Other Is `desktop-installer` broken on fbsd 15?

l008com

l008com

I've been going in loops for weeks trying to figure this out.
On a clean OS install, I install and run `desktop-installer`, I install Xfce4, when asked to choose XDM or SDDM, I choose SDDM. `desktop-installer` does its thing for a few minutes, downloading and installing hundreds of packages.

And when its done, no sign of SDDM. I can manually start up Xfce4, but no login screen. I typed `service sddm onestart` and got the message "sddm does not exist... etc`

Does `desktop-isntaller` ask you to pick xdm or sddm, but then not actually install the one you choose? Or am I not understanding some part of this situation?
 
I had a similar experience. I found that instead of using pre-built packages the desktop-installer downloaded ports and built them on my machine. At the end of the process I didn't end up with what I expected. On the the third attempt, I just followed the instructions in the handbook and got exactly what I wanted.
 
I have tried this 'dektop-installer' because of your other thread. I wanted to be helpful but my conclusion is that this program is ridiculous and i recommend avoiding it. I have installed FreeBSD 15 in VirtualBox on my Debian Linux for testing. FreeBSD 14.3 did not function well on my laptop - the video driver kept crashing at boot. I switched t Debian Linux, which is fantastic, while waiting for release 15.0. I have finally got around to installing 15 and i wanted to tinker with it to see wht has changed and decide if i should try replacing my Debian again. Anyway, VirtualBox may be slower than an actual machine but the desktop-installer ran for nearly 13 minutes before finishing. I could install FreeBSD 15.0 3 times in 13 minutes, so i am not impressed. However, sddm installed but i could not boot into xfce4. I think that it could be a permissions problem but i am not sure. I tried several tweaks but still could not boot xfce4. startxfce4 worked as expected. Go figure.

I remember being asked if i want to install xdm or sddm and i chose sddm. Perhaps you didn't type sddm (you simply presed enter) during installation? sddm installed for me, so my conclusion is that this functionality of the desktop-installer is in-fact working.
 
I had that same thought (that i didn't actually select SDDM) so I wiped the machine and tried it again, and again. I've done it several times now where I've paid very close attention to this part of the process, making sure to select SDDM. And every time, it seems to not actually install it.

Also this is a test machine so wiping it and starting over fully is something I've done a million times and will do a million more while I work out the exact process I will ultimately be using on my real server.
 
so I just manually installed SDDM via pkg and now it DOES boot up to the SDDM login, but when I log in there, instead of sending me to xfce4, it sends me to a black page with a white text cursor box and nothing happens.

This is the same place I got stuck last time.

Maybe the solution is as simple as install SDDM via PKG *before* running desktop-installer?
 
i can try to create a new vm and run the installer again. I will try to pay close attention to details of the installation process. I do remember selecting advanced installation when the program began. I know that sddm_enable="YES" should be present in the rc file but i didn't verify its presence. I will try it again and let you know how it goes. Again, i will install FreeBSD 15.0 in VirtualBox on Debian Linux.
 
Update: From the SDDM menu, if I click on "Xfce Session (Wayland)" and switch it to "Xfce Session", it works!

Without doing anything other than what I already mentioned. I don't understand what that option even means though? Wayland? No Wayland? What does that mean? Why does one work and one not?
 
l008com said:
Maybe the solution is as simple as install SDDM via PKG *before* running desktop-installer?
Click to expand...
but sddm installed for me when i ran the desktop-installer, so i am not sure what is happening on your system. I will try this process again today...

a black screen could be video driver related. Have you checked your graphics driver to see what is running? perhaps the desktop installer doesn't install your graphics driver for you.
 
l008com said:
Update: From the SDDM menu, if I click on "Xfce Session (Wayland)" and switch it to "Xfce Session", it works!

Without doing anything other than what I already mentioned. I don't understand what that option even means though? Wayland? No Wayland? What does that mean? Why does one work and one not?
Click to expand...
interesting. The installer added Wayland instead of X11 configuration.

 
I misread your last post. So you were selecting XFCE Wayland and now you simply select XFCE. Well that explains it then. Wayland in XFCE4 is experimental, so it may not function well if at all. I have this option on my Debian Linux and it never boots into XFCE4. I prefer X11 anyway. I see no need to replace X11 but that statement usually opens a can of X11 versus Wayland which spills out into the streets these days
:)


Happy for you that it is working.
 
