Solved xcfe login gui doesn't show up

Hello, I'm new to freebsd and the way it works(I mean, completely new; I don't even really understand what's going on in the handbook).
I'm mentioning this, because I've searched the threads to find the solution to my problem and I didn't get half the things that were said,
so please be specific; For example: if you tell me to edit some file, please specify where I can find it.
Recently, I've installed the 11.1 version of freebsd and tried to install the xfce desktop environment.
(As I've mentioned, I don't get the handbook, so I followed a youtube tutorial instead:
)
I did the following (right after the system installation):
a) pkg update
b) pkg upgrade
c) pkg install xorg
d) pkg install slim
e) pkg install xfce
f) pkg install nano
g) I enabled the dbus, hald and slim in the /etc/rc.conf file
h) I made the file .xinitrc and typed in "exec startxfce4" and then saved.
i) I rebooted.
As the system rebooted I got this on the screen:
...
Starting syslogd.
No core dumps found.
Clearing /tmp (X related).
Starting default moused.
Starting dbus.
Starting hald.
Updating motd.
Mounting late filesystems:.
Starting ntpd.
Jun 27 00:41:23 localhost ntpd[696]: leapsecond file ('/var/db/ntpd.leapseconds.list'): expired less than 181 days ago
Starting slim.
startxfce4 - Xfce Session
startxfce4 - Xfce Session
Starting avahi-daemon.
Starting avahi-dnsconfd.
Configuring vt: blanktime.
Starting sendmail_submit.
Starting_sendmail_msp_queue.
Starting cron.
Starting background file system checks in 60 seconds.

Wed Jun 27 00:41:27 CEST 2018

FreeBSD/amd64 (localhost) (ttyv0)

login:


So, as you can see, no shiny GUI showed up, nor even a GUI login screen;
Could somebody tell me why? Have I messed something up (besides using the youtube tutorial and omitting the handbook)?
What has to be done/modified in order to make xfce properly function?
 
I see you installed the slim login manager and from dmesg it shows slim gets startet as well. That's good.
Looks you havn't any graphics driver loaded.

Xorg would autoconfigure (and slim come up right away) if you had loaded the /boot/kernel/i915kms.ko Intel driver.
There are kms drivers for AMD and Nvidia as well, though I'm not sure if they work out of the box, too. Have never used them...

So what's your graphics hardware? If it's some Intel Core i3/5/7, what processor generation?

Edit:
To be more precise. I'm not talking about creating an xorg.conf!
It's about loading a kms driver when the system starts, like adding the following to /etc/rc.conf (intel example)
Code:
kld_list="i915kms"
 
I see you installed the slim login manager and from dmesg it shows slim gets startet as well. That's good.
Looks you havn't any graphics driver loaded.

Xorg would autoconfigure (and slim come up right away) if you had loaded the /boot/kernel/i915kms.ko Intel driver.
There are kms drivers for AMD and Nvidia as well, though I'm not sure if they work out of the box, too. Have never used them...

So what's your graphics hardware? If it's some Intel Core i3/5/7, what processor generation?

Edit:
To be more precise. I'm not talking about creating an xorg.conf!
It's about loading a kms driver when the system starts, like adding the following to /etc/rc.conf (intel example)
Code:
kld_list="i915kms"
Hi, thanks for replying; I'm using lenovo IdeaPad 110, here are the specs:
Processor:
Intel® Celeron® N3160 Processor (1.60GHz 2MB) [I'm guessing that's i3 but I don't know]
Operating System:
#Windows 10 Home (on separate partition)
FreeBSD 11.1
Graphics:
Intel® HD Graphics 400
RAM:
2 GB DDR3L 1600 MHz Storage
HDD:
500 GB 5400 RPM
Screen(Or should i say monitor?):
14" HD (1366 x 768) Glossy


Anyway, I discovered that when I type in (as root): "startxfce4"
I get server error; (ee): no screens found
However, when I looked into Xorg.0.conf log file, it said (ee): screens found, but none have a usable configuration
What does this mean? What must I do to get it working? (Tell me if you need any other info).
 
Those SoC celerons are badly supported by the driver since no one knows what they are really are. Intel does not provide much useful information about those.
But, give it a try. On the console run (as root): # kldload i915kms
If you get some output like the following, then the driver has attached. If not you are out of luck and you have to go with the vesa driver (not hardware accelerated)
Code:
info: [drm] MSI enabled 1 message(s)
info: [drm] Supports vblank timestamp caching Rev 1 (10.10.2010).
info: [drm] Driver supports precise vblank timestamp query.
drm_iic_dp_aux0 on drmn0
drm_iic_dp_aux1 on drmn0
uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
drmn0: taking over the fictitious range 0xe0000000-0xf0000000
info: [drm] Connector VGA-1: get mode from tunables:
info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.modes.VGA-1
info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.default_mode
info: [drm] Connector HDMI-A-1: get mode from tunables:
info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.modes.HDMI-A-1
info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.default_mode
info: [drm] Connector DP-1: get mode from tunables:
info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.modes.DP-1
info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.default_mode
info: [drm] Connector HDMI-A-2: get mode from tunables:
info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.modes.HDMI-A-2
info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.default_mode
info: [drm] Connector DP-2: get mode from tunables:
info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.modes.DP-2
info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.default_mode
uhub3: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
fbd0 on drmn0
VT: Replacing driver "efifb" with new "fb".
drmn0: More than 8 outputs detected
info: [drm] Initialized i915 1.6.0 20080730 for drmn0 on minor 0

In case no such output shows up, you could use the vesa driver or update to FreeBSD 11.2-RELEASE.
FreeBSD 11.1's i915kms driver only supports processor graphics up to Haswell generation. Braswell (yours) came out later.
According to Wikipedia your HD400 should be close to the graphics of the Broadwell Core processors, so those are supported since FreeBSD 11.2-RELEASE.

Lucky you, FreeBSD 11.2-RELEASE came just out today :) It has the graphics/drm-next-kmod driver which supports Intel Graphics up to the KabyLake generation. Look here.

Anyway, I discovered that when I type in (as root): "startxfce4"
I get server error; (ee): no screens found
However, when I looked into Xorg.0.conf log file, it said (ee): screens found, but none have a usable configuration
What does this mean? What must I do to get it working? (Tell me if you need any other info).
That will work when a working driver is loaded.

I'd go for the update to 11.2-RELEASE right away, if the i915kms driver doesn't work.
You could use the vesa driver but that's not fun to use (no hardware acceleration).
 
Thanks so much! Your advice worked! I installed the new version and tried the xfce DE and it worked!
Hurray!
Have a lovely day.
(Btw, do I have to close this thread somehow, now that the problem's been solved? If yes, how would I do that?)
 
Great to hear it worked. Your are welcome!

Only Admins close threads.

You should mark the thread as 'solved' by clicking on the "..." button in the upper right corner of the thread (right to the 'Unwatch' button).
Choose 'Edit thread' and then change '(no prefix)' to 'solved' in the thread tiltle.

Enjoy your FreeBSD desktop :)
 
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