  The Linux XFree86 HOWTO
  by Eric S. Raymond
  v6.1, 21 April 2000

  This document describes how to obtain, install, and configure version
  4.0 of the XFree86 version of the X Window System (X11R6) for Linux
  systems. It is a step-by-step guide to configuring XFree86 on your
  system.
  ______________________________________________________________________

  Table of Contents


  1. Introduction

     1.1 Other sources of information
     1.2 New versions of this document
     1.3 Feedback and Corrections

  2. Hardware requirements

  3. Installing XFree86

  4. Configuring XFree86

     4.1 Normal Configuration
     4.2 Troubleshooting
     4.3 Custom Configuration
     4.4 Using 16-bit Color

  5. Running XFree86

     5.1 Terms of Use
     5.2 Acknowledgements

  6. Translations



  ______________________________________________________________________

  1.  Introduction

  The X Window System is a large and powerful (some might say
  excessively large and overly complex) graphics environment for UNIX
  systems. The original X Window System code was developed at MIT;
  commercial vendors have since made X the industry standard for UNIX
  platforms. Virtually every UNIX workstation in the world runs some
  variant of the X Window system.

  A freely redistributable port of the MIT X Window System version 11,
  release 6 (X11R6) for 80386/80486/Pentium UNIX systems has been
  developed by a team of programmers originally headed by David
  Wexelblat <dwex@XFree86.org>. The release, known as XFree86, is
  available for System V/386, 386BSD, and other x86 UNIX
  implementations, including Linux. It includes all of the required
  binaries, support files, libraries, and tools.

  Complete information on XFree86 is available at the XFree86 web site,
  <http://www.XFree86.org>.

  In this document, we'll give a step-by-step description of how to
  install and configure XFree86 for Linux, but you will have to fill in
  some of the details yourself by reading the documentation released
  with XFree86 itself. (This documentation is discussed below.)
  However, using and customizing the X Window System is far beyond the
  scope of this document---for this purpose you should obtain one of the
  many good books on using the X Window System.


  1.1.  Other sources of information

  If you have never heard of Linux before, there are several sources of
  basic information about the system. The best place to find these is at
  the Linux Documentation Project home page at
  <http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP>.  You can find the latest, up-to-date
  version of this document there, as
  <http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/XFree86-HOWTO.html>


  1.2.  New versions of this document

  New versions of the Linux XFree86 HOWTO will be periodically posted to
  comp.os.linux.help and  and news.answers <news:news.answers>.  They
  will also be uploaded to various Linux WWW and FTP sites, including
  the LDP home page.

  You can always view the latest version of this on the World Wide Web
  via the URL  <http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/XFree86-HOWTO.html>.


  1.3.  Feedback and Corrections

  If you have questions or comments about this document, please feel
  free to mail Eric S. Raymond, at esr@thyrsus.com. I welcome any
  suggestions or criticisms. If you find a mistake with this document,
  please let me know so I can correct it in the next version. Thanks.

  Please do not mail me questions about how to make your video card and
  monitor work with X.  This HOWTO is intended to be a rapid, painless
  guide to normal installation using the new interactive configurator.
  If you run into problems, browse the XFree86 Video Timings HOWTO,
  <http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/XFree86-Video-Timings-HOWTO.html>.
  (This is the up-to-date HTML version of XFree86's `Videomodes.doc'
  file.)  That document tells everything I know about configuration
  troubleshooting.  If it can't help you, I can't either.


  2.  Hardware requirements

  You can find an up-to-date list of supported cards and chipset types
  at http://www.xfree86.org/4.0/Status.html
  <http://www.xfree86.org/4.0/Status.html>.

  The documentation included with your video adaptor should specify the
  chipset used. If you are in the market for a new video card, or are
  buying a new machine that comes with a video card, have the vendor
  find out exactly what the make, model, and chipset of the video card
  is. This may require the vendor to call technical support on your
  behalf; in general vendors will be happy to do this. Many PC hardware
  vendors will state that the video card is a ``standard SVGA card''
  which ``should work'' on your system. Explain that your software
  (mention Linux and XFree86!)  does not support all video chipsets and
  that you must have detailed information.

  You can also determine your videocard chipset by running the
  SuperProbe program included with the XFree86 distribution.  This is
  covered in more detail below.

  Supported video cards will work with all bus types, including ISA and
  VLB and PCI.

  One problem faced by the XFree86 developers is that some video card
  manufacturers use non-standard mechanisms for determining clock
  frequencies used to drive the card. Some of these manufacturers either
  don't release specifications describing how to program the card, or
  they require developers to sign a non-disclosure statement to obtain
  the information. This would obviously restrict the free distribution
  of the XFree86 software, something that the XFree86 development team
  is not willing to do. For a long time, this has been a problem with
  certain video cards manufactured by Diamond, but as of release 3.1 of
  XFree86, Diamond has started to work with the development team to
  release free drivers for these cards.

