Problems after startx: blank screen and no mouse

[Serafim3k]

Hello there!

I am new to backtrack and to the backtrack forums. I hope I can learn and contribute a lot here, but i first need to figure out how to get everything working I've got some history with fedora and debian so i'm not completey new to linux.

I have installed Backtrack 4 r2 on a flash drive to have a persistent backtrack.

Allmost everything went well, i just have the problem that when i start the option: persistent live cd (which is actually a flash driver) i don't have no screen and my mouse doesn't work.

I found a temporary fix for the screen by using the fix-vesa command. I probably have to install the drivers for my ati hd radeon 4870. I would really love to do that, but i also have the issue of a not working mouse.

I have two mouses, they both work on windows 7 and fedora 13.
When i start using framebuffer (1024x768) my mouse works fine.

Can someone help me out with this problem?

I'd be happy to give the information you need so you can help me a step further.

Thanks in advance!

-Serafim3k

[ThePistonDoctor]

The screen issue may be able to be resolved with

Xorg -configure

(I think that's it) before starting X server. I can't say much for the mouse yet.

[iproute]

EDIT: after the xorg --configure I believe you may need to run X -config /root/xorg.conf.new or something similar to test it. Never had to do it in backtrack. If it doesnt work after configure, there should be a log file you can check. Building Xorg from source has sometimes been a pain in gentoo for me. gets easier to get things working every time I do. Not sure how different the xorg server is in backtrack, as it has been mostly reliable for me. Also if you have radeon HD4870, it should be worthwhile to get the ATI proprietary drivers on there for cpyrit-stream, and maybe even OCLhashcat.

[ThePistonDoctor]

EDIT: after the xorg --configure I believe you may need to run X -config /root/xorg.conf.new or something similar to test it. Never had to do it in backtrack. If it doesnt work after configure, there should be a log file you can check. Building Xorg from source has sometimes been a pain in gentoo for me. gets easier to get things working every time I do. Not sure how different the xorg server is in backtrack, as it has been mostly reliable for me. Also if you have radeon HD4870, it should be worthwhile to get the ATI proprietary drivers on there for cpyrit-stream, and maybe even OCLhashcat.

Yeah that's right. Note that the X is Xorg is capital when you run the --configure command. Basically the command rewrites a default xorg.conf file and dumps it in root's home directory. I actually just backed up my old one using cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old and then copied the one in /root to /etc/X11. I actually had to reboot in order for mine to work, it didn't work just running X server w/ the config switch for whatever reason (note I am also using a VM so that might be why). Also, since my goal was trying to get my resolution right I edited my "new" config file before using it. Put in the Mode = "1152x870" or whatever under the display subsection of screens.

The only reason I point this out is because it may need some tweaking before it will work (for example, it might need a screen defined or some other stupid minute detail). The rewritten xorg.conf really is barebones, it has VERY LITTLE configuration but shouldn't require much if anything to make it work.

[Serafim3k]

Thanks for your quick replies!
I read some articles and howtos on the X server. I'm trying to backup the X settings of my Fedora install, in which the mouse and the screen is working fine. However, i can't find the xorg.conf file. It should be in /etc/X11 but it isn't there.
I was trying to run Xorg -configure in Fedora but the terminal says that X is still running so I have to find an answer for that aswell.
Enough things to try first.

[Citruspers]

I'm assuming you're also running Fedora on the same system, in which case I'd just copy Fedora's Xorg.conf file and replace backtrack's file with it. It might bork everything if you are using different graphics drivers though, in which case: backups!

[ThePistonDoctor]

Try

whereis xorg.conf

on Fedora

Also there is no need to run Xorg -configure in Fedora. You want to run it in BT to rewrite and replace your current file. Before startx:

Xorg -configure
cd ~
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.old
cp ./xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf
startx

If it doesn't work, then cp your xorg.conf.old back to xorg.conf and you'll be back where you started.

[Serafim3k]

My latest efforts in my quest to get the system running

If i do whereis xorg.conf in Fedora is get the following directories:

cd /usr/lib/xorg

modules
protocol.txt

cd /usr/share/xorg

extramodes
vesamodes

But there is no xorg.conf to be found. I also tried Xorg.conf (capital X), but there was nothing useful either.

This was my old Backtrack xorg.conf

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# Note that some configuration settings that could be done previously
# in this file, now are automatically configured by the server and settings
# here are ignored.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
#   sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
	Device		"Configured Video Device"
EndSection

This is the new one, but I still get a black or white screen:

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "X.org Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
	ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
	FontPath     "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load  "dbe"
	Load  "dri"
	Load  "extmod"
	Load  "glx"
	Load  "record"
	Load  "xtrap"
EndSection

