fatal server error:
xf86OpenConsole: VT_activate failed: Operation not permitted
…
VGA arbitration: cannot restore default device.
xinit: giving up
xinit: unable to connect to X server: Cannot assing requests address
xinit failed. /usr/bin/Xorg is not setupid, maybe that’s the reason?
if so either use a displaay manager (strongly recommended) or adjust /etc/permissions.local
and run “chkstat --system --set” afterwards
what might be happening? (It works great for root.)
Thank you!!
fatal server error:
xf86OpenConsole: VT_activate failed: Operation not permitted
...
VGA arbitration: cannot restore default device.
xinit: giving up
xinit: unable to connect to X server: Cannot assign requests address
xinit failed. /usr/bin/Xorg is not setuid, maybe that's the reason?
if so either use a display manager (strongly recommended) or adjust /etc/permissions.local
and run "chkstat --system --set" afterwards
“startx” doesn’t work for a normal user in the default setup (since years). You need to make Xorg suid root, which is a security hole.
Even for a minimal system, what are the reasons for wanting to start the GUI from a CLI?
Will Wayland allow this?
Are there any reasons why a minimal Leap system which needs a GUI, should not use the systemd Display Manager service to initialise and start the user’s login?
I suppose this question is irrelevant if you are using Xorg…
But I guess there will be some way. After all, even with a display manager Wayland will have to be started somehow.
Also, Xorg will not disappear any time soon.
Are there any reasons why a minimal Leap system which needs a GUI, should not use the systemd Display Manager service to initialise and start the user’s login?
I suppose the main reason is to start a GUI as logged in user without having to enter your password again (i.e. convenience), and maybe root’s too for starting a display manager. Not to mention that the user might not even know the root password…
The display manager (graphical login screen) is supposed to do that, not only with Wayland but also with Xorg.
But nobody will force you to use Wayland in the forseeable future. It’s not even (fully) supported by most desktops yet.
As I already wrote, Xorg is not going to disappear any time soon.
For allowing users to run “startx”, see the error message.
I.e. edit the file /etc/permissions.local and uncomment the last line about Xorg.
Then run “chkstat --system --set” to apply the change.
Xorg will be started as root then and work, even if you run “startx” as user.
But be aware of the security risks involved…
Let us assume that the minimal system is a portable tool used to do something useful such as repairing the board-computer of a diesel automobile (no names mentioned but, I suspect that everyone knows who I mean! ;)):
Why on earth would the Mechatronics person (used to be known as an automobile mechanic) or whoever it is who is using the tool need to have access to a CLI?
All of the current real world tools with minimal operating systems that I have seen have Touch-Screen GUIs which appear a few seconds after the tool is powered up.
Yes, yes, many years ago especially in the Telephony business the tools used to configure the switching equipment were all CLI based with ITU-T or Deutsche Telekom specific command syntax (nothing like *NIX ever used); but that’s all in the past and not the current situation.
If the target is a non-computer person such as a diesel mechanic you do not give them a general purpose user interface you provide a special built bullet proof interface on purpose built hardware. That is entirely different from a general purpose OS on general purpose hardware.
I was unsure but, on checking it out with this system (openSUSE 13.2 Desktop) I did the following:
Logged out from the KDE4 Plasma session and switched to Terminal Mode (kdm: <Ctrl-N>);
Logged into tty1 as root – “init 3” – “systemctl status display-manager.service” (the Display Manager -kdm - was stopped);
Logged into tty2 as a “normal user” – “sudo startx” – IceWM started on tty3 (user root);
Logged into tty4 as another “normal user” – “sudo startx” – IceWM started on tty5 (user root);
Logged into tty6 as a the 1st “normal user” – “sudo startx” – IceWM started on tty7 (user root).
No more ttys available for further user investigations but, 3 parallel X sessions (IceWM) ran happily.
After a reboot to ensure a proper clean-up, did the following from a Konsole window:
opened 5 tabs and in each tab “sudo startx”;
5 IceWM sessions (user root) started on tty2, tty3, tty5, tty8 and tty9.
It’s still all running happily as I write this on the kdm (KDE4 Plasma) session on tty7 – no crashes – no misbehaviour.
Need to try this again on the Leap 42.1 Laptop but, it seems that even without a Display Manager multiple X-Org sessions on this general purpose OS are not an issue.
(I only had a few thoughts that it might have been – an issue . . . ;))
I liked the idea of Wayland …
but I think it is still early to think about it …
I was suspicious that some sort of package that took care of access control would be absent (by having quoted the packages in specific, but at the same time I also think that the fact you have installed xorg-x11 xorg-x11-server would bring the functionality)
