<snip>
> > >When I try to [startx] even as root I get:
> > >
> > >    /dev/ttyE0: 648x480 (1280bytes/line) 16bit offset=0
> > >    use RAW XT keyboard, /dev/ttyE0
> > >    X connection to :0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).
>
> > >Another thing of note is before I decided to start over I tried to get 
>Xdm
> > >running (I discovered later that it a known issue that it doesnt work). 
>  I
> > >cant remember if I tried to fire X up after trying Xdm but before 
>starting
> > >with a clean reinstall.  Is it possible that this clobbered something 
>that
> > >survives reboots and reinstalls?
>
> > I went back and added comp.tgz so I could backtrace Xhcp.core.  Heres 
>what I
> > got:
> >
> >     GNU gdb 5.0nb1
> >     Copyright 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
> >     GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License, and 
>you
> > are
> >     welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under certain
> > conditions.
> >     Type "show copying" to see the conditions.
> >     There is absolutely no warranty for GDB.  Type "show warranty" for
> > details.
> >     This GDB was configured as "mipsel--netbsd"...(no debugging symbols
> > found)...
> >     Core was generated by `Xhpc'.
> >     Program terminated with signal 11, Segmentation fault.
> >     Reading symbols from /usr/libexec/ld.elf_so...done.
> >     Loaded symbols for /usr/libexec/ld.elf_so
> >     Reading symbols from /usr/lib/libz.so.0...done.
> >     Loaded symbols for /usr/lib/libz.so.0
> >     Reading symbols from /usr/lib/libm.so.0...done.
> >     Loaded symbols for /usr/lib/libm.so.0
> >     Reading symbols from /usr/lib/libc.so.12...done.
> >     Loaded symbols for /usr/lib/libc.so.12
> >     #0  0x41cc18 in hpcSetDisplayMode ()
> >     (gdb) bt
> >     #0  0x41cc18 in hpcSetDisplayMode ()
> >     #1  0x41cc18 in hpcSetDisplayMode ()
> >     #2  0x41cc18 in hpcSetDisplayMode ()
> >     #3  0x41cc18 in hpcSetDisplayMode ()
> >     #4  0x41cc18 in hpcSetDisplayMode ()
> >     #5  0x41cc18 in hpcSetDisplayMode ()
> >     .
> >     .
> >     .
> >
> > John
>
>   hpcSetDisplayMode fails to set the display mode, then calls hpcError
>which tries to set the display mode, also failing...
>
>   The error code at least is trying to set the mode on stderr, so I would
>guess that the problem is that stderr no longer points to the display.  I
>would further speculate that your attempt to get Xdm running included
>somehow the modification of a configuration file (potentially in your home
>directory) that you restored in the new setup that redirects stderr.  If
>you didn't restore anything, I don't have an easy guess.
>
>   This shouldn't crash the machine. It could be that the machine is not
>actually hung but is stuck in graphics mode.  Did you try switching
>console or typing "reboot"?  I have also seen my Clio hang on heavy
>interrupts, which could potentially be related.
>
>
>Matthew Orgass
>darkstar@city-net.com
>

As it turns out all I needed to do is add the [xfont.tgz] set.  I had been 
certain I had X running without that set before, but I guess I was wrong.

Thanks for the help,

    John

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