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From: steve@ecf.toronto.edu (Steve Kotsopoulos)
Subject: X on Intel-based Unix Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ]
Message-ID: <Cp1ICM.2I@ecf.toronto.edu>
Followup-To: poster
Summary: X options for Intel-based Unix (SYSV/386, 386BSD, Linux, Mach)
Originator: steve@sps.ecf
Sender: news@ecf.toronto.edu (News Administrator)
Reply-To: steve@ecf.toronto.edu
Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 21:29:09 GMT
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
Expires: Wed, 1 Jun 1994 04:00:00 GMT
Lines: 696
Archive-name: x-faq/Intel-Unix-X-faq
Last-modified: 29 April 1994
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. Who else supports accelerated boards?
7. [deleted]
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
VIII) Where to get more information
The latest version of this article is available by anonymous
ftp from ftp.x.org:/contrib/Intel-Unix-X-faq
This article does NOT include answers to general X questions, since they
are already covered by the X FAQ that is regularly posted by David B. Lewis
<faq%craft@uunet.uu.net>.
For information on X packages for DOS systems, consult the (PC)NFS FAQ
available from seagull.rtd.com:/pub/tcpip/pcnfs.FAQ.v1.2.Z
If you have anything to add or change on this 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 folder.
Please do not ask me questions that are not answered in this FAQ. I don't
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 be more difficult to compile.
Information on how to obtain it 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).
Several other options are available for people running NeXTSTEP on
i486 and Pentium hardware. Information on mouseX, Cub'X and Co-Xist
is available via anonymous ftp from cs.orst.edu in /pub/next/XNeXT.
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
SGCS is out of the X-Server business. Thomas Roell has a new company
called X-Inside, Inc. that is beta-testing its products right now.
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, ODT 3.0
HW: X11R5 server support for SVGA, 8514/A, S3, TMS340x0,
GD5426, P9000, ET4000/W32, Mach32, WD90C33, 86C801,
86C805, 86C928, WD90C31, XGA2, QVision, misc. localbus
video systems (see Hardware Compatibility Handbook
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
6) OpenWindows (shipped as part of the Solaris for x86 OS)
SunSoft Inc.
2550 Garcia Ave.
Mountain View, CA 94043
Phone: 415-960-3200
Summary: OS: Solaris for x86, SunSoft's version of SVR4
HW: Orchid ProDesigner II, Compaq QVision, Paradise
Accelerator Board, ET 4000 video card with VESA
configuration file, WD90C30 video card with VESA
configuration file, IBM XGA.
Other: X11R4 clients, XView, OLIT, DeskSet
7) Mark Williams Company
60 Revere Drive
Northbrook, IL 60062
(800) 636-6700 (U.S.)
(708) 291-6700 (outside U.S.)
Summary: OS: COHERENT 4.2
HW: VGA cards (ATI, Genoa, Paradise, Trident, Tseng, and
Western Digital chip sets), and serial mouse
MISC: Port of X386 1.2
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. The release is available as source patches against the
MIT X11R5 code, as well as binary distributions for many architectures.
XFree86 2.1 is not a huge release compared to prior XFree86 releases. There
are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that two of the Core
Team members have moved and started new employment, significantly cutting
into their time for XFree86 work. In addition, they are hard at work on
merging XFree86 with the upcoming X11R6. Many new features have been put
on hold while this integration is done, so that a stable and viable X11R6
release can be developed. XFree86 3.0 will be released on the X11R6
contributed software distribution, and it is their intention that many of
these features will be present in that release.
The following items have been added since XFree86 2.0 was released in
October 1993:
1) The X Consortium's fix-26 is included.
2) Support for pixel multiplexing has been added for Mach32 boards
with ATI68875, TLC34075 or Bt885 RAMDACs. This allows dot clocks
up to 135MHz to be used with these boards.
3) Support for the TI ViewPoint 3020 RAMDAC used on the #9 GXe
Level 14 and 16 cards has been added, supporting dot clocks up to
135MHz and 200MHz respectively.
4) Support for pixel multiplexing (and thus dot clocks up to 135MHz)
has been added for the SPEA Mercury cards (S3 928 + Bt485). This
has *not* been tested on other 928 + Bt485 cards.
5) Performance improvements for some of the accelerated servers.
