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From: steve@ecf.toronto.edu (Steve Kotsopoulos)
Subject: X on Intel-based Unix Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ]
Message-ID: <C4rI7o.4Bw@ecf.toronto.edu>
Followup-To: poster
Summary: X options for Intel-based Unix (SYSV/386, 386BSD, Linux, Mach)
Sender: steve@ecf.toronto.edu (Steve Kotsopoulos)
Reply-To: steve@ecf.toronto.edu
Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1993 16:38:08 GMT
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
Expires: Sat, 1 May 1993 04:00:00 GMT
Lines: 530
Archive-name: Intel-Unix-X-faq
Last-modified: 30 Mar 1993
Note: This is a major re-organization (and replacement) of my
"Frequently Asked Questions About X386" FAQ list.
This article includes answers to:
I) What options do I have for X software on my Intel-based Unix system?
1. Free options
2. Commercial options
II) What is XFree86 and where do I get it?
3. What is XFree86?
4. What OSs are supported?
5. What video hardware is supported?
6. What about accelerated boards?
7. Why doesn't XFree86 support 16-color VGA modes?
8. What other hardware or software requirements are there?
9. Where can I get source for XFree86?
10. Where can I get binaries for XFree86?
IV) What general things should I know about running XFree86?
11. Installation directories
12. Configuration files
13. Determining VGA dot clocks and monitor modes
14. Rebuilding/reconfiguring the server from the link kit
V) What OS-specific things should I know about running XFree86?
15. SVR4
16. SVR3
17. 386BSD
18. Linux
19. Mach
VI) What things should I know for building XFree86 from source?
VII) Is there anything special about building clients with XFree86?
20. BSD compatibility library
21. ANSICCOPTIONS
This article does NOT include answers to general X questions, since these
are already covered by the X FAQ that is regularly posted by David B. Lewis
<faq%craft@uunet.uu.net>.
If you have anything to add or change on the FAQ just let me know.
(especially if you had a problem that someone else was able to help you with)
Send changes to steve@ecf.toronto.edu, please put 'FAQ' somewhere
in the subject line so that my mail filter will put it in the correct
mail folder.
Please DO NOT ask me questions that are not answered in the FAQ. I do not
have time to respond to these individually. Instead, post your question
to the net, and send me the question and answer together when you get it.
Frequently Asked Questions About X on Intel-based Unix (with answers)
=====================================================================
I) What options do I have for X software on my Intel-based Unix system?
1. Free options
The BEST option is XFree86, which is an enhanced version of X386 1.2.
Any other version of X386 will have slower performance, and will
be more difficult to compile. Information on how to obtain XFree86
is listed below.
X386 is the port of the X11 server to System V/386 that was
done by Thomas Roell (roell@sgcs.com).
It supports a wide variety of SVGA boards.
There are 2 major free versions: X386 1.1 is based on X11R4,
X386 1.2 is included in MIT's X11R5 distribution (ie. you
don't need to patch it into the MIT source any more).
X386 1.3 is the current commercial offering from SGCS (see below).
2. Commercial options
1) Metro Link
2213 W. McNab Road
Pompano Beach, FL 33069
(305) 970-7353
Fax: (305) 970-7351
email: sales@metrolink.com
Summary: OS: QNX, SVR3, SVR4.[012], SCO, UnixWare, LynxOS,
DESQview/X, Venix, ISC, Solaris, Pyramid, SunOS
HW: EGA, VGA, SVGA, TIGA, TARGA, 8514/A, Mach,
S3, WD, Fujistu, Matrox, Microfield Graphics, R33020
Other: Motif, OpenLook/XView, XIE Imaging Extension,
Xv Video Extension, Audio Drivers, Multi Media
2) SGCS (Snitily Graphics Consulting Services)
894 Brookgrove Lane
Cupertino, CA 95014
(800) 645-5501, (408) 255-9665
Fax: (408) 255-9740
email: info@sgcs.com or ...!mips!zok!info
Summary: OS: SVR3.2, SVR4
HW: 8514/A (ATI Ultra), S3 (Diamond Stealth), SVGA
Other: Motif, Dual-headed server
3) Consensys Corporation
1301 Pat Booker Rd.
Universal City, TX 78148
Phone: 1-800-388-1896
FAX: 1-416-940-2903
email: info@consensys.com
Summary: OS: Consensys V4.2, Consensys' version of
Unix System V Release 4.2
HW: X11R4 server support for VGA, SVGA
Other: MoOLIT, Motif, X11R5 Clients
4) The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
p.o. box 1900
Santa Cruz, California 95061
(408) 425 7222, (800) SCO UNIX,
FAX: (408) 458 4227
email: info@sco.com
Summary: OS: ODT 1.1, ODT 2.0, SCO Unix 3.2v4
HW: X11R4 server support for SVGA, 8514/A, S3, TMS340x0,
WD90C31, XGA2, assorted local bus (see SCO Hardware
Compatabilty Guide for actual card vendors).
