On Tue, 3 Nov 2026 20:01:06 -0500 Greg Wooledge <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 03, 2026 at 16:45:40 -0800, Donald MacDougall wrote: > > xterm was already installed so running "startx xterm" does exactly > > as you described. > > Well, that's good news. That means your X server, kernel, and video > driver are all at least in good enough shape to run a basic X server > without any fancy crap going on. > > This means that whatever the problem is, it's either at the > application level (XFCE and company), or it's some sort of driver > issue that only happens when an application tries to do something > fancy. > > After this point, unfortunately it may get a lot harder to get > additional clues. I'm hoping someone who knows XFCE, or video driver > issues in general, can help out. > I've run Xfce4 for many years, since the introduction of Gnome3, but I've never had startup trouble with it, so I can't help. Whenever X failed to start, there was always an obvious clue in the X log e.g. 'failed to find any screens' or some such. Video drivers? Just throw everything possible at it and when it finally works, use lsmod to see what is actually used. With xterm working, I'd probably install another few trial windowing things such as Lxde and a window manager or two, along with gdm3 (big and fat and ugly but very versatile, good for debugging). -- Joe
