Dang it! What's up with X?

[get sirius]

I've had versions 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 all up and running with X with no problems in the past. So I decided to do a fresh install of 1.4-RC3, again from a plain stage 1 download, and, again, it all went without a hitch through configuring grub. Then I emerged kde (yep, all of it!), and aside from a momentary snag with libvorbis, which I took care of, that went smoothly also. Then I ran xf86config and used the same mouse configuration that I've used in the past (the whole system is unchanged from previous incarnations with Gentoo).

When I ran "startx," the error message was basically that the mouse init failed; so X stopped.

Section "Input Device"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
That's how my XF86Config reads; that's what always worked before.

So I ran a search in the forums for mouse problems, ran across a recommendation from RAC to try "/dev/usbmouse". Same result; same error listed.

By the way, my kernel config is just the way it's supposed to be, using Gentoo-sources. And I've got the following modules loading in the following order: input, hid, usb-uhci, mousedev.

Now I need suggestions; I am out of ideas.

[CaveDweller]

Try adding AllowMouseOpenFail to the "ServerFlags" section of your XF86Config.

I trust /dev/input/mice is the correct device.

Cheers,
Mark
_________________
Oracle on VMS: All your global page are belong to us.

[get sirius]

Does AllowMouseOpenFail just allow X to start with no core pointer?

[easykill]

i had the same problem, it turned out that the usb drivers weren't getting loaded correctly. I rebuilt the kernel with usb as built in, installed, and it all worked then.

Then, I rebuilt it as modules, and it worked. My guess is that you forgot some setting in the kernel stuff for usb (I'm pretty sure i did)....try rebuilding your kernel. Make sure you have /dev/input/mice and all that stuff...

[get sirius]

Well, when I first had the problem, I second-guessed myself, figuring that I must have left something out of the kernel config. So I went back to check my menuconfig; everything was as it should be except that I did see a couple of small things (not related) that I wanted to change. I changed them and made a new bzImage.

As applies to USB, my kernel is configured as follows:under Input Core Support <m>input core support, and <m>mouse support; under USB Support [*]support for USB, [*]preliminary USB device filesystem, <m>UHCI (P2x4, VIA), <m>USB human interface device, and [*]HID input layer support.

As I said earlier, I have tried to RTFM, as it were, if for no other reason just to cover my butt from Kanuslupus jumping all over it because I hadn't searched for solutions before clogging up the forums with an inane question that I could have figured out for myself if only I had looked!

Some problems I know, or can figure out, how to take care of; this has me stumped and I'm on the verge of starting over completely from square one.

[get sirius]

I dunno. Maybe I do need to have Kanuslupus jump on me for not having done my homework. But I thought I had....

[CL]

hmmm...try to unplug your mouse and plug it back in and then tell us what dmesg has to say.
And do a lsmod and tell us what that says too.

[get sirius]

Did everything that CL suggested; all was as it should be. I wrote all the details down and was prepared to enter them in my next post today, when I got home from work. But I was thinking of the problem today at work, convinced that the problem must be related to a defunct symlink or something similar. When I got home from work, I booted up, ran "startx," and got the usual NO GO! error screen. For some reason, however, the error message, such as it was, REALLY caught my eye. I realized that my problem was almost literally staring me in the face! So I ls'd /dev, and there was usbmouse, but when I nano'd /etc/X11/XF86Config, and paged down to the mouse section, I was looking at "dev/usbmouse". Spot it? I had left off the initial /, so of course the system was trying to tell me that there was no such file!

I am greatly chagrined, deeply embarrassed, etc, etc.

I corrected my "aw shoot!", ran "startx", and of course it started right up. My apologies to everyone who tried to help. I'm not yet the Linux mechanic I'd like to be.

[Pluvius]

Yes, but you solved it yourself and learned a valuable lesson. Your knowledge of Linux and X just jumped a notch on the learning curve.