X - no screens found - error

Have you tried with 13.0 snapshot FreeBSD? Maybe it would have better support.
Irrelevant. The version of FreeBSD has nothing to do with this issue.

@SirDice:
This would be maybe what we can call FreeBSD Stable, including the kernel Entropy fix for non EFI (legacy) + stable Xorg (old working 2018 stuffs) for intel and nvidia cards.
Again, irrelevant. You're trying to use a completely unrelated issue to prove a point in favor of your crusade.

This is an old NVidia card. Even NVidia stopped supporting it and the only driver that still supports this card is the 96 version. That version of the driver was built for the xserver version that was current at that time. It stopped working after xserver was updated to 1.14.

The 96 driver was removed mainly because it failed to build with x11-servers/xorg-server above 1.14. Another really good reason to remove it was the fact it contained a bunch of security issues and those were never going to be fixed by NVidia even if we could somehow get it to work on a newer xserver.

So, as shkhln already said, use x11-drivers/xf86-video-nv or x11-drivers/xf86-video-vesa. Anything else simply isn't going to work.
 
Irrelevant. The version of FreeBSD has nothing to do with this issue.


Again, irrelevant. You're trying to use a completely unrelated issue to prove a point in favor of your crusade.

This is an old NVidia card. Even NVidia stopped supporting it and the only driver that still supports this card is the 96 version. That version of the driver was built for the xserver version that was current at that time. It stopped working after xserver was updated to 1.14.

The 96 driver was removed mainly because it failed to build with x11-servers/xorg-server above 1.14. Another really good reason to remove it was the fact it contained a bunch of security issues and those were never going to be fixed by NVidia even if we could somehow get it to work on a newer xserver.

So, as shkhln already said, use x11-drivers/xf86-video-nv or x11-drivers/xf86-video-vesa. Anything else simply isn't going to work.



Code:
vesa: Ignoring device with a bound kernel driver
(EE)
Fatal server error:
(EE) no screens found(EE)
(EE)

This bug is reported by several users, and it concerns a clean new installation of 12.0.
Visibly the issue is into Xorg with vesa and scfb.

I could not find out the given package, into it looking Xorg.0.log ... I cannot find which package has the issue, yet.
 
tada, and magic ...

I am pleased to let you know that the installer of FreeBSD 12.0 with a workaround for Xorg is available.


With the clean fresh installation of BSD 12, then I get the txz files.
And the installer runs ... after few mins, it is installed with the txz files, just with the txz locally (from pkg12x.tar.gz file).

And here it shows icewm ... cool, it works.
Guys, if you would like to try my installer, you can maybe give a try for your system, if that also works with vesa/X.

6713


There is just the right packages. I have no file into /etc/X11. No Xorg -configure at all, just :
echo icewm > .xinitrc
startx

