From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Ray Olszewski Subject: Re: starts error Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 12:48:35 -0700 Sender: linux-newbie-owner@vger.kernel.org Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.1.20020913115558.022dfbf0@celine> References: <7C078C66B7752B438B88E11E5E20E72E0EF512@GENERAL.farsite.co.uk> <5.1.0.14.1.20020913084016.02317ec0@celine> Mime-Version: 1.0 Return-path: In-Reply-To: <3D82599F.6F753060@aaahawk.com> List-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format="flowed" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: Bill Pleasants , linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org OK. I don't use Mandrake, so I can't help with Mandrake-specific bits like what an "automatic" installation of it does or what a Mandrake-specific doc says. Possibly someone else here is a Mandrake users with sufficient experience to help you at that level. Since your problems are not Linux problems as such, but X problems, you need to look to the X sites for help. The core one is www.xfree86.org . I believe there are also X-related Linux HowTos; if they are not on your system somewhere (different distros handle them differently, and as I say, I am not familiar with the specifics of Mandrake), try www.linuxdoc.org . As to your specific error -- execve is the C function (actually, one of several) called when one program executes another. Here, xinit is trying to start X (the actual server) and failing. The exact error values are hard for a beginner to track down -- they are buried in a set of header files, all called errno.h, in various locations within /usr/include/ -- but error 2 is #define ENOENT 2 /* No such file or directory */ Without more context, it is hard to know what this error means in your case. It may simply mean that the application /etc/X11/X (this is the actual X server) is missing from your system. That's trivially easy to check; just do "ls /etc/X11/X" to see if it is there. But I do not actually *know* that the error values that xinit is reporting are the standard errno numbers. So at this point, I'd look for an error in whatever file xf86config creates (perhaps /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 -- the exact path varies by distro, and the filename itself differs between X11 3.x.x and 4.x.x). I'd particularly inspect those "two suggested options" you added "manually" for errors. As to your more general question (about info on commands), the first answer is to refer you to the FAQ listed at the end of list messages. Depending on what Mandrake has decided to install, you may have the man (online manual) system (start with "man man"), the info system ("info"), and/or a set of HowTos (look around; try in /usr/share/doc). Of these, the man system is closest to DOS's "help" system in style -- it is both a bit more cumbersome to read but also more helpful substantively (from my experience, at least ... it's been a long time since I used DOS, though). Also, many commands will tell you something about themselves if you type the command name followed by either "-h" or "--help". I'm sorry this is not a more direct answer, but I hope it give you some help nonetheless. At 02:33 PM 9/13/02 -0700, Bill Pleasants wrote: >Thanks for your kind welcome, Ray. As for my specific question, >I have not used Linux before. I erased Windows and did an automatic >installation of Mandrake 7.2 on a Packard Bell A950-TWR with a P.B. >monitor 1512SL . The X part failed and the computer boots to the >command prompt. I tried the kde, gnome and startx commands without >success. I followed the steps in mandrakeuser.org/docs/xwin/xtroub.html >through running xf86config and manually adding two suggested options. > >After entering "startx" I get > "execve failed for /etc/X11/X (error 2) > giving up > xinit: Connection refused (error 111) unable to connect to X server > xinit: No such process (error 3): Server error." > > > Processor type: Intel pentium Processor speed: 129.6 > RAM: 16 > HD type: ide HD capacity: 1.22 > CD-ROM type: ide (judging by cable) > Graphic processor: Cirrus CL-GD5430/40 Video RAM: 1.024 > Sound card: (with modem) > >Additional info that may be redundant: > The video processor is on the main board. There > is a chip labeled CIRRUS > LOGIC CL-GD5430-QC-D. This is connected to > a chip labeled VLSI 9531 D43851. > > The lspcidrake command gave: > VLSI: 82C594-AFC2 (unknown ignore) > VLSI 82C59617 [WILDCAT] (unknown ignore) > CIRRUS LOGIC | GD 5430/40 [ALPINE] > (DISPLAY_VGA CARD | CIRRUS LOGIC GD543X) > CMD TECHNOLOGY INC. | PCI0640 > (STORAGE_IDE unknown) > > SuperProbe gave: > SUPER-VGA > CHIPS: CIRRUS CL-GD5430/40 (PCI PROBED) > 1,024 KB > RAMDAC: CIRRUS LOGIC BUILT IN > 15/16/24-BIT DAC > 6 BIT LOOKUP TABLES > >I have spent at least 30 hours searching for interpretations of the >error messages. If this is available, I would appreciate knowing >where. I have seen other errors in various logs. Also if there is a >list of utilities on the machine and what they do like "help" on MS DOS, >I would appreciate learning about it. -- -------------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"-------- Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo Palo Alto, California, USA ray@comarre.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-newbie" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.linux-learn.org/faqs