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

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse0"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Protocol" "auto"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	#DisplaySize	  380   300	# mm
	Identifier   "Monitor0"
	VendorName   "GSM"
	ModelName    ""
	HorizSync    30.0 - 83.0
	VertRefresh  56.0 - 75.0
	Option	    "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "NoAccel"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "SWcursor"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "Dac6Bit"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "Dac8Bit"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "BusType"            	# [<str>]
        #Option     "CPPIOMode"          	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "CPusecTimeout"      	# <i>
        #Option     "AGPMode"            	# <i>
        #Option     "AGPFastWrite"       	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "AGPSize"            	# <i>
        #Option     "GARTSize"           	# <i>
        #Option     "RingSize"           	# <i>
        #Option     "BufferSize"         	# <i>
        #Option     "EnableDepthMoves"   	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "EnablePageFlip"     	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoBackBuffer"       	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DMAForXv"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "FBTexPercent"       	# <i>
        #Option     "DepthBits"          	# <i>
        #Option     "PCIAPERSize"        	# <i>
        #Option     "AccelDFS"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DDCMode"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "IgnoreEDID"         	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DisplayPriority"    	# [<str>]
        #Option     "PanelSize"          	# [<str>]
        #Option     "ForceMinDotClock"   	# <freq>
        #Option     "ColorTiling"        	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "VideoKey"           	# <i>
        #Option     "RageTheatreCrystal" 	# <i>
        #Option     "RageTheatreTunerPort" 	# <i>
        #Option     "RageTheatreCompositePort" 	# <i>
        #Option     "RageTheatreSVideoPort" 	# <i>
        #Option     "TunerType"          	# <i>
        #Option     "RageTheatreMicrocPath" 	# <str>
        #Option     "RageTheatreMicrocType" 	# <str>
        #Option     "ScalerWidth"        	# <i>
        #Option     "RenderAccel"        	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "SubPixelOrder"      	# [<str>]
        #Option     "ShowCache"          	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DynamicClocks"      	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "VGAAccess"          	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ReverseDDC"         	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "LVDSProbePLL"       	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "AccelMethod"        	# <str>
        #Option     "DRI"                	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ConnectorTable"     	# <str>
        #Option     "DefaultConnectorTable" 	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DefaultTMDSPLL"     	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "TVDACLoadDetect"    	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ForceTVOut"         	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "TVStandard"         	# <str>
        #Option     "IgnoreLidStatus"    	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DefaultTVDACAdj"    	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "Int10"              	# [<bool>]
	Identifier  "Card0"
	Driver      "radeon"
	VendorName  "ATI Technologies Inc"
	BoardName   "RV770 [Radeon HD 4870]"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "Card0"
	Monitor    "Monitor0"
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     1
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     4
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     8
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     15
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     16
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

When BT is booting I get the following messages, among others:

Loading hardware drivers...k10temp 0000:00:18:3: unreliable CPU thermal sensor; monitoring disabled
starting hardware abstraction layer:hald.

Do you know what is wrong? thanks for the help already. Gonna google some more

-Serafim3k

[Serafim3k]

Second part:

I installed my Sapphire HD 4870 graphic card with the drivers provided by ATI (v8.791). To bad it didn't have much result. Instead i'm just receiving more errors :P

When i do Xorg -configure i get the following messages:

X.Org X Server 1.5.2
Release Date: 10 October 2008
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.24-19-server i686 Ubuntu
Current Operating System: Linux bt 2.6.35.8 #1 SMP Sun Nov 14 06:32:36 EST 2010 i686
Build Date: 09 March 2009  10:48:54AM
xorg-server 2:1.5.2-2ubuntu3.1 (buildd@rothera.buildd) 
	Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
	to make sure that you have the latest version.
Module Loader present
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
	(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
	(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Thu Dec  9 20:24:40 2010
(II) Open ACPI successful (/var/run/acpid.socket)
(II) Loader magic: 0x81d9a40
(II) Module ABI versions:
	X.Org ANSI C Emulation: 0.4
	X.Org Video Driver: 4.1
	X.Org XInput driver : 2.1
	X.Org Server Extension : 1.1
	X.Org Font Renderer : 0.6
(II) Loader running on linux
(--) using VT number 7

(--) PCI:*(0@1:0:0) ATI Technologies Inc RV770 [Radeon HD 4870] rev 0, Mem @ 0xd0000000/0, 0xfbdf0000/0, I/O @ 0x0000d000/0, BIOS @ 0x????????/131072
List of video drivers:
	fglrx
	apm
	ark
	ati
	chips
	cirrus
	voodoo
	geode
	i128
	i740
	i810
	intel
	mach64
	mga
	neomagic
	nv
	openchrome
	r128
	radeon
	rendition
	s3
	s3virge
	savage
	siliconmotion
	sis
	sisusb
	tdfx
	trident
	tseng
	v4l
	ztv
	vmware
	fbdev
	vesa
(II) LoadModule: "fglrx"

(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//fglrx_drv.so
(II) Module fglrx: vendor="FireGL - ATI Technologies Inc."
	compiled for 1.4.99.906, module version = 8.79.4
	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
(II) Loading sub module "fglrxdrm"
(II) LoadModule: "fglrxdrm"

(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/linux//libfglrxdrm.so
(II) Module fglrxdrm: vendor="FireGL - ATI Technologies Inc."
	compiled for 1.4.99.906, module version = 8.79.4
(II) LoadModule: "apm"

(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//apm_drv.so
(II) Module apm: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
	compiled for 1.5.0, module version = 1.2.0
	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 4.1
(II) LoadModule: "ark"

and lots more of those.

