Member Avatar for tux4life

Hello, first of all I'm not a Unix expert at all (otherwise I wasn't asking this question), but I'm having some trouble starting my X-Server ...

When I type the following: startx or X I get the following error message(s):

...

No core pointer

Fatal server error: Failed to initialize core devices

...

Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.

The contents of the "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" log file:

(II) I810(0): xf86UnbindGARTMemory: unbind key 7
(II) I810(0): xf86UnbindGARTMemory: unbind key 8
(II) I810(0): xf86UnbindGARTMemory: unbind key 9

I'm using FreeBSD 6.0 (Yes, I know it starts getting dated)
(My computer: Dell OptiPlex GX110, I'm using an USB mouse)

Thanks in advance !

P.S.: Sorry if my English is bad, my native language is Dutch...

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jbennet

Dani AI

Generated

Good catch by to ask about an xorg.conf and good pointer from to the handbook — on FreeBSD the usual root cause for the “no core pointer / failed to initialize core devices” class of failure is that the X server never found a usable pointer device, or the device configured in xorg.conf could not be opened. A short checklist that covers the typical fixes follows.

  1. Create a base config and test it. Run the server’s configure routine as root to generate a starting file (it writes /root/xorg.conf.new), then test that file before installing it. (x.org)

  2. Ensure X actually has a core pointer and keyboard entry. On older FreeBSD setups X is commonly pointed at the sysmouse interface provided by the moused daemon; if you use that, the InputDevice should use the SysMouse type and point at /dev/sysmouse. If you want moused to run at boot, enable it in rc.conf so the virtual device exists for X to open. (man.freebsd.org)

A minimal example (adapt identifiers / driver names for your hardware):

Section "Device"
    Identifier "IntelI810"
    Driver     "i810"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Mouse0"
    Driver     "mouse"
    Option     "Protocol"   "SysMouse"
    Option     "Device"     "/dev/sysmouse"
    Option     "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Keyboard0"
    Driver     "kbd"
    Option     "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "DefaultLayout"
    Screen     "DefaultScreen"
    InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice "Mouse0"    "CorePointer"
EndSection

If X still fails, check /var/log/Xorg.0.log for messages like “cannot open input device” or “No core pointer registered” and verify the device node exists and the kernel module / daemon for that device is loaded. The xorg.conf/ServerLayout/InputDevice rules and the CorePointer/CoreKeyboard options are defined in the xorg.conf manpage if you need detail on syntax. (man.freebsd.org)

Troubleshooting notes: try both using moused + /dev/sysmouse (recommended for syscons setups) and, if you prefer, point X directly at the kernel USB/PS2 device node (ums, psm, or /dev/input/* depending on your system). If a generated config lists the wrong device path, edit the InputDevice section to match what you see in /dev and in dmesg.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Comatose

what does your xorg.conf look like? (can be found I think in /etc/X11/xorg.conf, not 100% sure about where it is in BSD)

Member Avatar for tux4life

what does your xorg.conf look like? (can be found I think in /etc/X11/xorg.conf, not 100% sure about where it is in BSD)

The problem was: I had no 'xorg.conf' file ...

My problem is solved now, thank you to both of you !

Member Avatar for jbennet

Yeah using the steps in the handbook link i posted you should be able to generate a template and write and test a xorg.conf

FreeBSD doesnt automatically configure Xorg like many linux distributions do.

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