Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 22:18:28 -0400 From: Randy Pratt <rpratt1950@earthlink.net> To: Hans Ottevanger <hansot@iae.nl> Cc: qa@FreeBSD.ORG, re@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Sysinstall and configuring XFree86 Message-ID: <20020526221828.4786d210.rpratt1950@earthlink.net> In-Reply-To: <3CF152FD.42165EAC@iae.nl> References: <20020525112948.7bd9123f.rpratt1950@earthlink.net> <3CF152FD.42165EAC@iae.nl>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Sun, 26 May 2002 23:26:21 +0200 Hans Ottevanger <hansot@iae.nl> wrote: > Randy Pratt wrote: > > > > When I configure XFree86(4.2.0) using the sysinstall options, it seems to always > > produces an error messages that the XFree86 Configuration process seems to have > > failed when it tries to test the configuration. However, when I exit sysinstall > > and use the configuration file that was produced, it works. This leads me to > > think that its not a configuration issue. > > > > I'm beginning to wonder if anyone has gotten XFree86 configured successfully > > using sysinstall. I'd appreciate confirmation that it has been used to configure > > XFree86 without problems using sysinstall. > > > > My concern is that when a new user attempts to install and runs into this, > > they're going to give up. > > > > I'd appreciate any comments on this since I'm trying to update the > > handbook/install section for 4.6-RELEASE. It makes it pretty difficult to document if I can't seem to make it work. > > > > Thanks! > > > > Randy > > > > When using sysinstall to configure XFree86 in 4.6-RC2, I found that the > results of both the graphical and ncurses based config programs need > some tweaking to > be acceptable. And indeed, both config options produce error messages > and make sysinstall fail over and over, just like you found, and as far > as I know, this has nothing to do with the configuration. > > I have taken a look in the source code and found that sysinstall assumes > that XF86Config is written into /etc, while the graphical and ncurses > based programs by default save XF86Config in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11 and > /etc/X11, respectively. As an additional complication, the ncurses based > config program assumes that the directory /etc/X11 exists, so you must > create it manually, if it is not there (like with a fresh install). This is where a large part of the problem is at. Typically, a user will think (as did I), that accepting a default location is okay. If all of the configuration utilities are forced to write to /etc/XF86Config, sysinstall will work as it is written. > You can choose other locations in both config programs, but I tried to > change sysinstall to look for XF86Config in the alternative locations > (added some code at line 709 in /usr/src/release/sysinstall/config.c), > and now my sysinstall continues with the desktop selection after X > configuration, as it should. Of course, all this does not help during a > fresh install. I also tried a modification to this area and got sysinstall to accept the default location of xf86config (/etc/X11/XF86Config). > I share your concern about new users just giving up, and I think > sysinstall needs to be updated, and at least somewhat tested before > 4.6-RELEASE hits the streets. An alternative might be to add a message to indicate that the configuration file should be written to /etc/XF86config although this might take more space than just having sysinstall check for different locations. I'm not a proficient coder so I'm not one to make this call. I really appreciate your taking the time to look at this and confirm what I was seeing. I had one other private reply in which they seen the same issue. Thanks! Randy To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-qa" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20020526221828.4786d210.rpratt1950>