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Received: by minnie.vk1xwt.ampr.org with NNTP id AA6001 ; Sat, 02 Jan 93 21:06:36 EST Xref: sserve comp.windows.x.i386unix:197 comp.unix.sysv386:26558 comp.unix.bsd:9622 comp.windows.x:48890 news.answers:4822 Newsgroups: comp.windows.x.i386unix,comp.unix.sysv386,comp.unix.bsd,comp.windows.x,news.answers Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!torn!skule.ecf!steve From: steve@ecf.toronto.edu (Steve Kotsopoulos) Subject: X on Intel-based Unix Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ] (with answers) Message-ID: <C0E3zw.6J4@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: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 16:47:56 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Expires: Mon, 1 Feb 1993 05:00:00 GMT Lines: 545 Archive-name: Intel-Unix-X-faq Last-modified: 5 Jan 1992 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 general things should I know for building XFree86 from source? 20. Disk space requirements 21. README files to take note of 22. Compiler recommendations VII) What OS-specific things should I know for building XFree86 from source? 23. SVR4 24. SVR3 25. 386BSD 26. Linux 27. Mach VIII) Is there anything special about building clients with XFree86? 28. BSD compatibility library 29. 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: SVR3.2, SVR4, Venix HW: EGA, VGA, SVGA, TIGA, TARGA, 8514/A, S3 Other: Motif, OpenLook/XView, XIE Imaging Extension 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 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. Depending on the underlying hardware, these enhancements can provide as much as a 50% improvement in xStones. 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). 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) Support for the newer ET4000-based SVGAs which have high clocks and reported incorrect clock values with the standard version. This support is automatic and does not require any Xconfig options. Note that the Diamond SpeedStar 24 (as opposed to the 24X) is an ET4000 board that is NOT compatible with XFree86 (in addition, the SpeedStar 24X does not use an ET4000, and is also not supported). 5) Support for compressed bitmap fonts has been added (Thomas Eberhardt's code from the contrib directory on export.lcs.mit.edu). 6) Integrated support for 386BSD, Mach, and Linux. 7) A monochrome version of the server which will run on generic VGA cards is now included. This server uses just 64k of the memory on the VGA, and hence is limited to a virtual screen of approx. 800x600. 8) New configuration method which allows the server's drivers and font renderers to be reconfigured from both source and binary distributions. Also included are a tutorial on monitor timing by Bob Crosson, and the current X386 mode database and a sample xdm configuration by David Wexelblat. 4. What OSs are supported? XFree86 supports: SVR4: Microport, Dell, Esix, ISC, AT&T, MST, Consensys, UHC SVR3: ISC 2.2 & 3.0, AT&T 2.2 Linux, Mach, 386BSD BSD/386 is not supported, but it should work. The most active BSD/386 person is Greg Lehey <grog%lemis@germany.eu.net>. 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? ET4000 (Tseng) ET3000 (Tseng) PVGA1 (Paradise) WD90Cxx (Western Digital - Paradise PVGA1 Supersets) GVGA (Genoa) TVGA8900C (Trident) ATI18800,28800 (ATI SVGA - not 8514!) 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. 6. What about accelerated boards? At this time, there is no support 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). A beta S3 server is available for 386BSD. Contact <hasty@netcom.com> 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. And it's not something the XFree86 Core Team wants to tackle. 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 (1.1, based on X11R5 PL17 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/XFree86-1.1 tsx-11.mit.edu - Linux binaries under /pub/linux/packages/X11/xfree86-1.1 agate.berkeley.edu - 386BSD binaries under /pub/386BSD/0.1-ports/XFree86 nova.cc.purdue.edu - 386BSD binaries under /pub/386bsd/submissions/XFree86 ftp.cs.uwm.edu - Mach binaries under /i386 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 CONFIG and Xconfig.Notes files 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. 1) What if after xdm, twm and xterm start up and run ok, the keyboard freezes and i have to reboot? If the server crashes and fails to put the keyboard back in ascii mode (e.g. your keyboard is dead but remote logins are fine), you can reset it by 'kbd_mode -a' from a remote login. Likewise, if a rogue program put the keyboard in ascii mode while the server is running, the keyboard will need to be reset using 'kbd_mode -u'. 