The "no font fixed" problem

[luke dot kendall at cisra dot canon dot com dot au]

The problem with X not running because of the error "no font 'fixed'"
has been around so long that some months ago a I scripted a post-install
fixup, based on
http://x.cygwin.com/docs/faq/cygwin-x-faq.html#q-error-font-eof

FWIW, here's the output on a machine we installed Cygwin on today.
You'll note that most of the theories about the cause of the problem
were incorrect in this case:

Now trying to workaround the new X installation problem
Hmm, /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts exists.  So much for that theory.
Hmm, /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc exists too.  So much for that theory.
Hmm, /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc had plenty of fonts (    446, actually)
Checking for /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts mount point...
D:\cygwin\usr\X11R6\lib\X11\fonts on /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts type system (binmo
de)
Unmounting /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts in preparation for fix
Now re-running setup: you will need to choose RE-INSTALL for each
of the X11 font sets (about 4 sets) under the X11 category.
******************************************************************
Lets try starting X to see if it now works.  If you have to
kill any of these attempts, you can continue from where you left off
by using the try-X script.
******************************************************************

.... etc.

So, the FAQ entry's theories don't seem to match the real cause,
whatever that may be.  I assume this problem has been affecting
everyone, for months now, not just us?  Or have I missed something?


Here's the fixup script that generates the above output.  The "yorn"
script just asks for and examines a y/n answer.

------------------------ fixup-X ----------------------------
#!/bin/sh
#
# As of about June 2004, every Cygwin installation installs a broken
# version of X.
#
# Workaround is as per the FAQ:
# http://x.cygwin.com/docs/faq/cygwin-x-faq.html#q-error-font-eof
# This is an attempt to automate the workaround as far as possible.
#
# Author: Luke Kendall
#

DONE_PROOF=/etc/profile.d/.X-fixed	# Same as in try-X
MYNAME=`basename $0`
XFONTDIR=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts

if [ -s $DONE_PROOF ]
then
    echo "$MYNAME: $DONE_PROOF indicates X11 has already been fixed."
    if yorn "do you really want to do it again"
    then
	:
    else
	exit 0
    fi
fi


if [ ! -d $XFONTDIR ]
then
    echo "Strange but kind of good: as expected, $XFONTDIR did not exist"
else
    echo "Hmm, $XFONTDIR exists.  So much for that theory."
    if [ ! -d $XFONTDIR/misc ]
    then
	echo "Not unexpected, $XFONTDIR/misc did not exist"
    else
	echo "Hmm, $XFONTDIR/misc exists too.  So much for that theory."
	NUM=`ls $XFONTDIR/misc | wc -l`
	if [ $NUM -le 100 ]
	then
	    echo "As expected, $XFONTDIR/misc had few fonts ($NUM, actually)"
	else
	    echo "Hmm, $XFONTDIR/misc had plenty of fonts ($NUM, actually)"
	fi
    fi
fi
echo "Checking for $XFONTDIR mount point..."
if mount | grep "$XFONTDIR"
then
    echo "Unmounting $XFONTDIR in preparation for fix"
    umount $XFONTDIR
else
    echo "Hmm, pretty strange, $XFONTDIR wasn't mounted on C:/cygwin$XFONTDIR"
fi

echo "Now re-running setup: you will need to choose RE-INSTALL for each"
echo "of the X11 font sets (about 4 sets) under the X11 category."

//samba/install/win32/cygwin/setup.exe

echo "******************************************************************"
echo "Let's try starting X to see if it now works.  If you have to"
echo "kill any of these attempts, you can continue from where you left off"
echo "by using the try-X script."
echo "******************************************************************"

$CYG_POST_DIR/try-X
----------------------------- cut here --------------

Regards,

luke