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Bug#239278: xserver-xfree86: Missing dependency on cursor package?



Branden Robinson wrote:

tag 239278 + moreinfo
thanks

On Sun, Mar 21, 2004 at 04:29:24PM -0800, David Liontooth wrote:
Package: xserver-xfree86
Version: 4.3.0-5
Severity: normal
Tags: sid

After upgrading XFree86 from 4.2 to 4.3.0-5, I was unable to start X11; it exited
with the following error: "could not open default font 'cursor'". A quick google
and I found someone who had solved this problem by reinstalling artwiz-cursor. I
didn't have that installed already, but installing it fixed my problem (and I got
a cool cursor). I imagine I could have used a different cursor package. Is this
a missing dependency?

-- Package-specific info:
Contents of /var/lib/xfree86/X.roster:
xserver-xfree86

X server symlink status:
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root           20 Feb 18 02:44 /etc/X11/X -> /usr/bin/X11/XFree86
-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root      1743308 Mar  4 21:35 /usr/bin/X11/XFree86
/etc/X11/X target unchanged from checksum in /var/lib/xfree86/X.md5sum.

Contents of /var/lib/xfree86/XF86Config-4.roster:
xserver-xfree86

Did you remove a lot of information from this report?
I plead guilty on this count. I removed it in the belief that reams of configuration information about stuff that was working fine wasn't needed.

Also, when the X server failed, you should have seen a message that
looked like this:

#ifdef DEBIAN
	    FatalError("could not open default cursor font '%s';\n"
"the X server's font paths might be misconfigured, remote font server(s)\n"
"may be unreachable, and/or local fonts may not be installed or are not\n"
"configured correctly.\n"
"\n"
"People inexperienced with the X Window System should have either the\n"
"\"x-window-system\" or \"x-window-system-core\" packages installed.\n"
"# apt-get install x-window-system-core\n"
"# apt-get install x-window-system\n"
"\n"
"Useful commands to run include:\n"
"$ dpkg --status xserver-common\n"
"$ dpkg --status xfonts-base\n"
"$ zmore /usr/share/doc/xfree86-common/FAQ.gz", defaultCursorFont);

(Please mentally translate the above C string into proper English.)

Did you not see the above?

Indeed I did! Now, please consider that installing artwiz-cursor solved my problem, so it's slightly disconcerting to be referred to an error message that tells me in very general terms about the x-windows system, which you will be the first to admit is an awe-inspiring pile of code, right up there with St. Paul's Cathedral.

If there is not a missing dependency, I retract the report and will amuse myself in figuring out what went wrong. But couldn't we say something more helpful to someone who runs into this problem? Error messages that say "Something went wrong with this program; why don't you figure it all out and then fix it?" don't meet that immediate need for a well-defined way forward.

Cheers,
David











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