X11 problem (I promise I have checked the boards)

[trigon]

Okay, so I have the same problem it seems everyone else has had, X11 starts then immediatly quits. I am going to give as much detail as possible:

I am running: 10.4.7 (Tiger) and a MacBookPro (Intel)
My DVD: 10.4.6

I did begin the install from the downloaded copy, and it would not let me proceed, so no files that I am aware of were copied over.

I have removed all X11 entries from my Library>Reciepts and Applications.

I installed X11(user) from DVD and tried it... nothing.

I removed it and installed X11(user) and SDK... nothing.

I have attempted to run it on a fresh restart... nothing.

I have tried to install it on a fresh restart... nothing.

I am honestly at a loss of answers. I would greatly apreciate any information anyone could provide.

[hayne]

It isn't clear what your situation is.
Look in the /Applications/Utilities folder. Do you have an app called "X11" there? If so, double-click it and report exactly what happens.

If you don't have X11.app in the /Applications/Utilities folder then you need to install the X11 package from the optional section of the Tiger DVD.

[trigon]

I apologize for not being more descriptive

It is installed... here is the console dump when I attempt to run the app:

XFree86 Version 4.4.0 / X Window System
(protocol Version 11, revision 0, vendor release 6600)
_XSERVTransmkdir: Owner of /tmp/.X11-unix should be set to root
[DRI] screen 0 installation complete
Screen 0 added: 1440x900 @ (0,0)
Could not init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/, removing from list!

[hayne]

Quote: Originally Posted by trigon It is installed... here is the console dump when I attempt to run the app: XFree86 Version 4.4.0 / X Window System (protocol Version 11, revision 0, vendor release 6600) _XSERVTransmkdir: Owner of /tmp/.X11-unix should be set to root [DRI] screen 0 installation complete Screen 0 added: 1440x900 @ (0,0) Could not init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/, removing from list!

I get those same messages in console.log when I launch X11.app
But it is working fine for me (OS X 10.4.7) so evidently those messages are warnings and not terribly important.

But did you look in system.log ?

[trigon]

So no one has any ideas? Anybody?

[karudzo]

Hi there. If X11 crashes, it leaves a lock file in /var/tmp that starts with X0 (zero, not O)- I can't remember the full name.

All you have to do is:

1. Open Terminal
2. Type sudo su and enter your password when asked.
3. navigate to /var/tmp
4. Type rm -f X0*.*

Hope that helps.

[hayne]

Quote: Originally Posted by karudzo If X11 crashes, it leaves a lock file in /var/tmp that starts with X0 (zero, not O)- I can't remember the full name.

I think you are referring to the file ".X0-lock" - this is put in the /tmp folder (not /var/tmp)
And it is owned by the user who had run X11 the last time - so no need for 'sudo' - you can delete it when logged in as that user without any special privileges needed. (Make sure that X11 isn't running when you delete it)

[karudzo]

sorry- I edited my above solution. I had the wrong location and file name.

[trigon]

after deleting the .X0-lock from the /tmp folder i get the following out of console.log:

XFree86 Version 4.4.0 / X Window System
(protocol Version 11, revision 0, vendor release 6600)
[DRI] screen 0 installation complete
Screen 0 added: 1440x900 @ (0,0)
Could not init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/, removing from list!
X connection to :0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).

There appears to be nothing new generated in system.log when I run the program. (Again, thank you for all the assistance, I am new at these Macs).

[Cerebus]

system.log shows:

Jul 15 17:55:12 microwave kernel[0]: (62: coreservicesd)tfp: failed on 0:

This appears to be indicative of a rosetta problem that started with 10.4.7. X11.app is still a PPC binary.

[dmacks]

Why is X11.app a PPC binary on your intel Mac?

[mlongval]

Make sure your .xinitrc file is not somehow broken.

X11 reads the "~/.xinitrc" when starting up, if "~/.xinitrc" is not found it looks to the system-wide "/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc" file.

If ~/.xinitrc does something stupid, X11 might not run.

The easiest way to get a good .xinitrc is to copy the system-wide one to your home directory and then modify it as needed.

> cd /Users/your_home_dir
> cp /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc .xinitrc
> chmod 644 .xinitrc (this changes the file to read-write)

Your .xinitrc should look something like this:

#!/bin/sh
# $Id: xinitrc,v 1.3 2004/06/11 04:37:23 jharper Exp $

userresources=$HOME/.Xresources
usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
sysresources=/etc/X11/xinit/.Xresources
sysmodmap=/etc/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap

# merge in defaults and keymaps

if [ -f "$sysresources" ]; then
xrdb -merge "$sysresources"
fi

if [ -f "$sysmodmap" ]; then
xmodmap "$sysmodmap"
fi

if [ -f "$userresources" ]; then
xrdb -merge "$userresources"
fi

if [ -f "$usermodmap" ]; then
xmodmap "$usermodmap"
fi

# start some nice programs

xterm &

# start the window manager

exec quartz-wm


The most important line is the last one, which starts the quartz-wm window manager. This way your X11 apps will share the same screen as the regular MacOSX apps.

Hope this helps.

Michael Longval

[porkchop_d_clown]

Another tip - did you look for crash logs?

Check to see if these files, or files with similar names, exist:

/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/X11.crash.log
~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/X11.crash.log

[dougm]

Trigon,

X11 on my MacBook also starts and immediately quits. I've just returned from my local "genius" bar. This problem is recorded in the "for Apples eyes only" database - Apple's offical recommendation is for the genius to proceed no furthur. The only support Apple offers for "Optional Install" software is installation assistance. No other support is offered.

I'm very disappointed with Apples total lack of support for software that is distributed on the installation disk.

I expected to be told Apple was aware of and was working on the problem. Perhaps even leave an email address, so I could be notified when a fix was available.

I expected Apple to stand behind software contained on the installation disk.

[dougm]

Turns out I had confused an old 10.4 install disk with the disk that came with my MacBook Pro - installing the wrong version of X11. To check which version of X11 is installed, Finder -> highlight X11 -> File menu -> Get Info. Under the General Section, Kind should be 'Application (Universal)'.

However, simply re-installing X11 from the proper disks, gave an X11 that stayed up, but failed to run X11 applications.

By deleting all files mentioned in http://developer.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1232.html (including the /etc/X11 backups - probably not necessary but mine were all trash)

Q: Where are things installed?

A: In /Applications/Utilities/X11.app, /usr/X11R6, and /usr/bin/open-x11. If you have an existing /etc/X11 it is backed up during installation and a new one is installed. Symlinks are also added at /usr/include/X11 and /usr/lib/X11.

The re-installing resulted in a functional X11 installation.

[hayne]

Quote: Originally Posted by dougm Turns out I had confused an old 10.4 install disk with the disk that came with my MacBook Pro - installing the wrong version of X11.

Thanks for letting us know the resolution of this problem.
This will help any future readers who have accidentally installed the PPC version of X11 from an old Install disk onto their Intel Mac.