Re: [gentoo-user] can't start X as user

[Philip Webb <purslow@ca.inter.net>]

230614 Michael wrote:
> On Wednesday, 14 June 2023 01:21:53 BST Philip Webb wrote:
>> My new machine has no problem with graphics using System Rescue etc
>> nor using 'startx' as root with Gentoo, but it refuses to start as user.
>> I've had a series of errors :
>>   parse_vt_settings : can't open /dev/tty0 (permission denied)
>> after adding my user to 'tty input' in 'group' :
>>   can't open virtual console 7 : permission denied
> Not sure if this is necessary:
> 
>   $ grep 'tty|input' /etc/group
>   tty:x:5:
>   input:x:97:

My user is in 'tty wheel usb input video' (among others).

> The elogind service ought to be in boot runlevel according to the wiki:
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Elogind#Configuration

I've corrected that & checked that Pam is running & Udev is in 'sysinit'.

>> 'xorg-server' has 'USE="elogind"'.
>> In my current machine, there is a  /dev/fb0  with permission  660 .
>> but there is no such device in the new machine.

Ditto for  /dev/dri/card0 .

> Have you followed this wiki page to configure your kernel,
> include the appropriate firmware for your card(s),
> set up INPUT_DEVICES & VIDEO_CARDS in make.conf,
> emerged associated x11-base/xorg-drivers
> and the x11-base/xorg-server packages before a reboot ?
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Xorg/Guide

Yes.  I have "evdev" + "radeon vesa" in 'make.conf'.
'xf86-video-ati/vesa' are installed,
as is 'xorg-server' + all its requirements ("dependencies").

> There should be a fb0 device listed:
>   $ ls -l /dev/fb*
>   crw-rw---- 1 root video 29, 0 Jun 14 08:52 /dev/fb0

ANB5 has  /dev/fb0  /dev/dri/card0  with  660  permitions, ANB6 hasn't
(those are my names for the present + new machines).

> You'll also need to have emerged a Desktop Environment
> or at least a window manager: https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Window_manager

I've installed 'twm xterm' to test X for now.
I will install KDE for regular use later.

'.xinitrc' is

  #xscreensaver &
  numlockx
  exec dbus-launch --exit-with-session /usr/bin/twm

ie the same as in ANB5, but substituting Twm for Plasma.

230614 Jack wrote :

> what does /var/log/Xorg.0.log show ?

It has these errors (EE) in the X log file :

  Failed to load module "fbdev" (does not exist)
  Open /dev/dri/card0 : no such directory or file
  VESA (0) : cannot read int vect
  Screens found, but none has a useable configuration

Do I need 'fbdev' or 'card0' ?  Whatever is "int vect" ?

When I try to 'startx' as user, the log file is in  ~/.local/share/xorg ,
which is also where it is in ANB5.  When I try 'Xorg -configure',
it produces nothing of use & dumps it in my home directory (ugh).

I can probably cut the Gordian knot by emerging Xorg-server with 'suid'.
How insecure is that for a single-user system in a house ?
The Elogind approach has worked in ANB5 since Aug 2020.

I can't make much of a useful comparison between the  2  machines,
as ANB5 dates from 2015, ie long before the 'elogind' affair in 2020,
& it has Nvidia graphics, whereas ANB6 has cutting-edge AMD.

BTW System Rescue + Mint (live USB) load modules for AMDGPU,
which seems to be the latest graphics offering ;
I need to find some firmware to get it to work
(enabling AMDGPU in the kernel causes the boot process to stall
with a message re missing firmware).
There are in fact  2  graphics tools in ANB6,
one in the CPU (AMD), the other on the Mobo (Gigabyte).
How can I tell which one the machine is trying to use ?

I will continue to poke around, but further advice is very welcome.
Please read my comments above carefully (smile).

-- 
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