X window server crashes?

well... That might work
Try "startx >xwin.log &" though, I think that slapping the process into the background is only going to work if you do it that way.

I would be interested in finding out what more info than. "X server crashed" ... or is that what you are trying to find out with the log?

There is a very simple way to find out why
the X crashed:
Take a glance at .xserver-errors in your home
dir.

The most frequent cause of crashing is that
the line in /etc/X11/xservers points to a
different one as the one you need. Fixing
this is as simple as changing the entry to
the server you need with vim.

In most cases X-server crashes because of invalid settings for video card or monitor. Try to run xf86config program and enter proper values particular for you hardware.
If server still don't work, try to use "fallback" settings while running xf86config: try to use settings of standart VGA card and "monitor that can do 50-70 Hz".