Old System, New Install Isuue

[James Butler]

> > Magnus Kessler wrote:
>> >> On Tuesday 28 April 2009, James Butler wrote:
>>> >>> Hello!
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Fedora Core 4 (Linux 2.6.17-1)
>>> >>> yum install xorg-x11 (v.6.8.2)
>>> >>>
>>> >>> This is a "headless" dedicated system with FC4 pre-installed by the
>>> >>> hosting service. It is one of hundreds in a remote rack. I have no
>>> >>> direct access to the system.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> I have been running and updating this system using the CLI for
about 3
>>> >>> years, however I now need some sort of X system running if I want to
>>> >>> run
>>> >>> VisualChat software for my users. Its Java programming requires a
>>> >>> windows manager (X) when run on a Linux box.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Since I had no X installed on this system, I used yum to install it,
>>> >>> seemingly without any issues. All of the dependencies (i.e.
xinit) were
>>> >>> successfully installed, as well.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> After installing xorg-x11, I ran "X -configure" to generate a
>>> >>> system-specific config file. I am now stuck with the server
failing to
>>> >>> start and generating no error messages that I can act upon.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Executing 'X -config /user/xorg.conf.new', I see this midway through
>>> >>> the
>>> >>> Xorg.0.log file:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> ======== Xorg.0.log snippet start ==========
>>> >>> (II) I810(0): Display Info: CRT: attached: FALSE, present: FALSE, \
>>> >>>   size: (0,0)
>>> >>> ...
>>> >>> (II) I810(0): Currently active displays on Pipe A:
>>> >>> (II) I810(0): 	CRT
>>> >>> (==) I810(0): Display is using Pipe A
>>> >>> ...
>>> >>> (II) I810(0): Will use BIOS call 0x5f05 to set refresh rates for
CRTs.
>>> >>> ======== log end ==========
>>> >>>
>>> >>> And then this at the end of the log (when everything halts):
>>> >>>
>>> >>> ======== Xorg.0.log snippet start ==========
>>> >>> ...
>>> >>> (WW) I810(0): Successfully set original devices
>>> >>> (WW) I810(0): Setting the original video mode instead of restoring \
>>> >>>   the saved state
>>> >>> (WW) I810(0): Extended BIOS function 0x5f05 failed.
>>> >>> (II) I810(0): BIOS call 0x5f05 not supported, setting refresh with \
>>> >>>   VBE 3 method.
>>> >>> (II) I810(0): xf86UnbindGARTMemory: unbind key 7
>>> >>> ...
>>> >>> {unbind key 0,1,3,2,4,5,6 follow}
>>> >>> ...
>>> >>> (WW) I810(0): Successfully set original devices (2)
>>> >>> ======== log end ==========
>>> >>>
>>> >>> boom. It gets no further.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> So a BIOS failure to call 0x5f05 would seem to indicate a problem
>>> >>> getting the (non-existent) monitor to initialize.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Is it possible to run X without an attached monitor, mouse or
keyboard?
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Shall I post the full Xorg.0.log and my xorg.conf.new file?
>>> >>>
>>> >>> I appreciate any guidance.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> James
>> >>
>> >> Hi James,
>> >>
>> >> depending on the exact needs of the Java software you want to install
>> >> you
>> >> might be able to do it without an X environment at all.
>> >>
>> >> Have you tried running Java in headless mode (java
>> >> -Djava.awt.headless=true)
>> >> as documented on
>> >>
http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/J2SE/Desktop/headless/ ?
>> >> I
>> >> presume that you only need a graphical environment during installation
>> >> and
>> >> that the software is later used over the web. Some installers I've
seen
>> >> fall
>> >> back to character output when run in headless mode.
>> >>
>> >> HTH,
>> >>
>> >> Magnus
>> >>
> >
> > Magnus, headless sounds ideal. Unfortunately, a
> > java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError gets thrown when I invoke headless
> > with the current applet. No doubt because the applet is completely
> > unaware of headless, and would need to be rewritten to use it, at
> > least in parts. Bummage.
> >
> > Thank you very much for the suggestion.
> >
> > James
> > _______________________________________________
> > xorg mailing list
> > xorg at lists.freedesktop.org
> > http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/xorg
> >

I have installed and initialized Xvfb and the applet starts
successfully. For the record:

Install (v.6.8.2-37 on FC4):
yum install xorg-x11-Xvfb

Initialize:
Xvfb :1 -ac -screen 0 1024x768x8

Xvfb has issues with 32-bit depths, but it doesn't matter for this so
I'm using 8-bit. I chose display #1 to avoid issues with installed
drivers that might want to hang onto :0.

Update DISPLAY environment variable:
DISPLAY=:1.0

That's it. Thank you all for your help.

James