The desktop-installer isn't something that I need. I used it out of curiosity when I had an opportunity to do so. Most of my FreeBSD (and Linux) installs are console based. I am unlikely to do another while 15.0 is still supported.

As most of us have likely also experienced a Devuan/Debian/Ubuntu... graphical Linux install process, those really have set the bar as the minimum standard to achieve decades ago. Installers on such a varied range of hardware are very difficult to do. The last one I wrote was for fully automated installs of Windows NT4 (last century). I had to develop all of the hardware probing, device driver selection and disk partitioning myself to run in the DOS BOOTP/PXE image before starting the NT unattended installer. I certainly appreciate the effort that Alfonso has made on this project.

Many years ago I was having a face-to-face chat with some of the Novell NetWare 5 development team and their senior execs. They wanted my opinion on the new Java based graphical installer and admin console introduced in that product. I said I used it once or twice, but found the new tools to be clumsy. The TUI tools were all I needed on the server and the desktop. The only Windows GUI tool that did get used was the Windows nwadmin for directory tree work. One of the execs said, "you guys have been asking us for a GUI console for years". I corrected him and said, "no that's just an excuse given by non-techies that you are trying to sell to". The customers that already buy your products are happy with with them as they are. I will never forget the look of shock on the exec's faces and the restrained smiles of the developers when the execs realised that they wasted all that development money on something that their core users would never use.

So the point of this tale is, if you are going to make an installer for a graphical desktop with the desired outcome being that the product is more attractive to newbies, then the experience MUST BE the same or BETTER than the competition. If you already have a highly technical user base, they will appreciate complete documentation and well written problem diagnosis tools more than an installer that doesn't achieve what they could do manually themselves.
 
well i ran the desktop-installer again with a fresh installation of FreeBSD 15.0 and i am booting into XFCE4 via SDDM. I admit that the first try failed (black-screen). I chose log in to User Session (X11 with TWM), then i typed exit into the terminal, which brought me back to SDDM login screen. I changed the option back to XFCE Session and the desktop loaded.

So as far as i can see, the desktop-installer with SDDM and XFCE4 is working.
 

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l008com said:
But you didn't have to manually install SDDM? I still have to in my setup, `desktop-installer` doesn't actually install it.
Click to expand...
No. I just install FreeBSD, then log in as root (console). I always install pkg and a few programs in addition to rc, boot/loader.conf work. Today, i installed nano, doas and xorg. I assumed that the desktop-installer only installs DEs. During installation, the installer prompted me to replace xorg with a new installation and i chose yes (replace my xorg). The only difference between this installation and my last attempt is that i chose option 1 .. Just the essentials (last time i chose option 2 advanced).

Just a reminder: i had a black screen the first time that i tried to log in to XFCE Session. I typed Control+Alt+F1 to get back to sddm. I changed my selection to User Session (X11 with TWM). Switched back to sddm and changed my selection to XFCE Session again and i was looking at XFCE4.

Also, i am testing the desktop-installer in VirtualBox. I believe that FreeBSD 15 will automatically detect your graphics and install any matching drivers. Perhaps the desktop-installer changes something in that regard. But you are saying that sddm is not installed on your system, so i have no explanation for that problem. Did you check the rc file for sddm_enable="YES"? because i believe that the desktop-installer will add this entry during configuration.
 
I had checked for sddm_enable="YES" and it wasn't there, so I added it. But this was BEFORE I realized that SDDM wasn't even installed. So I don't actually know if pkg install sddm would have added that line properly. But desktop-installer does not do it, when it is also not installing sddm. I'm going to try to play around with it some more tonight.
 
