Re: Debian, Xwindows, USB Mouse and GeForce 4
> ...
> a webserver. I have installed Debian (v 3.0 r2 i386, the latest
> "Woody") from CD. I have a GeForce4 Ti 4200 and a Logitech Dual Optical
> mouse plugged into my USB port.
>
> When I type 'startx' I get 'Fatal server error'. The error messages are
> ...
I had a similar problem and solved it by getting a later version of X
from one of the backport mirrors. From the other comments I'm assuming
that the problem is with the supplied free driver, and I'm not too sure
what made me upgrade X but I found it easier than trying to install the
proprietary drivers. The disadvantage is that you're then out of sync
with the stable distro, and you may get into dependency problems
(specifically I had problems doing development linked to xlib). Possibly
a moot point with Sarge coming up, though running a server should always
err on the side of caution.
Anyway, there's a list of backport servers at:
www.apt-get.org
Do a package search for "xfree86". Choose a server which looks groovy,
for example backports.org, and add the server line to your
/etc/apt/sources.list file. The server line loooks like this:
deb ftp://linux.upsa.es/pub/XFREE4.3/ ./
If you now do a "apt-get update" and "apt-get dist-upgrade" it'll
upgrade every package held by the backport source, so you may want to
choose a backport source which only holds the package you want. Once
you've updated that package, you could then remove the backport source
from sources.list and do another "apt-get update" and "apt-get
dist-upgrade". The updated packages are held back in future upgrades.
If you have a broadband connection, you may want to consider installing
Sarge (the next release of Debian). That's what I did, and it's lovely
and great (many many thanks to all the contributors). If you do want to
go to Sarge, download the net-installer from:
http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimage-testing/daily/
And install from that CD. It worked great for me.
Ade
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