# startx does not work



## rajasekhar (Jan 22, 2010)

Hi All,

I have installed BSD 8.0.
But it is doesn't show any windows mode. It is in Command Line mode only. Even the startx command doesn't work.

Any solution please

Thanks,
RajaSekhar


----------



## SirDice (Jan 22, 2010)

Start reading the handbook

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/ports.html
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/x11.html


----------



## Daisuke_Aramaki (Jan 22, 2010)

If you don't read the handbook first as SirDice has said, you can get no further. Please do the necessary reading before opening new threads.


----------



## oYo (Jan 24, 2010)

Daisuke_Aramaki said:
			
		

> If you don't read the handbook first as SirDice has said, you can get no further. Please do the necessary reading before opening new threads.



I have the same probleme ,and i have to say that i have read all the docu ,but sometimes you couldn't find a solution without help ,or more explaination about what the handbook says ,the handbook talks about freebsd not about all x config problems


----------



## mfaridi (Jan 24, 2010)

please put error log here , or what you see when you type startx


----------



## kpedersen (Jan 24, 2010)

mfaridi, it is pretty obvious he has not installed the Xorg package yet.

As he works through the handbook he will solve this problem.

After all, there are some things that need to be done before even thinking about getting the xserver up and running!


----------



## oYo (Jan 25, 2010)

kpedersen said:
			
		

> mfaridi, it is pretty obvious he has not installed the Xorg package yet.
> 
> As he works through the handbook he will solve this problem.
> 
> After all, there are some things that need to be done before even thinking about getting the xserver up and running!



He is saying that startx did not work with him,he did not say any details about how he installed FreeBSD8.0,and reading the handbook is the first thing that should be done before installing ,but what makes you know that he did not read the hand book ?
anyway,rajasekhar put the error message or what you see in the screen and more details .


----------



## kpedersen (Jan 25, 2010)

oYo said:
			
		

> but what makes you know that he did not read the hand book ?



Irrelevant... read the handbook
(Wow, they are right, it does feel good! haha)

Handbook and I both agree... Install the xorg package... and startx command will magically start to work (*)  

Either I can tell him, or handbook can... Handbook can generally tell you answers to the *simple* problems a lot quicker than I can lol

mmmmm... handbook...

* (rehash may be required)

---

On a more off-topic note, the handbook does seem to be a bit out of date regarding the wireless wlan0 alias that is required since 8.0.
Does anyone know how / when a new revision comes out?


----------



## oYo (Jan 25, 2010)

kpedersen said:
			
		

> Irrelevant... read the handbook
> (Wow, they are right, it does feel good! haha)
> 
> Handbook and I both agree... Install the xorg package... and startx command will magically start to work (*)
> ...



Yes..ok ok ...
i think that an option should be added before downloading FreeBSD,
<do you agree to read the handbook before installing freebsd-choose yes : and will read it before installing it ,if you choose no you will quit the download >

maybe he installed the package we dont know ...
and  rehash is required yes.


----------



## rhyous (Feb 9, 2010)

While you are all probably right, they probably need to install Xorg, I want to mention that when I installed KDE4 with sysinstall, Xorg was not installed as a dependency.

I have read the manual many time and this caught me about a month ago when I was writing my walk-thru for Xorg and KDE4.  

Of course, because of experience, I also knew immediately that Xorg was not installed.


----------



## oYo (Feb 9, 2010)

rhyous said:
			
		

> While you are all probably right, they probably need to install Xorg, I want to mention that when I installed KDE4 with sysinstall, Xorg was not installed as a dependency.
> 
> I have read the manual many time and this caught me about a month ago when I was writing my walk-thru for Xorg and KDE4.
> 
> Of course, because of experience, I also knew immediately that Xorg was not installed.


I have to say that your site >http://Rhyous.comis a reference ,i used it to run Freebsd on vbox,
is there a diference between installing x (or any other program) as a dependency and installing it normaly from the sysinstall ?


----------



## SirDice (Feb 9, 2010)

oYo said:
			
		

> is there a diference between installing x (or any other program) as a dependency and installing it normaly from the sysinstall ?



There is a difference in dependecies. Most applications depend on one or more Xorg libraries and not on the entire Xorg install. You therefor need to install a 'complete' Xorg to make it work.

My 'normal' way of doing things:

1) install base OS
2) configure base os
3) install Xorg
4) configure Xorg
5) install/configure everything else.


----------



## oYo (Feb 9, 2010)

SirDice said:
			
		

> There is a difference in dependecies. Most applications depend on one or more Xorg libraries and not on the entire Xorg install. You therefor need to install a 'complete' Xorg to make it work.
> 
> My 'normal' way of doing things:
> 
> ...


yes,i anderstand that...
you put configuring the network under the 5th step i suppose?


----------



## SirDice (Feb 9, 2010)

oYo said:
			
		

> you put configuring the network under the 5th step i suppose?


