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6. X Window System Questions

6.1 Installing X

Question:

I didn't install the X Window System during the install. How can I install it now?

Answer:

First, mount your CD-ROM and cd into your RPMS directory. From that point, you will want to follow the directions at our XFree86 Upgrade HOWTO

6.2 Black screen while starting X

Question:

I run startx and get a black screen. What do I do?

Answer:

To get out of the black screen mode, try typing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace. This keystroke combination should cause the X-server to exit if possible. If that does not work, you may need to hard reboot the system. After the system, has come up you should make certain that all your video hardware is compatible. Check the Hardware Compatibility List at:

http://www.redhat.com/support/hardware/index.html

Also, make sure that you have the latest version of XFree86 from http://www.redhat.com/errata.

We have an update HOWTO for XFree86 located at: http://www.redhat.com/support/resources/howto/XFree86-upgrade/XFree86-upgrade.html

It is possible that your video card or monitor was not configured correctly. You may need to reconfigure the hardware. To do this, log in as root and run either: 

        Xconfigurator
         or
        XF86Setup
and specify the type of hardware that you are using. Then try running startx again.

6.3 errno 111 when starting X

Question:

When I run startx, I get errno 111. What does this mean?

Answer:

This is a message from an X-client (any program running on your XFree86 X-server, for example the window manager) telling you that it tried to connect to the X-server, but failed to do so for "some" reason. You generally only see the last few lines of the error message. For the entire message (to help troubleshoot this issue) type: 

 
        X -probeonly >& startx.out

This will create a file called start.out which contains the complete error message.

6.4 Getting X to start on boot

Question:

How do I have X start up at boot versus having to type startx every time?

Answer:

To enable X to be running at boot time, and you using the xdm to log in, you need to change the file /etc/inittab.

Edit your /etc/inittab file. Replace this line: 

id:3:initdefault:

With this one: 

id:5:initdefault:

Save your changes, and reboot the machine. {Note you could also manually change init levels to 5 but we find that rebooting the machine is actually less error prone.}

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