[arch-general] .xsession-errors - can't startx with that file

[Doug Newgard]

On Sun, 18 Sep 2016 09:47:57 -0500
Dutch Ingraham <stoa at gmx.us> wrote:

> On Sun, Sep 18, 2016 at 09:23:01AM -0500, Doug Newgard wrote:
> > On Sun, 18 Sep 2016 09:11:45 -0500
> > Dutch Ingraham <stoa at gmx.us> wrote:
> >   
> > > Hello all:
> > > 
> > > TL;DR: One Arch installation will allow redirecting startx's stderr to
> > > a file, one won't.  What is the difference between systems?
> > >   
> > 
> > Is X running as root or as the user (rootless)? This can change based on
> > configuration and on drivers used.  
> 
> Excellent question - how is this conclusively determined?  Note I have taken no
> explicit action either way, i.e., to enable rootlessness or not.
> 
> Looking at the xorg wiki, it appears as though 3 conditions are necessary for
> running "rootless":
> 
> 1. systemd >= 216; OK, I'm at 231 on both machines;
> 2. start X via xinit; OK, I'm using xinit through startx, not a display manager;
> 3. if I can summarize, if using a proprietary display driver, such as Catalyst
> or Nvidia, need to take an extra step to run rootless; *this may be the issue.*
> 
> On the machine where redirection works, I am using the nvidia proprietary
> driver; on the machine where the error occurs, I am using the xf-video-ati
> driver.
> 
> So, unless I have step 3 above backwards (which is entirely possible), the
> question is how to redirect stderr when running rootless? (If I am in fact
> misunderstanding, please explain so a moron like me can understand!)
> 
> Thanks for your help.

rooted vs rootless does look like one difference between the systems. Next, I
would enable rooted X on the problem machine and see if it works. If it does,
we know we've narrowed down the issue.