The problem with X not running because of the error "no font 'fixed'" has been around so long that some months ago a I scripted a post-install fixup, based on http://x.cygwin.com/docs/faq/cygwin-x-faq.html#q-error-font-eof
FWIW, here's the output on a machine we installed Cygwin on today. You'll note that most of the theories about the cause of the problem were incorrect in this case: Now trying to workaround the new X installation problem Hmm, /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts exists. So much for that theory. Hmm, /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc exists too. So much for that theory. Hmm, /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc had plenty of fonts ( 446, actually) Checking for /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts mount point... D:\cygwin\usr\X11R6\lib\X11\fonts on /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts type system (binmo de) Unmounting /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts in preparation for fix Now re-running setup: you will need to choose RE-INSTALL for each of the X11 font sets (about 4 sets) under the X11 category. ****************************************************************** Lets try starting X to see if it now works. If you have to kill any of these attempts, you can continue from where you left off by using the try-X script. ****************************************************************** .... etc. So, the FAQ entry's theories don't seem to match the real cause, whatever that may be. I assume this problem has been affecting everyone, for months now, not just us? Or have I missed something? Here's the fixup script that generates the above output. The "yorn" script just asks for and examines a y/n answer. ------------------------ fixup-X ---------------------------- #!/bin/sh # # As of about June 2004, every Cygwin installation installs a broken # version of X. # # Workaround is as per the FAQ: # http://x.cygwin.com/docs/faq/cygwin-x-faq.html#q-error-font-eof # This is an attempt to automate the workaround as far as possible. # # Author: Luke Kendall # DONE_PROOF=/etc/profile.d/.X-fixed # Same as in try-X MYNAME=`basename $0` XFONTDIR=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts if [ -s $DONE_PROOF ] then echo "$MYNAME: $DONE_PROOF indicates X11 has already been fixed." if yorn "do you really want to do it again" then : else exit 0 fi fi if [ ! -d $XFONTDIR ] then echo "Strange but kind of good: as expected, $XFONTDIR did not exist" else echo "Hmm, $XFONTDIR exists. So much for that theory." if [ ! -d $XFONTDIR/misc ] then echo "Not unexpected, $XFONTDIR/misc did not exist" else echo "Hmm, $XFONTDIR/misc exists too. So much for that theory." NUM=`ls $XFONTDIR/misc | wc -l` if [ $NUM -le 100 ] then echo "As expected, $XFONTDIR/misc had few fonts ($NUM, actually)" else echo "Hmm, $XFONTDIR/misc had plenty of fonts ($NUM, actually)" fi fi fi echo "Checking for $XFONTDIR mount point..." if mount | grep "$XFONTDIR" then echo "Unmounting $XFONTDIR in preparation for fix" umount $XFONTDIR else echo "Hmm, pretty strange, $XFONTDIR wasn't mounted on C:/cygwin$XFONTDIR" fi echo "Now re-running setup: you will need to choose RE-INSTALL for each" echo "of the X11 font sets (about 4 sets) under the X11 category." //samba/install/win32/cygwin/setup.exe echo "******************************************************************" echo "Let's try starting X to see if it now works. If you have to" echo "kill any of these attempts, you can continue from where you left off" echo "by using the try-X script." echo "******************************************************************" $CYG_POST_DIR/try-X ----------------------------- cut here -------------- Regards, luke