XFree86 crash log

Hello all:

I posted to the list some time ago about problems I was having getting X running. That was on another computer, and I never managed to resolve the problems. Now, I'm confronting the problem again and it's high time I figured out what I'm doing wrong and fix it. And, I stand to learn alot about X and the way the gui works under Linux in the process - knowing, at the moment, virtually nothing.

Right now, I am trying to install a minimal Slackware (8.1) version via a routine developed by the creator of Basiclinux. The minimal install does not have X installed or configured, but it does give one access to the Slackware pkgtool and, via this, to the possibility for installing whatever packages one wishes from the Slackware CD. I used this routine to install XFree86 4.2. So far as I could tell, I installed all necessary packages: I may well have missed something important and am simply not sure if my problem may not come down to something like this.

In any case, after installing XFree86 and associated packages (e.g., fonts), I ran xf86config from the command line. I selected refresh rates that my monitor seems likely to support (it is a 14" Epson extended vga) and my video card (S3 Trio 64v+). When I try to run "startx," the X server crashes with the following report dumped to /var/log/:

##############################################################
_XSERVTransSocketOpen: socket() failed for tcp _XSERVTransSocketOpenCOTSServer: Unable to open socket for tcp _XSERVTransOpen: transport open failed for tcp/darkstar:0 _XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners: failed to open listener for tcp _XSERVTransSocketOpen: socket() failed for local _XSERVTransSocketOpenCOTSServer: Unable to open socket for local _XSERVTransOpen: transport open failed for local/darkstar:0 _XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners: failed to open listener for local

Fatal server error:
Cannot establish any listening sockets - Make sure an X server isn't already running

When reporting a problem related to a server crash, please send the full server output, not just the last messages. This can be found in the log file "/var/log/XFree86.0.log".
###########################################################

Can someone help point me in the right direction for resolving this problem and getting a working X install?

Thanks, James

PS This is an old test computer - 486 DX4 100 with 40MB RAM and 1.3 GB HD.

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I have not seen this particular error before. And lik many of us here, I am not a user of BasicLinux, so the help I can offer is limited.

1. Is this the complete error output (that is, does it match what is in "/var/log/XFree86.0.log")? If not, please send complete output, as the message tells you to.

2. The sockets the message refers to are probably the local Unix sockets that the server uses to accept connections from clients. What does "netstat -an" report? Are there listings that resemble this one:

unix 2 [ ACC
] STREAM LISTENING 427 /tmp/.X11-unix/X0

3. Does the /tmp directory exist (this is a long shot, as it is very standard as a part of Linux systems)? Is it mode 777?

4. Does your kernel support Unix domain sockets? If you compiled your own, it is an option under "Networking" in the "make menuconfig" method of configuring, for 2.4.x kernels. If you are using any stock Slackware kernel, it probably supports Unix sockets. If you are using one from BasicLinux ... well, the BasicLinux home page says it supports X installs, so I suppose the kernel includes what is needed (but I have no way actually to know).

5. BasicLinux has a page that lists the Slackware packages needed to run X. Its URL is

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/baslinux/bas-x.html

Did you include everything this page says to install?

That's about all I can think of without more info. Hope it helps.

--
-------------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"--------
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, California, USA [email protected]
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Ray:

I'm not using Basiclinux per se, but what, as I understand it, is something that might qualify as a beta for the next release of Basiclinux. It's pretty much just a straightforward, highly trimmed Slack 8.1 install. Steven, who answers below, seems to have put his finger on the issue: I am using a stock Slack 8.1 kernel, but it's the lowmem kernel, as Steven mentions. As he points out, it probably doesn't support sockets. There was a recommendation to use the more standard kernel if one does not have really low memory (< 8MB) once the install was complete. I copied the standard kernel from bare.i to the boot partition, but could not get it to boot (would just keep rebooting, never getting to the Linux partition). It looks like I'm getting into some issues here that are peculair to the system I'm trying to use, so I'd probably better direct further inquiries to the fashioner of this modified Slack 8.1 install.

Thanks, James

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Which kernel are you using? The kernel used to install Slackware 8.1 is the lowmem zimage, which (I think) does not support sockets.

Cheers,
Steven

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Ok. I think I've now got my X problems down to more standard issues on this mnimal Slack 8.1 install (2.4.18 kernel). I was able to get the updated kernel to run, and I am no longer getting the crash with its log. But something is still wrong. I got the new kernel going, went through xf86config again. This time, I managed to find some sync values for my monitor (14" epson extended vga -old!) which I entered in (30-35.5; 70) and selected my S3 Trio 64V+ video card. There was a caveat about this card being "basically unsupported" - whatever that means. So, now, when I go "startx" from the command line, the HD runs and things seem to be happening, but the screen goes blank and just sits there. By "blank" I mean that it goes dark - like screen blanking when you have no screen saver. And, it just sits there. I expect it to give some sort of background - like crosshatching - and for an "X' to appear for the mouse cursor. But no such thing ever happens. It just sits there blank (no message about a server crash, no odd activity like HD churning). So, I'm not quite sure where to go from here. Could someone advise me? I should also mention that I don't have a window manager configured yet, though I do have one installed - fvwm95. I assume that is a window manager because it has the letters "wm" in its name (hope I'm right). But I just don't know if I need a window manager to get any display at all out of X.

In closing, I'll just reaffirm my state of confusion regarding the way the gui works under Linux. Despite Ray's helpful comments to some questions I posed on this list earlier about how it all works, I've become even more confused. There are things called, for example, "gdm" or "kdm". I take the "dm" part to stand for "display manager." But I don't know how display managers relate to window managers or the other things connected with X that I asked about previously. Then, there are "session managers," which are also a subject of confusion in all this. To top it all off, I read an article at Linuxworld on X and Linux display that claimed that Gnome and KDE are *not* window managers, but rather thay they *contain* a window manager. So this seems some sort of meta-category with regard to the 3 part scheme Ray provided in his helpful comments. I don't know if I'll ever be able to grasp all this. But this can give an idea of how little I know and thus what help might be suitable to offer with respect to my X problems.

Hopefully, you won't say "go back to Windows, you dummy!" :)

Thanks, James

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Are you sure about your monitor's sync rates?

----- Original Message -----
From: "James Miller" <[email protected]>
To: "linux-newbie" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 1:23 PM
Subject: more X problems

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Comments added inline.

It means you're on your own with it, as far as the X developers are concerned. It may work, or it may not ... but don't bother to send in bug reports.

This could be any of several things ... especially with an unsupported card ... but the most likely is that you have told the X server to use a refresh rate (an hsync or vsync ... apparently the variable names these days are HorizSync and VertRefresh) that your monitor will not support. Double check your values, or switch to more conservative ones.

Also, what default screen size and bit depth are you using? (Check the X error log, or redirect X's STDERR to a file, for example with "startx >xerrors.txt 2>&1".) Try making 640x480, 8-bit color the first choice, as really old monitors may not support anything better (but rarely will fail to support it).

Do you have access to the system from anything othet than the console? (For example, can you ssh or telnet in, or do you have a serial display connected?) When the screen is "dark", if you press CTRL-ALT-F2, do you get a console login back? (This will work for some monitors with sync problems, but not all ... you may need to power-cycle the monitor after you press the key combination ... and I don't know that even that will work reliably.)

fvwm95 is a Window Manager, the one that (if you don't look too closely) resembles Windows 95's GUI. There are newer ones, but this one is perfectly functional and a resaonable choice for low-end systems (other good choices for low-end systems are blackbox, my own preferred WM, and IceWM). And no, you don't need a WM to get "any display at all", just to get the modern conveniences (like menus and multiple displays) we expect from GUIs.

These apps (xdm is the one I'm actually familiar with) are login managers -- they let you start X from your init scripts or from /etc/inittab directly (I think Slackware does it the second way, in runlevel 5) and log in directly to X, instead of logging in to a console and running "startx".

I'm not acquainted with this term in an X context.

Each has a "preferred" WM associated with it (or at least Gnome does; I'm insufficiently familiar with KDE to be sure about it). Nonetheless, Gnome, and probably KDE, will run on top of any reasonably capable WM.

Perish the thought. I might say such a thing to someone who is both uninterested in trying to understand his or her system, -AND- who expects others to do his or her work for him or her, but you clearly do not fall into that category. (Though, sadly, I do see such postings on occasion ... rarely here, thankfully.)

