How to get a GUI (KDE) working in Debian.

So, you got your base Debian system installed. Now you want that pretty look of a GUI. What do you do to get that? Well I’ll tell you:

First you will want to figure out what type of chipset your video card has.
At the command prompt type:

# lspci

This will list all the devices your computer has. You are looking for a line that says something about being a video controller. For example, one line of my listing says:

0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. Voodoo 3 (rev 01)

This tells me I have a 3Dfx video card.

Next, you will want to install a couple of things using apt-get (make sure you are logged in as root).

# apt-get install x-window-system xserver-xfree86 kde

It will download and set up these pieces of software for you. The Xfree86 setup will ask you a few things about your display adapter, your display, your mouse and your keyboard.
Lets walk through those settings:

First, it will ask you to select the desired X server driver. It is important to choose the correct driver as this is the driver for your video card. Mine is a 3Dfx card, so I chose the “tdfx” driver (on my laptop, I have a S3 Savage video controller so I chose the “savage” driver).

Enter an identifier for your video card.
You can put anything here, it doesn’t really matter. This is just a name for your video card. I put “3Dfx Voodoo3” since that is what type of card I have.

Next, it will ask for the video card’s bus identifier. Just leave this blank. This is used if you are using multiple video cards. If you are using multiple video cards, this write-up will not cover that.

Now you will be asked to enter the amount of memory your card has. If you don’t know, you can leave it blank. If you do know, make sure you enter it in kB. i.e. if you have 16 mb of video memory, multiply that by 1024 (16x1024=16384 kB).

Next, leave the XKB rule set “xfree86”.
Keyboard model is usually “pc104” if you have a regular keyboard with the windows buttons.
Keyboard layout stays “us”
Keyboard variant can be left blank.
Keyboard options can be left blank.

Mouse port: /dev/psaux = ps/2 mouse
Mouse description: if you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, choose “ImPS/2”.
Emulate 3 button mouse: yes
Enable scroll events from mouse wheel: yes

Enter an identifier for your monitor: this can be left blank, or you can put “generic” or whatever type of monitor you have.

Is your monitor a LCD device: no, unless you are using a laptop.

Choose the “medium” method for selecting your monitor characteristics.
Select at least “1024x768 @ 60Hz” for your monitor’s best video mode.
And also, at least “1024x768” for the video mode you would like the X server to use.
The reason I say “at least” is because if your resolution is set lower than 1024x768, many windows in KDE will be larger than the screen.

Usually the desired defauly color depth in bits will be “24”, unless you have a really old video adapter.

When it asks you to select the Xfree86 server modules that should be loaded by default, use to select all but “xtt”

The second to last screen will ask you if you want to write default Files to configuration file. Say “yes”.

The last screen will ask you if you want to write default DRI section to configuration file. Say “yes”.

If you screw any of this up you can easily re-run the setup utility when you get back to the command prompt by the command:

# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

Now type

# startx

at the prompt. Your KDE GUI should start. Have fun!

KDE by default has TONS of applications already installed. Here are a few that I recommend you also install:

- Openoffice.org (office suite: word processor, spreadsheet program, presentation program. all compatible with M$)
- Mozilla Firefox web browser (we all love it, so why change something that works great)
- Mozilla Thunderbird email client (I got away from outlook express a while ago with this)
- gtkpod (ipod program for Linux)
- GIMP GNU Image Manipulation Program (great for editing and creating images)

# apt-get install openoffice.org mozilla-firefox mozilla-thunderbird gtkpod gimp

After you reboot your computer, by default a GUI login screen will now appear. Don’t freak out, you didn’t lose the command line that you were just starting to get used to.

You may not have known, but you actually have 7 different sessions at once. The GUI (X session) is on session 7.
When in the GUI, hit and F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, or F6 and you will be brought to the corresponding tty session. F7 will bring you back to the GUI.
This is useful because you don't want to be working as root all the time, so if you need to do some root things, you don't have to shut down the X server to login as root. You just hit F2 (or whichever session you want) and login as root. When you are done, just hit F7 and you are back in your pretty GUI.