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Thread: unable to open gedit

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
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    unable to open gedit

    Hi I'm unable to run gedit. i have tried from su but get "Cannot open display"
    I have tried all the remedies recommended in forums i have searched and reinstalled Ubuntu.
    I also get status1: Autolaunch error: X11 initialization failed. \n
    any ideas appreciated

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    7,256

    Re: unable to open gedit

    Hello and welcome to the forums

    Can you please post the error you get when trying to open gedit from a terminal as your regular user (i.e. the user who you are logged in to the Ubuntu desktop as)?

    It's normal for GUI programs to be unable to open the user's display when run as root (i.e. via su or sudo)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    Re: unable to open gedit

    Please! I insist! Do NOT run most anything as superuser unless you REALLY know what you're doing. Run it the normal way as steeldriver advised.
    CrunchBang Linux
    Plz no tpe lik dis or no anser!!
    The search tool can be found in the upper right corner of your screen, please use it to your advantage, especially before asking questions.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
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    6

    Re: unable to open gedit

    Well this is emarrassing as i seem to be able to gedit from a terminal window in the GUI. i did make some changes and it seemed to me that x11 intialisation error was down to the Nvidia driver.

    As a newbie i was having problems (and still am) with capturing the X server screen.

    this led me to run the terminal in teh GUI and gedit worked. however i am not sure i am out of the woods yet.
    this is teh output from the nv log file

    chas@ubuntu:~$ gedit
    chas@ubuntu:~$ grep /var/log/Xorg.0.log -e EE
    (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
    [ 32.585] (II) Loading extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
    [ 36.231] (EE) Failed to load module "nv" (module does not exist, 0)
    [ 36.352] (EE) Failed to load module "nv" (module does not exist, 0)
    [ 36.717] (EE) open /dev/fb0: No such file or directory
    chas@ubuntu:~$

    Why would the nv module not exist and would this cause any issues

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
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    6

    Re: unable to open gedit

    i am still unable to aluch gedit from the x screen when i exit the GUI i get
    cannot open display:
    run gedit --help fro more options etc..

    maybe thats how its supposed to be

    i tried it from su and get the same

    No problem with using su on this box as its my test machine to play about with..

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    7,256

    Re: unable to open gedit

    What version and flavor of Ubuntu are you running (Ubuntu / Lubuntu / Xubuntu)? How exactly are you launching gedit "from the x screen"? what do you mean by "when i exit the GUI"?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    Finland/UK
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    Hidden!
    Distro
    Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerus

    Re: unable to open gedit

    Quote Originally Posted by Chas_Seadon View Post
    i am still unable to aluch gedit from the x screen when i exit the GUI i get
    cannot open display:
    run gedit --help fro more options etc..

    maybe thats how its supposed to be

    i tried it from su and get the same

    No problem with using su on this box as its my test machine to play about with..
    Can you clarify this a bit? Are you trying to start Gedit from desktop or from a console (as in "outside of the GUI")?

    It's a graphical program and therefore needs at least X running. (And if you have desktop running, but for some reason want to launch Gedit from a TTY, you'll need to specify the display where to launch the application, for example "DISPLAY=:0 gedit").

    If you want a simple text editor for command-line use I recommend using nano.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    Re: unable to open gedit

    Can you please clarify what you are trying to say? Why is it that you don't open gedit from the Dash or menu? Try Alt-F2, and type in gedit, you should be able to launch it from there if you wish to.
    CrunchBang Linux
    Plz no tpe lik dis or no anser!!
    The search tool can be found in the upper right corner of your screen, please use it to your advantage, especially before asking questions.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Beans
    6

    Re: unable to open gedit

    Ok solved this thanks i reinstalled Ubuntu, for the record i am using 12.04 all is well now thanks.. CS

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