The working X11 is with this:
Code:
hello
ORBit2-2.14.19_2               High-performance CORBA ORB with support for the C language
add-20180401                   Full-screen editing calculator
adwaita-icon-theme-3.28.0      GNOME Symbolic Icons
alsa-lib-1.1.2_2               ALSA compatibility library
alsa-plugins-1.1.1_4           ALSA compatibility library plugins
alsa-sndio-0.2                 ALSA PCM sndio plugin
alsa-utils-1.1.2               ALSA compatibility utils
appres-1.0.5                   Program to list application's resources
apr-1.6.5.1.6.1_1              Apache Portability Library
argyllcms-1.9.2_4              ICC compatible color management system
at-spi2-atk-2.26.2             Assisted Technology Provider module for GTK+
at-spi2-core-2.28.0            Assistive Technology Service Provider Interface
atk-2.28.1                     GNOME accessibility toolkit (ATK)
avahi-app-0.7_2                Service discovery on a local network
bash-5.0.7                     GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell
binutils-2.30_7,1              GNU binary tools
bitmap-1.0.8_2                 Bitmap editor and converter utilities for X
ca_root_nss-3.41               Root certificate bundle from the Mozilla Project
cairo-1.15.12,2                Vector graphics library with cross-device output support
chromium-71.0.3578.98_2        Google web browser based on WebKit
colord-1.3.5                   Manage color profiles to accurately color input/output devices
compat10x-i386-10.4.1004000.20181014 Convenience package to install the compat10x libraries
cups-2.2.10                    Common UNIX Printing System
db5-5.3.28_7                   Oracle Berkeley DB, revision 5.3
dbus-1.10.16_1                 Message bus system for inter-application communication
dbus-glib-0.108                GLib bindings for the D-BUS messaging system
dconf-0.28.0                   Configuration database system for GNOME
dejavu-2.37                    Bitstream Vera Fonts clone with a wider range of characters
desktop-file-utils-0.23        Couple of command line utilities for working with desktop entries
dotconf-1.3_1                  Simple, powerful configuration-file parser
encodings-1.0.4_4,1            X.Org Encoding fonts
espeak-1.48.04_6               Software speech synthesizer
expat-2.2.6_1                  XML 1.0 parser written in C
ffmpeg-4.1_4,1                 Realtime audio/video encoder/converter and streaming server
fftw3-3.3.8_3                  Fast C routines to compute the Discrete Fourier Transform
firefox-67.0.2_1,1             Web browser based on the browser portion of Mozilla
flac-1.3.2                     Free lossless audio codec
font-adobe-100dpi-1.0.3_3      X.Org Adobe 100dpi font
font-adobe-75dpi-1.0.3_3       X.Org Adobe 75dpi font
font-adobe-utopia-100dpi-1.0.4_3 X.Org Adobe Utopia 100dpi font
font-adobe-utopia-75dpi-1.0.4_3 X.Org Adobe Utopia 75dpi font
font-adobe-utopia-type1-1.0.4_3 X.Org Adobe Utopia Type1 font
font-alias-1.0.3_3             X.Org Font aliases
font-arabic-misc-1.0.3_3       X.Org miscellaneous Arabic fonts
font-bh-100dpi-1.0.3_3         X.Org Bigelow Holmes 100dpi font
font-bh-75dpi-1.0.3_3          X.Org Bigelow Holmes 75dpi font
font-bh-lucidatypewriter-100dpi-1.0.3_3 X.Org Bigelow Holmes Lucida TypeWriter 100dpi font
font-bh-lucidatypewriter-75dpi-1.0.3_3 X.Org Bigelow Holmes Lucida TypeWriter 75dpi font
font-bh-ttf-1.0.3_3            X.Org Bigelow & Holmes TTF font
font-bh-type1-1.0.3_3          X.Org Bigelow Holmes Type1 font
font-bitstream-100dpi-1.0.3_3  X.Org Bitstream Vera 100dpi font
font-bitstream-75dpi-1.0.3_3   X.Org Bitstream Vera 75dpi font
font-bitstream-type1-1.0.3_3   X.Org Bitstream Vera Type1 font
font-cronyx-cyrillic-1.0.3_3   X.Org Cronyx Cyrillic font
font-cursor-misc-1.0.3_3       X.Org miscellaneous Cursor fonts
font-daewoo-misc-1.0.3_3       X.Org miscellaneous Daewoo fonts
font-dec-misc-1.0.3_3          X.Org miscellaneous Dec fonts
font-ibm-type1-1.0.3_3         X.Org IBM Type1 font
font-isas-misc-1.0.3_3         X.Org miscellaneous ISAS fonts
font-jis-misc-1.0.3_3          X.Org miscellaneous JIS fonts
font-micro-misc-1.0.3_3        X.Org miscellaneous Micro fonts
font-misc-cyrillic-1.0.3_3     X.Org miscellaneous Cyrillic font
font-misc-ethiopic-1.0.3_3     X.Org miscellaneous Ethiopic font
font-misc-meltho-1.0.3_3       X.Org miscellaneous Meltho font
font-misc-misc-1.1.2_3         X.Org miscellaneous Misc fonts
font-mutt-misc-1.0.3_3         X.Org miscellaneous Mutt fonts
font-schumacher-misc-1.1.2_3   X.Org miscellaneous Schumacher fonts
font-screen-cyrillic-1.0.4_3   X.Org Screen Cyrillic font
font-sony-misc-1.0.3_3         X.Org miscellaneous Sony fonts
font-sun-misc-1.0.3_3          X.Org miscellaneous Sun fonts
font-util-1.3.1                Create an index of X font files in a directory
font-winitzki-cyrillic-1.0.3_3 X.Org Winitzki Cyrillic font
font-xfree86-type1-1.0.4_3     X.Org XFree86 Type1 font
fontconfig-2.12.6,1            XML-based font configuration API for X Windows
fpc-3.0.4                      Free Pascal compiler with Turbo and Delphi
fpc-ide-3.0.4                  Free Pascal integrated IDE/compiler
freetype2-2.9.1                Free and portable TrueType font rendering engine
fribidi-0.19.7                 Free Implementation of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm
