Re: Can't get a GUI window to open up.

On 10/24/2011 07:55 PM, David Guntner wrote:
> Well, my system is mostly updated.  Have hit the Next Great Snag. :-)
>
> [root@janet ~ ]# rpm -qa|egrep nvidia
> dkms-nvidia-current-280.13-4-mdv2011.0.x86_64
> nvidia-current-doc-html-280.13-4-mdv2011.0.x86_64
> x11-driver-video-nvidia-current-280.13-4-mdv2011.0.x86_64
> [root@janet ~ ]#
>
> There's the current drivers.  I've run XFdrake in the console window and
> select "test," and a nice graphic display comes up with the little "Is
> this correct?" window with the yes/no button to click on and all that
> comes up just fine.  However, actually issuing a "telinit 5" results in
> a few messages, but then nothing - no GUI.  Hitting F12 to bring up the
> syslog reveals the following message:
>
>> Oct 24 16:52:05 janet init: Switching to runlevel: 5
>> Oct 24 16:52:06 janet udevd[2121]: kernel-provided name 'capi' and NAME= 'capi/' disagree, please use SYMLINK+= or change the kernel to provide the proper name
>> Oct 24 16:52:06 janet udevd[2121]: mknod '/dev/capi/.udev-tmp' 68:0 020600 failed: Operation not permitted
>> Oct 24 16:52:06 janet kdm[6991]: X server died during startup
>> Oct 24 16:52:06 janet kdm[6991]: X server for display :0 cannot be started, session disabled
>
> So, any ideas on what's causing the current headache, and what can be
> done to clear it up?

You might try deleting old cruft.  I would do this from within 
run level 3.

cd
rm -f .*auth*
rm -rf tmp/* /tmp/* /var/tmp/*

Then check the contents of /etc/X11/xorg.conf and see if all 
makes sense.  If you have some old versions lying around, use
diff xorg.conf xorg.conf.something
to see how they differ.

I know that there have been recent problems with some of the 
nvidia installers, but I currently use only ATI cards and cannot 
help beyond general guidance from years past.

For proprietary drivers:

1.  Do not install both the Mandriva nVidia installer package and 
the nVidia installer package from the nVidia website.  Just 
having both on the system can results in problems, even if you 
only use one.

2.  You must have installed the kernel-devel package for the 
exact kernel you are running.  In times long past, I had to 
create the symlink from /usr/src/version_of_kernel to
/usr/src/linux before the installer would find the devel files. 
That should not be needed  (the installer should find the devel 
header files even if the linux link is missing) but "should not" 
sometimes fails.

3.  You must check /etc/X11/xorg.conf and see if all is well there.

Alternate drivers are the nv and nouveau drivers.  You may find 
that of the three possibilities, proprietary, nv, and nouveau, 
only one will work with the current system.

If you change drivers, remember to always remove the old cruft 
(stuff in the tmp directories, $HOME/.*auth*).

Cheers!

jim b.

-- 
UNIX is not user unfriendly; it merely
      expects users to be computer-friendly.