> Thanks a lot for your detailed help ... cleared a lot of things.

But perhaps not enough from the sound of it...

> > Don't use ``X'' to start X.  Use startx.  Here's how I normally start
> > mine:
> > 
> >   startx -- -bpp 16
> 
> Yes, that's what I ususally use to start X.  My XF86Config file is the one
> I use on my Free and OpenBSD partitions on the same machine, and that for
> the same version of XFree86.  SO I am assuming that my XF86Config file is
> working right.  I had tried startx first, but that gave some error of not
> being able to find any screens (I am not on that machine now ... I shall

Strange...  My first thought is that you were running out of virtual
consoles---but that doesn't make sense.  You have at the very least the
one that you are trying to run X from (assuming that you're at the local
console! *grin*), which can be appropriated by the X server.  (If you have
any virtual consoles that are completely unattached, X will open on them,
leaving the text console untouched...)

So...it's probably something else.


My second thought is that the XFree86 config file is hosed somehow.

Is it the same version of XFree86 that you use on your Free/Open BSD
systems?  (Roughly 3.3.6...)

Maybe you have the config file in an odd place?  (Some people like to
stick the X config files in /usr/X11R6/..., but I prefer to keep mine in
/etc/.)  Maybe just a typo in the filename, if you manually copied it
over?  Or do you have some evidence that the X server is at least finding
the file?

Also, I'm not sure what kinds of errors produce what kinds of messages
with X (and I am 30 miles away from my home machine with X
sources...(^&).  Is it possible that you have something like the mouse
misconfigured?  NetBSD sends most mice through the wsmouse(4) device---the
notable exception being serial mice, which the kernel doesn't try to probe
for.


If you could collect the error output from startx, and post that, that
would help.



> > Alternatively, as another person has suggested, you can run XDM (which
> > will let you log in under XDM, at a graphical console, rather than at a
> > normal text login: prompt).  There are three reasons that I don't use XDM:
> > 
> 
> I shall try and see if xdm works here ... but since xdm also calls X,
> and X has problems, will it work ?

I suspect not, since you said that startx failed with complaints about the
screen.


Good luck.


  "I probably don't know what I'm talking about." --rauch@eecs.ukans.edu