gcc-8_3                        Meta-port for the default version of the GNU Compiler Collection
gcc8-8.2.0_4                   GNU Compiler Collection 8
gconf2-3.2.6_5                 Configuration database system for GNOME
gdbm-1.18.1                    GNU database manager
gdk-pixbuf2-2.36.12            Graphic library for GTK+
gettext-runtime-0.19.8.1_2     GNU gettext runtime libraries and programs
giflib-5.1.4                   Tools and library routines for working with GIF images
glib-2.56.3_2,1                Some useful routines of C programming (current stable version)
gmp-6.1.2_1                    Free library for arbitrary precision arithmetic
gnome_subr-1.0                 Common startup and shutdown subroutines used by GNOME scripts
gnutls-3.6.5_1                 GNU Transport Layer Security library
gobject-introspection-1.56.1,1 Generate interface introspection data for GObject libraries
graphite2-1.3.13               Rendering capabilities for complex non-Roman writing systems
gtk-update-icon-cache-2.24.32  Gtk-update-icon-cache utility from the Gtk+ toolkit
gtk2-2.24.32                   Gimp Toolkit for X11 GUI (previous stable version)
gtk3-3.22.30_4                 Gimp Toolkit for X11 GUI (current stable version)
harfbuzz-2.3.0                 OpenType text shaping engine
harfbuzz-icu-2.3.0             Harfbuzz ICU support
hicolor-icon-theme-0.15        High-color icon theme shell from the FreeDesktop project
iceauth-1.0.8_2                ICE authority file utility for X
icewm-1.3.8_4                  Window Manager designed for speed, usability and consistency
icu-63.1_1,1                   International Components for Unicode (from IBM)
indexinfo-0.3.1                Utility to regenerate the GNU info page index
jbigkit-2.1_1                  Lossless compression for bi-level images such as scanned pages, faxes
jpeg-turbo-2.0.1               SIMD-accelerated JPEG codec which replaces libjpeg
jsoncpp-1.8.1_5                JSON reader and writer library for C++
lcms2-2.9                      Accurate, fast, and small-footprint color management engine
less-530                       Better pager utility
libFS-1.0.7_2                  The FS library
libICE-1.0.9_3,1               Inter Client Exchange library for X11
libIDL-0.8.14_4                Library for creating trees of CORBA IDL files
libSM-1.2.3,1                  Session Management library for X11
libX11-1.6.7,1                 X11 library
libXScrnSaver-1.2.3_2          The XScrnSaver library
libXTrap-1.0.1_5               The XTrap library
libXau-1.0.8_5                 Authentication Protocol library for X11
libXaw-1.0.13_2,2              X Athena Widgets library
libXcomposite-0.4.4_5,1        X Composite extension library
libXcursor-1.1.15_2            X client-side cursor loading library
libXdamage-1.1.4_5             X Damage extension library
libXdmcp-1.1.2_2               X Display Manager Control Protocol library
libXevie-1.0.3_5               The Xevie library
libXext-1.3.3_3,1              X11 Extension library
libXfixes-5.0.3_2              X Fixes extension library
libXfont-1.5.4_2,2             X font library
libXfontcache-1.0.5_5          The Xfontcache library
libXft-2.3.2_3                 Client-sided font API for X applications
libXi-1.7.9_2,1                X Input extension library
libXinerama-1.1.4_2,1          X11 Xinerama library
libXmu-1.1.2_5,1               X Miscellaneous Utilities libraries
libXp-1.0.3_2,1                X print library
libXpm-3.5.12_2                X Pixmap library
libXrandr-1.5.1_2              X Resize and Rotate extension library
libXrender-0.9.10_2            X Render extension library
libXres-1.2.0_2                X Resource usage library
libXt-1.1.5_2,1                X Toolkit library
libXtst-1.2.3_2                X Test extension
libXv-1.0.11_2,1               X Video Extension library
libXvMC-1.0.10_2               X Video Extension Motion Compensation library
libXxf86dga-1.1.4_5            X DGA Extension
libXxf86misc-1.0.4_2           X XF86-Misc Extension
libXxf86vm-1.1.4_3             X Vidmode Extension
libcroco-0.6.12                CSS2 parsing library
libdaemon-0.14_1               Lightweight C library that eases the writing of UNIX daemons
libdmx-1.1.4_2                 DMX extension library
libdrm-2.4.96,1                Userspace interface to kernel Direct Rendering Module services
libedit-3.1.20170329_2,1       Command line editor library
libepoll-shim-0.0.20181229     epoll shim implemented using kevent
libepoxy-1.5.2                 Library to handle OpenGL function pointer management
libevent-2.1.10                API for executing callback functions on events or timeouts
libexif-0.6.21_4               Library to read digital camera file meta-data
libffi-3.2.1_3                 Foreign Function Interface
libfontenc-1.1.3_3             The fontenc Library
libgcrypt-1.8.4_1              General purpose cryptographic library based on the code from GnuPG
libgpg-error-1.34              Common error values for all GnuPG components
libgsf-1.14.44                 Extensible I/O abstraction for dealing with structured file formats
libiconv-1.14_11               Character set conversion library
libidn2-2.1.0                  Implementation of IDNA2008 internationalized domain names
