X.org Keeps Dying Out Of The Blue

[Jim Cornette]

Brian Mury wrote:
> On Wed, 2008-01-23 at 06:47 -0500, Jim Cornette wrote:
>> Mode lines are not used as previous versions of X used in the file. 
>> "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" or other resolutions were specified in 
>> the past. The standard now is for automatic detection in the screen section.
> 
> Interesting - I have this:
> 
>  Modes    "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1280x720" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
> 
> What should it look like?

It looks a little bit too inclusive in my view. I usually only have the 
three that I mentioned. I guess it depends upon which modes that you 
intend to use. I don't know if they make a difference having so many or 
are only for ctl-alt plus or minus switching.

> 
>> You might try to save your current xorg.conf file and regenerate a 
>> completely new xorg.conf file to see if there is something in your 
>> modified file that destabilizes X.
> 
> Sounds like a good idea. Is there some way to have F8 automatically
> regenerate the file, like it does on installation? Or do I need to do it
> automatically? I haven't figured that one out yet.

If you move the file out of the way you should get a newly generated 
file with system-config-display without options, adding the --reconfig 
option should overwrite your existing file if you copied it as a backup 
instead of moving the file.

Sometimes I was able to get a good xorg.conf file generated with X 
-configure followed by ctl-alt-backspace to stop the server. It was 
needed to get a good dual-head configuration file for one of my systems.
The generated file is quite complex from the server and is initially 
saved in the /root directory named as the prompt after configuration 
states. I have not used it for this system and am not on the other 
computer to know if it is suffixed with .old, .new or another suffix.


> 
> I actually haven't seen this problem for a little while - a few days at
> least. It is rather inconsistent.

henever it does happen, check Xorg..log.old for possible complaints. 
Maybe the errors are in a display manager log if the display manager 
keeps respawning.

> 
>> It would help since their job reflects on knowing what causes problems 
>> and can determine problems better.
>> Upstream might be the best choice rather than Redhat bugzilla.
> 
> Upstream with X, I assume? I hadn't filed a bug yet because I was hoping
> to characterize the problem a bit more first, but I should probably just
> file it, then add more detail when I have it.

If a developer replies to the bug report, maybe they will give you some 
good tests for more information or options to put in the xorg.conf file 
for your particular computer video hardware. A good summary and the most 
details you have would at least start off the cause of the problem.

Jim