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

[Corey Mutter]

On Sun, Aug 24, 2003 at 03:07:48PM -0700, Aaron Bockover wrote:
> 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 seen this problem before; you're missing the package that has that
font in it. Probably xfonts-base or xfonts-75dpi.

Corey

> 
> 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
> 
> 
> 
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