6) Support has been added for all the display widths available with
the S3 chips. In addition to the 1024 and 1280 widths supported
by XFree86 2.0, there is now support for 640, 800 and 2048 with
all 801, 805 and 928 chips. 1152 is supported with 801/5 chips
at revision C or later. 1152 and 1600 are supported with 928
chips at revision E or later. Note that this change should make
XFree86 viable on 512k boards.
7) Support for 8-bit resolution RGB values (as opposed to the
standard VGA 6-bit resolution) for S3 cards with AT&T20C490/1,
Sierra SC15025 or Ti3020 RAMDACs, and for Mach32 cards with
ATI68875, TLC34075 or Bt885 RAMDACs.
8) Support for DRAM based S3 cards using slow memory has been
improved.
9) Accelerated support for the Cirrus chipsets has been enhanced and
extended to include the lower-end chipsets (5420, 5422, 5424).
10) The pvga1 driver can now access all the clocks on boards using the
WD90C30 and WD90C31 chips.
11) The 16 colour generic VGA server has been extended to include
banked memory support on selected chipsets. This allows it to
make full use of the available video memory on these boards. This
server now includes support for GrayScale and StaticGray visuals
which makes for better use on many laptops.
12) Support for the Sigma LaserView and Visa monochrome boards has
been added to the bdm2 driver in the Mono server.
13) Support for Solaris x86 2.1 has been added.
14) Support is included for shared libraries on FreeBSD-1.1 and
NetBSD-current (0.9 based) systems.
15) The SuperProbe program introduced with XFree86 1.3 has been updated
to detect more chipsets, to detect installed video memory, and to
be more reliable overall.
16) Several dozen bug fixes for problems detected and reported for
XFree86 2.0.
Plus a number of other small things. Refer to the CHANGELOG file in the
source distribution for full details.
Here is a list of the other significant features that XFree86 adds over
stock X386 1.2 (X11R5):
1) New servers to support S3, ATI and 8514 accelerated hardware, and
support for Cirrus and Western Digital accelerated hardware in
the SVGA server.
2) The SpeedUp package from Glenn Lai is an integral part of the
SVGA server, 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, this can yield up to 40% improvement of the Xstones
benchmark over X386 1.2.
3) The fX386 packages from Jim Tsillas are included as the default
operating mode of the SVGA server 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.
4) A monochrome server that supports bank-switching of available SVGA
memory to allow virtual screens up to 1600x1200.
5) Support for the Hercules mono card in the monochrome server, and
with it the ability to support a "two headed" server - one mono
VGA, and one Hercules.
6) Support for Hyundai HGC1280, Sigma LaserView and Visa monochrome
graphics card in the monochrome server.
7) A 16-color VGA server is included, which supports generic VGA
hardware.
8) SVR3 shared libraries, tested under ISC SVR3 2.0.2, 2.2, 3.0.1 and
4.0; SCO 3.2.2, 3.2.4.
9) Support for Linux, 386BSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD, BSD/386, Mach, OSF/1,
SVR4.2, SCO, Solaris 2.1, Amoeba, and Minix-386. Including shared
libraries for Linux, FreeBSD and NetBSD.
10) Support for LOCALCONN. This support is for both SVR3.2 and SVR4.
For SVR4.0.4 with the 'Advanced Compatibility Package' and on
SVR4.2, local connections from SCO XSight/ODT clients are supported.
11) Drivers for ATI, Trident, NCR, Compaq, Cirrus, and OAK SVGA chipsets.
Refer to chipset-specific README files for details about these
drivers.
12) Support for compressed bitmap fonts has been added (Thomas
Eberhardt's code from the contrib directory on ftp.x.org).
13) 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 ftp.x.org.
14) New configuration method which allows the server's drivers and font
renderers to be reconfigured from both source and binary
distributions.
15) Greatly improved documentation and configuration databases are
included.
16) 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).
17) Greatly improved support for international keyboards, including
implementation of the Compose key functionality found on many
vendor servers.
18) 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.
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.
Known bugs in XFree86:
1) There are some problems with some of the 'xset fp' operations (in
particular 'xset fp rehash'). These seem to be caused by memory
allocation/deallocation problems in the server's font code. We
believe that we have worked around this problem, but have not yet
solved the root cause.
2) While not strictly a bug, there is currently a limitation on the
dot-clock frequencies allowed in the S3 and Mach32 servers. For
S3 cards with the Bt485 RAMDAC (e.g. #9 GXe), the limit is 85Mhz.
