# 8.2 RC1, cannot launch GDM



## paulfxh (Jan 15, 2011)

OK, following the advice I got yesterday, I installed FreeBSD (i386) 8.2 RC1 from CD to a 100 GB partition on a Dell E520 desktop.
The install went fine and note that I did NOT install the ports from the CD.
After booting to the tty, I installed the ports to an empty /usr/ports/ with

```
#portsnap fetch
#portsnap extract
```
Then I proceeded to install Gnome from /usr/ports/x11/gnome2.
This went on for many hours but finally came to an end.
However, it seems to have stopped because of an error as I get 

```
Script "Configure" failed unexpectedly.
```
The output then suggests grabbing a config.log file which is not present in my system.
It then outputs some stop codes such as 

```
Stop in /usr/ports/sysutils/lsof.
*** Error code 1
```
Undaunted, I modified the /etc/rc.conf file to include

```
gdm_enable="YES"
dbus_enable="YES"
hald_enable="YES"
```
after which I booted.
However, it doesn't get past the login prompt on the tty. 
Clearly an attempt (at least) has been made to start Gnome as "Starting gdm" is output just before the login prompt.
When I login as root and type gdm, nothing happens other than an output stating

```
** (gdm-binary:1099): WARNING **: Failed to acquire org.gnome.DisplayManager
** (gdm-binary:1099): WARNING **: Could not acquire name; bailing out
```
Note that all of my ports are fully up-to-date as the command

```
pkg_version -vL "="
```
gives no output.
My first thoughts are that this is some kind of bug in the RC1 and I'm considering reinstalling 8.1.
I would welcome comments.
Thank you


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## wblock@ (Jan 15, 2011)

paulfxh said:
			
		

> OK, following the advice I got yesterday, I installed FreeBSD (i386) 8.2 RC1 from CD to a 100 GB partition on a Dell E520 desktop.
> The install went fine and note that I did NOT install the ports from the CD.
> After booting to the tty, I installed the ports to an empty /usr/ports/ with
> 
> ...



More detail on this may have shown the actual problem.  Did it fail building lsof?  Or on one of the ports before that?  Did you make any modifications to /etc/make.conf?



> Undaunted, I modified the /etc/rc.conf file to include
> 
> ```
> gdm_enable="YES"
> ...



If failed during a build, so expecting it to work may be a tad premature.  Oh, and you need

```
gnome_enable="YES"
```



> My first thoughts are that this is some kind of bug in the RC1 and I'm considering reinstalling 8.1.



Remember that FreeBSD (and most Unix systems) distinguish between the operating system and applications.  The error is with an application, not the operating system, so reinstalling the operating system is unlikely to fix the problem.


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## paulfxh (Jan 15, 2011)

wblock said:
			
		

> More detail on this may have shown the actual problem.  Did it fail building lsof?  Or on one of the ports before that?  Did you make any modifications to /etc/make.conf?


Thank you for the quick reply.
No, I did not modify /etc/make.conf.
Because there is no scroll function in the tty, I was unable to scroll backwards to see what was above the error message I posted.
However, following your insightful observation, I cd'ed to /usr/port/sysutils/lsof/ and issued a "make install clean" command.
This immediately errored out with the following message:

```
===>  Configuring for lsof-4.84A,5
!!!WARNING!!!   No kernel sources in /usr/src/sys or /sys
Creating ./lockf_owner.h from /kern/kern_lockf.c
FATAL ERROR: can't read /kern/kern_lockf.c
FATAL ERROR: ./lockf_owner.h creation failed (see 00FAQ)
===>  Script "Configure" failed unexpectedly.
```

I believe this is what was above the Script "Configure" error message that I posted.
Hmmm, no kernel sources? Sounds very serious, but how did that happen?


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## wblock@ (Jan 15, 2011)

paulfxh said:
			
		

> Thank you for the quick reply.
> No, I did not modify /etc/make.conf.
> Because there is no scroll function in the tty, I was unable to scroll backwards to see what was above the error message I posted.



Press Scroll Lock and the arrow keys and Page Up/Page Down work.  It's a limited buffer size, but often useful.  Console output can also be captured with script(1).