Other: Motif
5) Answer Software & Consulting
p.o. box 14171
Columbus, Ohio 43214
614-263-XLAB
email: sales@x4coher.com
Summary: OS: Coherent 4.0.1r72 or greater
HW: works with any VESA compliant video
NOTE: Other commercial vendors (including OS vendors describing
bundled software) are welcome to submit summary information
summary information such as the above.
II) What is XFree86 and where do I get it?
3. What is XFree86?
XFree86 is an enhanced version of X386 1.2, which was distributed with
X11R5. This release consists of many bug fixes, speed improvements, and
other enhancements. Here are the highlights of the enhancements:
1) The SpeedUp package from Glenn Lai is an integral part of XFree86,
selectable at run-time via the Xconfig file. Some SpeedUps require
an ET4000 based SVGA, and others require a virtual screen width of
1024. The SpeedUps suitable to the configuration are selected by
default. With a high-quality ET4000 board (VRAM), this can yield
up to 40% improvement of the xStones benchmark over X386 1.2.
2) The fX386 packages from Jim Tsillas are included as the default
operating mode if SpeedUp is not selected. This mode is now
equivalent in performance to X386 1.1b (X11R4), and approximately
20% faster than X386 1.2.
3) Support for LOCALCONN, compile-time selectable for server, clients,
or both. This support is for both SVR3.2 and SVR4. For SVR4.0.4
with the 'Advanced Compatibility Package', local connections from
SCO XSight/ODT clients are supported.
4) Drivers for ATI and Trident TVGA8900C and TVGA9000 SVGA chipsets.
Refer to the files README.ati and README.trident for details about
the ATI and Trident drivers.
5) Support for compressed bitmap fonts has been added (Thomas Eberhardt's
code from the contrib directory on export.lcs.mit.edu).
6) Type1 Font code from MIT contrib tape has been included, and is
compile-time selectable. There are contributed Type1 fonts in the
contrib directory on export.lcs.mit.edu.
7) New configuration method which allows the server's drivers and font
renderers to be reconfigured from both source and binary
distributions.
8) Integrated support for 386BSD, Mach, and Linux.
9) A monochrome version of the server which will run on generic VGA
cards is now included.
The following key features were added with the release of XFree86 1.2
(they were not in XFree86 1.1):
1) The monochrome server has been enhanced to do bank-switching of
available SVGA memory to allow virtual screens up to 1600x1200
(see the X386(1) manual page for more information).
2) Support for the Hercules mono card has been added to the
monochrome server, and with it the ability to support a "two
headed" server - one VGA, and one Hercules. So far this has only
been tested on SVR4 (it is also reported to work under Linux).
3) SVR3 shared libraries, tested under ISC SVR3 2.2 and 3.0.1.
4) Support for SVR4.2 (There are some special considerations to
consider, due to new USL bugs; see the README.SVR4 file for
more information.)
5) Support for PS/2 mice, and Logitech MouseMan/TrackMan (some
versions of these devices were not previously compatible).
6) A new tutorial on how to develop correct video card and monitor
timing data, written by Eric Raymond (derived from previous
documentation and a lot of experimentation).
7) Greatly improved support for international keyboards, including
implementation of the Compose key functionality found on many
vendor servers (see the X386keybd(1) manual page for more
information).
8) The accuracy with which the server detects SVGA pixel clocks has
been improved, and the timings are now stored at accuracies of
0.1 MHz. Users may want to consider removing an existing Clocks
line from their Xconfig file and re-probing using the new server.
9) Many enhancements in error handling and parsing of the Xconfig
configuration file. Error messages are much more informative
and intuitive, and more validation is done. There are many new
options that can be enabled in the Xconfig file (see the X386(1)
manual page for more information on the format of this file).
