Getting started with Debian - help with Xwindows
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From: Jim Backus on 23 Oct 2006 16:16 On Sun, 22 Oct 2006 14:36:31 UTC, Bob Hauck <postmaster(a)localhost.localdomain> wrote: Bob, Thanks for the heap of advice. I'll work through it and let you know how I got on. -- Jim Backus running OS/2 Warp 3 & 4, Debian Linux and Win98SE bona fide replies to j <dot> backus <the circle thingy> jita <dot> demon <dot> co <dot> uk
From: Jim Backus on 23 Oct 2006 16:45 On Sun, 22 Oct 2006 12:58:55 UTC, Dances With Crows <danSPANceswitTRAPhcrows(a)gmail.com> wrote: Thanks for lots of information. I'll see what I can sort out and let you know how I got on. > > I've used vi and still think it is a horrible editor > > HERETIC!!1! MAKE HIM USE /bin/ed FOR EVERYTHING!!1! (-: > Ouch! my ears are still ringing! :-) When I last used vi the PC alternative would have been EDLIN and I used vi so it can't have been that bad. Even the enthusiasts for vi admit it has a steep learning curve. -- Jim Backus running OS/2 Warp 3 & 4, Debian Linux and Win98SE bona fide replies to j <dot> backus <the circle thingy> jita <dot> demon <dot> co <dot> uk
From: Jim Backus on 24 Oct 2006 18:27 On Sun, 22 Oct 2006 12:58:55 UTC, Dances With Crows <danSPANceswitTRAPhcrows(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Put your X config file (probably /etc/X11/XF86Config) on your webspace, > follow up with a URL so that people can look at it. The vast majority > of PS/2 mice out there are really easy to support, you just have a > stanza like so in your X config file: > > Section "InputDevice" > Driver "mouse" > Identifier "Mouse[1]" > Option "Device" "/dev/psaux" # PS/2 mouse port > Option "Protocol" "imps/2" # protocol used, that's v. common > Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" # so the wheel will work > EndSection > > OK - a little more progress. The mouse device was set up wrongly. The X configuration had set it to /dev/input/mice which appears to be for USB mice and I'd edited it to something else that didn't work. It's now set to /dev/psaux and X isn't crashing immediately, but is still not working correctly. The symptom now is that I see a grey display with an 'X' for the cursor, however the cursor has a strong tendency to settle in the bottom left hand corner. Mouse button clicks bring up menus which disappear instantly. I've had very little time to investigate it for the last couple of days but wonder if the display card is now the limiting factor. There is no problem with an ultra-modern PC - the one I'm using is an old pentium 2 IBM 300GL with 64 MB Ram. The only improvement over the original build is that it has 2 x 8 GB hard disks and a PCI network card as Debian didn't instantly work with the ISA card that was fitted. The built-in graphics card is based on a Cirrus 5446 chip. IBM's support site says that the standard video Ram was 1 MB and that it supports VGA and SVGA which I assume limits it to 800 x 600. the "lspci | grep VGA" reported: 0000:00:08.0 VGA compatible controller Cirrus GD5446. Unless anyone has some further suggestions, I'm happy to mess about with it a bit more to see if I can get it working. -- Jim Backus running OS/2 Warp 3 & 4, Debian Linux and Win98SE bona fide replies to j <dot> backus <the circle thingy> jita <dot> demon <dot> co <dot> uk
From: Dances With Crows on 24 Oct 2006 19:06 On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 22:27:51 +0000 (UTC), Jim Backus staggered into the Black Sun and said: > Dances With Crows wrote: >> Section "InputDevice" >> Driver "mouse" >> Identifier "Mouse[1]" >> Option "Device" "/dev/psaux" # PS/2 mouse port >> Option "Protocol" "imps/2" # protocol used, that's v. common >> Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" # so the wheel will work >> EndSection > OK - a little more progress. The mouse device was set up wrongly. The > X configuration had set it to /dev/input/mice which appears to be for > USB mice Nope. All connected mice are supposed to report events on /dev/input/mice , while individual mice report events on /dev/input/mouse[0-9]. They changed this in 2.6, YMMV if you're using 2.4 for some reason. > now set to /dev/psaux and X isn't crashing immediately, but is still > not working correctly. The symptom now is that I see a grey display > with an 'X' for the cursor X has been started, but no WM/DE has started. This is typically *not* what you want. What *are* you doing here? This is not the way that any distro sets things up (well, maybe LFS would do that...) > however the cursor has a strong tendency to settle in the bottom left > hand corner. Protocol FUBAR. If this mouse has no wheel, or is so ancient that it doesn't support IMPS/2, try using PS/2 for the Protocol. BTDT. > I've had very little time to investigate it for the last couple of > days but wonder if the display card is now the limiting factor. Not for the problems you described. > old pentium 2 IBM 300GL with 64 MB Ram. ....seriously retro. You'll need to use a lightweight WM, like xfce or fluxbox or something, forget running OOO, and you'll probably have to use links or dillo instead of Firefox. > Debian didn't instantly work with the ISA card that was fitted. ISA hardware was a total PITA. Modern boards haven't had ISA slots for years. Unless you have something semi-sane like a 3c509b or a Real Modem with jumper-set IRQ/IO, ISA stuff is more trouble than it's worth. > built-in graphics card is based on a Cirrus 5446 chip. IBM's support > site says that the standard video Ram was 1 MB and that it supports > VGA and SVGA which I assume limits it to 800 x 600. Yep, 800x600/16-bit = 937.5K. This card is supported, but it's going to be postage-stamp-o-riffic. > Unless anyone has some further suggestions, I'm happy to mess about > with it a bit more to see if I can get it working. Messing around with things often helps, but you'd have a better end-user experience if you were using more modern hardware. HTH anyway, -- I think I'll go hold my head under a bucket of vodka until I feel better. --localroger on kuro5hin.org, 06/26/2003 Matt G|There is no Darkness in Eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see
From: John-Paul Stewart on 24 Oct 2006 19:09
Jim Backus wrote: > > The symptom now is that I see a grey display > with an 'X' for the cursor That sounds like you forgot to install a window manager or that it's not configured to start. What window manager or desktop environment have you got installed? Do you start it in your ~/.xsession file or through something under /etc/X11? |