libltdl-2.4.6                  System independent dlopen wrapper
liblz4-1.8.3,1                 LZ4 compression library, lossless and very fast
libogg-1.3.3,4                 Ogg bitstream library
liboldX-1.0.1_3                Old X library
libpaper-1.1.24.4              Library providing routines for paper size management
libpci-3.6.2                   PCI configuration space I/O made easy
libpciaccess-0.13.5            Generic PCI access library
libpthread-stubs-0.4           This library provides weak aliases for pthread functions
librsvg2-2.40.20               Library for parsing and rendering SVG vector-graphic files
libsecret-0.18.6               Library to access the secret service API
libsndfile-1.0.28_1            Reading and writing files containing sampled sound (like WAV or AIFF)
libtasn1-4.13_1                ASN.1 structure parser library
libtheora-1.1.1_7              Theora video codec for the Ogg multimedia streaming system
libunistring-0.9.10_1          Unicode string library
libunwind-20170615             Generic stack unwinding library
libv4l-1.6.3_4                 Video4Linux library
libva-2.3.0_5                  VAAPI wrapper and dummy driver
libvdpau-1.1.1_2               VDPAU wrapper and tracing library
libvorbis-1.3.6,3              Audio compression codec library
libvpx-1.7.0_4                 VP8/VP9 Codec SDK
libx264-0.155.2917             H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video Encoding (Library)
libxcb-1.13.1                  The X protocol C-language Binding (XCB) library
libxkbcommon-0.8.0             Keymap handling library for toolkits and window systems
libxkbfile-1.0.9_2             XKB file library
libxkbui-1.0.2_6               The xkbui library
libxml2-2.9.8                  XML parser library for GNOME
libxshmfence-1.2_4             Shared memory 'SyncFence' synchronization primitive
libxslt-1.1.32                 The XSLT C library for GNOME
links-2.16_1,1                 Lynx-like text WWW browser
llvm60-6.0.1_6                 LLVM and Clang
luit-1.1.1_1                   Locale and ISO 2022 support for Unicode terminals
mesa-dri-18.3.2                OpenGL hardware acceleration drivers for DRI2+
mesa-libs-18.3.2               OpenGL libraries that support GLX and EGL clients
mkfontdir-1.0.7                Create an index of X font files in a directory
mkfontscale-1.1.3_2            Creates an index of scalable font files for X
mpc-1.1.0_2                    Library of complex numbers with arbitrarily high precision
mpfr-4.0.1_2                   Library for multiple-precision floating-point computations
mpg123-1.25.10                 Command-line player for MPEG Layer 1, 2, and 3 audio files
ncurses-6.1.20190112           Library for terminal-independent, full-screen output
nettle-3.4.1_1                 Low-level cryptographic library
noto-basic-1.0.5_1             Google Noto Fonts family (Basic and Emoji)
noto-lite-1.0.5_2              Google font family - lite version
nspr-4.20                      Platform-neutral API for system level and libc like functions
nss-3.41_1                     Libraries to support development of security-enabled applications
opencv-core-3.4.1_13           Open Source Computer Vision library
openh264-1.8.0,2               Cisco implementation of H.264 codec
opus-1.3                       IETF audio codec
p11-kit-0.23.14                Library for loading and enumerating of PKCS#11 modules
pango-1.42.4_1                 Open-source framework for the layout and rendering of i18n text
pciids-20181228                Database of all known IDs used in PCI devices
pcre-8.42_1                    Perl Compatible Regular Expressions library
perl5-5.28.1                   Practical Extraction and Report Language
pixman-0.34.0_1                Low-level pixel manipulation library
pkg-1.11.1                     Package manager
png-1.6.36                     Library for manipulating PNG images
polkit-0.114_2                 Framework for controlling access to system-wide components
portaudio-19.6.0,1             Portable cross-platform Audio API
python27-2.7.15                Interpreted object-oriented programming language
python36-3.6.8                 Interpreted object-oriented programming language
re2-20180901_1                 Fast C++ regex library
readline-7.0.5                 Library for editing command lines as they are typed
serf-1.3.9_3                   Serf HTTP client library
sessreg-1.1.1                  Manage utmp/wtmp entries for non-init X clients
setxkbmap-1.3.1                Set the keyboard using the X Keyboard Extension
shared-mime-info-1.8           MIME types database from the freedesktop.org project
smproxy-1.0.6                  Session Manager Proxy
snappy-1.1.6                   Fast compressor/decompressor library
sndio-1.5.0                    Small audio and MIDI framework from the OpenBSD project
speech-dispatcher-0.8.6_1      Common interface to speech synthesis
speex-1.2.0,1                  Audio compression format designed for speech
speexdsp-1.2.r3_1              Audio compression format designed for speech
spidermonkey52-52.9.0_1        Standalone JavaScript based from Mozilla 52-esr
sqlite3-3.26.0                 SQL database engine in a C library
startup-notification-0.12_4    Library that supports startup notification spec from freedesktop.org