For Mach32 boards, the limit is 80Mhz. There is some special
programming required to use these RAMDACs at higher dot-clocks,
and we were not able to get it fully developed in time. We intend
to release a patch with these updates in the near future.
4. What OSs are supported?
SVR4.0:
Esix: 4.0.3A, 4.0.4, 4.0.4.1
Microport: 2.2, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2
Dell: 2.1, 2.2
UHC: 2.0, 3.6
Consensys: 1.2
MST: 4.0.3 (Load 2.07 and Load 3.02)
ISC: 4.0.3
AT&T: 2.1, 4.0
NCR: MP-RAS
SunSoft: Solaris x86 2.1
SVR4.2:
Consensys
Univel UnixWare
SVR3:
Interactive: 2.0.2, 2.2, 3.0, 4.0
SCO: 3.2.2, 3.2.4
AT&T: 3.2.2
Others:
386BSD 0.1, NetBSD 0.9, FreeBSD 1.1(beta)
BSD/386 1.0
Mach 386
OSF/1
Linux 0.99pl15h
Amoeba
Minix-386
Note that Esix 3.2D is 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 2.1 supports the following accelerated chipsets:
8514/A (and true clones)
ATI Mach8, Mach32
Cirrus CLGD5420, CLGD5422, CLGD5424, CLGD5426, CLGD5428
S3 86C911, 86C924, 86C801, 86C805, 86C805i, 86C928
Western Digital WD90C31
The Cirrus and Western Digital accelerators are supported in the SVGA
server; the other chipsets each have their own server. A list of cards
on which the accelerated servers have been tested is included in the file
AccelCards. They may well work on other cards, but we cannot guarantee it.
In addition, the following SVGA chipsets are supported:
Tseng ET3000, ET4000AX, ET4000/W32
Western Digital/Paradise PVGA1
Western Digital WD90C00, WD90C10, WD90C11, WD90C24, WD90C30, WD90C31
Genoa GVGA
Trident TVGA8800CS, TVGA8900B, TVGA8900C, TVGA8900CL, TVGA9000,
TVGA9000i, TVGA9100B, TVGA9200CX, TVGA9320, TVGA9400CX, TVGA9420
ATI 28800-4, 28800-5, 28800-a
NCR 77C22, 77C22E, 77C22E+
Cirrus Logic CLGD5420, CLGD5422, CLGD5424, CLGD5426, CLGD5428
CLGD6205, CLGD6215, CLGD6225, CLGD6235
Compaq AVGA
OAK OTI067, OTI077
All of the above are supported in both 256 color and monochrome modes,
with the exception of the ATI and Cirrus chipsets, which are only
supported in 256 color mode. Also, the new Vision864 and Vision964
chipsets from S3 are known not to work with XFree86-2.x.
Refer to the chipset-specific README files (currently for Tseng, Western
Digital, ATI, and Trident) for more information about using those chipsets.
The monochrome server also supports generic VGA cards, using 64k of video
memory in a single bank, the Hercules monochrome card, the Hyundai
HGC1280, Sigma LaserView and Visa monochrome cards. On the Compaq AVGA,
only 64k of video memory is supported for the monochrome server, and the
GVGA has not been tested with more than 64k.
The VGA16 server has not been as extensively tested and debugged as the
others, but it should work rather well (but slowly) on most hardware.
This server supports memory banking with the ET4000 and Trident chipsets
allowing virtual display sizes up to about 1600x1200 (with 1MB of video
memory). For other chipsets the display size is limited to approximately
800x600.
Note
----
Some of the SVGA card manufacturers are using non-traditional mechanisms
for selecting pixel-clock frequencies. To avoid having to modify the
server to accommodate these schemes XFree86 1.2 added 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, we would be interested in including it
with future XFree86 releases.
NOTE: The Diamond SpeedStar 24 (and possibly recent SpeedStar+) boards are
NOT supported, even though they use the ET4000. The same is true
for all of Diamond's S3 boards. The reason for this is that
Diamond has changed the mechanism used to select pixel clock
frequencies, and will only release programming information under
non-disclosure. We are not willing to do this (as it would mean
that source cannot be provided). We have had discussions with
Diamond over this, and they do not intend to change this policy.
Hence we will do nothing to support Diamond products going forward
(i.e. don't send us a program to run to set their clocks). XFree86
DOES NOT SUPPORT DIAMOND HARDWARE. It is possible to make some
of it work, but we will not assist in doing this.