> However, following your insightful observation, I cd'ed to /usr/port/sysutils/lsof/ and issued a "make install clean" command.
> This immediately errored out with the following message:
> 
> ```
> ...



Kernel sources are one of the "distributions" options during sysinstall.  Some ports need them for kernel-specific things.  I'm hesitant to recommend reusing sysinstall for that, but don't know exactly where and in what format the source is kept on an install CD, or what tag to use to csup it, so...

UNTESTED: As root, run sysinstall.  Load your install CD.  (You may have to select Configure, Media, CD/DVD here.)  Select Configure, Distributions, src, All, and OK.  Then exit sysinstall.

After that, go back to whichever GNOME port you were installing and do a
`# make install clean`
again to get all of the ports that didn't get installed on the first try.


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## paulfxh (Jan 15, 2011)

wblock said:
			
		

> UNTESTED: As root, run sysinstall.  Load your install CD.  (You may have to select Configure, Media, CD/DVD here.)  Select Configure, Distributions, src, All, and OK.  Then exit sysinstall.
> 
> After that, go back to whichever GNOME port you were installing and do a
> `# make install clean`
> again to get all of the ports that didn't get installed on the first try.


Thank you once again for your reply and tips.
Yes, the installation of src using the above procedure seems to have gone just fine.
It's been compiling from /usr/ports/x11/gnome2 for the last hour and is still in progress with no signs of slowing down. Possibly could be in for another all-nighter.
Incidentally, is it possible to "pre-select" the default options in the option tables that appear every now and again during the compilation? If I leave the computer unattended for 6-7 hours while I'm asleep, it may stop after a short time and await my input at one of these tables. As I almost invariably choose the default options, this would avoid having an unproductive night-shift.


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## wblock@ (Jan 16, 2011)

Yes, you can pre-answer the config screens with the config-recursive target:
`# cd /usr/ports/x11/gnome2`
`# make config-recursive`

Most of the ports options are shown in ports(7).


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## paulfxh (Jan 16, 2011)

wblock said:
			
		

> Yes, you can pre-answer the config screens with the config-recursive target:
> `# cd /usr/ports/x11/gnome2`
> `# make config-recursive`
> 
> Most of the ports options are shown in ports(7).


Thanks again.
Yes, took a long time, but everything is working as normal once again.
Well, sort of...........
When I first booted to the GUI, I selected my user and was brought to the Gnome desktop.
I made only a few small changes like changing the wallpaper and installing a browser.
Then I shutdown.
When I booted this morning, everything went fine until I got to the GUI login screen.
Yes, bright green screen but NO usernames on the box. Just the hostname and the OS version number.
On another computer (Mac) google found only a very few references to a similar problem, this and this.
The first says this problem may be caused by outdated ports and packages. Well, not in my case as checks I did in Mode 4 show both to be up to date.
The second link advises to mount proc. In my case proc is not mounted but I had seen the usernames many times before on the greeter screen without proc being mounted, so it's unlikely to be that.
Anyway, I booted a few more times and on the second attempt, my user shows up and I can get to the GUI desktop without any problems.
This is weird.
If it's anything other than a very minor problem, I'll start a new thread.


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## wblock@ (Jan 16, 2011)

It's /proc not being mounted.  Probably the #1 problem with GNOME reported here.

See #30 in FreeBSD GNOME Project: GNOME 2.32 FAQ.


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## paulfxh (Jan 17, 2011)

wblock said:
			
		

> It's /proc not being mounted.


Thanks once again.
Yes, that did the trick.

However, I'm in the process of reinstalling FreeBSD 8.1 as I have found several broken features of 8.2 RC2 including loss of network connection, no shutdown button anywhere (even "s*hutdown -h now*" just halts but doesn't shutdown), the Find applet in the Gnome panel doesn't search in subfolders and Gedit won't open when launched from a terminal as root (EggSM-client Warning. Failed to connect to session manager).

Of course, many, if not all, of these problems may have been due to my ineptitude during the install as I'm very much on a steep part of the learning curve.


