[SOLVED] Problem setting up Xorg (following the beginner's guide)

trusktr · 2010-02-18 23:50:08

Ok, so I've moved onto "Step 3: Configure X"...

I have a concern though... Didn't nVidia already make a "xorg.conf" file in the previous step when i installed nvidia drivers? If I follow the instructions in the new steps (Step 3), I creat a new file at /root/xorg.conf.new using the "Xorg -configure" command. This new file has some similar entries to /etc/x!!/xorg.conf as well as many more new ones.

What shall I do with these two files? add everything from xorg.conf.new to the xorg.conf created by nvidia-xconfig? Carefully place certain entries from one into the other? I've backed up the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file in case i do something horrible

I'm not a master of linux (i have just started my first class) but I believe I see some entries that might be conflicting if I combine the files:

For example, both files have Section "InputDevice" and in either of these sections there is Identifier "Mouse0"
However, one has option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
while the other has option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
So the two settings are obviously not identical.

The next thing the Begginer's Guide says to do is copy the new file to the old file:

cp /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Is this a problem? Will I loose all my nvidia settings if I do this? Can i just put both files together using the "cat" command? Or do I have to manually pick and select the correct values to have in the final /etc/X11/xorg.conf file?

Won't this over write the configurations that the nvidia drivers wrote to /etc/X11/xorg.conf ?
Shall I use the cat command to combine the files?

Side note: The computer freezes on a black screen when testing out the xorg.conf.new file with the following command:

X -config /root/xorg.conf.new

it also freezes on a black scren when testing out the real xorg.conf file with the following command:

X -config /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Perhaps these tests are premature at this stage until my settings are finalized?

Can someone tell me what to do with these two files, as the Beginner Guide doesn't (and it's a beginner guide!)?

In the meantime, I will now attempt to combine the two files (no worries though, I've backed up my files).

Last edited by trusktr (2010-02-19 07:24:26)

PirateJonno · 2010-02-19 00:46:48

X doesn't need much information in the config file. Here's my one if you want to try it out (I also have an nvidia card):

Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier      "Default Layout"
        Screen          "Default Screen"
EndSection

Section "Module"
        Load            "dbe"
        Load            "extmod"
        Load            "freetype"
        Load            "glx"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "Default Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "Default Device"
        Driver          "nvidia"
        Option          "NoLogo"                "True"
        Option          "TripleBuffer"  "True"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default Screen"
        Device          "Default Device"
        Monitor         "Default Monitor"
        SubSection      "Display"
                Depth   24
        EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
        Option          "Composite"             "Enable"
EndSection

trusktr · 2010-02-19 01:09:51

oh, ok, i'll give it a try! and report back...

So far with my combined version of 172 lines (hehe) it loaded "xterm" on the top left corner of my screen with mouse input. Let's see if there's a difference with yours.

P.S. did you use just the plain "pacman -S nvidia" driver? there were two other ones as well.

trusktr · 2010-02-19 01:11:03

oh man, i don't want to type that all out! hehe... is there any way you can put that as a text file somewhere online and I can download it with my command shell?

PirateJonno · 2010-02-19 01:18:17

assuming you have internet on your arch install, run this:

wget 'http://omploader.org/vM2xsMA/xorg.conf'

if you have a user set up, do this in your home folder then copy it over

also, it seems like your version is working fine, but imho it's better to leave as little as possible in xorg.conf in case your hardware changes. I do use the plain nvidia driver, because I have an 8600GT. if you have an older card you might need to use one of the other ones. just google around to figure out which one (or use ArchWiki)

trusktr · 2010-02-19 01:28:26

ok, this is interesting! Xorg automatically changed all my values when I launched "xinit" so all duplicate sections (with non-matching content) were changed so they matched... so i had two mouse sections, two keyboard sections, etc... so this made it easy to just delete all the duplicate content and keep one of each section.

So if anyone else is wondering, just combine nvidia-xconfigure version and Xorg -configure version, run xinit, then delete duplicate content from the final file.

I know, it's odd, but it works! hehe

Last edited by trusktr (2010-02-19 07:23:52)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-02-18 23:50:08

[SOLVED] Problem setting up Xorg (following the beginner's guide)

#2 2010-02-19 00:46:48

Re: [SOLVED] Problem setting up Xorg (following the beginner's guide)

#3 2010-02-19 01:09:51

Re: [SOLVED] Problem setting up Xorg (following the beginner's guide)

#4 2010-02-19 01:11:03

Re: [SOLVED] Problem setting up Xorg (following the beginner's guide)

#5 2010-02-19 01:18:17

Re: [SOLVED] Problem setting up Xorg (following the beginner's guide)

#6 2010-02-19 01:28:26

Re: [SOLVED] Problem setting up Xorg (following the beginner's guide)

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