Thinkpad T420 Cannot startx

tianqingfei · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2011 Posts: 14

Hi, all

I use nvidia-config to generate my xorg.conf file,

and I have disabled dri and dri2.

Then, there is following errors:

No devices found.

I have checked my PCI device, it seems using PCI:*(0:0:2:0)
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　and there is the other PCI (0:1:0:0)

Is that reason? What should I do?

Gusar · Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 2:59 pm Post subject:

You highly likely have an Optimus machine. Which means your main graphic card will be intel. So install xf86-video-intel and remove xorg.conf. Then, for the Nvidia card, inform yourself about Bumblebee.

tianqingfei · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2011 Posts: 14

DirtyHairy · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 2:10 pm Post subject:

Have you activated the intel framebuffer driver with KMS in the kernel config? I am pretty sure the X11 driver won't work without it on sandybridge. Also, you should try without a xorg.conf first and only create one if you need to change the default for some items (keyboard and touchpad are good candidates).

Gusar · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 2:23 pm Post subject:

Don't *ever* use Xorg -configure. Also, don't *ever* use nvidia-xconfig. Instead, do what DirtyHairy says: Make sure KMS is activated in the kernel and remove xorg.conf. If it still doesn't work, use pastebin to show us your /var/log/Xorg.0.log

DirtyHairy · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 2:48 pm Post subject:

For the record, what you are looking for in your kernel configuration is

tianqingfei · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2011 Posts: 14

DirtyHairy · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:28 pm Post subject:

I don't want to keep you from doing it, but rebuilding your system is a unnecessary waste of time and will not fix your problem

Does the intel KMS driver work, i.e., do you get the high-res framebuffer? What does

Gusar · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:50 pm Post subject:

tianqingfei · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2011 Posts: 14

To DirtyHairy,
I can see a graphic login UI, but my keyboard and mouse( touch pad) doesn't work.

So,

I will have a try again: Using nvidia graphic card only, setting in bios

emerge -C gnome-light

make sure setting in make.conf
VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia"
and
emerge --update --deep --newuse world

emerge gnome

To Gusar

Bios setting has
Nvidia,
Intel
Optimus

Three choice. I have set it to Nvidia.

Gusar · Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 1:04 pm Post subject:

DirtyHairy · Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 1:25 pm Post subject:

The mouse and keyboard problem is unrelated to video. Can you post your Xorg.0.log?

tianqingfei · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2011 Posts: 14

tianqingfei · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2011 Posts: 14

And I find some interesting thing that

1 the right Alt button could not be used.
2 the windows button could be used to switch between different console but the ctrl_alt_f1--7 doesn't work as I expected.

I don't know why.

Jaglover · Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:07 pm Post subject:

DirtyHairy · Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:19 pm Post subject:

Are you saying that, even on a plain terminal, using ctrl-alt-fx does not switch VTs? If you can neither log on remotely not switch VTs once X has started, as a last resort you can restart and then, when init starts, press i to activate interactive boot and skip over the xdm service. If you have disabled interactive boot, you can reenable it in /etc/rc.

tianqingfei · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2011 Posts: 14

And do you ever mean that I do not need to generate xorg.conf to startx?

If I installed Xorg and gnome, and configure them as gentoo.org said. ( Do not generate xorg.config)

I could startx directly?

Jaglover · Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:23 pm Post subject:

It depends on driver used, with nvidia proprietary driver you need minimal xorg.conf. With nouveau or intel you do not need it. Please note, kernel configuration is different when you use blob.
_________________
My Gentoo installation notes.
Please learn how to denote units correctly!

tianqingfei · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2011 Posts: 14

Yesterday night, I

1 set bois using nvidia card only
2 emerge nvidia-drivers
4 modify make.conf: VIDEO_CARDS="nouveau"
5 emerge -C gnome-light
6 emerge gnome

When I login, system said
cannot load dri, vesa and fbdev modules.

It seems I didn't emerge nvidia-drivers.

When I use the xorg.conf.new which is generated by Xorg -configure,
my laptop splashed a nvidia logo and then change to black screen.
No response to keyboard and mouse.

I have check the xorg.conf.new before apply it.
It configured with nvidia card driver. Keyboard and mouse driver use the default.

Did I need to rebuild xorg?

How could I do?

And I don't know how to configure ssh server, anyone could help me to give me a guide doc or a webpage about that?

Jaglover · Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:04 pm Post subject:

2. OK, but you should have set VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia" and the driver would have been installed for you. If you emerge without --oneshot the package will be recorded in world file as an user application, which is not recommended nor desirable.
3. See (2)
4. You set nouveau if you want nouveau friver and nvidia if you want nVidia proprietary drivers.

chithanh · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 12:33 am Post subject:

X -configure never works with KMS, don't use it. For Intel you don't need xorg.conf anyway. Just start gdm or whatever login manager you want to use.

Most Lenovo notebooks have a BIOS option to turn off Optimus and use only discrete graphics.

DirtyHairy · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 8:19 am Post subject:

Also, you can add the SSH server to your default runlevel by doing "eselect rc add sshd default". This way, it will start up every time you boot the machine.

tianqingfei · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2011 Posts: 14

Hi, all.
Thank you for you attention.

I have setup the sshd in my T420.

following is my make.conf

RazielFMX · l33t Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 835 Location: NY, USA

As has been stated several times, get rid of your Xorg.conf file. You do not need it. Do not use Xorg -configure, it will break your system with modern xorg.

In your make.conf, replace your input devices with this:

tianqingfei · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2011 Posts: 14

Thank you for your great help!

But there is still a few problem about ssh.

[quote=Jaglover] /etc/init.d/sshd start. After that you should be able to log on from another computer using your username and su to root if needed.[/quote]

I can not su root.
Firstly I use a user in adm group, the su command was denied.
Then, I use usrmod -g root xx to add the user to root group, the su - command still is denied.