New Debian install X problem

[Daniel Armstrong]

On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 7:40 PM, Giles Orr <gilesorr-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> I did a new Debian testing install today on an older laptop that's
> been running Ubuntu for quite a while.  I installed from a new CD
> built with jigdo.  I told it to install "web server" but not
> "graphical desktop" (or whatever the official wording is).  I did this
> because I didn't want GNOME - I've done it before and installed X by
> hand.  This time, after the install was complete, I went ahead and ran
> "aptitude install xserver-xorg".  I installed fluxbox, gave my primary
> user a ~/.xinitrc file that started fluxbox, typed "startx" and ...
> the machine tanked.  Black screen, no response to any keyboard input
> (I tried Ctrl-Alt-F1).  Only thing to do is hold the power button
> until the machine powers off (I haven't checked if I can access it
> remotely).  The behaviour is repeatable.  Bringing in the Ubuntu
> /etc/X11/xorg.conf changed nothing (that xorg.conf doesn't do much
> about screen setup, but did specify the correct resolution as given
> below).
>
> /var/log/messages has nothing at all.  /var/log/Xorg.0.log ends in
> "Output TDMS has no monitor section" which certainly suggests a
> problem (although not necessarily a lock-up ...).  Have I missed a
> step?  Any ideas?
>
> The laptop is a five year old Dell Inspiron m700 with a Pentium
> Centrino 1.6GHz, 1.5M of memory, and a 20G hard drive.  The screen is
> an early widescreen 1280x800 width that used to require a special
> piece of utility software or it would run in 1024x768 (distorted).
> More recent Ubuntus seem to have had no problem with it.

How are you starting fluxbox in ~/.xinitrc? If fluxbox is the only
window manager on the system have you tried startx without having a
.xinitrc? Without an xorg.conf? Have you tried skipping the wm
altogether and starting X with a simple xterm?

These are the steps I typically take installing X on a Debian Squeeze box:

* install Xorg / video and input drivers / 3D utilities:

sudo aptitude install xorg xserver-xorg-video-<driver> mesa-utils

* generate an xorg.conf (optional):

Xorg -configure
cp /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf

* test by creating a user ~/.xinitrc and add *exec xterm* (no wm)...
then 'startx'.. confirm that X is working

* then... install some more fonts and Fluxbox:

sudo aptitude install ttf-mscorefonts-installer ttf-bitstream-vera
ttf-liberation
sudo aptitude install fluxbox dwm-tools feh xscreensaver

* edit .xinitrc... commenting out previous xterm entry and adding
'exec startfluxbox'

Good luck!
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