dist-upgrade installs xorg, GUI fails to start

[Craig Hagerman <craighagerman@gmail.com>]

Hi,

I did apt-get update, apt-get dist-upgrade a couple days ago. I got
some message about setting up xorg and did I want to let it
automatically detect my monitor and mouse. I said yes. I just
installed a new HD and restarted.... to find that my GUI system is
f**ked.

The start up messages proceed as normal until the stage where the x
server is started. The nvidia logo comes up briefly 2 or 3 times and
then a blue screen error message comes up saying:

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 diagonose the problem?

Problem is, I hadn't noticed that I was switching from xfree86 to
xorg. I have never used xorg and know nothing about it. Can someone
give me some guidance here - why is my system not working and more
importantly, what can I do to set it up correctly.

I LOVE the apt-get system, but it does lure me into a false sense of
security every so often and then I end up with a total screw up like
this.

Craig