XFree86 error

Forum: X and Fluxbox
Topic: XFree86 error
started by: 16shells

Posted by 16shells on April 30 2005,15:18

Sorry if this has been answered somewhere but I've been unable to find it here. I'm fairly new to linux but after four other distros this is the best I've found for my PII 350. I've been using DSL for the last month (and have loved it!) or so and finaly decided to try to get my old nvidia card configured with XFree86. I've followed all the documentation here and on the myDSL download but am getting the below error when I attempt to start x:

Code Sample

(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/XF86Config"
Data incomplete in file /etc/X11/XF86Config
Undefined Device "nvidia" referenced by Screen "Screen0".
(EE) Problem parsing the config file
(EE) Error from xf86HandleConfigFile()

Fatal server error:
no screens found

my .xserverrc contains:
exec /usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86 -nolisten tcp

This is my XF86Config file:

Code Sample

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "VESA device"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Mouse[2]" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
AllowMouseOpenFail
EndSection

Section "Files"
#FontPath "unix/:7100" # local font server
# if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
#FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/CID"
#FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo"
#FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
# Load "fbdevhw"
# Load "dri"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# Option "AutoRepeat" "500 5"
# when using XQUEUE, comment out the above line, and uncomment the
# following line
# Option "Protocol" "Xqueue"
# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
# Option "Xleds" "1 2 3"
# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.
# Option "XkbDisable"
# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
# Option "XkbModel" "pc102"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
# Option "XkbModel" "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
# Option "XkbLayout" "de"
# or:
# Option "XkbLayout" "de"
# Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
# Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps"
#Option "XkbOptions" ""
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us" #Option "XkbVariant" ""
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse[1]"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "imPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse[2]"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocal" "PS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "vesa"
driver "vesa"
VendorName "x"
BoardName "y"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "x"
ModelName "y"
# HorizSync 31.5 - 48.5
# VertRefresh 50.0 - 70.0
# Option "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "nvidia"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Sorry for all the code but I thought touch much info would be better than not enough.

Thanks.

Posted by SaidinUnleashed on April 30 2005,17:40

Change the device name in the Screen section from nvidia to whatever you have named your device, just like the error message said.

It looks like you named it vesa.

-J.P.

Posted by mikshaw on April 30 2005,21:07

If you don't have the proprietary nvidia driver installed, you can't use "nvidia" for device name. Try "nv", or install nvidia.dsl

Posted by 16shells on April 30 2005,21:38

I'm confused, I've already installed nvidia.dsl and according to the intructions provided in the myDSL download I was suposed to change "nv" to "nvidia", replace my ".xserverrc" with the one provided, and copy the "XF86Config-4" to /etc/X11.

Under which section do I name my device?

Posted by adraker on May 01 2005,10:00

16shells,
In the Section "Device",
the Identifier line should be something -like- "Device 0".
The next line, driver, should be "nvidia". Or "nv" if nvidia.dsl not present.
Then, down in Section "Screen", Device should be "Device 0".

Hope this works for you....

Posted by RoGuE_StreaK on May 01 2005,11:29

See, you've got Section "Device" as "vesa", but your Section "Screen" points to the device "nvidia", which you haven't defined:

Section "Device"
Identifier "vesa"
driver "vesa"...

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "nvidia"...

If you have nvidia.dsl installed, change the "Identifier" and "driver" in "Device" to "nvidia".

Not that I really know anything about the config files, but looks likely that that's the problem.

PS. Looking through some configs, looks like the device identifier doesn't have to be anything specific, as long as you reference it in Screen by the same name. It's "driver" that's the main bit.
So you could make an identifier of, say, "main desktop", with driver "nvidia", then reference it in Screen by calling device "main desktop".

I still have no idea how it sets the resolution and refresh-rate, though...

Posted by 16shells on May 01 2005,12:08

Thanks! With that info and a bit more tweeking I was able to get it to work. The only thing is when I restart the icons disapear and the dock only has a pager. But I can put those back.

Thank you everyone for your help.