Using FreeBSD as Desktop OS

knightjp said:
n it and generate the xorg.conf file.
Click to expand...

Why? A xorg.conf file should no be necessary anymore.

Remove that file and create a new one in xorg.conf.d with this content (you can call the file 20-nvidia.conf or something like that):
Code: 
Section "Device"
   Identifier     "nVidia Card"
   Driver         "nvidia"
   VendorName     "nVidia Corporation"
   BoardName     "GeForce GT 1050"
EndSection
 
Mine is a GT 630. I just need to have the "Device" section in xorg.conf.d and this nvidia-modeset_load="YES" on /boot/loader.conf to have it running. However, I also add hw.vga.textmode="1" to /boot/loader.conf otherwise I can't switch from X to console.

There may have just a few parameters you actually need to have the card working instead of a entire xonf.conf file.
 
Ok but I don't have a xorg.conf.d file. So it doesn't matter much I guess.
I also have the textmode set in loader.conf. This is because of a bug in the driver.
 
In the old days, xorg.conf, usually a pretty long file, was put into /etc/X11. Nowadays, (VERY generally speaking) that xorg.conf usually isn't necessary (though with NVidia, on both Linux and FreeBSD, I use it. But, on say, a laptop with a supported Intel card, (meaning a fairly old laptop by now, unless you use CURRENT), there won't be the /etc/X11/xorg.conf
file.

Still, you might want to add a little part of a xorg.conf file to, say, support a synaptics touchpad. In such a case, you can now use /usr/local/etc/xorg.conf.d and create say, a file with a name like 50-synaptics.conf. (The most important part is the .conf at the end.) That will be a really short file with something like
Code: 
Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier      "Mouse0"
    Driver          "mouse"
    Option          "Protocol"      "auto"
    Option          "Device"        "/dev/sysmouse"
    Option          "ZAxisMapping"  "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

TL;DR
Sometimes you just need a few lines from a standard xorg.conf file in which case, you can use /usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/<number>something.conf
 
OK... I think I found the issue. its nvidia-xconfig..

After the initial install I did the following in the same order.
Code: 
pkg install nano sudo xorg
Code: 
 nano /etc/rc.conf
insert 
hald_enable="YES"
dbus_enable="YES"
linux_enable="YES"
then reboot
Code: 
pkg install nvidia-driver nvidia-settings
nano /boot/loader.conf
insert--
nvidia_load="YES"
Reboot
Code: 
startx (to check everything works)
pkg install openbox menumaker
nano ~/.xinitrc
add 
exec openbox-session
Reboot
Code: 
startx (to check if everything is working well)
Everything was working with the exception of my second monitor.
So I thought that nvidia-xconfig would be the issue and I never created any xorg.conf file..
With that, I installed nvidia-xconfig and after the reboot, I ran it and then "startx"..
I got a error and xorg failed to start.
I then did a reboot and it was the same result.

Any ideas?
 
lebarondemerde said:
Mine is a GT 630. I just need to have the "Device" section in xorg.conf.d and this nvidia-modeset_load="YES" on /boot/loader.conf to have it running. However, I also add hw.vga.textmode="1" to /boot/loader.conf otherwise I can't switch from X to console.

There may have just a few parameters you actually need to have the card working instead of a entire xonf.conf file.
Click to expand...

thanks for the pointer to hw.vga.textmode="1" . I was scratching my head why can't I have some meaningful text display in 1-8 screens, but got some cryptic garbled text in return.
 
Yeah this bug is there since quite some time. It's a Nvidia bug or a vt bug but since the driver is closed source the FreeBSD camp probably has a hard time solving it.
 
MarcoB said:
Did you place the /.root/xorg.conf.new file, that nvidia-xconfig created, in /etc/x11?
Click to expand...
No.... I didn't do that. Maybe that is the thing that I forgot.. Interestingly enough, I didn't have to do that for Fluxbox. Both monitors worked perfectly after doing the nvidia-xconfig command.
 
Dear knightjp , as mentioned by lebarondemerde , if you installing nvidia-driver, this means your card is supported by recent nvidia driver (not legacy). Shouldn't you use nvidia-modeset_load="YES" instead of nvidia_load="YES" on /boot/loader.conf? Then you also would need hw.vga.textmode="1" to switch between x and console.
 
Beno Kurniawan said:
Dear knightjp , as mentioned by lebarondemerde , if you installing nvidia-driver, this means your card is supported by recent nvidia driver (not legacy). Shouldn't you use nvidia-modeset_load="YES" instead of nvidia_load="YES" on /boot/loader.conf? Then you also would need hw.vga.textmode="1" to switch between x and console.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. I'm no expert - just an amateur at best. So all of this is actually new to me.
 
Hi knightjp ,

Same here, I also not an expert. I start to learn in a hardway, get up as often as my falls. Install on my daily production laptop, blank screen, unable to solve problem, unable to take important docs on external ntfs drive, uninstall. Switch to another OS, experimenting on VM. Gaining more confidence, install again and so on.
All in all, handbook, faqs and forums are my best friend and source of knowledge. There were lots of developers, moderators, and members which actively helping each other and we could learn together here.
 
I have 2 Thinkpad T61 running FreeBSD 11.1-RELEASE-p8 that both use the Nvidia Quadro NVS 140M and the x11/nvidia-driver-304. I'm using one now. To get mine up and running using ports and ports-mgmt/portmaster:

I compile the driver and linux emulation. ports-mgmt/portmaster wants to install linux emulation with the build IIRC.

Have x11/nvidia-xconfig generate an /etc/x11/xorg.conf file. There shouldn't be a need to post mine.

Use this in my /boot/loader.conf:
Code: 
linux_load="YES"
nvidia_load="YES"
nvidia-modeset_load="YES"

And this in my /etc/rc.conf:
Code: 
linux_enable="YES"

Whether or not all these are deemed as necessary it's what I do to get mine running and works every time.
 
When talking about Desktop environments, KDE has always been one of my favorites. I like Gnome3, but it has never really caught my eye...
Having seen this video - Why I love Unity, I wonder if anyone has been able to port the Unity project to FreeBSD. I know that its not a favorite, but it seems to have some pretty cool features.
 
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