subversion-1.11.1_1            Version control system
tiff-4.0.10                    Tools and library routines for working with TIFF images
tpm-emulator-0.7.4_2           Trusted Platform Module (TPM) emulator
trousers-0.3.14_2              Open-source TCG Software Stack
twm-1.0.10                     Tab Window Manager for the X Window System
utf8proc-2.1.0                 UTF-8 processing library
wayland-1.16.0                 Wayland composite "server"
wayland-protocols-1.16         Wayland protocols
webp-1.0.1_1                   Google WebP image format conversion tool
wget-1.20.3                    Retrieve files from the Net via HTTP(S) and FTP
wmctrl-1.07_7                  Command line tool to interact with an EWMH/NetWM compatible X managers
x11perf-1.6.0                  X11 server performance test program
x265-2.8_2                     H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) format
xauth-1.0.10                   X authority file utility
xbacklight-1.2.2               Program to adjust backlight brightness
xbitmaps-1.1.2                 X.Org bitmaps data
xcalc-1.0.6_2                  Scientific calculator for X
xcb-util-0.4.0_2,1             Module with libxcb/libX11 extension/replacement libraries
xcb-util-renderutil-0.3.9_1    Convenience functions for the Render extension
xclip-0.13                     Interface to X selections ("the clipboard") from the command line
xclock-1.0.7_2                 Analog and digital clock for X
xcmsdb-1.0.5                   Device Color Characterization utility for X
xconsole-1.0.7_1               Monitor system console messages with X
xcursor-themes-1.0.5_2         X.org cursors themes
xcursorgen-1.0.7               Create an X cursor file from a collection of PNG images
xdg-utils-1.1.3                Tools to allow all applications to integrate with the free desktop
xdotool-3.20160805.1,1         Programmatically simulate keyboard input or mouse activity
xdpyinfo-1.3.2_2               Display information utility for X
xdriinfo-1.0.6_3               Query configuration information of DRI drivers
xev-1.2.2                      Print contents of X events
xf86-input-keyboard-1.9.0_3    X.Org keyboard input driver
xf86-input-mouse-1.9.3_2       X.Org mouse input driver
xf86-video-scfb-0.0.4_7        X.Org syscons display driver
xf86-video-vesa-2.4.0_2        X.Org vesa display driver
xf86dga-1.0.3_1                Test program for the XFree86-DGA extension
xgamma-1.0.6                   Gamma correction through the X server
xgc-1.0.5                      X graphics demo
xhost-1.0.7                    Server access control program for X
xinit-1.4.0,1                  X Window System initializer
xinput-1.6.2_2                 Very useful utility for configuring and testing XInput devices
xkbcomp-1.4.2                  Compile XKB keyboard description
xkbevd-1.1.4                   XKB event daemon
xkbutils-1.0.4_2               XKB utility demos
xkeyboard-config-2.24_1        X Keyboard Configuration Database
xkill-1.0.5                    Utility for killing a client by its X resource
xlsatoms-1.1.2                 List interned atoms defined on a server
xlsclients-1.1.4               List client applications running on a display
xmessage-1.0.5                 Display message or query in a X window
xmodmap-1.0.9                  Utility for modifying keymaps and pointer button mappings in X
xorg-7.7_3                     X.Org complete distribution metaport
xorg-apps-7.7_2                X.org apps meta-port
xorg-docs-1.7.1,1              X.org documentation files
xorg-drivers-7.7_5             X.org drivers meta-port
xorg-fonts-7.7_1               X.org fonts meta-port
xorg-fonts-100dpi-7.7          X.Org 100dpi bitmap fonts
xorg-fonts-75dpi-7.7           X.Org 75dpi bitmap fonts
xorg-fonts-cyrillic-7.7        X.Org Cyrillic bitmap fonts
xorg-fonts-miscbitmaps-7.7     X.Org miscellaneous bitmap fonts
xorg-fonts-truetype-7.7_1      X.Org TrueType fonts
xorg-fonts-type1-7.7           X.Org Type1 fonts
xorg-libraries-7.7_2           X.org libraries meta-port
xorg-server-1.18.4_11,1        X.Org X server and related programs
xorgproto-2018.4               xorg protocol headers
xpr-1.0.5                      Utility for printing an X window dump
xprop-1.2.3                    Property displayer for X
xrandr-1.5.0                   Primitive command line interface to the RandR extension
xrdb-1.1.1                     X server resource database utility
xrefresh-1.0.6                 Refresh all or part of an X screen
xset-1.2.4_2                   User preference utility for X
xsetmode-1.0.0                 Set the mode for an X Input Device
xsetroot-1.1.2                 Root window parameter setting utility for X
xterm-343                      Terminal emulator for the X Window System
xtrans-1.3.5                   Abstract network code for X
xvid-1.3.5,1                   Opensource MPEG-4 codec, based on OpenDivx
xvinfo-1.1.3                   Print out X-Video extension adaptor information
xwd-1.0.7                      Dump an image of an X window
xwininfo-1.1.4_2               Window information utility for X
xwud-1.0.5                     Image displayer for X
FreeBSD generic 12.0-CURRENT FreeBSD 12.0-CURRENT #0 r328126: Thu Jan 18 18:13:19 UTC 2018     root@releng3.nyi.freebsd.org:/usr/obj/usr/src/i386.i386/sys/GENERIC  i386

