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### startx problem

J.Bakshi [j.bakshi at icmail.net]

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 22:58:03 +0530

Dear list,

I don't need kdm to run as a service because most of the time I access this linux box remotely. Only when I am at home then I need the desktop. That's why I have disabled the kdm. But after that "startx" gives an error

    Module Loader present
    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.0.log", Time: Sun Oct  5 21:15:35 2008
    (==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
    (II) Module "i2c" already built-in
    (II) Module "ddc" already built-in
    (II) Module "ramdac" already built-in

    waiting for X server to shut down FreeFontPath:
    FPE "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"

    refcount is 2, should be 1; fixing.

Every time the same error from startx. If I start the kdm no problem at all !!

Kindly CC to me

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Thomas Adam [thomas.adam22 at gmail.com]

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 18:32:10 +0100

2008/10/5 J.Bakshi <j.bakshi@icmail.net>:

    > waiting for X server to shut down FreeFontPath:
    > FPE "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
    >
    > refcount is 2, should be 1; fixing.
    > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    >
    > Every time the same error from startx. If I start the kdm no problem at all !!

This is benign -- can you please post your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file somewhere -- perhaps a pastebin?

-- Thomas Adam

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J.Bakshi [j.bakshi at unlimitedmail.org]

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 23:18:47 +0530

On Sunday 05 Oct 2008 11:02:10 pm Thomas Adam wrote:

    > 2008/10/5 J.Bakshi <j.bakshi@icmail.net>:
    > > waiting for X server to shut down FreeFontPath:
    > > FPE "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
    > >
    > > refcount is 2, should be 1; fixing.
    > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    > >
    > > Every time the same error from startx. If I start the kdm no problem at
    > > all !!
    >
    > This is benign -- can you please post your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file
    > somewhere -- perhaps a pastebin?

Hello Thomas, Thanks for your response.

Here is the log.

[[[ I've put the 775 line log in a separate file. -- Kat ]]]

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Karl-Heinz Herrmann [kh1 at khherrmann.de]

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 22:32:17 +0200

On Sun, 5 Oct 2008 23:18:47 +0530 "J.Bakshi" <j.bakshi@unlimitedmail.org> wrote:

    > [...]
    > (**) Option "CustomKeycodes" "off"
    > (**) Generic Keyboard: CustomKeycodes disabled
    > (II) evaluating device (Configured Mouse)
    > (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Configured Mouse" (type:
    > MOUSE) (II) evaluating device (Generic Keyboard)
    > (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Generic Keyboard" (type:
    > KEYBOARD) (--) Configured Mouse: PnP-detected protocol: "ExplorerPS/2"
    > (II) Configured Mouse: ps2EnableDataReporting: succeeded
    > (II) 3rd Button detected: disabling emulate3Button

That's it? This log file suggests your X is up and running on vt7.

if this is indeed a log file created by an unsuccessful use of startx and not by a successful kdm start maybe try to switch to vt7? what does ps say? Is an X process running?

K.-H.

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J.Bakshi [j.bakshi at unlimitedmail.org]

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 11:28:11 +0530

On Monday 06 Oct 2008 2:02:17 am Karl-Heinz Herrmann wrote:

    > On Sun, 5 Oct 2008 23:18:47 +0530
    >
    > "J.Bakshi" <j.bakshi@unlimitedmail.org> wrote:
    > > [...]
    > > (**) Option "CustomKeycodes" "off"
    > > (**) Generic Keyboard: CustomKeycodes disabled
    > > (II) evaluating device (Configured Mouse)
    > > (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Configured Mouse" (type:
    > > MOUSE) (II) evaluating device (Generic Keyboard)
    > > (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Generic Keyboard" (type:
    > > KEYBOARD) (--) Configured Mouse: PnP-detected protocol: "ExplorerPS/2"
    > > (II) Configured Mouse: ps2EnableDataReporting: succeeded
    > > (II) 3rd Button detected: disabling emulate3Button
    >
    > That's it? This log file suggests your X is up and running on vt7.
    >
    >
    > if this is indeed a log file created by an unsuccessful use of startx
    > and not by a successful kdm start maybe try to switch to vt7? what does
    > ps say? Is an X process running?

Hello Karl, Thanks for your kind response.

I have just rechecked the startx but there is no x running at vt7. Moreover when I give startx command just for a second xwindow flashes and after that it throws the error messages. I also checked the log and it gives information as below

    tail -f /var/log/Xorg.0.log
    (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Generic Keyboard" (type: KEYBOARD)
    (--) Configured Mouse: PnP-detected protocol: "ExplorerPS/2"
    (II) Configured Mouse: ps2EnableDataReporting: succeeded
    (II) VIA(0): [drm] Freeing agp memory
    (II) VIA(0): [drm] Releasing agp module
    (II) VIA(0): [drm] removed 1 reserved context for kernel
    (II) VIA(0): [drm] unmapping 8192 bytes of SAREA 0xc82f1000 at 0xb7267000
    (II) VIA(0): [drm] Closed DRM master.
    (II) VIA(0): [drm] Irq handler uninstalled.
    FreeFontPath: FPE "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc" refcount is 2, should be 1;
    fixing

I also checked the "ps -e" as it is as below

    PID TTY          TIME CMD
        1 ?        00:00:01 init
        2 ?        00:00:00 kthreadd
        3 ?        00:00:00 migration/0
        4 ?        00:00:00 ksoftirqd/0
        5 ?        00:00:00 watchdog/0
        6 ?        00:00:00 events/0
        7 ?        00:00:00 khelper
       38 ?        00:00:00 kblockd/0
       41 ?        00:00:00 kacpid
       42 ?        00:00:00 kacpi_notify
      107 ?        00:00:00 kseriod
      143 ?        00:00:00 pdflush
      144 ?        00:00:00 pdflush
      145 ?        00:00:00 kswapd0
      146 ?        00:00:00 aio/0
      537 ?        00:00:00 ksuspend_usbd
      539 ?        00:00:00 khubd
      558 ?        00:00:00 ata/0
      564 ?        00:00:00 ata_aux
      737 ?        00:00:00 reiserfs/0
      817 ?        00:00:00 udevd
     1231 ?        00:00:00 kpsmoused
     1250 ?        00:00:00 kgameportd
     1607 ?        00:00:00 portmap
     1863 ?        00:00:00 syslog-ng
     1946 ?        00:00:00 acpid
     1956 ?        00:00:00 dbus-daemon
     1969 ?        00:00:00 sshd
     1978 ?        00:00:00 gpm
     1988 ?        00:00:05 famd
     1999 ?        00:00:00 hald
     2000 ?        00:00:00 hald-runner
     2027 ?        00:00:00 hald-addon-acpi
     2028 ?        00:00:00 hald-addon-stor
     2037 ?        00:00:00 hald-addon-stor
     2039 ?        00:00:00 hald-addon-stor
     2050 ?        00:00:00 linc
     2056 ?        00:00:00 ddclient
     2071 ?        00:00:00 cron
     2101 tty1     00:00:00 login
     2102 tty2     00:00:00 login
     2105 tty3     00:00:00 getty
     2107 tty4     00:00:00 getty
     2109 tty5     00:00:00 getty
     2111 tty6     00:00:00 getty
     3690 tty2     00:00:00 bash
     3718 tty1     00:00:00 bash
     4031 tty2     00:00:00 ps

Surprisingly If I start kdm then I don't have any problem and i don't need any *dm running always as I only need desktop when I am at home. I can't understand the problem with startx here !!

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J.Bakshi [j.bakshi at unlimitedmail.org]

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 21:30:41 +0530

On Monday 06 Oct 2008 11:38:50 am Karl-Heinz Herrmann wrote:

    > This log file is still pretty weird....
    >
    > On Mon, 6 Oct 2008 11:28:11 +0530
    >
    > "J.Bakshi" <j.bakshi@unlimitedmail.org> wrote:
    > > (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Generic Keyboard" (type:
    > > KEYBOARD) (--) Configured Mouse: PnP-detected protocol: "ExplorerPS/2"
    > > (II) Configured Mouse: ps2EnableDataReporting: succeeded
    >
    > last three line are still X starting up
    >
    > While the next lines are X in final stages of shutting down.
    >
    > > (II) VIA(0): [drm] Freeing agp memory
    > > (II) VIA(0): [drm] Releasing agp module
    > > (II) VIA(0): [drm] removed 1 reserved context for kernel
    > > (II) VIA(0): [drm] unmapping 8192 bytes of SAREA 0xc82f1000 at
    > > 0xb7267000 (II) VIA(0): [drm] Closed DRM master.
    >
    > Whatever goes wrong is not showing up as an error. Something outside X
    > might terminate it...
    >
    > You could try starting X manually, then start some windowmanager after
    > to get winodw handling. Remember to redirect the stdout and stderr to a
    > file to get all the log.
    >
    >

Hello Karl,

I have done "startx 2> log" and then read the file "log" but there is nothing new. It just provided the same FPE font path error which I have emailed befor. Hence I have not mentioned the same here.

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Ben Okopnik [ben at linuxgazette.net]

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:49:55 -0400

On Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 09:30:41PM +0530, J.Bakshi wrote:

    > On Monday 06 Oct 2008 11:38:50 am Karl-Heinz Herrmann wrote:
    > >
    > > You could try starting X manually, then start some windowmanager after
    > > to get winodw handling. Remember to redirect the stdout and stderr to a
    > > file to get all the log.
    >
    > I have done "startx 2> log" and then read the file "log" but there is nothing
    > new. It just provided the same FPE font path error which I have emailed
    > befor. Hence I have not mentioned the same here.

Try launching X directly - i.e., rather than using 'startx' or 'xinit' (both of which use your private startup files, and thus add another layer of complication), just type 'X', or perhaps 'X :1' to start it on a second display (i.e., VT8.) If you want detailed error logging, you can use the '-logverbose 255' as the first option.

Incidentally, I've noted in the past that the "refcount is 2, should be 1" message normally does not happen until X exits; i.e., by the time you see it, X has already crashed. When X is launched via 'startx', crashes like this, and there are no errors, I usually suspect the private config files - i.e., either '~/.xinitrc' or '~/.xsession'. As Karl-Heinz has mentioned, you need to launch something - some kind of a window manager, or at the very least an xterm - to keep it open.

    --
    * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *

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J.Bakshi [j.bakshi at icmail.net]

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 17:41:22 +0530

On Tuesday 07 Oct 2008 1:19:55 am Ben Okopnik wrote:

    > On Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 09:30:41PM +0530, J.Bakshi wrote:
    > > On Monday 06 Oct 2008 11:38:50 am Karl-Heinz Herrmann wrote:
    > > > You could try starting X manually, then start some windowmanager after
    > > > to get winodw handling. Remember to redirect the stdout and stderr to a
    > > > file to get all the log.
    > >
    > > I have done "startx 2> log" and then read the file "log" but there is
    > > nothing new. It just provided the same FPE font path error which I have
    > > emailed befor. Hence I have not mentioned the same here.
    >
    > Try launching X directly - i.e., rather than using 'startx' or 'xinit'
    > (both of which use your private startup files, and thus add another
    > layer of complication), just type 'X', or perhaps 'X :1' to start it on
    > a second display (i.e., VT8.) If you want detailed error logging, you
    > can use the '-logverbose 255' as the first option.
    >
    > Incidentally, I've noted in the past that the "refcount is 2, should be
    > 1" message normally does not happen until X exits; i.e., by the time you
    > see it, X has already crashed. When X is launched via 'startx', crashes
    > like this, and there are no errors, I usually suspect the private config
    > files - i.e., either '~/.xinitrc' or '~/.xsession'. As Karl-Heinz has
    > mentioned, you need to launch something - some kind of a window manager,
    > or at the very least an xterm - to keep it open.

Hello Ben and Karl,

Thanks a lot. Your debugging skill are awsome. Ben you have discussed briefly what Karl suggested. With all these knowledge and suggestion I have fixed the proble. I first started x manually with "X" command and The xwindow came up. I checked the ps too and got Xorg was running. Then I focused on the .xinitrc file and got the culprit . There was only #startkde !! I deleted the comment symbol and startx command works In these whole debugging process your suggestion always backed me up. When the problem was solved it were Ben and Karl whose name first came in my mind. Thanks a lot

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Ben Okopnik [ben at linuxgazette.net]

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 14:14:16 -0400

On Tue, Oct 07, 2008 at 05:41:22PM +0530, J.Bakshi wrote:

