[SDL] Unresolved FAQ: No available video device

[Tod Hagan]

Downloaded and compiled SDL, seemingly successfully, but I'm getting
the error message which is the subject of a FAQ, which is no help. I'm
quite the novice with X and SDL, and I'm stumped. Any advice?

I'm not logged in as or running X as root.

Thanks in advance.

> ./testvidinfo
Couldn't initialize SDL: No available video device
> printenv DISPLAY
:0
> xhost
access control enabled, only authorized clients can connect
INET:localhost
> cd /usr/src/SDL-1.2.2
> which sdl-config
/usr/local/bin/sdl-config
> sdl-config --version
1.2.2
> locate libSDL
/usr/local/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0
/usr/local/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.0.2
/usr/local/lib/libSDL.a
/usr/local/lib/libSDL.la
/usr/local/lib/libSDL.so
/usr/local/lib/libSDLmain.a
/usr/local/lib/libSDL_image-1.2.so.0
/usr/local/lib/libSDL_image-1.2.so.0.0.0
/usr/local/lib/libSDL_image.a
/usr/local/lib/libSDL_image.la
/usr/local/lib/libSDL_image.so
/usr/src/SDL-1.2.2/src/.libs/libSDL-1.2.so.0
/usr/src/SDL-1.2.2/src/.libs/libSDL-1.2.so.0.0.2
/usr/src/SDL-1.2.2/src/.libs/libSDL.a
/usr/src/SDL-1.2.2/src/.libs/libSDL.la
/usr/src/SDL-1.2.2/src/.libs/libSDL.lai
/usr/src/SDL-1.2.2/src/.libs/libSDL.so
/usr/src/SDL-1.2.2/src/libSDL.la
/usr/src/SDL-1.2.2/src/main/libSDLmain.a
/usr/src/SDL_image-1.2.0/.libs/libSDL_image-1.2.so.0
/usr/src/SDL_image-1.2.0/.libs/libSDL_image-1.2.so.0.0.0
/usr/src/SDL_image-1.2.0/.libs/libSDL_image.a
/usr/src/SDL_image-1.2.0/.libs/libSDL_image.la
/usr/src/SDL_image-1.2.0/.libs/libSDL_image.lai
/usr/src/SDL_image-1.2.0/.libs/libSDL_image.so
/usr/src/SDL_image-1.2.0/libSDL_image.la
> tail config.log
#include "confdefs.h"

      #include <sys/types.h>
      #include <sys/sem.h>
    
int main() {

      union semun t;
    
; return 0; }
> dmesg | head -1
Linux version 2.2.19 (tod at hitchcock) (gcc version 2.95.2 20000220 (Debian GNU/Linux)) #2 Mon Oct 8 11:54:14 EDT 2001
> ls -d /usr/src/NVIDIA_*
/usr/src/NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-1541/  /usr/src/NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-1541/
> xdpyinfo
name of display:    :0.0
version number:    11.0
vendor string:    The XFree86 Project, Inc
vendor release number:    40100001
XFree86 version: 4.1.0.1
maximum request size:  4194300 bytes
motion buffer size:  256
bitmap unit, bit order, padding:    32, LSBFirst, 32
image byte order:    LSBFirst
number of supported pixmap formats:    7
supported pixmap formats:
    depth 1, bits_per_pixel 1, scanline_pad 32
    depth 4, bits_per_pixel 8, scanline_pad 32
    depth 8, bits_per_pixel 8, scanline_pad 32
    depth 15, bits_per_pixel 16, scanline_pad 32
    depth 16, bits_per_pixel 16, scanline_pad 32
    depth 24, bits_per_pixel 32, scanline_pad 32
    depth 32, bits_per_pixel 32, scanline_pad 32
keycode range:    minimum 8, maximum 255
focus:  window 0xe00002, revert to Parent
number of extensions:    29
    BIG-REQUESTS
    DOUBLE-BUFFER
    DPMS
    Extended-Visual-Information
    FontCache
    GLX
    LBX
    MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
    MIT-SHM
    MIT-SUNDRY-NONSTANDARD
    NV-GLX
    NVIDIA-GLX
    RECORD
    RENDER
    SECURITY
    SHAPE
    SYNC
    TOG-CUP
    XC-APPGROUP
    XC-MISC
    XFree86-Bigfont
    XFree86-DGA
    XFree86-Misc
    XFree86-VidModeExtension
    XIE
    XInputExtension
    XKEYBOARD
    XTEST
    XVideo
default screen number:    0
number of screens:    1

screen #0:
  dimensions:    1024x768 pixels (260x195 millimeters)
  resolution:    100x100 dots per inch
  depths (7):    24, 1, 4, 8, 15, 16, 32
  root window id:    0x5e
  depth of root window:    24 planes
  number of colormaps:    minimum 1, maximum 1
  default colormap:    0x20
  default number of colormap cells:    256
  preallocated pixels:    black 0, white 16777215
  options:    backing-store NO, save-unders NO
  largest cursor:    32x32
  current input event mask:    0x58003d
    KeyPressMask             ButtonPressMask          ButtonReleaseMask        
    EnterWindowMask          LeaveWindowMask          SubstructureNotifyMask   
    SubstructureRedirectMask PropertyChangeMask       
  number of visuals:    18
  default visual id:  0x21
  visual:
    visual id:    0x21
    class:    TrueColor
    depth:    24 planes
    available colormap entries:    256 per subfield
    red, green, blue masks:    0xff0000, 0xff00, 0xff
    significant bits in color specification:    8 bits
  [remaining visuals omitted]

-- 
Tod Hagan
Campton, NH
tod at bondcliff.com