I hope that this helped you.

Yours sincerely
 
So, as shkhln already said, use x11-drivers/xf86-video-nv or x11-drivers/xf86-video-vesa. Anything else simply isn't going to work.

I just performed (another) fresh install of 12. Then, I updated both freebsd and ports. Then, I added the requisite entries in /boot/loader.conf and /etc/rc.conf and rebooted. Then I "pkg install...." Xorg and "pkg install...." XF86-video-mv.
The result: of startx....no screens found.

At this point, I'm truly stumped!!
This laptop has been running 12 with xfce for months! Back in December, I burned 12 RELEASE to a DVD, which is what I've been installing from. So I know the source has not changed. In spite of the fact that I've also wiped the hard drive and reinstalled BSD multiple times during this time to show friends how EASY it is to get FreeBSD 12 up-and-running in minutes, now X won't run at all. And NOTHING changed. I don't get it???

p.s. 11.2 now produces the same "no screens found" error. Though I did update the system prior to installing Xorg, so I'm guessing whatever is causing the error is related to one of the updates that affects both 11.2 and 12.
 
I am pleased to let you know that the installer of FreeBSD 12.0 with a workaround for Xorg is available.
With the clean fresh installation of BSD 12, then I get the txz files.
And the installer runs ... after few mins, it is installed with the txz files, just with the txz locally (from pkg12x.tar.gz file).
[....]
I hope that this helped you.
Yours sincerely

Great work!
I downloaded the installer.sh, but I'm not sure what to do with it??
I apologize if this should be obvious, but I haven't dabbled in BSD hacking for many years.
 
Spartrekus: I think I may have figured it out, but since I've been messing around with the system, I may have modded something that's required for your installer. So I'm going to reinstall 12 from scratch and, then, try running your installer.sh.

I presume I cp it to / and run "./installer.sh" (w/o quotes). Is that correct?
 
UPDATE: With a fresh 12 install, I did a "pkg install..." xorg.
Then I ran installer.sh. Unfortunately, startx still returns no screens found.
Note: I did not "pkg install..." nvidia-driver-340" yet. I wasn't sure whether installer.sh contained the required sources or not and I wanted to install as little as possible to avoid downloading whatever it is that's causing the error. But I guess it may've come with Xorg.

If anyone has any further ideas....
 
Spartrekus: I think I may have figured it out, but since I've been messing around with the system, I may have modded something that's required for your installer. So I'm going to reinstall 12 from scratch and, then, try running your installer.sh.

