Another upgrade to xorg-server 1.6.0 with Crux, and another crash and burn. This time it was the rtorrent client I have in the corner, the one that relies on a graphical environment even though everything on it is console based. And that because the lower half of the screen is shattered.

Ironically this failure came about not because of an update to X, but because of an update to some other system software. As I mentioned about a week ago, the uptime on that machine had crossed 41 days, and I realized I hadn’t built any updates for it in quite some time. Since it really just sits and seeds, there’s little need for updates or improvements.

But I noted some improvements to core software, and given that it hadn’t been updated in so long, I caved. You’d think I’d’ve learned my lesson after losing X on not one but two machines, but I seem to learn the hard way.

Compiling went fine and I wouldn’t have even restarted X (let alone rebooted) except something in the file server department stopped working when the new software was built. So I needed a reboot, and that’s when X decided it didn’t love me any longer.

Actually that machine doesn’t use the siliconmotion driver; the video card needs the mach64 driver but I’m not going to bother rebuilding it. Nor will I bother backtracking to find the cure for my plague that is xorg-server 1.6.0. Mostly because I have dvtm and the framebuffer working on that machine too now, and with the same setup as the other machines in the house.

And considering that the lower half of the screen is invisible, dvtm actually makes the most sense there. I can open a second frame, jump to the top-and-bottom layered arrangement, and probably 80 percent of the top frame is fully visible and usable. Managing rtorrent, et al., is even better now than it was with something like Sakura running tabs. And the system profile is so slim as to be negligible.

I’d show you a screenshot, but they’re starting to all look alike. … 😆

So again, avoiding X seems to be my theme these days. And considering the troubles I’ve had with X on source-based systems, I might be working at the framebuffer for a while to come. 😐

P.S.: Final uptime, 47 days, 11 hours, 13 minutes. Not bad. 😀