On Thu, 29 Aug 1996, John Ostrowick wrote:

> when i try to start the xserver by running xinit, it works, flashes the
> desktop pattern and the x cursor, then exits with an error message which i
> do not have enough time to read because it then clears the screen.
> 
> ok, now read my lips:
> i cannot afford to spend a few more hours downloading a new copy of the
> x11r6 package in all its 8-meg glory to reinstall it. i presume that xinit
> is broken and that is part of the reason as to why startx is ignoring my
> .xinitrc files. 
> 
> so, can someone send me xinit? 

Not I, but you just _might_ try to be a little nicer when you ask this 
list for help - your "Read my lips" and "cant afford to spend" comments 
make it sound like you have a right to demand our help!

Anyway, try running xinit and redirecting the output (including error) to 
a file so that you can then read the error message _after_ it fails.