Setting up Debian: XServer problems and Gnome doesn't start

Hello,

I have some problems with my Debian system I've just set up. After booting
Debian, the monitor keeps switching between displaying the login prompt and
a black screen for some seconds and then a message appears saying that the
X Server is not set up properly. It provides some more detailed information
which I unfortunately do not understand. The last lines are:

(EE) VGA(0): Driver can't support depth 24
(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration


(My graphic device does certainly support 24 bit color depth. Besides, I
sadly do not know how to chose another color depth.)

When I abort the error message I can login at the prompt. After logging in,
Gnome does not start though I'm quite sure I've installed it when setting
up the Debian system. When trying to start it manually by typing "gdm" as
root, I get the following error message: "gdm already running. Aborting!"

I hope you can help me fixing these Problems. Please note that I am
completely new to Unix. I'm looking forward to your reply.

Thanks,
Robert

Hello

Robert Bamler (<robert.bamler.RemoveThis@gmx.de>) wrote:

> I have some problems with my Debian system I've just set up. After
> booting Debian, the monitor keeps switching between displaying the
> login prompt and a black screen for some seconds and then a message
> appears saying that the X Server is not set up properly. It provides
> some more detailed information which I unfortunately do not
> understand. The last lines are:
>
> (EE) VGA(0): Driver can't support depth 24
> (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration
>
>
> (My graphic device does certainly support 24 bit color depth. Besides,
> I sadly do not know how to chose another color depth.)

Looks like you chose the wrong driver for your card (the vga driver).
Try

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

and choose the right one. Take a look at the documentation on
<http://www.xfree86.org> to find out if you don't know. Debian 3.0
(Woody) comes with XFree 4.1 (and also 3.3.6). You can also try the
vesa driver, which should work with all modern cards.

> When I abort the error message I can login at the prompt. After
> logging in, Gnome does not start though I'm quite sure I've installed
> it when setting up the Debian system.

You cannot run Gnome if your X server does not startup.

> When trying to start it manually
> by typing "gdm" as root, I get the following error message: "gdm
> already running. Aborting!"

gdm is a graphical login manager. You don't want to start gdm if you are
already logged in, instead you want to start Gnome. However, neither
Gnome or gmd can be used if your X server does not work. And because
the system probably tried to load gdm at boottime, but loading was not
finished because your not-working X server, the system /thinks/ it is
running.

best regards
Andreas Janssen

--
Andreas Janssen
andreas.janssen.RemoveThis@bigfoot.com
PGP-Key-ID: 0xDC801674
Registered Linux User #267976