--
-------------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"--------
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, California, USA [email protected]
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I got the sync rates from the 'net by entering the monitor's model # into a search engine. That took me to Monitorworld's site. I can't say whether their information is correct: this is a second hand monitor and came with no documentation. I suppose I could try different refresh rates (say, some of the standard ones offered under xf86config) and see if those work. Not sure which ones to try, though. Any input on that?

Thanks, James

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I tried several - 4, 8 and 16 bit. I tried 640x480 like you suggested at 8 and 4 bit, but no luck. Other than the h and v sync values I found on the 'net for this monitor, I've tried 31.5 at 640x480 with 50-70. Still no display.

No. Sorry.

When the screen is "dark", if you press CTRL-ALT-F2, do you get

No. I tried ctrl-alt-f2 - which I know in other Linuxes I've used takes one to a console. That didn't work. Just continues to sit there blank. I eventually hit ctrl-alt-del, which reboots the system.

The saga continues . . .

James

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For hsync, try choice 1 (or maybe 2) from the list.

For vsync, try choice 1 from the list.

Do beware -- there is ALWAYS some risk of hardware damage when you guess about monitor settings. I've never experienced any problems with these choices, but my past experience does not translate into a guarantee about your future experience. So act at your own risk.

--
-------------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"--------
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, California, USA [email protected]
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What happen if you press Ctrl+Alt+Del?

----- Original Message -----
From: "James Miller" <[email protected]>
To: "Linux" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 2:29 PM
Subject: RE: more X problems

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Ray:

I've tried both choices (1 & 2 from the list) for h-sync and choice 1 from the second list, but to no avail. While I wouldn't be happy if I hosed this monitor, since I got it for free it wouldn't be a big loss.

I'm beginning to think I may have overlooked something in installing X. I'll look and think that over a bit before posting further.

Thanks, James

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Wow. The confusion just multiplied exponentially. I've heard talk of differing xservers for different video cards, but this is the first time I've had to confront it in practice. I'm still not quite sure what it means and what I must do. I'll have to let that sink in for a bit.

I took a look in the /pasture directory for Slack 8.1 and it comtains a further subdirectory called /XFree86-3.3.6-servers . I'm guessing I need to look within that sub directory? I've already installed XFree86 4.2.0. I'm not sure how, or if, two different XFree86 releases work together. Probably I'll have to ditch 4.2.0 to use my video card, no?

In crystalizing confusion, James

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Very possibly. There was an architecture change in X between 3.x.x and 4.x.x . 4.x.x uses a single executable, with server (video card) selected in the config file. X 3.x.x was actually a set of a dozen or so related executables, each a server for a specific set of video cards (or chipsets); you actually ran the specific X server needed by your hardware.

It may be that support for your card was abandoned in the move to XFree86 4.x.x. There are cardlist files somewhere at www.xfree86.org that might let you see if XFree96 3.3.6 (the last 3-series version, I believe) supports your hardware.

--
-------------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"--------
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, California, USA [email protected]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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When I upgraded on my old PS1 from RH7.0 to RH7.1 I had a lot of problems, like system hangs, X not opening and a lot of exchanges on this forum. I had also SW7.? running and could not make SW8.0 run at all.
Finally someone asked what computer I have and I said PS1 and he said no wonder those new kernels will not run on those old machines. I bought a new PS2 motherboard and all problems were solved till I encountered RH7.3. But that's another story.

Regards

Peter


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Thanks, Ray.

The text file that accompanies the xserver file Steven suggested does, in fact, mention support for the S3Trio 64+ (not V+, as my card is supposed to be). But then, if XFree86 4.2.0 does not support this card, why is it listed in the database of cards one can choose when running xf86config under XFree86 4.2.0? Doesn't make much sense to me.

But, let's suppose for the moment that there is some profound rationale for that which I am incapable of penetrating, and that, in order to get X going on my machine, I've got to use the older, 3.3.6 release. In order to install and configure that, I've got to uninstall XFree86 4.2.0, do I not? I can't, for example, install the one file Steven references (xs3-3.3.6-i386-1.tgz) and expect that to fit in to the XFree86 4.2.0 complex I currenlty have installed, correct? Wouldn't I need to unistall the whole of the 4.2.0 stuff, and then install 3.3.6 with its associated packages?

