Many thanks to all who replied; both to the reflector and directly. I would like to comment on all the replies in one message. To those of you who took the time to answer, you will see my reply to your particular comments in one of the points.
(1) My only config file is /etc/X11/XF86Config. And there is a link to it in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11 (2) When running startx manually, it would dump both (**) lines and (--) lines. The (--) lines always stated that something was delete (a synonym for ignored I assume). So I assume it is indeed picking up the config file. See end of this message. (3) In XF86Free I have tried each and every given monitor as well as entering in the hsync and vsync as 30-58 and 50-90 respectively. NADA, always the connect error 11 from XF86Setup, or the "no screens found" if starting X manually. (4) Yes, I got two replies to an earlier posting that referred to adding a link. One said to "ln -s /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86Free /etc/X11/X" The other to "ln -s /usr/X11R6/bin/XF64_Mach64 /etc/X11/X In retrospect, given the purpose of /etc, they don't make sense but at that point I tried it anyway. There was no XF86Free in any of the directories that I have searched through so far. (5) Regarding runlevel 5. Yes, I have come from a "red hat" distro by virtue of playing with Mandrake. I will try setting it back to 2. In the short term I can certainly live with starting X manually, but ultimately I want it to boot to GUI directly. (6) Yes, why I am trying Debian is precisely that reason -- updating is purportedly much easier than in other distros. However, it would be nice to get it working!! And finally (if you will permit me a little political incorrectness and putting tongue firmly in cheek)... My wife said that all things considered she would rather see me playing with "Debbie Anne" than with "Mandrake". Ok... that was lame, but she did say it! Again thanks to all, I will keep plugging. But any additional ideas still welcome -rick from "startx 2> xlog.log ----- xlog.log ----- XFree86 Version 3.3.6 / X Window System (protocol Version 11, revision 0, vendor release 6300) Release Date: January 8 2000 If the server is older than 6-12 months, or if your card is newer than the above date, look for a newer version before reporting problems. (see http://www.XFree86.Org/FAQ) Operating System: Linux 2.2.14-va.4.4-i586 i686 [ELF] Configured drivers: Mach64: accelerated server for ATI Mach64 graphics adaptors (Patchlevel 1) (using VT number 7) XF86Config: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config (**) stands for supplied, (--) stands for probed/default values (**) XKB: keymap: "xfree86(us)" (overrides other XKB settings) (**) Mouse: type: Microsoft, device: /dev/ttyS0, baudrate: 1200 (**) Mouse: buttons: 3 (**) Mach64: Graphics device ID: "ATI" (**) Mach64: Monitor ID: "Icon" (--) Mach64: Mode "640x480" needs vert refresh rate of 100.02 Hz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "800x600" needs hsync freq of 64.02 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1024x768" needs hsync freq of 62.50 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1152x864" needs hsync freq of 62.42 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1280x1024" needs hsync freq of 64.25 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1024x768" needs hsync freq of 70.24 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1152x864" needs hsync freq of 70.88 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1280x1024" needs hsync freq of 74.59 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1600x1200" needs hsync freq of 75.00 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1152x864" needs hsync freq of 76.01 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1280x1024" needs hsync freq of 78.86 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1024x768" needs hsync freq of 80.21 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1280x1024" needs hsync freq of 81.13 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1600x1200" needs hsync freq of 87.50 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1152x864" needs hsync freq of 89.62 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1280x1024" needs hsync freq of 91.15 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1600x1200" needs hsync freq of 93.75 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1600x1200" needs hsync freq of 105.77 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1280x1024" needs hsync freq of 107.16 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1800X1440" needs hsync freq of 96.15 kHz. Deleted. (--) Mach64: Mode "1800X1440" needs hsync freq of 104.52 kHz. Deleted. (**) FontPath set to "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/:unscaled,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic/: unscaled,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/ 75dpi/:unscaled,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Ty pe1/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic/,/usr/ X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/" *** None of the configured devices were detected.*** Fatal server error: no screens found When reporting a problem related to a server crash, please send the full server output, not just the last messages X connection to :0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).