x server: switching vt failed

I have no experience with X servers. On the Debian terminal, starting any type of X server results in an error like the following. This example is from startx:

[config] failed to pre-init udev

X.Org X Server 1.21.1.16 X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0 Current Operating System: Linux DESKTOP-HJ0UNL8 4.4.0-19041-Microsoft #5794-Microsoft Mon Apr 07 17:55:00 PST 2025 x86_64 Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/kernel init=/init xorg-server 2:21.1.16-1.3+deb13u2 (debian.org/support) Current version of pixman: 0.44.0 Before reporting problems, checkwiki.x.org to make sure that you have the latest version. Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting, (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational, (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown. (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Tue Jul 21 21:35:08 2026 (==) Using config directory: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d" (==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d" (EE) Fatal server error: (EE) xf86OpenConsole: Switching VT failed (EE) (EE) Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support atwiki.x.org for help. (EE) Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information. (EE) (EE) Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file. xinit: giving up xinit: unable to connect to X server: Connection refused xinit: server error

I have been told to modify my.xinitrc file, but I'm not sure what exactly I should change.

I've been experiencing this problem since the initial installation.

I first encountered it when my DISPLAY environment variable wasn't set while trying to run `kitty.

DISPLAY environment variable not set

It was obvious that the X server wasn't running, a pretty beginner-level issue.

However, I couldn't get it to start.