Re: X won't start with GDK_USE_XFT=1, will with =0...?

["Jacky, Lau" <zenithlau sniic com>]

Hi,

	When setting GDK_USE_XFT=1, the text rendering engine of GTK2 (i.e. pango) and the Gdk library itself, will use libXft.so.2 or libXft.so.1 (depends on the version of pango and gtk you are using). You should first make sure what version of your Xft library is linked. But I think you are using Xft1. As Xft2 will only available in new RedHat 8, or XFree Trunk or you install it manually.

	You should also check your pango library, whether it has use the fontconfig library. It is a library responsible to configuring and managing client font files. If pango is linked with fontconfig also, the correct config file for setting the font is /etc/font/font.conf. You can do 'ldd /usr/lib/libpangoxft-1.0.so' to check which library it is linked with.

	You can try to delete the fonts.cache, and let the xft generate it for you. If you start a GTK2 apps (which 'GDK_USE_XFT=1'), xft will generate a new fonts.cache for you. This step will help you get rid of inconsistent fonts.cache.

	Or, you may try to configure the config file for Xft, for Xft1, the config is /etc/X11/XftConfig and /etc/fonts/fonts.conf for Xft2.

	You may found all the thing is mess up and confusing, but it will be better when most distribution start ship with Xft2 / fontconfig. As most of the works are more standardized (IMO, sure).

Enjoy
Zenith Lau

> A couple of things off the top of my head.
> 
>  - look in /var/log/XFree86.0.log for the full error messages
>  - maybe try re-creating your fonts.dir fonts.scale files by
>     cd /tt/font/path
> 	ttmkfdir -o fonts.scale && mkfontdir
> 
> I think the log file is your best bet to find what the main problem is
> :)
> 
> alan
> 
> On Thu, Oct 03, 2002 at 04:44:54PM -0600, Victor B. Putz wrote:
> > 
> > APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE:  I have scoured newsgroups, searched web pages,
> > fiddled with XF86Config and XftConfig, done everything I could.
> > No-worky.  I only post on the desktop-devel-list because I have run out
> > of other ideas.
> > 
> > Here is what is happening: I'd love to see Gnome2's groovy antialiased
> > fonts and such.  And I have gone through the rigmarole of many howtos
> > (ie yes, font paths are in XftConfig and XF86Config, just in
> > case... RENDER extension is enabled... correct modules are loaded in the
> > "Modules" section of XF86Config...).
> > 
> > It works without GDK_USE_XFT=1, but of course that doesn't get the
> > nice-looking fonty action.
> > 
> > But when I do startx with "GDK_USE_XFT=1", I get the following response:
> > 
> > (screen clears...)
> > (GNOME startup logo appears without any text under it...)
> > (screen goes black with the "click" of changing video mode...)
> > 
> > Return to console.  The only notable lines are
> > 
> > ** (gnome-session:6344): WARNING **: Cannot open font file for font
> >    Nimbus Sans L, 10
> > 
> > ** (gnome_segv:6360): WARNING **: Cannot open font file for font
> >    Nimbus Sans L, 10
> >  
> > This does *NOT* happen with GDK_USE_XFT=0.  Doing a grep of my
> > fonts.cache files shows that yes, the "Nimbus Sans L" font is in the
> > system in one of the directories in the paths in my config files.
> > 
> > I am using the XFree86 packages for RedHat 7.3... on a 7.2 system (it's
> > a patchwork of upgraded RPMs by now).
> > 
> > I realize I am missing something obvious, but don't want to waste
> > everyone's time--pointers to more information would be great, or hints
> > toward any solution.
> > 
> > Many thanks.
> > 
> > -->VPutz
> > _______________________________________________
> > desktop-devel-list mailing list
> > desktop-devel-list gnome org
> > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/desktop-devel-list
> 
> -- 
> Alan "Arcterex" <alan ufies org>   -=][=-   http://arcterex.net
> "I used to herd dairy cows. Now I herd lusers. Apart from the isolation, I
> think I preferred the cows. They were better conversation, easier to milk, and
> if they annoyed me enough, I could shoot them and eat them." -Rodger Donaldson
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