# Can't Do A Fresh OS Install On Server With mfsBSD (PEBKAC)



## RobinHood (Apr 30, 2014)

I'm actually already running FreeBSD on my server.  But I've been having an absolute bitch of a time getting KDE installed so that I can use a VNC on the server.

With all the errors I have been getting when I try to install KDE or the KDE dependencies, it occurred to me that a fresh install of the OS might be for the best.

I am only running FreeBSD 10 right now because that is what the server came with (so I would be more than happy to use FreeBSD 9 or something if that is what you all recommend.

I grabbed the FreeBSD 10 installation iso from the people who develop mfsBSD (which, from my understanding, is what I need to use for this clean install on a remote server).  However, the documentation uses a (deprecated?) program to mount the iso.  Even if the package weren't deprecated, the language in the mount manpages confused me.

I know I need to learn all this!  But, at the moment, I REALLY need to get a working VNC on this server.

Does anyone know of (or can anyone provide) a very basic step-by-step guide to doing a fresh OS install on my server?

The documentation for mfsBD also talked about configuring before making the iso (but I downloaded a pre-made iso from them).  I have to say, I didn't understand whether or not I needed to worry about those things or if it would just install the OS with SSH access and the root password would be mfsroot?

Thanks a million for any help you can give!


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## SirDice (Apr 30, 2014)

*Re: Can't Do A Fresh OS Install On Server With mfsBSD (PEBKA*



			
				RobinHood said:
			
		

> I know I need to learn all this!  But, at the moment, I REALLY need to get a working VNC on this server.


There's absolutely no need for KDE to get this working. Just install net/tigervnc or net/tightvnc.


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## wblock@ (Apr 30, 2014)

*Re: Can't Do A Fresh OS Install On Server With mfsBSD (PEBKA*

Or this could be an X/Y problem, possibly solvable with ssh(1).


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## RobinHood (May 1, 2014)

*Re: Can't Do A Fresh OS Install On Server With mfsBSD (PEBKA*



			
				SirDice said:
			
		

> RobinHood said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


When I...
Install net/tigervnc
Start tigervnc with the following command:

```
vncserver -geometry 1920x1200 :0
```
Then connect to it I get a huge grey screen with a small terminal in it.

I need to be able to use some sort of GUI to use some of the programs I'm looking to run on my server.  My reading hasn't indicated tigervnc will provide a full GUI for the OS...right?


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## SirDice (May 2, 2014)

*Re: Can't Do A Fresh OS Install On Server With mfsBSD (PEBKA*



			
				RobinHood said:
			
		

> Then connect to it I get a huge grey screen with a small terminal in it.


You need to modify ~/.vnc/startup.


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## RobinHood (May 3, 2014)

*Re: Can't Do A Fresh OS Install On Server With mfsBSD (PEBKA*

I modified the /root/.vnc/xstartup file to:

```
#!/bin/sh

[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
twm &
```

Now when I start the server with:

```
vncserver -geometry 1920x1200 :0
```

I get something that looks like this:






Oh, and when I type `startx` into the command line I get:

```
X.Org X Server 1.7.7
Release Date: 2010-05-04
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: FreeBSD 9.1-RELEASE-p11 amd64 
Current Operating System: FreeBSD IP_ADDRESS 10.0-RELEASE FreeBSD 10.0-RELEASE #0 r260789: Thu Jan 16 22:34:59 UTC 2014     root@snap.freebsd.org:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC amd64
Build Date: 11 April 2014  05:38:20AM
 
Current version of pixman: 0.32.4
        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
        to make sure that you have the latest version.
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.1.log", Time: Sat May  3 15:23:06 2014
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
failed to set mtrr: Invalid argument
xinit: connection to X server lost

waiting for X server to shut down failed to unset mtrr: No such file or directory
```


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