Plus a number of other small things. Refer to the CHANGELOG file
in the source distribution for full details.
Also included are a tutorial on monitor timing by Eric Raymond, and the
current X386 mode database and a sample xdm configuration by David Wexelblat.
4. What OSs are supported?
XFree86 supports:
SVR4.2: Consensys V4.2
SVR4.0: Microport, Dell, Esix, ISC, AT&T, MST, Consensys, UHC
SVR3: ISC 2.2 & 3.0, AT&T 2.2
Linux, Mach 386, 386BSD 0.1
BSD/386 is not supported, but it should work. The most active
BSD/386 person is Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.de>.
Note that Esix 3.2D and SCO are not supported yet,
but anyone should feel free to submit patches.
If you are interested in tackling this, send mail to
xfree86@physics.su.oz.au
5. What video hardware is supported?
At this time, XFree86 1.2 supports the following SVGA chipsets:
Tseng ET4000
Tseng ET3000
Paradise PVGA1
Western Digital WD90C00, WD90C10, WD90C11 (these are supersets of
the PVGA1, and use its driver)
Genoa GVGA
Trident TVGA8900C, TVGA9000
ATI 18800, 28800
All of the above are supported in both 256 color and monochrome modes,
with the exception of the ATI chipsets, which are only supported in
256 color mode.
The monochrome server also supports generic VGA cards, using 64k of
video memory in a single bank, and the Hercules card. On the
ET3000, only 64k of video memory is supported for the monochrome
server, and the GVGA has not been tested with more than 64k.
It appears that some of the SVGA card manufacturers are going to
non-traditional mechanisms for selecting pixel-clock frequencies. To
avoid having to modify the server to accommodate these schemes XFree86
1.2 adds support for using an external program to select the pixel
clock. This allows programs to be written as new mechanisms are
discovered. Refer to the README.clkprog file for information on how
these programs work, if you need to write one. If you do develop such
a program, the XFree86 team would be interested in including it with
future XFree86 releases.
If you are purchasing new hardware for the purpose of using XFree86,
it is suggested that you purchase an ET4000-based board such as the
Orchid ProDesigner IIs. Avoid recent Diamond boards; XFree86 will not
work with them, because Diamond won't provide programming details.
In fact, the XFree86 project is actively not supporting new Diamond
products, as long as such policies remain in effect. Contributions
of code will NOT be accepted (because of the potential liabilities).
If you would like to see this change, tell Diamond about it.
Some people have asked if XFree86 would work with local bus or EISA
video cards. Theoretically, the means of communication between the
CPU and the video card is irrelevant to Xfree86 compatibility. It
could be ISA, EISA, or local bus. What should matter is the chipset
on the video card. Unfortunately, the developers don't have a lot
of access to EISA or VLB machines, so this is largely an untested
theory. However, we have yet to see any reports of things not
working on one of these buses and we have several reports of Xfree86
working fine on them.
6. What about accelerated boards?
At this time, there is no support in XFree86 for accelerated boards
like the S3, ATI Ultra (8514/A), TIGA, etc. This support is available
in commercial products from SGCS and MetroLink (for SVR3 and SVR4).
An S3 server is available for 386BSD and Linux. Contact
<hasty@netcom.com> for 386BSD or <jon@robots.ox.ac.uk> for Linux.
A beta 8514/A server is available for Linux. Contact <martin@cs.unc.edu>
or <jon@robots.ox.ac.uk>. Note: these servers are NOT part of XFree86.
7. Why doesn't XFree86 support 16-color VGA modes?
The reason that this is not supported is the way VGA implements the
16-color modes. In 256-color modes, each byte of frame buffer memory
contains 1 pixel. But the 16-color modes are implemented as bit-
planes. Each byte of frame- buffer memory contains 1 bit from each
of each of 8 pixels, and there are four such planes. The MIT frame-
buffer code is not designed to deal with this. If VGA handled
16-color modes by packing 2 4-bit pixels into each byte, the MIT code
could be modified to support this (or it already may; I'm not sure).
But for the VGA way of doing things, a complete new frame-buffer
implementation is required. Some beta testers are looking into this,
but nothing is yet available from the project.
8. What other hardware or software requirements are there?
Obviously, a supported SVGA board and OS are required. To run
X efficiently, 12-16MB of memory should be considered a minimum.
The various binary releases take 10-40MB of disk space, depending
on the OS (e.g. whether or not it supports shared libraries).