Basic networking is part of the base OS 

Configuring the base OS involves setting up everything that I need and is included in the base. Of course for servers I skip installing Xorg altogether :e


----------



## FBSDin20Steps (Feb 9, 2010)

Where is rajasekhar?


----------



## sixtydoses (Feb 10, 2010)

Reading the handbook, perhaps?


----------



## rhyous (Feb 10, 2010)

There is no difference in a package whether it is installed as a Dependency or not really.

In Sysinstall when you select an item, it marks it to be installed with and X and auto-magically marks the dependencies to be installed with a D.  The only difference is visual.  The ones with an X you selected, and the ones with a D were auto-magically selected for you.

As far as I know, KDE4 won't run without Xorg, so I expected Xorg to be selected with a D when I selected KDE4; however, this was not the case.

This is no big deal, I just launched Sysinstall again and selected Xorg.

Oh, and it is possible that rajasekhar didn't like the RTM response, even though I think that SirDice did it better than most.  Some just say RTM.  But SirDice took the time to not just say RTM, but also to link to the appropriate sections of the Handbook. 

I have seen that there are two types of documentation. 
1. Step-by-step walk-thrus: These usually show the minimal required steps to accomplish a task and maybe a few optional steps as well.  However, walk-thrus are poor at providing the technical information on why something should be done.
2. Technical data documentation that discusses the possibilities.  It is excellent resource documentation. But poor at listing required steps.

The first type is newbie friendly and will get a newbie to a workable point, which builds their confidence.  However, it will only get a user so far but it will get them to a working level.

The second documentation type, technical data, is required to further your understanding of why you did the steps in the walk-thru and to determine if there were other options you could have chosen and to take the product to new levels.

If anybody has experience as a Technical Trainer, or even just receiving professional training on a software/hardware product, you will notice that their are usually two sets of books, a Training Manual and a lab guide.  Though sometimes the lab guides are just walk-thur sections at the end of a manual.  The training manual is the technical data, the lab guide contains walk-thrus. This is not by accident.  Most people learn better by doing than by reading.

I think the handbook is excellent documentation.  While there is both types of the above documentation in the Handbook, it is more heavy on the technical data and it doesn't come close to have near enough "Walk-thru" type docs.  That is why I started posting my walk-thrus on my blog, and why there is also walk-thru sites like http://www.bsdguides.org.

A "walk-thru" is probably what rajasekhar needed, especially given that he has 3 posts (which doesn't mean he is a newbie but makes it likely). 

We may have lost a potential user because we weren't "friendly" enough to him.

Did I really just ramble in text for this long...I got kinda soap-boxy...sorry.


----------



## oYo (Feb 11, 2010)

thanks rhyous for this useful post,i agree with you...and i would add http://Rhyous.com as a walk thru site


----------



## cniggeler (Apr 11, 2010)

I thank SirDice for adding the actual pointers to the documentation - well beyond just RTFM  

I have to support/ help maintain software that runs on multiple platforms, including all Windows back to 98, 32/64 bit Linices, and multiple Unices.  This weekend I've installed three Linux updates on a multi-boot system and as we are considering porting to BSD, I added FreeBSD to the fourth partition.  As I imagine rajasekhar was, I too was quite surprised when I started FreeBSD and ended up at... the console prompt!

To expand on rhyous' comments just a little:

1. Every multi-GB ISO installation I've encountered includes a GUI component; they are hardly esoteric in this the second decade of the third millennium. So expecting the user to read a manual just to *start* the GUI makes NO sense.  Of course, BNL (Bsd's Not Linux, or Windows, or Unix), so maybe my expectations were wrong here?

2. Why did the installer bother to ask me whether I wanted KDE or Gnome and NOT install the necessary/vital component under it?  Would you recommend I submit that as a suggestion to the FreeBSD maintainers, or perhaps rhyous has already done so?

- Chris


----------



## embien (May 16, 2010)

cniggeler said:
			
		

> I thank SirDice for adding the actual pointers to the documentation - well beyond just RTFM
> 
> To expand on rhyous' comments just a little:
> 
> ...



Reading a man page is just the starting point and is not the same as understanding it.  :i If I were starting out I'd be looking at a begginers text. Many thanks to all those who have written helpful web pages for neophytes. It's more common than before to find good explanatory texts on this subject e.g. 





> The Best of FreeBSD Basics, and The Definitive Guide to PC-BSD


by Lavigne.  :h


----------



## embien (May 16, 2010)

rhyous said:
			
		

> There is no difference in a package whether it is installed as a Dependency or not really.
> That is why I started posting my walk-thrus on my blog, and why there is also walk-thru sites like http://www.bsdguides.org.
> 
> A "walk-thru" is probably what rajasekhar needed, especially given that he has 3 posts (which doesn't mean he is a newbie but makes it likely).
> ...



The bsdguides just helped me a lot. Many thanks for that link.


----------