Diamond's Cirrus-based boards should work with XFree86 because they
use the standard Cirrus clock synthesiser. This includes the
SpeedStar Pro and possibly the SpeedStar 64.
6. Who else supports accelerated boards?
This support is available in commercial products several vendors.
See the "Commercial options" section for details.
8. What other hardware or software requirements are there?
Obviously, a supported video board and OS are required. To run
X efficiently, 8-12MB of real 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. If you are VERY tight on space, look into tinyX.
9. Where can I get source for XFree86?
Source patches based on X11R5 PL25, from MIT, and as an upgrade from
XFree86 2.0 are available via anonymous FTP from:
ftp.x.org (under /contrib/XFree86)
ftp.physics.su.oz.au (under /XFree86)
ftp.win.tue.nl (under /pub/XFree86)
ftp.prz.tu-berlin.de (under /pub/pc/src/XFree86)
(For the rest of this FAQ, these 4 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 (which will depend
on whether this is a new installation or an upgrade from an earlier
version of XFree86).
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
ftp.tcp.com - SVR4 binaries
under /pub/SVR4/XFree86
stasi.bradley.edu - SVR4 binaries
under /pub/XFree86/SVR4
stasi.bradley.edu - Solaris x86 2.1 binaries
under /pub/XFree86/solaris
stasi.bradley.edu - SVR3 (SCO) binaries
under /pub/XFree86/sco
ftp.physics.su.oz.au - SVR3 (SCO) binaries
under /XFree86/SCO
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
ftp.unipi.it - Linux binaries
under /pub/linux/XFree86_2.1
XFree86.cdrom.com - FreeBSD binaries
under /pub/XFree86/FreeBSD/XFree86-2.1
gil.physik.rwth-aachen.de - FreeBSD binaries
under /pub/XFree86
agate.berkeley.edu - NetBSD 0.9 binaries
under /pub/NetBSD/ports
sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu - NetBSD 0.9 binaries
under /pub/NetBSD/ports
ftp.cs.mcgill.ca - NetBSD 0.9 binaries
under /pub/NetBSD/XFree86
Ensure that you are getting XFree86 2.1 - 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.
Also look at the AccelCards file. It has a list of `known-to-work' cards
with additional info like clock chip, clocks, ramdac, etc.
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
grasp.insa-lyon.fr:pub/386BSD/0.1-ports/XFree86-1.3
18. Linux
You must be running Linux 0.99pl13 or greater, and have the 4.4.1 gcc
jump libraries and ld.so-1.3 installed.
Make sure all the servers XF86_*, 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.
For more detailed information, please read the files README and
X11-HOWTO 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.
VIII) Where to get more information
Additional documentation is available in the XFree86(1), Xconfig(4/5),
XF86_SVGA(1), XF86_Mono(1), XF86_VGA16(1), XF86_Accel(1) and XF86keybd(1)
manual pages. In addition, several README files and tutorial documents are
provided. These are available in /usr/X386/lib/X11/etc in the binary
distributions, and in mit/server/ddx/x386 and ddx/x386/etc in the source
distribution.
The files README.Config and VideoModes.doc should be consulted for
information on how to set up the XFree86 servers. All supplied documents
and manual pages should be read before contacting the XFree86 team for
assistance.
Documentation on SVGA driver development can be found in the directory
/usr/X386/lib/Server/VGADriverDoc in the binary distribution, and in the
directory mit/server/ddx/x386/VGADriverDoc in the source distribution.
There exists a Usenet news group comp.windows.x.i386unix that contains
mostly discussions about XFree86 and related topics. Many questions can
be answered there.
If you are totally at a loss, you can contact the XFree86 Core Team at
xfree86@physics.su.oz.au.
--------------------------------------------------
XFree86 Contact Information
Ongoing development planning and support is coordinated by the XFree86
Core Team. At this time the Core Team consists of (in alphabetical order):
David Dawes <dawes@physics.su.oz.au>
Dirk Hohndel <hohndel@aib.com>
Rich Murphey <Rich@Rice.edu>
Jon Tombs <jon@gtex02.us.es>
David Wexelblat <dwex@goblin.org>, <dwex@aib.com>
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. steve@ecf.toronto.edu
Systems Analyst, Engineering Computing Facility, University of Toronto