[SOLVED] Unable to startx as user

Question

Hey all,
I just installed Arch for the first time this weekend, and I'm trying to get to where I can run X reliably. Here's where I'm at:
When I login as root, and run startx, it works as expected. It launches xterm with three little windows, my mouse works, everything seems fine.
The output is: http://pastie.org/private/0ej2tfss5p0tdjtaqdzhhq
And /var/log/Xorg.0.log: http://pastie.org/private/wrulq3tbf9kmnshtrotsg
When I login as my user and then run it, it doesn't work. The screen flickers, and then X crashes before I see anything. Redirecting the output to a file isn't working, and hoarks my terminal, so here's the only output line that looks interesting:
xf86EnableIOPorts: failed to set IOPL for I/O (Operation not permitted)
And ~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log: http://pastie.org/private/0aacsqquwojcruobulrsow
It seems like a permissions issue, but I don't want to just start messing around without understanding a bit better. Also, I am able to adjust the backlight manually with calls to setpci. Trying to run xrandr with any parameters just yields 'Can't open display'. (Regardless of user)
/etc/X11/xorg.conf: http://pastie.org/private/bmwjdjsm20hccyp8asixsa
I'm on a Lenovo IdeaPad that I picked up at a garage sale, it was running Windows XP just fine previously. Output of lspci -k: http://pastie.org/private/blqm5eannk0wyie84wyma
I've run pacman -Syu today, everything is up to date. I installed the intel video driver, as recommended in the wiki. I've tried a few different things that I've found in similar posts, but nothing has worked. I haven't been able to find anyone else with the exact same problem.
I tried to do as much as I knew how on my own, and I'm feeling stuck now. Has anyone seen this before?
Last edited by drautb (2014-08-06 03:04:06)

Answer 1

You said you tried "running" Xorg.wrap but did you also set up /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config? Look at "man Xorg.wrap".
The man page said that the wrapper file could be used to override options, but not that it was required, so I didn't set one up initially. When you asked about it, I tried setting one up that just specifies 'anybody' for the 'allowed_users' key. The error remained.
Are you using a custom kernel?
I shouldn't be...I just used the latest .iso and installed the base system, plus the video driver, X, etc.
Another thing to try is using a DM and seeing if that works as that would also indicate a permission issue.
I wasn't planning on installing a DM, but I'll try it and see if it works and then post a report.
From my look at the forums, running chmod u+s on /usr/bin/xorg seems to do the trick for both errors you've pointed out (which resolves the setuid issue). Before changing the permissions though, run a ls -l on the file to show us the current permissions.
Output of ls -l /usr/bin/X*: https://gist.github.com/drautb/7a76081005e49fec91d6
Then I ran chmod u+s /usr/bin/Xorg. New ls output: https://gist.github.com/drautb/22f70334899d93266655
The error remained, so I tried it again after chmod u+s /usr/bin/Xorg.bin too. https://gist.github.com/drautb/190b2ca26b98e8151a19
The screen goes dark. I tried Ctrl+alt+bkspc, and a couple of other shortcuts, but the screen stays dark. I end up just rebooting.
I noticed another distinction that I hadn't mentioned yet: startx works only if I actually login to the system as root. If I login as my user, and then do sudo startx, I get the blank screen too.
Last edited by drautb (2014-08-05 12:13:30)