To build from sources, at least 80MB of free disk space will
be required, although 120MB should be considered a comfortable
lower bound.
9. Where can I get source for XFree86?
Source patches for the current version (1.2, based on X11R5 PL22
from MIT), are available via anonymous FTP from:
export.lcs.mit.edu (under /contrib/XFree86)
ftp.physics.su.oz.au (under /XFree86)
ftp.win.tue.nl (under /pub/XFree86)
(For the rest of this FAQ, these 3 location will be called $FTP)
Refer to the README file under the specified directory for information
on which files you need to get to build your distribution.
10. Where can I get binaries for XFree86?
Binaries are available via anonymous FTP from:
ftp.physics.su.oz.au - SVR4 binaries
under /XFree86/SVR4
ftp.win.tue.nl - SVR4 binaries
under /pub/XFree86/SVR4
ferkel.ucsb.edu - SVR4 binaries
under /pub/SVR4/XFree86
stasi.bradley.edu - SVR4 binaries
under /pub/XFree86/SVR4
blancmange.ma.utexas.edu - SVR3 (ISC) binaries
under /pub/ISC
ftp.prz.tu-berlin.de - SVR3 (ISC) binaries
under /pub/pc/isc/XFree86
tsx-11.mit.edu - Linux binaries
under /pub/linux/packages/X11
agate.berkeley.edu - 386BSD binaries
under /pub/386BSD/0.1-ports/XFree86
ftp.cs.uwm.edu - Mach binaries
under /i386
Ensure that you are getting XFree86 1.2 - some of these sites may
archive older releases as well. Each binary distribution will
contain a README file that describes what files you need to take
from the archive, and which compile-time option selections were
made when building the distribution.
IV) What general things should I know about running XFree86?
11. Installation directories
The top-level installation directory is specified by the ProjectRoot
(/usr/X386, by default) variable in config/site.def. Binaries, include
files, and libraries are installed in $ProjectRoot/{bin,include,lib}.
This can be changed when rebuilding from sources, and can be modified
via symbolic links for those OSs that support them. This directory is
nonstandard, and was chosen this way to allow XFree86 to be installed
alongside a commercial/vendor-supplied X implementation.
12. Configuration files
The XFree86 server reads a configuration file ("Xconfig") on startup.
The search path, contents and syntax for this file are documented in
the server manpage, which should be consulted before asking questions.
13. Determining VGA dot clocks and monitor modes
David E Wexelblat (dwex@mtgzfs3.att.com) maintains a database of known
clock settings for VGA cards and monitor settings.
The database is installed in /usr/X386/lib/X11/etc/modeDB.txt, and
is in the source tree under mit/server/ddx/x386/etc. This database is
also available from him (for the latest copy), and is kept on
export.lcs.mit.edu in ~/contrib/X386.modeDB.Z, which is updated
occasionally. Obtain a copy of this database. It just might have the
settings you need. If you create new settings, please send them to
David for inclusion in the database.
If this doesn't help you, the VideoModes.doc (by Eric Raymond) file
with XFree86 contains tutorials on how to come up with these timings.
It may be helpful to start with settings that almost work, and use
this description to get them right. When you do, send the information
to David Wexelblat for inclusion in the database.
NOTE: The old 'clock.exe' program is not supported any more, and
is completely unnecessary. If you need to determine dot
clock values for a new board, remove the 'Clocks' line from
your Xconfig file (if present), and start the server. The
server will probe for clocks itself and print them out.
You can use these values to put a 'Clocks' line into your
Xconfig file, which is not necessary, but will speed up
starting the server in the future.
14. Rebuilding/reconfiguring the server from the link kit
If you have installed the server Binary Link Kit, it is possible to
reconfigure the drivers and font renderers in the server. This is
fully explained in the README file that is available with the link kit.
V) What OS-specific things should I know about running XFree86?
First of all, the server must be installed suid-root (mode 4755).
15. SVR4
Why won't my xterm run properly?
If your kernel is not built with the consem module, you should define
CONSEM=no in you environment. Otherwise xterm won't run.
csh users should use 'setenv CONSEM no'
The Esix console driver patch 403019 is known to cause keymapping
problems with XFree86. It recommended that this patch not be
installed. Alternatively they keymap can be fixed with xmodmap.
16. SVR3
Make sure you look at $FTP/README.ISC, if that's what you are running.
