New install - starting xfce4 returns blank sreen.

Question

Hi All,
I have just attempted my first Arch install, on a Toshiba Tecra A10 laptop.
The install went through fine, after configuring the network I have updated the system successfully but I'm having a problem getting my DE running.
I installed xfce via the following commands (as root)
pacman -S xorg
pacman -S xfce4
pacman -S xfce4-goodies
When I try to start xfce4 via "startxfce4" the screen goes blank (entire screen is black with two white underscore type things at the top of the page)
I have tried to start xfce4 as a non root user (user created via "useradd -m -g users -G audio,lp,optical,storage,video,wheel,games,power,scanner -s /bin/bash hardeep" but that also returns the same blank screen.
Using this same workflow I was able to get xfce4 running in Virtual Box so I assume the problem is with the video card drivers.
I did try to install a video driver via:
pacman -S xf86-video-nv (i'm pretty sure the Toshiba A10 has a Nvidia card)
That didnt help, I also gave the generic vesa driver a go but again same problem.
Any ideas on this would be much appreciated.
thanks
Hardeep

Answer 1

Just out of curiosity, because I don't know XFCE well and so it probably won't work: did you try just starting it through "startx" instead of startxfce? Also, boot it with the nomodeset grub option and, if it still refuses to work, post the output of xorg.conf (if you have one, otherwise pastebin the Xorg.0.log)
EDIT: please tell me you put the nv module to load in the MODULES section of rc.conf?
EDIT2: Is THIS your computer? Because it has an intel graphics chip. If it is, problem solved...
Last edited by admiralspark (2011-01-13 00:03:27)