2) What do I do if xdm reports 'Crypt not present in system' or xdm won't accept my password? If you are using the xdm binary from core-bin-1.1.tar.Z on agate, make sure your passwords are unencrypted. Use vipw to check the password file -- you should see the unencrypted passwords there. If so, ignore the 'Crypt not present in system' message. Why? 386BSD 0.1's stock crypt routine is a dummy (crypt_dummy.c) that prints this message whenever you invoke it. This message merely tells you that passwords are unencrypted. This dummy crypt is staticly linked into xdm in core-bin-1.1.tar.Z on agate, and export restrictions prevent us from providing binaries with a real crypt. If you need xdm with a working crypt, you will have to get the XFree86 distribution and rebuild xdm. Chris Demetriou's /usr/386bsd.errata/crypt.instructions tells you how to install a real crypt. [ thanks to rich@lamprey.utmb.edu for these suggestions ] 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 general things should I know for building XFree86 from source? 20. Disk space requirements - about 60-70MB of free disk space is required for building XFree86. An additional 20-30MB is required to install the built binaries, - If you don't want to build PEX and/or want to minimize disk usage, you can remove some or all of the following directories: mit/doc mit/hardcopy mit/demos/auto_box mit/extensions/lib/PEX mit/demos/beach_ball mit/extensions/server/PEX mit/demos/gpc mit/extensions/test/InsPEX mit/fonts/PEX mit/lib/CLX mit/server/ddx/dec mit/server/ddx/ibm mit/server/ddx/macII mit/server/ddx/mips mit/server/ddx/omron mit/server/ddx/snf mit/server/ddx/sun mit/server/ddx/tek mit/util/PEX The following large fonts in mit/fonts/bdf/misc can also be removed: k14.bdf hang*.bdf jiskan*.bdf 21. README files to take note of $FTP/README, as well as any system-specific README file. Also read through 'site.def'. There are lots of documented options that can be changed from their defaults by editing this file. 22. Compiler recommendations gcc 2.? is *strongly* recommended for building server, libs, clients. In most cases it generates faster code than the standard compiler, and for those with a 486, its -m486 flag can provide an additional 5% improvement. The resulting executables will be larger, but can still be run on a 386 CPU with no loss in performance. VII) What OS-specific things should I know for building XFree86 from source? 23. SVR4 You may need to re-tune your kernel (see the README file). Don't use csh, use ksh instead. 24. SVR3 Make sure you look at $FTP/README.ISC, if that's what you are running. 25. 386BSD Make sure you look at $FTP/README.386BSD. 26. Linux Some Makefiles in the server are automatically generated based on configuration options. Under Linux, these automatic makes do not perform the "make depend" step. To turn that back on, change the definition of "Depend" in x386.cf from "emptyrule" to "depend". Makedepend is a shell script that uses ed. The public domain version of ed used in linux has a line length limit of 512 characters, and mit/lib/X has one line of 1500 characters, causing make to fail. Recompiling ed with a line limit of 2048 will avoid this problem. [ Thanks to <jon@robots.ox.ac.uk> for this suggestion ] To create private jump libraries, use the tools in the gcc shlib subdirectory. Change the Makefile appropriately and type "make X11". For more detailed information, please read the file README present with the distribution on tsx-11.mit.edu. 27. Mach Make sure you look at $FTP/README.Mach. VIII) Is there anything special about building clients with XFree86? 28. BSD compatibility library A lot of clients make use of BSD functions like bcopy(), etc. The default configuration files are set up to link with libXbsd.a which contains emulation for bcopy(), bzero(), bcmp(), ffs(), random(), seed(). A better way of providing the 'b' functions is to include <X11/Xfuncs.h> in source files that call them. Xfuncs.h provides macro definitions for these in terms of the SYSV 'mem' functions. If you are linking with a vendor supplied library which calls some of these functions, then you should link with libXbsd.a 29. ANSICCOPTIONS This is something that was added to allow a developer to get rid of the ANSI-ness defined in the default CCOPTIONS without having to rewrite the entire CCOPTIONS line. For example, with stock MIT, you'd see something like CCOPTIONS="-ansi -O2 -fwritable-strings" and to get rid of the ANSI-ness, the developer would have to put CCOPTIONS="-O2 -fwritable-strings" in his Imakefile. With this change, you would see a default of ANSICCOPTIONS="-ansi" CCOPTIONS="-O2 -fwritable-strings" and all the developer would have to put in the Imakefile is: ANSICCOPTIONS= to get rid of the ANSI-ness (many X clients will die a horrible death with -ansi). The effect is even more dramatic in practice, because CCOPTIONS is actually quite complex. The other issue is that one must add 'ANSICCOPTIONS=$(ANSICCOPTIONS)' to a PassCDebugFlags definition. 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@lamprey.utmb.edu> [386BSD] Orest Zborowski <obz@raster.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. -- Steve Kotsopoulos 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