After a successful build and installation, I get this error message on subsequent reboots:

"I cannot start the x server (your graphical interface). It is likely that it is not set up correctly. Would you like to view the x server output to diagnose the problem?"

I can then view the output, and then some more detailed log messages, but can't make sense out of it (I'm new to Linux). I am then dumped to a linux prompt, and have never made it to X Windows, or MythTV.

I tried installing the nVidia drivers to no avail. I searched for this problem in the forum and have seen others posting it, but no clear solutions, and no one with similar hardware to mine.

Any suggested course of action? It would be greatly appreciated...

Hardware:

ASUS P5WD2 Motherboard
Intel Pentium D 930 Processor
nVidia 7300 GS Video Card
pcHDTV 3000 PCI Capture Card
VGA Monitor

Hi atfatf,

With out details, I am going to assume R5B7. I have had issues if you select boot splash and the reboot. Try checking the XF86Config-4 Driver as it should be "nvidia". You can also try "vesa"

With a pvr350 and doing tv out you, I have seen issues with the fb

As root
Do a killall gdm then after your edits, do startx to test. If you get a gray screen that is good. a control c will stop it and the run gdm.

Hope this at least gives you some ideas.
Mike

Yeah you are right: R5B7

Thanks - I'll give that a try.

Any other input will still be greatly appreciated.

Hi atfatf,

It is a fixable issue but can be a bit daunting for someone new. No problem.
When the xserver error message comes up just get out of it as you need to get to a command line as root. Login so you have the #
do:
nano -w /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
use the arrow keys (pg up / dwn also )to navigate to where it says Device. A little further you should see something simular to this,
# The following line is auto-generated by KNOPPIX mkxf86config
# Driver "savage"
# Driver "sis"
# Driver "ati"
Driver "nvidia"
# Driver "vesa"
and depending on your card, a driver simular to my samples. The "vesa" is kind of a generic and will usually work with most any video card but not the best performance.

Follow the steps earlier,
# killall gdm
# startx (looking for a gray screen)
If you are local on the KM box, you would need to do ctl alt bkspace to kill it. ctl c is a normal terminate command but may not always work in X.
If you get the gray screen, then
# gdm (to start the xserver and system.. you can tweak more after )

Let us know what your error messages are just before it complains Fatal !

Mike

Wow - that worked great. I changed nvidia to vesa, if that's what you were suggesting. Thanks for the info. So far so good with getting into x. I'll have to see if it goes straught there on the next reboot.

Hi atfatf,

Just to make you aware, the vesa driver isn't fully optomized for your card since it is generic in nature. You way want to play with different drivers down the road but I think the nVidia 7300 GS Video Card you mentioned may be a little advanced. Maybe drop back to an earlier nvdia card, I use a FX5200 and it looks nice.

However, enjoy what you already have working and consider it a great, fun learning experience also
Mike

The kernel source probably wasn't fully untar'd. You need to untar it and run the script to install the driver.

_________________
cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

Thanks, folks, for more suggestions. This has been a good learning experience for me. Now all I need to do is get my machine on the net, and my pcHDTV up and running.

Hi atfatf,

If you are planning on HD you will definetly need a "fine tuned" video to get good play out. Network is easy, as root # netcardconfig should get you going.

Have agreat day!
Mike

So I ran the code suggested by cesman:



And it said the driver was already installed.

Then I went into the /etc and changed the driver from vesa back to nvidia, and I still get the "I cannot start the xserver" message after reboot. I am now connected to the net if that helps.

Any new suggestions greatly appreciated.

Hi atfatf,
Hey you are starting to get pretty good at moving around, switching drivers, that's great. Since you are on a network, if you can ssh into your KM box, do so as it is much easier to play with the xserver.

ESC out of the frontend, Do an alt x to open a terminal, then do lspci and look for a line simular:

0000:01:0b.0 Multimedia video controller: Internext Compression Inc iTVC15 MPEG-2 Encoder (rev 01)

Now switch into root as a user and do nano /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
look for a line simular:
### output of lspci is hex, so add a preceding "0x" to the BusID (ignore the 0x stuff)
BusID "PCI:1:11:0"

Notice the two Blue items and note that they are the same value. One is base 10 and one is base hex, a=10, b=11, c=12, etc. Make the value of the XF file = the value display for iTV.

Here is where the external connect would be nice, save your edit, exit and the do killall gdm This will kill the gui and you will need to log back in as root as you are in a console now. do startx. if all is well, you should see a gray screen come up. Use ctl alt backspace to kill it. If this is true, do gdm. If remote you will see any errors, and if good, do ctl c to kill it. Then do gdm&

Clear as mud?
Mike

You may need to force it, using the -force option, if you have a partial or damaged install for some reason.

If you've made changes to your XF86Config-4 that you want to keep, make sure to save that file somewhere before rerunning the install script. Otherwise this is a safe thing to do just to be sure that the driver is good.

Great - looks like I'll have my work cut out for me tonight.

I do remember, the -force command was suggested by the system to force reinstallation, but I didn't think it was neccessary. I'll give that a try and the other suggestions too.

You'll hear from me this evening!

Hey mjl. Thanks for the in-depth replies.

I tried what you said, and here's what happened:



The line on my system looked like this:

0000:01:01.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Winfast TV2000 XP (rev 05)

The following line read:

0000:01:01.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant: Unknown device 8802 (rev 05)

and further down was:

0000:05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation: Unknown device 01df (reva1)

As for this:



There was no line similar to that in my XF86Config-4 file. Also there were no base hex letters in the first line.

Perhaps this sheds some light on what's going wrong?

P.S. I tried a forced reinstall of the nVidia driver, and got the same unsuccessful results at reboot.

Hi atfatf,

My appologies, somehow I became slightly derailed thinking pvr-350 and then it went away from your problem. After seeing your lspci info, the moment of embarrassment ocurred.. Reviewed your original post and I see a pcHDTV 3000 PCI Capture Card.

That is a different animal, my XF86Config-4 looks like:

Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "All"
BoardName "All"
# BusID "PCI:1:0:0"

and
DefaultColorDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

This gives me HD (pchd3000) on a computer monitor with an older FX5200 pci card.

I don't know if nVidia Corporation: Unknown device 01df (reva1) will cause any issue. You can try and see if it works.

However, thanks for letting me ramble on
Mike