17. 386BSD
Make sure you look at $FTP/README.386BSD.
Also, a separate 386BSD FAQ is maintained by Richard Murphey
<Rich@Rice.edu>. The latest version should be available in the
file XFree86-1.2-386BSD-FAQ at the following ftp sites:
agate.berkeley.edu:/pub/386BSD/0.1-ports/XFree86-1.2
wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors4/386bsd/0.1-ports/XFree86-1.2
grasp1.univ-lyon1.fr:pub/386BSD/0.1-ports/XFree86-1.2
18. Linux
You must be running Linux 0.97pl4 or greater, and have the 4.1 gcc
jump libraries installed.
Make sure the binaries X386, X386mono, xload and xterm are setuid root.
If your kernel doesn't have TCP support compiled in, you'll have to
run the server as "X -pn". The default startup configuration assumes
that TCP is not available. If it is, change the two files
/usr/X386/bin/startx and /usr/X386/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers, removing the
-pn argument to X386.
Make sure /dev/console is either a link to /dev/tty0 or has the major
number 4, minor number 0. Also note that if /dev/console is not
owned by the user running X, then xconsole and xterm will not permit
console output redirection. Xdm will properly change the owner, but
startx won't.
When running xdm from rc.local, you will need to provide it with
a tty, for example "xdm < /dev/console &".
For more detailed information, please read the file README present
with the distribution on tsx-11.mit.edu.
19. Mach
Make sure you look at $FTP/README.Mach.
VI) What things should I know for building XFree86 from source?
This section has been removed from the FAQ, since it is
fully explained in $FTP/README and the OS-specific READMEs.
Please look at those files for information on building XFree86.
VII) Is there anything special about building clients with XFree86?
20. BSD compatibility library
A lot of clients make use of BSD functions like bcopy(), etc.
The default configuration files are set up to link with libXbsd.a
which contains emulation for bcopy(), bzero(), bcmp(), ffs(), random(),
seed(). A better way of providing the 'b' functions is to include
<X11/Xfuncs.h> in source files that call them. Xfuncs.h provides macro
definitions for these in terms of the SYSV 'mem' functions. If you are
linking with a vendor supplied library which calls some of these
functions, then you should link with libXbsd.a
21. ANSICCOPTIONS
This is something that was added to allow a developer to get rid of the
ANSI-ness defined in the default CCOPTIONS without having to rewrite
the entire CCOPTIONS line. For example, with stock MIT, you'd see
something like
CCOPTIONS="-ansi -O2 -fwritable-strings"
and to get rid of the ANSI-ness, the developer would have to put
CCOPTIONS="-O2 -fwritable-strings"
in his Imakefile. With this change, you would see a default of
ANSICCOPTIONS="-ansi"
CCOPTIONS="-O2 -fwritable-strings"
and all the developer would have to put in the Imakefile is:
ANSICCOPTIONS=
to get rid of the ANSI-ness (many X clients will die a horrible death
with -ansi). The effect is even more dramatic in practice, because
CCOPTIONS is actually quite complex. The other issue is that one must
add 'ANSICCOPTIONS=$(ANSICCOPTIONS)' to a PassCDebugFlags definition.
XFree86 Contact Information
Ongoing development planning and support is coordinated by the XFree86
Core Team. At this time the Core Team consists of:
The original "gang of four":
David Dawes <dawes@physics.su.oz.au>
Glenn Lai <glenn@cs.utexas.edu>
Jim Tsillas <jtsilla@damon.ccs.northeastern.edu>
David Wexelblat <dwex@mtgzfs3.att.com>
Those supporting non-SYSV operating systems:
Robert Baron <Robert.Baron@ernst.mach.cs.cmu.edu> [Mach]
Rich Murphey <Rich@Rice.edu> [386BSD]
Orest Zborowski <obz@kodak.com> [Linux]
e-mail sent to <xfree86@physics.su.oz.au> will reach all of the core team.
--------------------------------------------------
Thanks to all the people who already sent me corrections or additions,
especially David Wexelblat (one of the major contributors of updates).
--
Steve Kotsopoulos P.Eng. mail: steve@ecf.toronto.edu
Systems Analyst bitnet: steve@ecf.UTORONTO.BITNET
Engineering Computing Facility uucp: uunet!utai!ecf!steve
University of Toronto phone: (416) 978-5898