I presume I cp it to / and run "./installer.sh" (w/o quotes). Is that correct?
After installation of clean 12.0 FreeBSD x86, you get the tarball pkg12x.tar.gz, place the txz into /var/cache/pkg/
and then :
pkg add ./*.txz

It will install then the locally present txz files, without fetching from internet.
 
After installation of clean 12.0 FreeBSD x86, you get the tarball pkg12x.tar.gz, place the txz into /var/cache/pkg/
and then :
pkg add ./*.txz
It will install then the locally present txz files, without fetching from internet.

That makes more sense. I'm downloading the tarball now and I'll give it a try tomorrow morning.
Do I install Xorg and nvidia-driver-340 BEFORE or AFTER installing your tarball?

Just fyi: After my last post, I wiped 12 and installed 13, which produces the same "no screens found". So I'm hoping your hack works.
Still, it would be good to figure out exactly what "broke" and fix it....because 12 and X installed easily and were running perfectly on this laptop until last week..
 
That makes more sense. I'm downloading the tarball now and I'll give it a try tomorrow morning.
After my last post, I wiped 12 and installed 13, which produces the same "no screens found". So I'm hoping your hack works.

Still, it would be good to figure out exactly what "broke" and fix it....because 12 and X installed easily and were running perfectly on this laptop until last week..
It is very likely to work, I believe.

Let's hope that this fix works for your machines. Let us know about the results.
Best regards
 
Hi,

I didn't use any other than the xf86-video-vesa and/or xf-video-nv drivers. The latter seems to be depreciated, but worked well enough for me because I don't need any hardware/graphical acceleration. Time ago I tried the 'better' Nvidia drivers but it was a PITA and didn't get them running.

Meanwhile I didn't see any reaction on my bugzilla report, but that will only be a matter of time.
l also I will try and install xorg-minimal as @drozdowsky suggested and be back on that.

[edit] both deleting and reinstalling xorg-minimal and xorg didn't resolve the problem, still 'no screens found'
 
Spartrekus: Success with a caveat...

Your tarball worked! THANK YOU!!
Finally, I was able to startx (see "pkg add.jpg") into X.
However, after "pkg install xfce", xfce4 fails to start, producing a dbus error I've never seen before (see "xfce.jpg"). Did your tarball install or configure dbus?

Since I don't know what is in your tarball or how it fixed or bypassed the "no screens found" problem, I'm not sure whether the xfce error is related to the tarball or something else? If we can solve this, I think we can call your fix a REAL solution for others with the "no screens found" error.

p.s. For others who may be new or have minimal Unix experience, your tarball instructions lacked two important steps:
Once pkg12x.tar.gz is copied into /var/cache/pkg/, the user should perform the following three commands....
  1. tar xvzf pkg12x.tar.gz
  2. cd pkg12x
  3. pkg add ./*.txz
I think this would help anyone, like me, who may find this thread during their attempts to fix the "no screens found" error.
 

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Spartrekus: Success with a caveat...

Your tarball worked! THANK YOU!!
Finally, I was able to startx (see "pkg add.jpg") into X.
However, after "pkg install xfce", xfce4 fails to start, producing a dbus error I've never seen before (see "xfce.jpg"). Did your tarball install or configure dbus?

Since I don't know what is in your tarball or how it fixed or bypassed the "no screens found" problem, I'm not sure whether the xfce error is related to the tarball or something else? If we can solve this, I think we can call your fix a REAL solution for others with the "no screens found" error.

p.s. For others who may be new or have minimal Unix experience, your tarball instructions lacked two important steps:
Once pkg12x.tar.gz is copied into /var/cache/pkg/, the user should perform the following three commands....
  1. tar xvzf pkg12x.tar.gz
  2. cd pkg12x
  3. pkg add ./*.txz
I think this would help anyone, like me, who may find this thread during their attempts to fix the "no screens found" error.

I was kinda sure about it.

Because my Tarball has no XFCE then, you won't make it to run XFCE. I have gave you a package list with icewm - as soon as you get something with bugs from the Net (BSD package ftp) - then it will not work.

Then, because no one care about X11, then please post your great opinions about stability here.
Likely Sirdice and other will care about it more.
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/stable-and-testing-releases-for-freebsd.71473/

There are many bugs:
11.x does not boot for all.
12.x is regularly broken and it is not booting on all notebooks.
13.x does not boot either and it is likely to be more broken than 12.x
 
UPDATE: I figured out the xfce issue (I forgot to add dbus_enable="YES" to /etc/rc.conf). After a reboot, xfce comes right up. However, the default video driver doesn't permit higher display settings.....so this is where I would normally install the nvidia-driver-340. But I don't want to "break" whatever you did, so I thought I should check with you before installing the nvidia driver....
 

