I'd like to install xorg, but only with the video drivers that I need. I'm
doing a net install.

A query on the Debian IRC yielded "painfully, without using the meta package
that pulls them in".

Maybe there's a HOWTO somewhere out there that somebody can direct me to.




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On Mon, Aug 06, 2007 at 07:39:05PM +1000, Robert S wrote:
> I'd like to install xorg, but only with the video drivers that I need.
> I'm doing a net install.

Here's how I do it:

First, I use aptitude interactively. If you haven't used aptitude
before, then that's a separate project to do first. Aptitude gives you
a curses interface similar to but more powerful than dselect. Aptitude
keeps track of which packages were installed by you and which were
installed to meet dependencies. So far, similiar to apt-get. However,
when you remove a package that you installed, aptitude will remove
anything that then doesn't have anything depending on it that was marked
as automatic.

Then, I go to the xorg meta-package. I scroll down to the things it
depends on and I select them manually, and I dig down into the
dependancies and adjust things. For example, somewhere there a package
will depend on _either_ an -all package or a device-specific package.
Left on its own, it will pull in the -all whereas I can mark the device
spcific package for manual and deselect the -all.

It sounds more complicated than it is. I'm comfortable with aptitude so
its not.

Doug.


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> Then, I go to the xorg meta-package. I scroll down to the things it
> depends on and I select them manually, and I dig down into the
> dependancies and adjust things. For example, somewhere there a package
> will depend on _either_ an -all package or a device-specific package.
> Left on its own, it will pull in the -all whereas I can mark the device
> spcific package for manual and deselect the -all.
>

Thanks. I'll give it a go tomorrow and will report back on progress.


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> Then, I go to the xorg meta-package. I scroll down to the things it
> depends on and I select them manually, and I dig down into the
> dependancies and adjust things. For example, somewhere there a package
> will depend on _either_ an -all package or a device-specific package.
> Left on its own, it will pull in the -all whereas I can mark the device
> spcific package for manual and deselect the -all.
>

Thanks. I'll give it a go tomorrow and will report back on progress.


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On Mon, Aug 06, 2007 at 07:39:05PM +1000, Robert S wrote:
> I'd like to install xorg, but only with the video drivers that I need. I'm
> doing a net install.
>
> A query on the Debian IRC yielded "painfully, without using the meta package
> that pulls them in".
>
> Maybe there's a HOWTO somewhere out there that somebody can direct me to.

I do it by trial and error, but usually I start from the things I know I
need for sure.

xserver-xorg-video-intel (replace with your driver)
xserver-xorg-vesa (just for backup)
xserver-xorg-input-kbd
xserver-xorg-input-mouse

Spice with some xfonts:

xfonts-100dpi
xfonts-75dpi (probably don't need those as I run X with 100 dpi)
xfonts-base
xfonts-terminus (my favorite

All other xorg packages I can spot are marked auto-installed so they
were pulled in as dependencies.

Don't forget to turn off recommends first (at least temporary).

If I didn't forget anything you should have a running xorg, otherwise
post the error message

Regards,
Andrei
--
If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.
(Albert Einstein)

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On Mon, Aug 06, 2007 at 07:39:05PM +1000, Robert S wrote:
> I'd like to install xorg, but only with the video drivers that I need. I'm
> doing a net install.
>
> A query on the Debian IRC yielded "painfully, without using the meta package
> that pulls them in".
>
> Maybe there's a HOWTO somewhere out there that somebody can direct me to.

I do it by trial and error, but usually I start from the things I know I
need for sure.

xserver-xorg-video-intel (replace with your driver)
xserver-xorg-vesa (just for backup)
xserver-xorg-input-kbd
xserver-xorg-input-mouse

Spice with some xfonts:

xfonts-100dpi
xfonts-75dpi (probably don't need those as I run X with 100 dpi)
xfonts-base
xfonts-terminus (my favorite

All other xorg packages I can spot are marked auto-installed so they
were pulled in as dependencies.

Don't forget to turn off recommends first (at least temporary).

If I didn't forget anything you should have a running xorg, otherwise
post the error message

Regards,
Andrei
--
If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.
(Albert Einstein)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQFGt4BYqJyztHCFm9kRAm1VAKCJsU27fRf2Ngq7QXF69D 4aLOK7JQCeMR13
6WFXbeuTRVjPRlhO0XV76Yc=
=afv/
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

>> I'd like to install xorg, but only with the video drivers that I need. I'm
>> doing a net install.
>
> I do it by trial and error, but usually I start from the things I know I
> need for sure.
>
> xserver-xorg-video-intel (replace with your driver)
> xserver-xorg-vesa (just for backup)
> xserver-xorg-input-kbd
> xserver-xorg-input-mouse
>
> Spice with some xfonts:
>
> xfonts-100dpi
> xfonts-75dpi (probably don't need those as I run X with 100 dpi)
> xfonts-base
> xfonts-terminus (my favorite
>
> Don't forget to turn off recommends first (at least temporary).

I managed to do this with some difficulty, but your choice of packages
is basically right. I used aptitude, as suggested by Doug (see previous
posting), and switched recommends off.

Aptitude is one of the great things about Etch.

The difficult part was installing the proprietary ATI drivers for my ATI
X1950 GT card. The debian kernel driver does not support this and I
needed to download the latest driver from ATI and turn it into a .deb.
It involved installing quite a few development packages.

All works fine now.


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>> I'd like to install xorg, but only with the video drivers that I need. I'm
>> doing a net install.
>
> I do it by trial and error, but usually I start from the things I know I
> need for sure.
>
> xserver-xorg-video-intel (replace with your driver)
> xserver-xorg-vesa (just for backup)
> xserver-xorg-input-kbd
> xserver-xorg-input-mouse
>
> Spice with some xfonts:
>
> xfonts-100dpi
> xfonts-75dpi (probably don't need those as I run X with 100 dpi)
> xfonts-base
> xfonts-terminus (my favorite
>
> Don't forget to turn off recommends first (at least temporary).

I managed to do this with some difficulty, but your choice of packages
is basically right. I used aptitude, as suggested by Doug (see previous
posting), and switched recommends off.

Aptitude is one of the great things about Etch.

The difficult part was installing the proprietary ATI drivers for my ATI
X1950 GT card. The debian kernel driver does not support this and I
needed to download the latest driver from ATI and turn it into a .deb.
It involved installing quite a few development packages.

All works fine now.


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