I just installed debian for the first time yesterday. I used slackwhere a little about 2 years ago, but other than that I'm a beginner with linux (as well as unix). I can navigate the console fairly well, but other than that I've got nothing. Anyway, I figured one of the first things to do is get a GUI up and running. I remember liking KDE (gnome wasn't bad either), so I thought I'd go with that. When installing debian, I was asked for a preference and chose KDE. When in the console, I type startx and get an error saying "Fatal server error: no screens found". Now, I would normally have gone and checked the xf86config-4 file (which I remember from last time), however I cannot seem to find it. I googled and found someone saying it should be in the etc/x11 directory. I have an etc (obviously) but there is no x11 directory. Does Debian put it in a different place? While I am at it, when I do locate my xf86config-4 file, what "screen" do I point it to? Obviously it's asking for my monitor, but I'm not sure how I should describe it (or where, for that matter, but I'd imagine I could find that). I specified a default resolution during setup, I'm thinking it just needs the name of my monitor. I'm guessing it isn't Bob... It's a princeton graphics VL1715 (I think)..should I just name it that? What else do I have to tell xf86config-4? Also, apt-get doesn't seem to be returning many results for things. I tried to apt-get pico (pico's fairly standard, isn't it?) but it couldn't find it. Isn't there an apt-search or something as well? I checked the sources.list file and it has 5 debian sources (2 non-US), so I think I'm attached to the main list. It seems odd that I can't really find too much using apt-get. I got gaim and fortune ok (though fortune wouldn't work until I rebooted), but can't find much else. Does this suggest apt-get isn't working properly? Is there a way I can check it? Thanks in advance!

First I'll start with the obvious, case-sensitivity. I assume you know this, but the file should be "/etc/X11/XF86Config-4". Also try "find /etc -name XF86Config-4" to search /etc and its subdirectories for the file.

From ./ I typed exactly this:

find /etc - name XF86CONFIG-4

and it didn't really output anything, it just brought up a new prompt. Is that right? Is it possible I somehow don't have XF86CONFIG-4?

XF86CONFIG-4 is not the same as XF86Config-4

Filenames in Unix (and thus Linux, and thus Debian) are CASE SENSITIVE. This is a very important distinction.

You should be able to find the file you're after in (remember, get the case right!) /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

Ah, there it is. I tried xf86Config-4 too, but the x and f weren't capitalized. The real problem, though, was that I couldn't find the X11 directory, as I was trying to cd x11. The funny thing is, when I do an ls in etc, I don't see X11. Could it be that the capitals are towards the top? Can I do a 'more' in conjunction with an 'ls'?

BTW, thanks for the help (and the humongous text size), I found XF86Config-4.

Your find syntax was also wrong -- it should be "-name" not "- name" (no space).

Ok, now that I have located XF86Config-4, I explored the file a bit. I found this:



The SubSections repeat themselves until 24. So it looks like a screen is defined, yet I still get that same error:

Fatal server error:
no screens found

Perhaps it needs some specific information about my monitor? It is an LCD, but I was asked this during setup and I specified the horizontal/vertical refresh rates and such.

Can anyone offer some suggestions?

You could always try using xf86config. Just type this in at the command line and follow the instructions:
$ su [enter]
[root password here]
# /usr/bin/X11/xf86config [enter]

When it gets to the monitor part, it will ask you for a bunch of things that you probably won't know, but usually the defaults will suffice. And yes, linux filenames are case-sensitive, so /USR/BIN/X11/XF86CONFIG is not the same as /usr/bin/X11/xf86config.
EDIT:
I just realised you were running debian, in which case you can just run the following command:
$ su [enter]
[root password here]
# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86 [enter]

Quote: Original post by bytecoder
You could always try using xf86config. Just type this in at the command line and follow the instructions:
$ su [enter]
[root password here]
# /usr/bin/X11/xf86config [enter]

When it gets to the monitor part, it will ask you for a bunch of things that you probably won't know, but usually the defaults will suffice. And yes, linux filenames are case-sensitive, so /USR/BIN/X11/XF86CONFIG is not the same as /usr/bin/X11/xf86config.
EDIT:
I just realised you were running debian, in which case you can just run the following command:
$ su [enter]
[root password here]
# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86 [enter]

Ok, I ran the dpkg-reconfigure utility and selected pretty much the same stuff I did when I installed debian. I'm still getting the same error, though. XF86Config-4 now has a "Monitor" sction, with the identifier I supplied for the monitor name and the horizontal and vertical values I supplied, as well as a DPMS option. Perhaps I am entering something wrong? Is "nv" the option I would like for my video drivers? I have an nVidia 6800GT and that looked the closest. There are quite a few steps to the configuration, so I won't go through each step, but perhaps there are some likely sections I should look at?

Quote: Original post by CyberSlag5k
The funny thing is, when I do an ls in etc, I don't see X11. Could it be that the capitals are towards the top?

Quite often, yes. ls will generally sort things purely by ASCII code, so all capital letters will be displayed first.

Quote: Can I do a 'more' in conjunction with an 'ls'?

Yep. 'ls | more'. Or, slightly better, 'ls | less'. 'less' is the sucessor to 'more', and allows you to go back into the text, whereas IIRC more won't allow that.

Quote: Ok, I ran the dpkg-reconfigure utility and selected pretty much the same stuff I did when I installed debian. I'm still getting the same error, though. XF86Config-4 now has a "Monitor" sction, with the identifier I supplied for the monitor name and the horizontal and vertical values I supplied, as well as a DPMS option. Perhaps I am entering something wrong? Is "nv" the option I would like for my video drivers?

For the moment, yes. (For 3D acceleration using NVidias drivers you'd need to have 'nvidia' there, but lets fix one problem at a time...)

Quote: I have an nVidia 6800GT and that looked the closest. There are quite a few steps to the configuration, so I won't go through each step, but perhaps there are some likely sections I should look at?

This page may be useful. (You should be able to get the same info from 'man XF86Config'.) In your config you should have a section called "ServerLayout". This is the section that actually links your screen, monitor, and input devices together. In that section there should be at least a 'Screen "**Your screen identifier here**"' and an 'InputDevice "**stuff**" "**more stuff**"'.

What does your ServerLayout section have?