ilja
30th September 2004, 04:31 PM
After updating the newest packages I experienced the problem, that the X server didn't start any more. I would like to present you the way I solved the problem.
The first step is to come into linux. To do so click "e" when you are in grub and you get an editor. You scroll to the second line and click one more time "e" (for edit). Now you add a "s" or "single " at the end of the line. It meens single mode, a mode you can easily solve problems with. Now push "enter" and "b" to boot.
You will get to a bash-prompt. You have root-rights atm. Now I want to see, what happened. For this purpose I open the log file of X.org
less /var/log/Xorg.0.log
(this could vary)
And now you can scroll to the end.
I had this message there :
Could not init font path element unix/:7100, removing from list!
Fatal server error:
could not open default font 'fixed'
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
at http://wiki.X.Org
for help.
Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
*** If unresolved symbols were reported above, they might not
*** be the reason for the server aborting.
FatalError re-entered, aborting
Caught signal 11. Server aborting
The most important part is :
could not open default font 'fixed'
I have a working Windows on the same computer and its D:\ is mounted as /mnt/win. So I copy the log file for any case to this partition:
cp /var/log/Xorg.0.log /mnt/win
And I want to have my dmesg and xorg.conf also there :
cp /var/log/dmesg /mnt/win
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /mnt/win
And not to argue with grub every time I change in /etc/inittab
the line
id:5:initdefault:
to
id:3:initdefault:
so it won't start X at start-up any more.
No you have three possibilities:
1. If you are used to work with lynx you can change to init3 with
init 3
2.you can boot to another working OS on the same computer
3. you can go to another computer
I decided to choose the 2nd option.
Now you go to a search engine you like and search for the error message (in my case: could not open default font 'fixed'). You will get a lot of answers. This you can printout or write down or else something. But check them on sense. ( Some of them are senseless).
Now you boot to Fedora again.
And do all the things that are advised from the best you think to the worst you think. And don't forget to make backups. After each of this try, try to start X by typing
startx
or
init 5
For me the problem was in permission of the file /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/fonts.alias so everything I need to was:
chmod a+r /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/fonts.alias
And also to empty my / a bit. (Maybe this was also a problem)
When everything is OK, change as root the file /etc/inittab back to
id:5:initdefault:
And have fun.
I hope this will help you to solve problems.
The first step is to come into linux. To do so click "e" when you are in grub and you get an editor. You scroll to the second line and click one more time "e" (for edit). Now you add a "s" or "single " at the end of the line. It meens single mode, a mode you can easily solve problems with. Now push "enter" and "b" to boot.
You will get to a bash-prompt. You have root-rights atm. Now I want to see, what happened. For this purpose I open the log file of X.org
less /var/log/Xorg.0.log
(this could vary)
And now you can scroll to the end.
I had this message there :
Could not init font path element unix/:7100, removing from list!
Fatal server error:
could not open default font 'fixed'
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
at http://wiki.X.Org
for help.
Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
*** If unresolved symbols were reported above, they might not
*** be the reason for the server aborting.
FatalError re-entered, aborting
Caught signal 11. Server aborting
The most important part is :
could not open default font 'fixed'
I have a working Windows on the same computer and its D:\ is mounted as /mnt/win. So I copy the log file for any case to this partition:
cp /var/log/Xorg.0.log /mnt/win
And I want to have my dmesg and xorg.conf also there :
cp /var/log/dmesg /mnt/win
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /mnt/win
And not to argue with grub every time I change in /etc/inittab
the line
id:5:initdefault:
to
id:3:initdefault:
so it won't start X at start-up any more.
No you have three possibilities:
1. If you are used to work with lynx you can change to init3 with
init 3
2.you can boot to another working OS on the same computer
3. you can go to another computer
I decided to choose the 2nd option.
Now you go to a search engine you like and search for the error message (in my case: could not open default font 'fixed'). You will get a lot of answers. This you can printout or write down or else something. But check them on sense. ( Some of them are senseless).
Now you boot to Fedora again.
And do all the things that are advised from the best you think to the worst you think. And don't forget to make backups. After each of this try, try to start X by typing
startx
or
init 5
For me the problem was in permission of the file /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/fonts.alias so everything I need to was:
chmod a+r /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/fonts.alias
And also to empty my / a bit. (Maybe this was also a problem)
When everything is OK, change as root the file /etc/inittab back to
id:5:initdefault:
And have fun.
I hope this will help you to solve problems.
