On Sat, Aug 15, 2015 at 02:50:03PM -0700, Isaac Dunham wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 15, 2015 at 07:43:04AM -0400, Haines Brown wrote:
> > I reiinstalled (avoiding past missteps), to a console, and from it
> > installed xorg and fluxbox. I then ran xstart from console and all went
> > well.
> >
> > With one exception. I'm in what looks like VGA mode with large crude
> > characters. It seems a problem (or symptom) is that installation did not
> > create a /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ directory

> Xorg looks in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/, then /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/.
> If you would rather use a single-file xorg.conf, you can create it via
> "Xorg -configure" (IIRC).

Thanks, Isaac. That I tried again on my test machine. It creates
/root/xorg.conf.new, which I presume is a configuration to test. This
file has an array of sections, but I have the feeling that most
configuration sections are found in various files in
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/ and that the file with just a Devices
section is normally /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf. Or at least that is
what my current machine running Wheezy has except the config file is
20-nvidia.conf.

The Devices section in /root/xorg.conf.new built by # Xorg -configure is"

  Section "Device"
    Identifier "Card0"
    Driver "nouveau"
    BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
  EndSection

I copy this section into a file and directory I create
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xorg.conf.

Apparently using Card0 as identifier rather than provide the name of the
card is OK, for there's only one video card in the machine. The nouveau
was the only driver that seemed appropriate for the old MSI card I'm
using on the test machine. The file name I used is xorg.conf because the
test configuration file was named xorg.conf.new.

When I startx, I'm still in vesa mode. I tried to comment the BusID
line. I tried changing the name of the config file to 20-nouveau.conf.
I tried to copy /etc/X11/xorg.conf/xorg.conf to
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-xorg.conf. I tried Identifier "MSI NX
8500GT". In all cases, startx still comes up in VESA mode, and there are
no (EE) or significant (WW) in the Xorg log file.

When I do # Xorg -config /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nouveau.conf I get a
black screen and have to do a hard reboot.

> But besides that, I'm wondering about a couple things.
> 1: You refer to "20-nvidia.conf". I'd assume that this would come from
> the nvidia driver, which I see no reference to in your list of packages.

Correct. I changed that to nouveau fairly early on when I realized that
the MSI card on my test machine is not supported by nvidia driver.

> 2: You refer to "/usr/share/X11/xorg.c." Is this a typo/abbreviation,
> or is Xorg misconfigured?

No, when I originally installed, this file showed up as the sole config
file. I didn't think to inspect its contents before deleting it once I
knew it was not the configuration file I needed.

Haines