  The suggested setup for XFree86 under Linux is a 486 or better with at
  least 8 megabytes of RAM, and a video card with a chipset listed
  above. For optimal performance, we suggest using an accelerated card,
  such as an S3-chipset card. You should check the documentation for
  XFree86 and verify that your particular card is supported before
  taking the plunge and purchasing expensive hardware.

  As a side note, the personal Linux system of Matt Welsh (this FAQ's
  originator) was a 486DX2-66, 20 megabytes of RAM, equipped with a VLB
  S3-864 chipset card with 2 megabytes of DRAM.  He ran X benchmarks on
  this machine as well as on Sun Sparc IPX workstations.  The Linux
  system was roughly 7 times faster than the Sparc IPX (for the curious,
  XFree86-3.1 under Linux, with this video card, runs at around 171,000
  xstones; the Sparc IPX at around 24,000). In general, XFree86 on a
  Linux system with an accelerated SVGA card will give you much greater
  performance than that found on commercial UNIX workstations (which
  usually employ simple framebuffers for graphics).

  Your machine will need at least 4 megabytes of physical RAM, and 16
  megabytes of virtual RAM (for example, 8 megs physical and 8 megs
  swap).  Remember that the more physical RAM that you have, the less
  that the system will swap to and from disk when memory is low. Because
  swapping is inherently slow (disks are very slow compared to memory),
  having 8 megabytes of RAM or more is necessary to run XFree86
  comfortably.  16 is better.  A system with 4 megabytes of physical RAM
  could run much (up to 10 times) more slowly than one with 8 megs or
  more.


  3.  Installing XFree86

  It's quite likely that you obtained XFree86 as part of a Linux
  distribution, in which case downloading the software separately is not
  necessary.  Or you may be able to get RPM binary packages built for
  your machine, in which case you can just install those using rpm(1).
  In either case you can skip this the rest of this section.

  The Linux binary distributions of XFree86 can be found on a number of
  FTP sites.  On the XFree86 site they are under
  <ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/current/binaries/>.  You will want
  either the Linux-axp-glibc21, Linux-ix86-glibc20, or Linux-
  ix86-glibc21 subdirectories, depending on your processor type
  (axp=alpha, ix86=Intel 80x86) and Gnu C library version.

  Before doing anything else, download and run the `Xinstall.sh' shell
  script first.  This may tell you about prerequisites you'll need to
  have in place before continuing your installation.  Complete
  instructions for installing the XFree86 nbinary distribution are at
  <http://www.xfree86.org/4.0/Install2.html>.

  The binary directory should contain release notes for the current
  version in RELNOTES.  Consult those for installation details


  All that is required to install XFree86 is to obtain the above files,
  create the directory /usr/X11R6 (as root), and unpack the files from
  /usr/X11R6 with a command such as:


       gzip -dc Xbin.tgz | tar xfB -



  Remember that these tar files are packed relative to /usr/X11R6, so
  it's important to unpack the files there.

  You need to make sure that /usr/X11R6/bin is on your path.  This can
  be done by editing your system default /etc/profile or /etc/csh.login
  (based on the shell that you, or other users on your system, use). Or
  you can simply add the directory to your personal path by modifying
  .bashrc or .cshrc, based on your shell.

  You also need to make sure that /usr/X11R6/lib can be located by
  ld.so, the runtime linker. To do this, add the line


       /usr/X11R6/lib



  to the file /etc/ld.so.conf, and run /sbin/ldconfig, as root.


  4.  Configuring XFree86


  4.1.  Normal Configuration

  Configuring XFree86 to use your mouse, keyboard, monitor, and video
  card correctly used to be something of a black art, requiring
  extensive hand-hacking of a complex configuration file.  No more;
  recent releases have made the process nearly trivial.  It simplifies
  matters a lot that there are no longer separate servers for different
  kinds of cards, just modules loaded by a common server.  All you do to
  configure it is fire up the program XF86Setup.

  This program depends on the fact that all new PC hardware these days
  ships with EGA/VGA capable monitors.  It invokes the VGA16 server and
  uses it to bring up X in a lowest-common-denominator 640x480 mode.
  Then it runs an interactive program that walks you through a series of
  five configuration panels -- mouse, keyboard, (video) card, monitor,
  and `other' (miscellaneous server options). The whole process is quite
  painless.

  (If you're running Red Hat Linux, you may see a different program
  called xf86config.  This works fairly similarly to XF86Setup but does
  not itself use an X interface and the VGA16 server.)

  One minor point to keep in mind is that, if you're like most people
  using a current PC, your keyboard is actually what XF86Setup calls
  `Generic 102-key PC (intl)' rather than the default `Generic 101-key
  PC'.  If you pick the default (101) the key cluster on the extreme
  right of your keyboard (numeric keypad and friends) may stop working.

