:40:03

JohnSchuster wrote:

Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"

That should read:

Option "Device" "/dev/input/mouse0"

Re the X alone v with a windows manager - I think I may not have been clear. The "window" I see is the physical frame of the cheap laptop's panel. Within that ten by seven inch are two frames which i interpret as a bad horiz freq setting. Does that make any sense? I have a wierd context, I'm sorry.

Not really but it sounds like your seeing twm the default window manager for x. For another window manager to start with x you need to add a line to ~/.xinitrc. For kde:

exec startkde

max_sipos · 2005-02-22 01:22:52

You can try using hwd - I think it builds an example xorg.conf which I had no problem using (except it, of course, didn't use ATI video drivers). X worked immediatly and the touchpad worked properly... It was an IBM laptop I am unsure which model though.

Try:

pacman -S hwd

Best luck!

JohnSchuster · 2005-02-22 04:17:10

Thanks so much, kill, max_sipos!

The Hardware Detect (hwd) package was spot on!

I now certainly have a fine X Windows on Arch cheap laptop!

I clearly see 4 windows in the physical frame of my laptop - I'm sure you all know the "login" "xterm" and clock windows. My pointing device works great too.

This is great fun!

Before I leave this thread topic with thanks to all who have helped, I'd ask if KDE on X is "the standard" manager? I don't want to open a can of worms, but just want reasonableness in my next step. Beyond that, I want MySQL, StarOffice, Apache, and some custom stuff.

Thanks again, All!

John

Dusty · 2005-02-22 04:27:25

JohnSchuster wrote:

The Hardware Detect (hwd) package was spot on!

GRRR!!! I would have gotten credit for that if my post hadn't been deleted in the admin mixup!!!

Before I leave this thread topic with thanks to all who have helped, I'd ask if KDE on X is "the standard" manager?

There isn't really a standard desktop/window manager. KDE seems to be the most popular one for most new Linux users, but GNOME isn't far behind, it depends on the distro.

XFCE is another one that seems to be more popular amoungst Arch users than on other distributions. Its a little smaller and cleaner.

Then there are hundreds of others, but I won't list them since you seem to want a desktop manager. The other window managers are mostly niche market type things. There is a page somewhere that lists pretty well all the window managers available, feel free to google for it.

All that is meaningless, I'd suggest you either:

a) stick with KDE until it annoys you for some reason
b) try them all until you find one that suits you

Dusty

arooaroo · 2005-02-22 09:46:23

JohnSchuster wrote:

Before I leave this thread topic with thanks to all who have helped, I'd ask if KDE on X is "the standard" manager? I don't want to open a can of worms, but just want reasonableness in my next step.

Horses for courses here, I'm afraid. I've been happy with KDE which I use on my laptop. I also use Gnome on my workstation at work. Both are pretty darn good. I'd agree with dusty though, start with KDE, and if it annoys you, try gnome, etc.

JohnSchuster wrote:

Beyond that, I want MySQL, StarOffice, Apache, and some custom stuff.

For setting up MySQL and Apache, the wiki is very useful:

http://wiki2.archlinux.org/index.php/Ap … nd%20MySQL

Not sure if StarOffice is available as it's comes at a price. But, OpenOffice (essentially the same thing) is available via pacman. There's some help in the wiki too:

http://wiki2.archlinux.org/index.php/OpenOffice

dtw · 2005-02-22 09:54:51

If you want the skinny on what is popular with regard to apps and window managers you could have a look at the results of the recent linuxquestions.org poll - that might familiarize you with some more options

arooaroo · 2005-02-22 11:25:24

I suppose there are no prizes for guessing that you're a fluxbox user then?

JohnSchuster · 2005-02-23 04:51:03

Thanks All again for most copious help.

Dusty, do you know if we might get a 'sticky page prepended with the insight "If you are having any hardware detection problems, before posting, consider trying these steps:

Install the hwd (HardWare Detect) package.
Ensure the /etc/X11.conf file is corrected as necessary."

Do you think that might help the next guy out? Should I pursue this (sticky page) myself?

Thanks again, arooaroo! KDE - OK. Special reference - tks. Open v Star.

Thanks finally to you - dibblethewrecker. Sorry, I could not immediately view your poll results..
That's an interesting website! I looked a second at fluxbox.sourceforge.net and think is too much for me now. It looks very powerful potentially, but not for me now.

Thanks again,

John

Arch Linux

#1 2005-02-17 05:01:07

X on my Laptop

#2 2005-02-17 08:52:26

Re: X on my Laptop

#3 2005-02-18 04:32:33

Re: X on my Laptop

#4 2005-02-18 12:10:27

Re: X on my Laptop

#5 2005-02-21 22:37:43

Re: X on my Laptop

#6 2005-02-21 23:40:03

Re: X on my Laptop

#7 2005-02-22 01:22:52

Re: X on my Laptop

#8 2005-02-22 04:17:10

Re: X on my Laptop

#9 2005-02-22 04:27:25

Re: X on my Laptop

#10 2005-02-22 09:46:23

Re: X on my Laptop

#11 2005-02-22 09:54:51

Re: X on my Laptop

#12 2005-02-22 11:25:24

Re: X on my Laptop

#13 2005-02-23 04:51:03

Re: X on my Laptop

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