Hello l008com,

Installing a Desktop Environment on FreeBSD | FreeBSD Foundation

The FreeBSD ports collection includes a wide range of desktop environments, this how-to guide focuses on how to set up the Xfce desktop environment.
freebsdfoundation.org freebsdfoundation.org

installation of desktop-installer is recomended at the end of a FreeBSD installation, so i tried that method today and i still have sddm working in VirtualBox. Are you sure that you have working graphics? maybe investigate the graphics a bit.
 
vmb said:
So the point of this tale is, if you are going to make an installer for a graphical desktop with the desired outcome being that the product is more attractive to newbies, then the experience MUST BE the same or BETTER than the competition.
Click to expand...
I really liked the Alpine Linux desktop setup installer ($ doas setup-desktop). Yes, it didn't install smoothly: I had to fix pulseaudio and pipewire, but otherwise everything was back to normal after a reboot. Everything here is truly minimalist, clear, and uncluttered.
I used NetWare 5 back in 2001—the code was very high-quality, and the system was more responsive than today's garbage!
 
l008com said:
Well, I'm not 100% sure what you are asking there. But I CAN manually launch xfce4 and jump in to it, so that sounds like a yes to your question.
Click to expand...
i mean during the process of installation. I am wondering if something is triggering the desktop-installer to skip the installation of sddm on your system (so i wonder if it is some sort of graphics related check). I have used thisprogram four times now in VirtualBox and i always have sddm installed. I believe you when you say that it is not present in your system, which is strange.
 
l008com said:
Are you using freebsd 15 when you test?
Click to expand...
Yes. Three times i have installed desktop-installer package after installing the base system and a fourth time i installed the desktop-installer at the end of the system intallation before rebooting. All four times i had sddm installed.

I read an article on a blog about needing to run the installer twice to have a working desktop. Maybe you should try running the desktop-installer a second time - if you have the time and will to do so.
 
Installing FreeBSD 15 on a virtual machine right now to see what happens.

So installing in a virtual machine, running in VMWare on a different Mac, I had the same results. I had to manually install SDDM.

I wonder, is there some other step you're doing that maybe you think is obvious, but a BSD novice like me doesn't know and isn't doing?

I had to manually install SDDM and manually add the enable line to rc.conf And it works fine now but still, its weird. I have no non-apple hardware I can test on.
 
I've installed FreeBSD 15.0 in virtualBox and used the desktop-installer for the fifth time.
I still have sddm and xfce4 working.
My setup: VirtualBox 7.2.6 in Debian Linux Trixie 13.3

a quick summary of my installation selections:
select 1. just the essentials
select no to the question of switching to latest binary packages instead of quarterly snapshots
([n] is default negative response anyway, so i just press enter)
select no to replacing /usr/ports
select no to update and reboot system (since i've made no changes that warrant a reboot)
select option 14 XFCE4 Lightweight Desktop
select no to scan for additional sound devices
then xorg should be installed at this point.
select yes to reconfigure X11 and desktop
select option 2 SDDM to the display manager selection question
select yes to the guided graphics driver selection (not necessary with VirtualBox)
select no to forward X11 display to other hosts over ssh
select no to trust all forwarded X11 hosts
select no to accept forwarded X11 display from other hosts over ssh
select yes to enable SDDM graphical login
the display manager should boot at this point and i run control alt f1 to return to the installer
select no to configure CUPS
select no to install security/keepassxc
optional software questions continue (firefox, thunderbird, libreoffice, vlc)
then i reboot the machine when prompted to do so.
i am at the SDDM login screen after a reboot.

VirtualBox also requires the virtualbox-ose-additions package along the way
plus, we need to edit the rc file for VirtualBox to function correctly

some of my rc file entries:
# sysrc moused_enable="YES"
# sysrc dbus_enable="YES"
# sysrc vboxguest_enable="YES"
# sysrc vboxservice_enable="YES"
# sysrc vboxnet_enable="YES"

i also like to add automount (doas pkg install -y automount)

my /boot/loader.conf file:
fusefs_load="YES"
snd_ich_load="YES"
snd_driver_load="YES"
vboxdrv_load="YES"
vboxvfs_load="YES"

we also need to add the ability to mount devices
# sysctl vfs.usermount=1

if /proc is necessary then add it to /etc/fstab (doas nano /etc/fstab)
proc /proc procfs rw 0 0

if you prefer doas, then create the /usr/local/etc/doas.conf file
# nano /usr/local/etc/doas.conf
add the following info then write it to the file, then exit
permit :wheel
permit keepenv your_username_here as root

I hope that you can get it working...
 
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