  If you're not sure of your monitor type, you can try the listed ones
  in succession.  Work your way from top down (upper choices involve
  lower dot-clock speeds and are less demanding on the hardware).  Back
  off if you get hash or a seriously distorted picture. Minor
  distortions (picture slightly too large, slightly too small, or
  slightly off-center) are no problem; you'll get a chance to correct
  those immediately by fine-tuning the mode.

  And, when the program brings up xvidtune to allow you to tweak your
  video mode, don't let the initial warning box make you nervous.
  Modern multisync monitors (unlike their fixed-frequency predecessors)
  are not easy to damage this way.

  XF86Config may assume that your mouse device is /dev/mouse.  If you
  find this doesn't work, you may need to link /dev/mouse to whatever
  /dev/ca[01] the mouse is on.   If you find that XFree86 gives you a
  "mouse busy" error when gpm is running, you may need to link to
  /dev/ttyS[01] instead.

  The configuration process operates by selecting a server module
  corresponding to to the general type of your video card and
  configuring an XF86Config that the server will read on startup to get
  specific parameters for your installation.  The location of XF86Config
  varies depending on your OS, but one place to look for it is /etc/X11.

  On older versions of XFree86, XF86Setup links the `X' command directly
  to the chosen server.  In recent versions, `X' is instead linked to a
  set-user-id wrapper program called Xwrapper.  The idea is that all the
  setuid root stuff gets localized in Xwrapper so the server doesn't
  have to run setuid root.


  4.2.  Troubleshooting


  Occasionally, something will not be quite right when you initially
  fire up the X server. This is almost always caused by a problem in
  your configuration file. Usually, the monitor timing values are off,
  or the video card dot clocks set incorrectly. Minor problems can be
  fixed with xvidtune; a really garbled screen usually means you need to
  go back into XF86Setup and choose a less capable monitor type.

  If your display seems to roll, or the edges are fuzzy, this is a clear
  indication that the monitor timing values or dot clocks are wrong.
  Also be sure that you are correctly specifying your video card
  chipset, as well as other options for the Device section of
  XF86Config. Be absolutely certain that you are using the right X
  server and that /usr/X11R6/bin/X is a symbolic link to this server.

  If all else fails, try to start X ``bare''; that is, use a command
  such as:


       X > /tmp/x.out 2>&1



  You can then kill the X server (using the ctrl-alt-backspace key com­
  bination) and examine the contents of /tmp/x.out. The X server will
  report any warnings or errors---for example, if your video card
  doesn't have a dot clock corresponding to a mode supported by your
  monitor.

  Remember that you can use ctrl-alt-numeric + and ctrl-alt-numeric - to
  switch between the video modes listed on the Modes line of the Screen
  section of XF86Config. If the highest resolution mode doesn't look
  right, try switching to lower resolutions. This will let you know, at
  least, that those parts of your X configuration are working correctly.

  Also, check the vertical and horizontal size/hold knobs on your
  monitor.  In many cases it is necessary to adjust these when starting
  up X. For example, if the display seems to be shifted slightly to one
  side, you can usually correct this using the monitor controls.

  The USENET newsgroup comp.windows.x.i386unix is devoted to discussions
  about XFree86, as is comp.os.linux.x.  It might be a good idea to
  watch that newsgroup for postings relating to your video
  configuration---you might run across someone with the same problems as
  your own.


  4.3.  Custom Configuration

  You will need to hand-hack your X configuration to get optimal
  performance if your monitor can support 1600x1200 -- the highest
  canned resolution XF86Setup supports is 1280x1024.

  If you want to hand-hack your video configuration for this or any
  other reason, go see the LDP's XFree86 Video Timings HOWTO,
  <http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/XFree86-Video-Timings-HOWTO.html>.
  (This is the up-to-date HTML version of XFree86's `Videomodes.doc'
  file.)


  4.4.  Using 16-bit Color


  By default, X uses 8-bit color depth giving 256 colors. To circumvent
  this restriction, many applications allocate their own colormaps,
  resulting in sudden color jumps when the cursor moves between two
  windows each having a color map of its own. The Arena WWW browser does
  it this way.

  If you want to use advanced graphic applications 256 colors may be not
  sufficient.  You may need to go to 16-bit color depth (65,536 colors).
  But beware, not all applications will work with 16bit colors.

