Re: Installing/running X11

Hi Tim,

That's an excellent idea! I agree that the documentation can be 
overwhelming at first, but if you focus on one area of need at a time, 
there's a lot of wisdom to be had.

Paul, to go this route, just "sudo pkg install desktop-installer". That 
said, the man page is probably worth reading before you pull the trigger:
https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=desktop-installer&sektion=1&manpath=freebsd-ports

Cheers,
Alex


On 2024-02-03 17:15, TIM KELLERS wrote:
>
> If you just want to get an X system up and running without initially 
> getting buried in all of the extensive FreeBSD documentation, try 
> using the port at: /usr/ports/sysutils/desktop-installer.
>
> From the description:
>
> "Desktop-installer is a post-install script to assist in setting up a 
> FreeBSD
> desktop system using any of the mainstream desktop systems.  It 
> automatically
> installs essential software and configures subsystems such as dbus, 
> CUPS, etc.
> for typical use."
>
> You don't have to use it to install the sometimes weighty full desktop 
> environments.  You can use it to install/configure a very basic X 
> environment (think TWM).  It is script and menu driven and it works 
> well enough to install a working desktop environment even on 
> FreeBSD-CURRENT.
>
> I'm a ports user mainly and while desktop-installer uses packages to 
> do its installation, I found that looking at the edits that are made 
> to rc.conf, and packages that are installed are very instructive to 
> how the X system is configured on FreeBSD.
>
> I learned a great deal about how X works in FreeBSD by using this 
> installer, then deleting the packages, seeing what broke and what 
> worked and reinstalling what I wanted to have from ports.  It will 
> work without diving that deep (or crazy) into desktop magic on FreeBSD.
>
> Tim
>
>
> On 2/3/24 11:01 AM, Alexander Burke wrote:
>> Hi Paul,
>>
>> Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I'm starting to get the feeling that 
>> you might not have paid as much attention to the wealth of 
>> documentation on FreeBSD as perhaps you could have. There's nothing 
>> wrong with just diving in, but a bit of guidance in unfamiliar waters 
>> is never a bad thing!
>>
>> The most general/basic advice is here; in this case, jump to step 9:
>> https://freebsdfoundation.org/setting-up-a-desktop-environment-from-scratch/ 
>>
>>
>> Going up a notch in detail is the excellent FreeBSD Handbook. The 
>> Desktop section has separate subsections for the KDE, GNOME, XFCE, 
>> MATE, Cinnamon, and LXQT desktop environments. Look around for 
>> reviews and screenshots and pick one; they are listed here in 
>> approximate descending order of popularity:
>> https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/desktop/
>>
>> I also cannot speak highly enough of vermaden's fabulous blog, which 
>> has generally been my first or second port of call when I had 
>> questions before I turned to the mailing lists. Here's his page 
>> collating all of his entries regarding setting up a FreeBSD desktop:
>> https://vermaden.wordpress.com/freebsd-desktop/ (scroll down past the 
>> screenshots)
>>
>> There's also the FreeBSD Forums, which are very searchable:
>> https://forums.freebsd.org/
>>
>> Given your level of experience, I recommend sticking to packages, and 
>> not touching the port system. You can explore the various packages 
>> which exist at Freshports:
>> https://www.freshports.org/
>>
>> Important to remember is that packages are simply precompiled ports. 
>> They're a lot easier to deal with than ports.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Alex
>>
>> On 2024-02-03 15:48, Paul M Foster wrote:
>>> Folks:
>>>
>>> For context, I have a fresh install of version 14. I've made myself 
>>> part of
>>> the wheel and video groups. I've installed drm-kmod, xdm, 
>>> xf86-video-intel,
>>> xfce, xorg and xterm. I've added hald_enable="YES", 
>>> dbus_enable="YES" and
>>> kld_list="i915kms" to /etc/rc.conf.
>>>
>>> At this point, advice diverges significantly. Some sites say I 
>>> should be
>>> able to just run startx and all will be fine. Some want you to run xorg
>>> -configure. Some want you to hack X11 config files.
>>>
>>> What I can tell you is that X won't start with startx. For one 
>>> thing, it
>>> outputs these errors:
>>>
>>> (EE)
>>> Fatal server error:
>>> (EE) no screens found(EE)
>>> (EE)
>>>
>>> Also, for what it's worth, service dbus start works. But service 
>>> hald start
>>> doesn't. The error is:
>>>
>>> hald does not exist in /etc/rc.d or the local startup directories
>>> (/usr/local/etc/rc.d), or is not executable.
>>>
>>> I have no idea how to proceed.
>>>
>>> Paul
>>>
>>