I recently downloaded MacGimp and X11. (I have a new Intel G5,
10.4.4.) Whenever I open MacGimp, X11 automatically opens in the dock
and then immediately disappears. The files I installed are from this
URL:

http://www.chemistry.ucsc.edu/~wgscott/xtal/x11.html

I downloaded a file from the link "X11.app and SDK for 10.4." 

Now, whenever I open MacGimp, X11 also opens and then almost
immediately disappears from the dock. I can't get it to stay open. I
tried re-installing X11 and rebooting the computer, and the problem
remains. How can I get X11 to actually open and stay open?

I read somewhere online that the new Macs should come with a version
of X11. But on my computer, MacGimp won't run because the installed
version of X11 isn't running.

Thanks for any help. . . 

fieldlily-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by maniac-ga on 30 Apr 2006 17:59 PDT

Hello Fieldlily,

Hmm. I have a G5 running 10.4.6 and X works OK for me. Let's do a little diagnosis:

[1] Do you have an application named "XDarwin". Check by selecting
spotlight in the upper right (the icon looks like a magnifying glass)
and enter xdarwin in the pop up form. If so, select that application
and see if it stays running. [I added this application to the Dock on
my system so I could run it easily]

[2] See the help file
  file:///Applications/XDarwin.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/XDarwinHelp.html
for information on preferences of XDarwin.

[3] If you run a terminal window, on my system in
  /Applications/Utilities/terminal
try running top - something like
  top -s0
when starting X (the way you have been doing it). You should see the
application start (and exit if its stopping). Let me know which
applications appear / disappear so I can do some research on the
specific set up you have.

  --Maniac

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Request for Question Clarification by maniac-ga on 30 Apr 2006 18:10 PDT

Hello Fieldlily,

In your question, you indicate you have an "Intel G5".
  "Intel" implies one of the new iMac, Mac Mini, etc.
  "G5" implies one of the older power PC machines

Please clarify which version you have.

If its really an Intel machine, there may be an issue with the version
of X11 you downloaded (the site you referenced says for Power PC
systems only). I see some references to an Intel version of the X11
server but I can't yet find a download link (though it should also be
on the CD that came with your system). If you say you have an Intel
system, I'll do some more specific searches for that version.

  --Maniac

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Clarification of Question by fieldlily-ga on 30 Apr 2006 22:45 PDT

Hi Maniac-ga,

It's definitely the Intel core Mac. In the "About This Mac" window,
the processor is listed as a 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo. 512 MB of
memory. Let me know what you find or if you need any other info, and
thanks so much,

lotf629

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Request for Question Clarification by maniac-ga on 01 May 2006 20:30 PDT

Hello Fieldlily,

OK. From your original question, you say you downloaded [and
installed?] X11.app and SDK for 10.4 from the web site (and not your
install disks). The following assumes this version has been installed
(and not the one from the install CDs).

At this point, I see a few alternatives for going forward:

[0] It may be that an X server is already running (perhaps hidden -
see [1]). Bring up a terminal window and run
  ps -aux | grep X
and look for lines with either X11 or XDarwin as the program name
(last column). If this is the case, try rebooting (and if it repeats,
you have it set up to automatically run at login) and then try running
X11 again to see if the behavior repeats.

[1] According to
  http://www.chemistry.ucsc.edu/~wgscott/xtal/Xterminator/
there is an option to X11.app that causes it to not appear in the menu
nor dock (the fifth selection on the screen shot). If your system is
set up that way, I suggest downloading / running this Xterminator
application and verifying that Dockless is NOT set and X11 will run
(or not).

[2] According to your original reference
  http://www.chemistry.ucsc.edu/~wgscott/xtal/x11.html
it suggests installing from the original CDs instead of the download
(especially indicated for Intel based Mac's). You can reinstall from
the original CDs and see if that fixes the problem. I would especially
do this if your copy of X11.app is in /Applications and not in
/Applications/Utilities.

[3] It may be that your "xinitrc" file is damaged or otherwise causing
the problem. In your home directory, if you have a file named
.xinitrc, rename it and try running X11 again. When the file is
"missing", X11 should bring up an xterm window under the quartz window
manager. (a safe configuration)

Let's try these steps first and see if one of these fixes the problem.
There is also another good reference at
  http://www.misplaced.net/fom/X11/
which is the "unofficial" FAQ for X11 and includes an extensive
section for problem solving.

  --Maniac

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Clarification of Question by fieldlily-ga on 13 May 2006 21:25 PDT

Hey Maniac-ga,

I've given up and ordered Photoshop, largely because I need some of
the Photoshop functionality anyway.

But I would like to pay you the $15 for your time, if you would like
to hit the "answer" key.

Thanks for your research.

Audrey