Trouble starting X [Was:Re: more info]

[Kent West <westk@acu.edu>]

Dylan Evans wrote:

> when I typed "startx" at the command prompt, it made the same error
> messages it did initially,

<snip>

> [EE] xf860 penserial: cannot open device /dev/input/mice    no such
> device
> [EE] configured mouse: cannot open input device
> [EE] PreInit failed for input device "Configured Mouse"
>
> I have a 5$ optical mouse that is made by MicroInnovations (or maybe
> there's a space in there).  It connects to my ps/2 connector.

Try running "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86" and selecting ps2 as your
mouse type when you get to that question.

> lspci -vv says the following about my network card:
>
> 0000:00:10.0 Ethernet Controller: Realtek semiconductor Co., Ltd.  RTL
> -8139/8139C/8139C+ (Rev 10)
>
Are you including this info because your network is not working? You'd
probably do best to make a separate thread out of this question.

> additionally, when booting, the loader program has my kernel listed as
> 2.41something.  I thought debian 3.1 was the latest version, and I'd
> have 2.6something.  I also saw some error messages in the boot up that
> said things like: "failed to load.  kernel 2.6 required."  did I get
> gypped with the dvds I bought?

I always just use the official Debian CD files/netinst CDs, so I can't
really speak to your DVD quality. However, I doubt that you've been
gypped. I believe 2.4 is the default kernel in Sarge, but you can easily
upgrade to 2.6 if you like. Try:

#aptitude search kernel-image-2.6 | grep k7

for the available 2.6 kernels for the Athlon. If nothing appears, your
DVDs don't have them, and you may want to configure your box to pull the
kernel from the net. Otherwise, if some do appear, pick the one you want
and install it with a command similar to:

#aptitude install kernel-image-2.6.11-1-k7

If you see a message about initrd, make sure that your "/etc/lilo.conf"
file has a line like
initrd=/initrd.img
in the stanza for the new 2.6 kernel. (This assumes that Sarge installed
lilo rather than grub.)

>   And is there a good tutorial/reference to learn how to access all
> your drives, like finding out what's on your floppy, or cd, or
> whatever.  And how to transfer files to a windows partition.
> thanks for your help

Probably, but I can't suggest one. You might do well to Google for this
info. Or, as Martin as mentioned, he has a new book out for Debian
adminstrators that might have all you want (or, then again, it might be
too indepth since it's not for general use issues). See
http://debiansystem.info/.

-- 
Kent