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Date:      Tue, 14 Mar 1995 09:16:09 -0800
From:      pascal@netcom.com (Richard A Childers)
To:        justin.kuntz@ftscorp.com, questions@FreeBSD.org
Subject:   Re:  trouble ( with X install )
Message-ID:  <199503141716.JAA09183@netcom15.netcom.com>

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justin.kuntz@ftscorp.com inquires :


"... After installing the required binaries, I then try installing the X
 Windows support, but the system stops at the screen "loading X Win",
 which occurs AFTER the checksums have been validated."

 "I would really like to get this to work.  Do you have any ideas?"

				-=8=-

( Caveat : my experience is with diskettes downloaded over the Net, not
  with a CDROM-driven installation. Don't think there's much difference.
  Both are RELEASE 2.0. )

In general, I've found the Menu-Driven Intallation only works flawlessly
with a few basic packages. Binaries ... sources ... maybe manpages. Have
not been successful getting it to autoload X.

Which is OK. Four virtual terminals ( now 8 :-) and BSD is enough for me,
for the moment.

Submit that Release 2.0's core consists purely of {bin,src,kern}dist and
that everything else should be regarded as a layered application above
and beyond the basic core of BSD ... and treated as distinct from FreeBSD.

				-=8=-

That having been said, I'm as keenly interested in getting X to run as
anyone else.	(-:	And I'm also experiencing segmentation faults.

There's a nice FAQ on installing and running X that I haven't finished
but which I recommend to everyone.

To load X manually, I did ( approximately ) the following :

(1)	copy compressed installation file set(s) into /usr/tmp ( /usr
	had been sized accordingly beforehand to allow for unpacking
	and rebuilding ... 270 MB )

(2)	read documents and decide which file set(s) aren't needed -
	for instance, won't be using Kanji or Arabic, can eliminate
	a number of video card drivers that are not present

(3)	run extract.sh - this creates an installation tree right in
	/usr/tmp, inside a directory called X11R6, if memory serves
	me correctly. ( Oh, yeah, set umask first - see FAQ )

(4)	tar installation into previously created /usr/X11R6 filesystem,
	suggested size 50 MB :

	( cd /usr/tmp/X11R6 ; tar cf - . ) | ( cd /usr/X11R6 ; tar xvf - )

	( This may be avoidable by setting the DESTDIR variable, so that
	  the installation is placed directly into /usr/X11R6. )

(5)	run ranlib on X lib directory

(6)	Run xf86config ( probably needs to be done a couple of times until
	everything's just right, unless you have *all* of the specs on your
	video display, video controller, and mouse )

(7)	return to mortal status ( don't want to run X as "root", you will
	litter /root with .files, erase files accidentally, et caetera )
	and start X with the "startx" command ( may need to reset $path
	and do a rehash [ assuming csh here ] )


	I find it useful to collect startx output into a file, so I've
	done the following in my .cshrc :

	alias startx '/usr/X11R6/bin/startx >& ./startx_`date +%y%m%d%H%M`'

	( or something like that ) ... so that I'm collecting the data from
	my efforts and not *completely* wasting my time.	(-;


Hope that's of some help !!

				-=8=-

Any X whizs out there ? I'm running 32 MB of swap and 8 MB of RAM, swap is
mounted and only about 10% is being utilized. X starts, but freezes when I
use the mouse to invoke the root window menu ( or just about any other
window operation outside of the text area of the Login xterm ).


-- richard

       Pontius Pilate was politically correct. So was Benedict Arnold.
       So was Vidkun Quisling ... and so was Adolph Hitler.	|-:

   richard childers        san francisco, california        pascal@netcom.com



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