X as non-root

nettester

I think X without root is a rather newish thing (newish as in probably <= 5 years). Also don't quote me on this but i have a vague memory of startx not being an option without root but it's been quite long since i've dealt with this (when non root X became the default in Debian and it broke my config). I am not really sure anymore if i just didn't want elogind or if there was more to it (i am also - at least at the core - using startx) and since i've found how to restore the old suid X state i've never tried non root X again.

X runs as non-root on NetBSD but, surely you can run X as root also.

All processes launched within X, like common gui stuff, are also user owned on my machine. I can kill X, firefox, alacritty and others as user.

nettester i have a vague memory of startx not being an option without root

I launch startx as user here, no problem.

rvp

kc9udx The latter is the only one that concerns me. It cannot find a console driver, unless I am root. Is there a simple solution for this?

Can you post the /var/log/Xorg.0.log from this machine?
Also, the output of: ls -l /usr/X11R7/bin/X*

kc9udx

rvp possibly; I'll have to see what I can do. I might be limited currently to something as poor as a JPEG of it.

I can tell you that the error message is

`Fatal server error:

(EE) xf86OpenConsole: No console driver found
Supported drivers: pccons (with X support), syscons, pcvt
Check your kernel's console driver configuration and /dev entries(EE)`

Or rather something just like that.

rvp

kc9udx I can tell you that the error message is

Fatal server error:

(EE) xf86OpenConsole: No console driver found
        Supported drivers: pccons (with X support), syscons, pcvt
        Check your kernel's console driver configuration and /dev entries(EE)

That message makes no sense on NetBSD (I could understand on FreeBSD on which running those drivers would make sense).

Where is your Xorg from? Base or Modular? And does it match uname -a ie. you're not trying to run a very old version of X with a recent NetBSD, right?

kc9udx

rvp yes, that's what I could find similar but obviously the message in NetBSD suggests wscons.

It came with the official image for Pinebook Pro, from this year some time, I think.

kc9udx

It's apparently old, but I wouldn't say very old.

I apologise for the pictures but this is the best I can do at the moment. (I have no way to get files off or on this machine).

I suppose the simple solution is to update X.

rvp

kc9udx So, the X server tries various display-drivers starting with the best (modesetting) until it gets to the worst (wsfb), all of which fail to run. Has your X server lost its setuid bit? (Check using the ls command in my post #5)

nettester

rvp If i understand it correctly versions of X supporting rootless operation generally don't suid Xorg anymore. Those rather supply Xorg.wrap which is suid root and controlled by /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config to allow switching between old and new style execution. This information should obviously be taken with a grain of salt as my main desktop OS is Linux but i vaguely remember seeing the same construct during my short experiments with running a FreeBSD desktop so the wrapper could very well be part of the official X distribution.

Edit: According to https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/launch-xorg-in-a-non-interactive-console.74246/post-549035 Xwrapper.config actually seems to exist in FreeBSD at least.

kc9udx

rvp sorry, forgot to include that.

/usr/X11R7/bin/Xorg has it, but nothing else in that directory does; which seems right to me but maybe isn't.

nettester

kc9udx Like i said before i am not 100% sure how universal my observation is across different platforms but given FreeBSD actually seems to have Xorg.wrap (see the link in my final edit which likely wasn't there when you posted) i'd say a suid Xorg binary seems to somewhat point towards an old X version from before rootless X became a thing.

rvp

kc9udx /usr/X11R7/bin/Xorg has it

OK.

What's the output of:

echo $PATH
ls -l $(which X Xorg)
ls -l /dev/ttyE* /dev/dri/*

Can you run startx like this, then show the output (both stderr and Xorg.0.log--try copying the file(s) to a USB-stick)?

startx -- -logverbose 15 -verbose 15

Post any Xorg config. file you use. (/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/*, /etc/xorg.conf, /etc/X11/xorg.conf whichever you use--if any.)

nettester Like i said before i am not 100% sure how universal my observation is across different platforms

NetBSD doesn't have an Xorg.wrap. Xorg is setuid instead, and the server drops privs. once setup is done.

kc9udx

rvp

I'll see if I can get a way to get files off. I was recently granted the ability to use a limited amount of data for tethering on my phone plan; I might even be able to get that machine online (in a very limited way).

rvp

kc9udx OK, here's the problem (it was horses after all and not zebras):

-r-xr-sr-x  1 root  wheel  3041272 Jan 23  2021 /usr/X11R7/bin/Xorg

The binary is set-gid to wheel, not set-uid to root like it ought to be. This should fix your problem:

sudo chmod 4511 /usr/X11R7/bin/Xorg

kc9udx

You know, that doesn't look right. I'll have to try something...

kc9udx

rvp that's what I thought.

That was the problem, of course. But I must have wonky permissions all over the place. Now X starts, but I have no keyboard nor mouse in X (unless I'm root).

kc9udx

I have no idea how my permissions got munged, but they are all good now. I installed the sets for 9.3 and all is good. FWIW, USB tethering with a Moto G6 Play on H2O Wireless works well.

rvp

kc9udx I have no idea how my permissions got munged,

You can check this sort of thing pretty easily using mtree(1):

cat /etc/mtree/set.[bcg-x]* | sudo mtree -e -p /

kc9udx

rvp thank you! There's a powerful command I never heard of!

oui

rvp Your a wizard rvp.

rvp

oui Y'know, I'd rather see Daniel Radcliffe than Ian McKellen when I look in my mirror... but it just won't co-operate.

Re. the video: a) it's new to me, and b) made 10+ yrs. ago--which is why it's rude, crude and absolutely hilarious. (Videos made nowadays are just too damn slick.)

Thank you, you Viking!