    > On Tuesday 07 Oct 2008 1:19:55 am Ben Okopnik wrote:
    > > On Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 09:30:41PM +0530, J.Bakshi wrote:
    > > > On Monday 06 Oct 2008 11:38:50 am Karl-Heinz Herrmann wrote:
    > > > > You could try starting X manually, then start some windowmanager after
    > > > > to get winodw handling. Remember to redirect the stdout and stderr to a
    > > > > file to get all the log.
    > > >
    > > > I have done "startx 2> log" and then read the file "log" but there is
    > > > nothing new. It just provided the same FPE font path error which I have
    > > > emailed befor. Hence I have not mentioned the same here.
    > >
    > > Try launching X directly - i.e., rather than using 'startx' or 'xinit'
    > > (both of which use your private startup files, and thus add another
    > > layer of complication), just type 'X', or perhaps 'X :1' to start it on
    > > a second display (i.e., VT8.) If you want detailed error logging, you
    > > can use the '-logverbose 255' as the first option.
    > >
    > > Incidentally, I've noted in the past that the "refcount is 2, should be
    > > 1" message normally does not happen until X exits; i.e., by the time you
    > > see it, X has already crashed. When X is launched via 'startx', crashes
    > > like this, and there are no errors, I usually suspect the private config
    > > files - i.e., either '~/.xinitrc' or '~/.xsession'. As Karl-Heinz has
    > > mentioned, you need to launch something - some kind of a window manager,
    > > or at the very least an xterm - to keep it open.
    >
    > Hello Ben and Karl,
    >
    > Thanks a lot. Your debugging skill are awsome. Ben you have discussed briefly
    > what Karl suggested. With all these knowledge and suggestion I have fixed the
    > proble. I first started x manually with "X" command and The xwindow came up.
    > I checked the ps too and got Xorg was running. Then I focused on the .xinitrc
    > file and got the culprit . There was only #startkde !! I deleted the comment
    > symbol and startx command works  In these whole debugging process your
    > suggestion always backed me up. When the problem was solved it were Ben and
    > Karl whose name first came in my mind. Thanks a lot

Excellent! Glad to help, and thanks for letting us know what the solution was.

    --
    * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *

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J.Bakshi [j.bakshi at icmail.net]

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 09:58:17 +0530

On Tuesday 07 Oct 2008 11:44:16 pm Ben Okopnik wrote:

    > On Tue, Oct 07, 2008 at 05:41:22PM +0530, J.Bakshi wrote:
    > > On Tuesday 07 Oct 2008 1:19:55 am Ben Okopnik wrote:
    > > > On Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 09:30:41PM +0530, J.Bakshi wrote:
    > > > > On Monday 06 Oct 2008 11:38:50 am Karl-Heinz Herrmann wrote:
    > > > > > You could try starting X manually, then start some windowmanager
    > > > > > after to get winodw handling. Remember to redirect the stdout and
    > > > > > stderr to a file to get all the log.
    > > > >
    > > > > I have done "startx 2> log" and then read the file "log" but there is
    > > > > nothing new. It just provided the same FPE font path error which I
    > > > > have emailed befor. Hence I have not mentioned the same here.
    > > >
    > > > Try launching X directly - i.e., rather than using 'startx' or 'xinit'
    > > > (both of which use your private startup files, and thus add another
    > > > layer of complication), just type 'X', or perhaps 'X :1' to start it on
    > > > a second display (i.e., VT8.) If you want detailed error logging, you
    > > > can use the '-logverbose 255' as the first option.
    > > >
    > > > Incidentally, I've noted in the past that the "refcount is 2, should be
    > > > 1" message normally does not happen until X exits; i.e., by the time
    > > > you see it, X has already crashed. When X is launched via 'startx',
    > > > crashes like this, and there are no errors, I usually suspect the
    > > > private config files - i.e., either '~/.xinitrc' or '~/.xsession'. As
    > > > Karl-Heinz has mentioned, you need to launch something - some kind of a
    > > > window manager, or at the very least an xterm - to keep it open.
    > >
    > > Hello Ben and Karl,
    > >
    > > Thanks a lot. Your debugging skill are awsome. Ben you have discussed
    > > briefly what Karl suggested. With all these knowledge and suggestion I
    > > have fixed the proble. I first started x manually with "X" command and
    > > The xwindow came up. I checked the ps too and got Xorg was running. Then
    > > I focused on the .xinitrc file and got the culprit . There was only
    > > #startkde !! I deleted the comment symbol and startx command works  In
    > > these whole debugging process your suggestion always backed me up. When
    > > the problem was solved it were Ben and Karl whose name first came in my
    > > mind. Thanks a lot
    >
    > Excellent! Glad to help, and thanks for letting us know what the
    > solution was.

Thanks for helping and being with me to fix it.

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