startx no longer works as a user under XFree86 4.0

Support knowledgebase (switchxf86)
Applies to

SuSE Linux: Version 7.0
This article refers to an older version of SuSE Linux. Therefore some of the informations given in this article may be outdated or the article may contain stale links.

XFree86: Version 4.0

Symptom:

Previously you used to employ XFree86 3.3.6 on your system. Now you would like to try version 4.0, which is included in SuSE Linux 7.0. However, when you enter the command startx, the following message appears and the X server does not start:
Fatal server error:
xf86OpenConsole: Server must be running with root permissions
You should be using Xwrapper to start the server or xdm.
We strongly advise against making the server SUID root!

When reporting a problem related to a server crash, please send
the full server output, not just the last messages

X connection to :0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).

Cause:

When shifting from XFree86 3.3.6 to 4.0, a few files need to be initialized.

Solution:

The simplest way to do this is to use SaX2 with the parameter -f:
sax2 -f
However, if everything had already been configured with SaX2, just enter the command
switch2xf86-4
with the root identity. If you want to continue using XFree86 3.3.6, there is a similar command:
switch2xf86-3x

Keywords: STARTX, XFREE86, 4.0, XWRAPPER, ROOT, BENUTZER

SDB-switchxf86, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 24. Okt 2000
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 03. Jan 2001 by snbarth (sdb_gen 1.40.0)