# Can't get KDE to work.



## gonzo (Sep 15, 2009)

With a bare .xinitrc, X will come up with the three xterms and the mouse works and everything, but I can't exit back to console.  I have to reboot the computer. shutdown -r now

With "exec startkde" in .xinitrc, it just loads to black screen and does nothing.  I have to reboot the computer. CTL-ALT-DEL

I've been reading the Handbook over and over and over on configuring X to run.  

I put:

```
hald_enable="YES"
dbus_enable="YES"
```
in /etc/rc.conf  (which did make the mouse/keyboard work in X)

I did, Xorg -configure, and copied xorg.conf.new to /etc/X11/xorg.conf

The Handbook says you need to know the monitor horizontal and vertical scan rates.  I have a laptop and Toshiba won't tell me what they are.  I even called them.  How do I find this out?

I know the generic VESA config worked under Linux:

```
Section "Monitor"
Identifier  "My Monitor"
HorizSync   31.5 - 50.0
VertRefresh 40-90
```
So I tried using those rates, but it didn't work.

My current xorg.conf in Linux doesn't give me any clues as I know have the ATI driver installed:

(This is my xorg.conf monitor entry in Linux, nothing helpful)

```
Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
Device     "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Monitor    "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
DefaultDepth     24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport   0 0
Depth     24
EndSubSection
```
I don't get what I'm missing.

How do I get the H/V rates for my laptop's LCD screen?  I've looked in the laptop manual, online specs, etc, and couldn't find them.  I even called Toshiba and they couldn't tell me.

I know the "screen refresh rate" is 60Hz.  Is that horizontal, vertical, or something totally different?  How do I get the other one?  What are the "usual" rates for laptop screens?

Thanks.


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## DutchDaemon (Sep 15, 2009)

Post in the correct forum, please. KDE is not part of the base system, it has its own forum, called (wait for it ...) 'KDE'. However, your question is not about KDE at all, it's about X ... so moved to the X.Org forum for now.


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## fronclynne (Sep 15, 2009)

*I almost wish . . . no, never you mind about that.*


My toshiba lap-top does not have, nor require, sync lines in /etc/X11/xorg.conf
I don't know mung-bean sprouts about KDE, except to say that it is either better or worse than gnome and for the same reasons.


```
Section "Monitor"            
        DisplaySize       332   207     # mm
        Identifier   "Monitor0"
        VendorName   "LPL"   
        ModelName    "LP154WX4-TLC8"
EndSection                   

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Card0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
  DefaultDepth 24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     1
            Modes "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     4
            Modes "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     8
            Modes "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     15
            Modes "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     16
            Modes "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     24
            Modes "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
EndSection
```
NB this is not my whole xorg.conf(5), I just choose to leave out the bits with commented cusses and other stuff that will get me yelled at.


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## gonzo (Sep 15, 2009)

Thanks, I was able to get it Gnome to work by just running gdm.  It seemed to automagically figure out all the rates because it came up in the right resolution.

Doesn't look like I'll be able to use FreeBSD though because none of my network hardware works with it.  Didn't expect the wireless to work, but hoped the ethernet would.  Pretty much dead in the water without any network.


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## tangram (Sep 15, 2009)

gonzo said:
			
		

> Doesn't look like I'll be able to use FreeBSD though because none of my network hardware works with it.  Didn't expect the wireless to work, but hoped the ethernet would.  Pretty much dead in the water without any network.



It would help if you mentioned the hardware that you have or attach a dmesg.


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## gonzo (Sep 15, 2009)

I cant post the dmesg because I have no network in FreeBSD.

The ethernet is: Atheros AR8131 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
(its built into the laptop)

The wireless is: Intel Wifi Link 5100 AGN
(no FreeBSD drivers exist for it yet)

Thanks.


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## tangram (Sep 15, 2009)

Atheros AR8131 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller support was added at 09/06/2009 by Pyun YongHyeon to HEAD (revision 193880) in FreeBSD Current. So try downloading the BETA ISO and install it. 

Here: http://www.mail-archive.com/svn-src-all@freebsd.org/msg10331.html


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## gonzo (Sep 15, 2009)

I just rebooted and looked and it says (from memory)


```
PCI7: (network, ethernet) device at 0.0 (no drivers attached)
```

How do I download and install a driver if I can't network to begin with?

If I put it on USB drive, will FreeBSD automatically detect the drive in Gnome?  What file format?  Will NTFS work on USB drive?

Don't know what to do with that link, anyway.
http://www.mail-archive.com/svn-src-all@freebsd.org/msg10331.html

All I see is just man pages, there isn't an actual driver to download there.

Thanks.


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## tangram (Sep 15, 2009)

I'm suggesting that you download FreeBSD 8.0 BETA4 and install it.


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## gonzo (Sep 15, 2009)

Ah ok. (Duh!) Gotcha.  Wasn't too far into FreeBSD, anyway.

Downloading 8.0-BETA4-amd64-dvd1-iso.gz now...

Thanks...

If I can just get the networking and video working properly, I'll be happy as will be able to get Firefox talking and be able to google and read.  Gnome is coming up in right resolution with /usr/local/bin/gnome-session in .xinitrc, but once I start X I can't exit back to console.  (It goes to black screen and console doesn't reappear.)  Had the same deal in Linux until I got the ATI drivers installed.


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## tangram (Sep 15, 2009)

gonzo said:
			
		

> Gnome is coming up in right resolution with /usr/local/bin/gnome-session in .xinitrc, but once I start X I can't exit back to console.  (It goes to black screen and console doesn't reappear.)  Had the same deal in Linux until I got the ATI drivers installed.



Do you mean that CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE doesn't kill X? This happens because recent versions of X come with that option disabled.

Make sure you add the "DontZap" option to your "ServerFlags" section:

```
Section "ServerFlags"
        Option          "DontZap"               "false"
EndSection
```

Also you can press CTRL+ALT+F1 to change from X to the first console.


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## phoenix (Sep 15, 2009)

Since you have KDE installed, and X works via GDM (the GNOME Display Manager), then you can just enable KDM (the KDE Display Manager) and things should work.  Edit */etc/ttys* and change the *ttyv8* line to look like:
*for KDE3*
ttyv8  "/usr/local/bin/kdm -nodaemon"  xterm   on  secure
*for KDE4*
ttyv8  "/usr/local/kde4/bin/kdm -nodaemon"     xterm   off     secure

On the next boot, it should come up with a nice KDE login screen.


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## gonzo (Sep 15, 2009)

CTL-ALT-DEL wouldn't kill X, but would reboot FreeBSD.

CTL-ALT-F1(-F8) didn't do anything.  ALT-F1(-F8) didn't do anything either.  It just stayed "locked" in a black graphical screen.

I just burned 8.0 Beta and setup free space for a partition for it... Getting ready to install... Really hope network will work...  I think if network will work it will be much smoother sailing since will be able to google from within FreeBSD...


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## gonzo (Sep 16, 2009)

Thanks!  Got 8.0 Beta installed and up and running.  Pretty confident network is going to work as the ethernet adapter is being recognized.  X is fully working and looks great.  Everything looks a lot sharper in FreeBSD than in any other OS I've used on on this computer before. I.e., the fonts are absolutely razor perfect!  I'm completely awestruck at how quickly everything works and how "clean" FreeBSD is compared to Linux.


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## tangram (Sep 16, 2009)

gonzo said:
			
		

> CTL-ALT-DEL wouldn't kill X, but would reboot FreeBSD.



It's CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE. In my previous post I typed in DEL instead of BACKSPACE.


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