[R] No graphics capability on fresh install of R2.11.0 on FreeBSD 8.0

[Ben Madin]

Thanks Rainer,

I actually solved this by just adding a few fonts - from the x11-fonts ports. I'm not sure about choosing the best ones, but this seems to have fixed the "Cairo" device, although my capabilities has not changed at all.

We thought we could avoid the need to install X11 at all, but maybe this is not so for normal use.

cheers

Ben



On 18/06/2010, at 14:32 , Rainer Hurling wrote:

> On 17.06.2010 04:45 (UTC+1), Ben Madin wrote:
>> G'day all,
> 
> Hi Ben,
> 
>> I am working on a new FreeBSD 8.0 Server (remotely located), and have installed (now several times) R 2.11.0 but I cannot get any graphic outputs (everything else seems to be happening fine...)
> 
> i'm also working with FreeBSD (9.0-CURRENT, not remotely) and R 2.11.1 (not from ports system, but direct installation).
> 
>> During install I have noticed and checked that png, jpeg, cairo etc libraries are available - here is the build output :
>> 
>> R is now configured for amd64-portbld-freebsd8.0
>> 
>>  Source directory:          .
>>  Installation directory:    /usr/local
>> 
>>  C compiler:                gcc44 -std=gnu99  -O2 -pipe -Wl,-rpath=/usr/local/lib/gcc44 -fno-strict-aliasing
>>  Fortran 77 compiler:       gfortran44  -O
>> 
>>  C++ compiler:              g++44  -O2 -pipe -Wl,-rpath=/usr/local/lib/gcc44 -fno-strict-aliasing
>>  Fortran 90/95 compiler:    gfortran44 -O
>>  Obj-C compiler:	     gcc -g -O2
>> 
>>  Interfaces supported:      X11, tcltk
>>  External libraries:        readline, BLAS(generic), LAPACK(generic), ICU, lzma
>>  Additional capabilities:   PNG, JPEG, TIFF, NLS, cairo
>>  Options enabled:           shared R library, R profiling
>> 
>>  Recommended packages:      yes
>> 
>> ===>   Building for R-2.11.0_1
>> 
>> and thus
>> 
>>> sessionInfo()
>> R version 2.11.0 (2010-04-22)
>> amd64-portbld-freebsd8.0
>> 
>> locale:
>> [1] C
>> 
>> attached base packages:
>> [1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods   base
>> 
>> other attached packages:
>> [1] Cairo_1.4-6
>> 
>> 
>> yet when I start it up, I get this :
>> 
>>> library(graphics)
>>> png('this.file.png')
>> Error in X11(paste("png::", filename, sep = ""), width, height, pointsize,  :
>>   unable to start device PNG
>> In addition: Warning message:
>> In png("this.file.png") : unable to open connection to X11 display ''
> 
> For me it looks like your X11 installation is not complete. You wrote about a server installation with remote access. Please take care to get installed all relevant ports. Easiest way is to install /usr/ports/x11/xorg.
> 
>> and after installing Cairo
>> 
>>> install.packages('Cairo',,'http://www.rforge.net/')
>>   trying URL 'http://www.rforge.net/src/contrib/Cairo_1.4-6.tar.gz'
>> 
>> I get :
>> 
>>> library(Cairo)
>>> Cairo(file='thisfile.png', type='png', height=480, width=640)
>> Error in Cairo(file = "thisfile.png", type = "png", height = 480, width = 640) :
>>   No font found in Rcairo_set_font
>> 
>> Thus stumped, I checked :
>> 
>>> capabilities()
>>     jpeg      png     tiff    tcltk      X11     aqua http/ftp  sockets
>>    FALSE    FALSE    FALSE     TRUE    FALSE    FALSE     TRUE     TRUE
>>   libxml     fifo   cledit    iconv      NLS  profmem    cairo
>>     TRUE     TRUE     TRUE     TRUE     TRUE    FALSE    FALSE
> 
> All graphical capabilities are disabled. See my comment above.
> 
>> If this is not the appropriate place for this to be sorted, I am happy to try elsewhere.
>> 
>> cheers
>> 
>> Ben
> 
> Hope I could help,
> Rainer