Zounds, James

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So far, the only problem has been getting X running - but this *is* a minimal Slack 8.1 install (probably up to about 50-70MB with X installed). The kernel boots fine. Maybe further problems await, though. We'll see.

James

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Steven:

Just now tried it. At the initial screen, it asks if you'd like it to probe your video hardware and mouse so that it can write an initial configuration file (/etc/X11/XF98Config). When I assent to its doing so, the screen blanks, never to return to life until I reboot with ctrl-alt-del. Apparently, it's having trouble probing the video hardware, wouldn't you say?

James

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Which X server are you using? The default X server in Slackware 8.1 is designed for VESA cards -- but not the old VESA cards. There is a cut-off point, but I don't
remember what it is. 1.2 ? 2.0 ?

You say you have an S3 Trio 64V+ video card. I believe this card is VESA 1.2. That VESA may be too old to work with the default X server. If so, try the S3 X server from the /pasture directory of Slackware 8.1.

Cheers,
Steven

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James was using the stock lowmem.i kernel from Slackware.
-------------------------------
# Networking options
#
CONFIG_PACKET=y
# CONFIG_PACKET_MMAP is not set
# CONFIG_NETLINK_DEV is not set
# CONFIG_NETFILTER is not set
# CONFIG_FILTER is not set
CONFIG_UNIX=y
# CONFIG_INET is not set
--------------------------------

BasicLinux uses a stock Slackware kernel (bare.i).

Sorry for the confusion. BasicLinux is not the problem. James is running pure, unadulterated Slackware 8.1. Yes, it is a mini-installation (26mb of HD space) -- but it's 100% Slackware.

The confusion arises because the author of BasicLinux (who is a strong supporter of using Linux on old PCs) produced a special installation routine to enable old PCs to install Slackware 8.1. The normal installation routine for Slackware 8.1 requires 16mb RAM. The special installation routine runs happily on a system with 4mb RAM and 80mb HD.
-------------------------------------------
http://www.volny.cz/basiclinux/slack81.html
-------------------------------------------
Although this installation package for Slackware 8.1 is stored at the BasicLinux site, it is quite different from BasicLinux.

Cheers,
Steven

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False alarm. Your card is supported. I found this at http://www.xfree86.org/4.2.0/Status28.html#28
-----------------------------------------------
4.2.0: Support for the 964 (revisions 0 and 1), 968, Trio32, Trio64, Trio64, Trio64V+,
-----------------------------------------------

However, I also found (elsewhere) that the framebuffer (fb) requires VESA 2.0. It does not work with VESA 1.2 (which is what the Trio ^64+ is). What effect (if any) this has on XFree 4.2.0, I do not know.

Cheers,
Steven

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The follow passage from the HOWTO in Slackware 8.1:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Configuring X can be a complex task. The reason for this is the vast numbers of video cards available for the PC architecture, most of which use different programming interfaces. Luckily, most cards today support basic video standards known as VESA, and if your card is among them you'll be able to start X using the "startx" command right out of the box.
--------------------------------------------------------------

I deduce from this that it comes pre-configured for the framebuffer. So, if you have a VESA (2.0) video card, you simply type 'startx' without the need to configure. The HOWTO continues:
--------------------------------------------------------
If this doesn't work with your card, then you'll need to reconfigure X. To configure X, you'll need to make an /etc/XF86Config file. It's a very complex configuration file, but fortunately there are several programs to help create one for you. We'll mention a few of them here:
------------
xfree86setup
------------
This is a simple menu driven frontend that's similar in feel to the Slackware installer. It simply tells the X server to take a look at the card, and then set up the best initial configuration file it can make based on the information it gathers. The generated /etc/X11/XF86Config file should be a good starting point for most systems (and should work without modification).
----------------------------------------------------------

Questions to James: Have you tried xfree86setup?
If so, what happened?

Cheers,
Steven

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To be more specific, RH7.1 did not install normally it hang after the 3rd Text window and I had to force it somehow. SW8.0 installed and booted yet I could not run X.

Peter

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