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## wblock@ (Jan 17, 2011)

paulfxh said:
			
		

> Thanks once again.
> Yes, that did the trick.
> 
> However, I'm in the process of reinstalling FreeBSD 8.1 as I have found several broken features of 8.2 RC2



You had a working operating system with a complete install of the most up-to-date ports.  Now that's gone, and you're starting over from scratch with an older version of the operating system in order to fix problems that are almost certainly configuration errors.  It's like tearing down a house because it's green instead of blue, and blue paint is free.



> including loss of network connection,



Probably fixable by SYNCDHCP.  Maybe something else.  You'll probably find the same thing with 8.1.



> no shutdown button anywhere (even "shutdown -h now" just halts but doesn't shutdown),



Just like it's done for the last several years.  -p is the option to poweroff.  The man page (shutdown(8)) tells all about it.



> the Find applet in the Gnome panel doesn't search in subfolders and Gedit won't open when launched from a terminal as root (EggSM-client Warning. Failed to connect to session manager).



No idea on those, but of course it's Gnome, not FreeBSD.



> Of course, many, if not all, of these problems may have been due to my ineptitude during the install as I'm very much on a steep part of the learning curve.



You'll have to go through all the same things you already did for 8.2, so at least you'll get a chance to memorize them.


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## paulfxh (Jan 17, 2011)

wblock said:
			
		

> You had a working operating system with a complete install of the most up-to-date ports.  Now that's gone, and you're starting over from scratch with an older version of the operating system in order to fix problems that are almost certainly configuration errors.  It's like tearing down a house because it's green instead of blue, and blue paint is free.


Well, yes, but my intention was simply to do a little sandboxing in 8.1 and continue learning before going back to 8.2 when the release build comes out in a week or so.


> Probably fixable by SYNCDHCP.  Maybe something else.  You'll probably find the same thing with 8.1.


Right again -- exactly the same problem in 8.1 which I was able to fix with SYNCDHCP in /etc/rc.conf.
However, I had tried in 8.2 to use a static IP (and later in 8.1) which seems to have been the source of the problem as when I changed to DHCP the problem went.
But that's weird that I can't choose to use a static IP address.



> Just like it's done for the last several years.  -p is the option to poweroff.  The man page (shutdown(8)) tells all about it.


Yes, you are correct. But, the main problem here is that the Logout in either the Gnome panel or under System also in panel brings you to the greeter screen where you can login as a different user OR reboot or shutdown. But, these do not work for me in either 8.1 or 8.2



> No idea on those, but of course it's Gnome, not FreeBSD.


The Find applet works perfectly in 8.1 but almost not at all in 8.2. However, still can't launch Gedit as root in 8.1



> You'll have to go through all the same things you already did for 8.2, so at least you'll get a chance to memorize them.


I really don't mind going through the same old things as my experience in this OS is very limited.
I find FreeBSD to be a lot less "forgiving" than Ubuntu or OS X with which I have a lot more familiarity so it seems you need to be pretty sure of what you're doing before embarking on anything major.
Thanks a lot for your help and advice which has been very encouraging.


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## wblock@ (Jan 18, 2011)

paulfxh said:
			
		

> However, I had tried in 8.2 to use a static IP (and later in 8.1) which seems to have been the source of the problem as when I changed to DHCP the problem went.
> But that's weird that I can't choose to use a static IP address.



Possibly lacking a defaultrouter entry in /etc/rc.conf.



> Yes, you are correct. But, the main problem here is that the Logout in either the Gnome panel or under System also in panel brings you to the greeter screen where you can login as a different user OR reboot or shutdown. But, these do not work for me in either 8.1 or 8.2



PolicyKit.conf, but just guessing.



> I find FreeBSD to be a lot less "forgiving" than Ubuntu or OS X with which I have a lot more familiarity so it seems you need to be pretty sure of what you're doing before embarking on anything major.



Ubuntu and OS-X are an operating system plus a huge mass of added applications and configuration already completed.

FreeBSD is just an operating system.  You can add and configure major applications like X and GNOME, but doing so is naturally more work than using one of the systems where that's already all been done for you.  If you're looking for that sort of pre-rolled "desktop" system, PC-BSD may appeal; it's FreeBSD with KDE.

Otherwise, stick with FreeBSD and adding applications, but having that control and power is more complicated than using something preassembled.


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