  You can use 16bit color depth with 65K different colors simply by
  starting X with


  ______________________________________________________________________
      startx -- -bpp 16
  ______________________________________________________________________



  or putting


  ______________________________________________________________________
      exec X :0 -bpp 16
  ______________________________________________________________________



  into your .xserverrc file.  In order for this to work, however, you
  need to have a

  ______________________________________________________________________
  screen
  ______________________________________________________________________



  ______________________________________________________________________
      DefaultColorDepth 16
  ______________________________________________________________________



  If you're using xdm, you may need to change the Xservers file, which
  is probably located in /etc/X11/xdm/.  A typical configuration has
  just one uncommented line, looking something like


  ______________________________________________________________________
        :0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X
  ______________________________________________________________________



  Add

  ______________________________________________________________________
  -bpp 16
  ______________________________________________________________________



  ______________________________________________________________________
        :0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X -bpp 16
  ______________________________________________________________________



  Also, you'll need to add to the `screen' section of your X
  configuration a Display part with a Depth value of 16.  Generally you
  can just duplicate the 8-bit Display section and change the Depth
  field.

  More colors makes your video card transfer more data during the same
  time. If your video card cannot cope, then either the resolution has
  or the refresh rate has to be reduced.  By default, XFree reduces the
  resolution.  If you want to keep the resolution and reduce the refresh
  rate, you must insert a new appropriate Modeline into your XF86Config
  file which defines that resolution with a lower refresh rate. For
  instance replace the old value


       Modeline "1024x768"  75  1024 1048 1184 1328 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync



  with


       Modeline "1024x768"  65  1024 1032 1176 1344 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync.



  The magic numbers 75 and 65 are the respective clock rates which you
  find reported by X in your .X.err file. Consult the monitors file in
  the XF86 documentation for Modelines suitable to the maximum clock
  rate your video card can deliver under 16bit color depth.



  5.  Running XFree86

  With your XF86Config file configured, you're ready to fire up the X
  server and give it a spin. First, be sure that /usr/X11R6/bin is on
  your path.

  The command to start up XFree86 is

       startx


  This is a front-end to xinit (in case you're used to using xinit on
  other UNIX systems).

  This command will start the X server and run the commands found in the
  file .xinitrc in your home directory. .xinitrc is just a shell script
  containing X clients to run. If this file does not exist, the system
  default /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/xinitrc will be used.

  A standard .xinitrc file looks like this:


       #!/bin/sh

       xterm -fn 7x13bold -geometry 80x32+10+50 &
       xterm -fn 9x15bold -geometry 80x34+30-10 &
       oclock -geometry 70x70-7+7 &
       xsetroot -solid midnightblue &

       exec fvwm2



  This script will start up two xterm clients, an oclock, and set the
  root window (background) color to midnightblue.  It will then start up
  fvwm2, the window manager. Note that fvwm2 is executed with the
  shell's exec statement; this causes the xinit process to be replaced
  with fvwm2. Once the fvwm2 process exits, the X server will shut down.
  You can cause fvwm2 to exit by using the root menus: depress mouse
  button 1 on the desktop background---this will display a pop up menu
  which will allow you to Exit Fvwm2.

  Be sure that the last command in .xinitrc is started with exec, and
  that it is not placed into the background (no ampersand on the end of
  the line). Otherwise the X server will shut down as soon as it has
  started the clients in the .xinitrc file.

  Alternately, you can exit X by pressing ctrl-alt-backspace in
  combination. This will kill the X server directly, exiting the window
  system.

  The above is a very, very simple desktop configuration. Many wonderful
  programs and configurations are available with a bit of work on your
  .xinitrc file.

  If you are new to the X Window System environment, we strongly suggest
  picking up a book such as The Joy of X: An Overview of the X Window
  System by Niall Mansfield (Addison-Wesley 1993, ISBN 0201-565129).
  Using and configuring X is far too in-depth to cover here. See the man
  pages for xterm, oclock, and fvwm2 for clues on getting started.



  5.1.  Terms of Use

  This document is copyright 1996 by Eric S. Raymond. You may use,
  disseminate, and reproduce it freely, provided you:


  ·  Do not omit or alter this copyright notice.

  ·  Do not omit or alter the version number and date.

  ·  Do not omit or alter the document's pointer to the current WWW
     version.

  ·  Clearly mark any condensed or altered versions as such.

  These restrictions are intended to protect potential readers from
  stale or mangled versions.  If you think you have a good case for an
  exception, ask me.


  5.2.  Acknowledgements

  This document was originated by Matt Welsh in the dim and backward
  abysm of time.  Thanks, Matt!



  6.  Translations


  ·  Italian <http://www.pluto.linux.it/ildp/HOWTO/XFree86-HOWTO.html>

  ·  Slovenian <http://www.lugos.si/delo/slo/HOWTO-sl/XFree86-HOWTO-
     sl.html>

  ·  Croatian <http://meta.mioc.hr/XFree86-KAKO.html>

  ·  Dutch <http://www.nl.linux.org/doc/HOWTO/>

  ·  <>Hungarian"
     url="http://www.ppk.ini.hu/texts/XFree86-HOGYAN/XFree86-HOGYAN.html">



