Re: No Screens found

[Donald Spoon <dspoon@astcomm.net>]

Uwe Heinz Rudi Dippel wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Donald Spoon
> To: debian user
> Sent: 9/20/03 10:39 AM
> Subject: Re: No Screens found
>
> The above lines marked (WW) remind me of a similar error message I used 
> to get when I was missing some key fonts packages.  I would get a "No 
> Screens Found" error and X wouldn't start.  This used to be a packaging 
> problem back in the pre-Woody days, but I haven't heard of it 
> recently... until now.  Maybe you are missing a font package or have not
> completely installed it... 
>
> Newbie (on Debian). Out of the box, fresh, new partitions, tasksel.
> Actually, you might be right, I was assuming something similar, when I
> started X after the vanilla-install: Then the message was different: It
> couldn't write XF86Config; some .../X was missing. I found out that there
> was simply no XFree86, but *some* packets were there (xf86config ran without
> a hitch !). update / upgrade and even -f  went without identifying a
> problem. Searching google I got the impression some packet was missing.
> Someone suggested tasksel, but X didn't show up any more as alternative to
> be selected (as compared to earlier). Then I apt-get that xfree86-common -
> or so - and then only it could write the XF86Config. That was actually when
> I thought of a packaging problem, since there were no error messages;
> tasksel is straightforward.
>
> What would now be the suggestion to a newbie ? I'd be tempted to a fresh
> install, but that sounds so Micro$oft-like. And if I still get it ? Or a
> problem on the mirror ? (sunsite, Switzerland) ?
> Maybe you could give some tips on what to check in case of a new install ?
>
>
> I have the following fonts packages installed here:
>
> xfonts-base
> xfonts-100dpi
> xfonts-75dpi
> xfonts-scalable
>
> I'll try, but maybe I wasn't clear. The other card (half-spoiled RIVA TNT2)
> at least produced the grey hatched background and the mouse-cross, then I
> had to kill it (Ctrl-Alt-Backslash).
>
> Thanks,
>
> Uwe

I didn't catch just how you originally installed Debian.  If it was from 
CDs, it is possible you have an old set depending on just how you got 
the CDs.  Assuming you have apt-get setup to pull packages off the 
internet from a Debian source site (mirror), it would probably be 
prudent to first upgrade ALL your packages to the most recent versions 
available by doing the following:

"apt-get update"
"apt-get dist-upgrade"

This might be enough to get all the packages installed and get X 
working... dunno.

If it still isn't working, you can do a "re-install" of just X by using 
All of this is assuming you have apt-get setup to pull packages off the 
internet from a Debian source site (mirror).the commands:

"apt-get update"
"apt-get install --reinstall x-window-system"

This should pull in any missing packages.

Watch the process and make note of any errors in pulling down and 
installing the packages.  If you have problems, doing an "apt-get -f 
install" will usually break you out of the log-jam.  The actual error 
messages you get are MOST helpful in diagnosing problems.

I still think you are missing some key packages... we just need to find 
out which ones.

Cheers,
-Don Spoon-