(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//vesa_drv.so
(II) Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
	compiled for 1.5.0, module version = 1.3.0
	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 4.1
(II) System resource ranges:
	[0] -1	0	0xffffffff - 0xffffffff (0x1) MX[B]
	[1] -1	0	0x000f0000 - 0x000fffff (0x10000) MX[B]
	[2] -1	0	0x000c0000 - 0x000effff (0x30000) MX[B]
	[3] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x0009ffff (0xa0000) MX[B]
	[4] -1	0	0xffffffff - 0xffffffff (0x1) MX[B]
	[5] -1	0	0x000f0000 - 0x000fffff (0x10000) MX[B]
	[6] -1	0	0x000c0000 - 0x000effff (0x30000) MX[B]
	[7] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x0009ffff (0xa0000) MX[B]
	[8] -1	0	0xffffffff - 0xffffffff (0x1) MX[B]
	[9] -1	0	0x000f0000 - 0x000fffff (0x10000) MX[B]
	[10] -1	0	0x000c0000 - 0x000effff (0x30000) MX[B]
	[11] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x0009ffff (0xa0000) MX[B]
	[12] -1	0	0xffffffff - 0xffffffff (0x1) MX[B]
	[13] -1	0	0x000f0000 - 0x000fffff (0x10000) MX[B]
	[14] -1	0	0x000c0000 - 0x000effff (0x30000) MX[B]
	[15] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x0009ffff (0xa0000) MX[B]
	[16] -1	0	0xffffffff - 0xffffffff (0x1) MX[B]
	[17] -1	0	0x000f0000 - 0x000fffff (0x10000) MX[B]
	[18] -1	0	0x000c0000 - 0x000effff (0x30000) MX[B]
	[19] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x0009ffff (0xa0000) MX[B]
	[20] -1	0	0xffffffff - 0xffffffff (0x1) MX[B]
	[21] -1	0	0x000f0000 - 0x000fffff (0x10000) MX[B]
	[22] -1	0	0x000c0000 - 0x000effff (0x30000) MX[B]
	[23] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x0009ffff (0xa0000) MX[B]
	[24] -1	0	0x0000ffff - 0x0000ffff (0x1) IX[B]
	[25] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x00000000 (0x1) IX[B]
	[26] -1	0	0x0000ffff - 0x0000ffff (0x1) IX[B]
	[27] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x00000000 (0x1) IX[B]
	[28] -1	0	0x0000ffff - 0x0000ffff (0x1) IX[B]
	[29] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x00000000 (0x1) IX[B]
	[30] -1	0	0x0000ffff - 0x0000ffff (0x1) IX[B]
	[31] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x00000000 (0x1) IX[B]
	[32] -1	0	0x0000ffff - 0x0000ffff (0x1) IX[B]
	[33] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x00000000 (0x1) IX[B]
	[34] -1	0	0x0000ffff - 0x0000ffff (0x1) IX[B]
	[35] -1	0	0x00000000 - 0x00000000 (0x1) IX[B]
(II) Primary Device is: PCI 01@00:00:0
(WW) Falling back to old probe method for fglrx
(II) Loading PCS database from /etc/ati/amdpcsdb
(WW) fglrx: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:0@0:20:2) found
(WW) fglrx: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:0@0:20:3) found
(WW) fglrx: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:0@0:20:4) found
(WW) fglrx: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:0@0:20:5) found
(WW) fglrx: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:0@1:0:1) found
(**) ChipID override: 0x9440
(**) Chipset Supported AMD Graphics Processor (0x9440) found

Backtrace:
0: Xorg(xf86SigHandler+0x79) [0x80c3019]
1: [0xffffe400]
2: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//fglrx_drv.so(atiddxProbe+0x29) [0xb6a7b789]
3: Xorg(xf86CallDriverProbe+0x20c) [0x80a920c]
4: Xorg(DoConfigure+0x200) [0x80b4810]
5: Xorg(InitOutput+0x80c) [0x80aab3c]
6: Xorg(main+0x279) [0x8071b19]
7: /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe6) [0xb7351bd6]
8: Xorg() [0x8071101]
Saw signal 11.  Server aborting.

When i did the command: aticonfig -initial it did add some information to xorg.conf, the following:

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "aticonfig Layout"
	Screen      0  "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Module"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Default Screen"
	Device     "Configured Video Device"
	Monitor    "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
	Device     "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
	Monitor    "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

I'm definitely out of ideas for today. I hope someone can help me a step in the right direction with some advice.

thanks in advance!

-Serafim3k

[ThePistonDoctor]

You need a mode. In your xorg.conf under the display subsection, put in

	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
                Modes    "1152x870"
	EndSubSection

or whatever your resolution should be. Currently it doesn't recognize your available resolutions. I had to specify mine manually.

This is for 24 bit depth (I believe) - you may need to specify the res in all depth modes (each display subsection) in order for it to work.