X11 not starting on 10.6.8

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X11 not starting on 10.6.8

X11 does not start (icon just bounces in the dock when directly clicked and then disappears). It sems that I have an old X11 version (1.0 according to the info panel).

Error messages found in Konsole:

28.09.13 21:23:59	[0x0-0x30030].org.x.X11[410]	launch_msg("CheckIn") IPC failure: Operation not permitted
28.09.13 21:23:59	[0x0-0x30030].org.x.X11[410]	Xquartz: Unable to locate waiting server: org.x.X11
28.09.13 21:23:59	[0x0-0x30030].org.x.X11[410]	Xquartz: X11.app = /Applications/Utilities/X11.app/Contents/MacOS/X11
28.09.13 21:23:59	[0x0-0x30030].org.x.X11[410]	Xquartz: Starting X server: /Applications/Utilities/X11.app/Contents/MacOS/X11 --listenonly

28.09.13 21:24:19

[0x0-0x30030].org.x.X11[410]

Xquartz: bootstrap_look_up(): Unknown service name

28.09.13 21:24:21

com.apple.launchd.peruser.503[325]

([0x0-0x30030].org.x.X11[410]) Exited with exit code: 1

On another MBP with OS 10.6.8, X11 with version 2.3.6 according to the info panel runs without problems.

Is it possible that installing XCode from the install disk after the 10.6.8 update did overwrite the updated X11?

How can I update now X11? Could one run again the 10.6.8 combo update? Any help is appreciated!

Thomas

Mac OS X (10.6.8), MBP 2.66GHz i7

Posted on Sep 29, 2013 6:43 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Mark Jalbert

Level 5

4,694 points

Sep 29, 2013 12:46 PM in response to thomas-

Open the Terminal.app. Select, copy then paste each line, one at a time into the Terminal.app and post back the output from each command ->

which startx

ls /Applications/Utilities/X*.app

ls /Library/LaunchDaemons/*startx*.plist

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Answer 2

thomas- Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 30, 2013 1:46 AM in response to Mark Jalbert

Thank you for your response! Here is the output of the commands you suggested:

[nes017-mbp] ~ > which startx

/usr/X11/bin/startx

[nes017-mbp] ~ > ls /Applications/Utilities/X*.app

Contents

[nes017-mbp] ~ > ls /Library/LaunchDaemons/*startx*.plist

ls: /Library/LaunchDaemons/*startx*.plist: No such file or directory

I am not really familiar with X11 stuff, so I don't know whether this output is as it should be.

Meanwhile, I checked the X11 version not just with the info panel, but also with the system profiler (>Software>Applications). Here are the listings of the X11 version on my MBP:

- Info panel: Version 1.0 from 25.04.2011 15:38

- System Profiler:

X11:

Version: 2.3.6

Zuletzt geändert: 25.04.11 15:38

Art: PowerPC

64-Bit (Intel): Nein

Informationen: org.x.X11

Ort: /Applications/Utilities/X11.app

Astonishingly, in System Profiler another version number is indicated than in the Info panel.

For the other MBP with 10.6.8, where X11 is running (and XCode has not been installed), the following is listed (incl About X11 when running X11):

- Info panel: Version 2.3.6 from 21.06.2011 11:13

- System Profiler:

X11:

Version: 2.3.6

Zuletzt geändert: 21.06.11 11:13

64-Bit (Intel): Nein

Informationen: org.x.X11

Ort: /Applications/Utilities/X11.app

- About X11: XQuartz 2.3.6 (xorg-server 1.4.2-apple56)

The output on this MBP for the commands you suggested in your reply is identical to the output given above for the MBP where X11 is not running.

I came also across this apple support page,

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1963

where it's stated that migration of programs, e.g., X11, from a PowerPC-based Mac could cause problems on Intel machines. So I deleted my X11 app (which obviously is a PowerPC version) as suggested there and re-installed X11 from the Install Disc. However, the re-installed version was exactly the same as I had before, i.e. the one dated from 25.04.2011, and did again not start.

Based on the info on this support page, I finally just copied the X11 app from the other MBP (dated from 21.06.11) to my MBP - and now this X11 opens without problem, when double-clicked directly or also when a window is required from IDL, for instance.

I am not sure, though, whether this direct copying of the X11 app is a good solution, or whether later some problems may pop up, because no 'full' installation of this version has been made.

Do you have any comments on this?

Thank you for your help

Thomas

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Answer 3

Sep 30, 2013 6:42 AM in response to thomas-

Well, copying an app that installs with an installer is not the best solution but as you report the solution is working. I would monitor the log files. If you are not receiving alot of error messages then you should be fine.

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Answer 4

thomas- Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 30, 2013 8:31 AM in response to Mark Jalbert

When starting X11, the following error messages appear in Konsole:

30.09.13 16:08:49

defaults[11304]

The domain/default pair of (org.x.X11, dpi) does not exist

30.09.13 16:08:51	[0x0-0x115115].org.x.X11[11272]	(EE) XKB: Couldn't open rules file /usr/X11/share/X11/xkb/rules/base
30.09.13 16:08:51	[0x0-0x115115].org.x.X11[11272]	(EE) XKB: Couldn't open rules file /usr/X11/share/X11/xkb/rules/base

I don't have the 'rules/base' folder and file in the xkb directory. They seem to be related to the keyboard settings - and in fact, when typing in the X11 window a wrong keyboard setting is used. This is not a big problem, I guess, but nevertheless it might be better to delete the X11 app again and run the 10.6.8 combo updater (and possibly the security updates), hoping that it will update the X11 stuff. This was mentioned in another discussion I found on

http://web.archiveorange.com/archive/v/9KyZsqhhurFSDLGyOB8n

Thanks for your input

Thomas

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Answer 5

Sep 30, 2013 10:13 AM in response to thomas-

Hi Thomas,

It looks like your Apple X11 installation is muddled. The defaults message is coming from your org.x.X11.plist. I not sure in which direction you should go.

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