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UPDATE: I figured out the xfce issue (I forgot to add dbus_enable="YES" to /etc/rc.conf). After a reboot, xfce comes right up. However, the default video driver doesn't permit higher display settings.....so this is where I would normally install the nvidia-driver-340. But I don't want to "break" whatever you did, so I thought I should check with you before installing the nvidia driver....
Fetching from the ftp of FreeBSD will risk that it will break and bring more bugs.

We can chat if you want if you have specific questions.
It takes lot of time to make a tarball - but we have no choices because bugs aren't fixed.

There are no bugs for others (Sirdice,...).

I invite you to join the discussion here:
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/stable-and-testing-releases-for-freebsd.71473/

I would like to thank you very much for your help.
 
We can chat if you want if you have specific questions.

I think my only question now is whether I can install the nvidia-driver-340 or if you think it will break your "fix"??


I takes lot of time to make a tarball - but we have no choices because bugs aren't fixed.
There are no bugs for others (Sirdice,...).

I don't mean to excuse anyone, but I think the BSD developers probably have alot to do and solving bugs for older laptops probably aren't at the top of their list. Still, I've run across a few others running 12 on desktop PCs who're having the same "no screens found" issue. So it looks like something got broke in a recent update, so the developers probably should look into it. Again, my laptop has been running 12 for several months without any problem until last week. And although I'm very rusty in Unix, I've been running it since the late '90s. In fact, our web server's been running FreeBSD 4.4 for ~20 years without any OS problems.
As they say: If it ain't broke, don't fix it...



I just posted my results there. Thanks again for the outstanding help!!
 
I think my only question now is whether I can install the nvidia-driver-340 or if you think it will break your "fix"??




I don't mean to excuse anyone, but I think the BSD developers probably have alot to do and solving bugs for older laptops probably aren't at the top of their list. Still, I've run across a few others running 12 on desktop PCs who're having the same "no screens found" issue. So it looks like something got broke in a recent update, so the developers probably should look into it. Again, my laptop has been running 12 for several months without any problem until last week. And although I'm very rusty in Unix, I've been running it since the late '90s. In fact, our web server's been running FreeBSD 4.4 for ~20 years without any OS problems.
As they say: If it ain't broke, don't fix it...




I just posted my results there. Thanks again for the outstanding help!!

You need an usb live memstick with freebsd - any 12.0 memstick would do shell (so that /dev/adas0s1a is not / mounted).

if you copy your files into a directory, you can bring it back alive easily.
You can run a shell from a live freebsd and copy your disk to a dir.

mount /dev/adas0s1a /media/hdd
mount /dev/da0s1 /media/extusbhdd
mkdir /media/extusbhdd/backup-spartrekus-bsd-12
cp -a /media/hdd /media/extusbhdd/backup-spartrekus-bsd-12

Once done you can test it and restore it in a flash.

I believe that the mentioned nvidia package from ftp freebsd has no bug there. it might work.

you can restore it anytime - anyhow.

edit:
I just read your post - thank you very much for your post and your help. I believe also that it would be great if your X11 works well the way you would dream to.
 
UPDATE: After installing nvidia-driver-340, startx produces: no screens found.
340 is the same nvidia driver I've always used on this laptop.
 
UPDATE: After installing nvidia-driver-340, startx produces: no screens found.
340 is the same nvidia driver I've always used on this laptop.

Good to know that it breaks it. Means that I should update my tarball with it.
Since I am travelling, I have no idea when.

Maybe we can ask Sirdice for a bug fix this week.

The week after I can maybe take few hours to fix it.
 
Good to know that it breaks it. Means that I should update my tarball with it.
Since I am travelling, I have no idea when.
Maybe we can ask Sirdice for a bug fix this week.
The week after I can maybe take few hours to fix it.

You've done so much already, I'm very grateful. If you can find the time to incorporate the nvidia-driver-340 into the tarball that would be great. Just let me know if you're able to do it.
Thank you again.
 
You've done so much already, I'm very grateful. If you can find the time to incorporate the nvidia-driver-340 into the tarball that would be great. Just let me know if you're able to do it.
Thank you again.
I have the possibility to incorporate the nvidia driver - however it will take several hours like 2 to 4 hours, including long uploading time on sourceforge. It is not a big deal - because I do regularly keep bug fixing to keep FreeBSD running.
 
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