[TriLUG] XFree86 problem on Debian: "Could not open default font 'fixed'"

[Aaron Bockover]

Hello,

I recently compiled XFree86 4.3.0.1 on Debian. The build went rather 
smoothly, with a few minor dependency problems, but those were easy to 
resolve. Once installed, I set up a basic XF86Config file, but am 
getting the following error when trying to start X (through startx, and 
xinit).

Fatal server error:
could not open default font 'fixed'

I have checked all of the font paths in XF86Config, and have tried some 
of the resolutions documented on news groups and web sites through 
searching Google. Some of these resolutions included:

- Ensuring that /tmp was not full, and chmod 777
- Ensuring that the system locales and X11 locales ISO codes matched 
(Debian puts a _ or - in the ISO codes, X11 does not).
- Checking the font paths
- Removing any TrueType fonts from the config (which I didn't have anyway)

So, I'm stuck. I'm using Debian 3.0r1 on a Laptop (ATI Video Card, 16MB 
video RAM)... any suggestions? Below is a slightly more detailed XFree86 
dump from /var/log/XFree86.0.log, and also my XF86Config file.

Many thanks,
Aaron Bockover
aaron at aaronbock.net

----XFree86.0.log----
...
(II) Initializing built-in extension RANDR
PEXExtensionInit: Couldn't open default PEX font file Roman_M
(**) Option "Protocol" "auto"
(**) Mouse0: Protocol: "auto"
(**) Option "CorePointer"
(**) Mouse0: Core Pointer
(**) Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
(**) Mouse0: Emulate3Buttons, Emulate3Timeout: 50
(==) Mouse0: Buttons: 3
(II) Keyboard "Keyboard0" handled by legacy driver
(II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Mouse0" (type: MOUSE)
(--) Mouse0: PnP-detected protocol: "ImPS/2"
(II) Mouse0: ps2EnableDataReporting: succeeded

Fatal server error:
could not open default font 'fixed'
----End----

----XF86Config----
Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "XFree86 Configured"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    RgbPath      "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
    ModulePath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"
    FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
    FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
    FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"
    FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
    FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load  "extmod"
    Load  "dbe"
    Load  "dri"
    Load  "glx"
    Load  "record"
    Load  "pex5"
    Load  "xtrap"
    Load  "xie"
    Load  "speedo"
    Load  "type1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "Keyboard0"
    Driver      "keyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "Mouse0"
    Driver      "mouse"
    Option        "Protocol" "auto"
    Option        "Device" "/dev/psaux"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor0"
    VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName    "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Card0"
    Driver      "vesa"
    VendorName  "ATI Technologies Inc"
    BoardName   "Radeon Mobility M6 LY"
    BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device     "Card0"
    Monitor    "Monitor0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     1
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     4
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection