XFree86

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: Version 2.0
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NAME

XFree86 - X11R5 Enhancement Package for UNIX on x86 platforms

DESCRIPTION

XFree86 is a package of bug-fixes, enhancements, and ports of X11R5 to new OSs, for Intel Unix-like OSs, and a collection of new X Window System servers. This work is derived from X386 1.2 which was contributed to X11R5 by Snitily Graphics Consulting Service.

The XFree86 servers support all MIT-supplied extensions except the X Input Extension. PEX is supported on the 8-bit pseudo-colour servers, but does not function well on the class of hardware supported.

CONFIGURATIONS

XFree86 operates under the following operating systems:

: -- SVR3.2: ISC, AT&T, SCO
-- SVR4.0: ESIX, Microport, Dell, UHC, Consensys, MST, ISC, AT&T, NCR
-- SVR4.2: Consensys, Univel (UnixWare)
-- 386BSD version 0.1, FreeBSD 1.0, NetBSD 0.9 (i386 port only)
-- BSD/386 version 1.0
-- Mach (from CMU)
-- Linux
-- Minix-386 version 1.6.16 rev 92 and higher
-- Amoeba version 5.1

NETWORK CONNECTIONS

XFree86 supports connections made using the following reliable byte-streams:

Local

XFree86 supports local connections via Streams pipe via various mechanisms, using the following paths (n represents the display number):

/dev/X/server.n (SVR3 and SVR4)
/dev/X/Nserver.n (SVR4)
/tmp/.X11-unix/Xn (ISC SVR3)
/dev/XnS and /dev/XnR (SCO SVR3)

On SVR4.0.4, if the Advanced Compatibility Package is installed, and in SVR4.2, XFree86 supports local connections from clients for SCO XSight/ODT, and (with modifications to the binary) clients for ISC SVR3.

Unix Domain

XFree86 uses /tmp/.X11-unix/Xn as the filename for the socket, where n is the display number (SVR4, BSD, Linux, Mach).

TCP/IP

XFree86 listens on port htons(6000+n), where n is the display number (SVR3, SVR4, BSD, Linux, Mach, Minix).

Amoeba RPC

This is the default communication medium used under native Amoeba. Note that under Amoeba, the server should be started with a ``hostname:displaynumber'' argument.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

For operating systems that support local connections other than Unix Domain sockets (SVR3 and SVR4), there is a compiled-in list specifying the order in which local connections should be attempted. This list can be overridden by the XLOCAL environment variable described below. If the display name indicates a best-choice connection should be made (e.g. :0.0), each connection mechanism is tried until a connection succeeds or no more mechanisms are available.

The XLOCAL environment variable should contain a list of one more more of the following:

UNIX
NAMED
USL
SCO
ISC

which represent Unix-Domain socket, SVR4 Named Streams pipe, Old-style USL Streams pipe, SCO XSight Streams pipe, and ISC Streams pipe, respectively. You can select a single mechanism (e.g. XLOCAL=NAMED), or an ordered list (e.g. XLOCAL="NAMED:USL:SCO"). This variable overrides the compiled-in defaults.

To globally override the compiled-in defaults, you should define (and export if using sh or ksh) XLOCAL globally. If you use startx/xinit, the definition should be at the top of your .xinitrc file. If you use xdm, the definitions should be early on in the /usr/X386/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession script.

XFree86 supports installing the binary distribution in a directory other than the compile-time selected default. This may be set at run-time by setting the XWINHOME environment variable. In this and related documentation, /usr/X386 may be replaced by $XWINHOME. In addition to changing XWINHOME, the PATH, MANPATH, and LD_LIBRARY_PATH variables should also be updated where applicable. Note: changing the installed location may cause problems for systems with shared libraries which don't have something analogous to LD_LIBRARY_PATH (like SVR3).

OPTIONS

In addition to the normal server options described in the Xserver(1) manual page, XFree86 accepts the following command line switches:

vtXX: XX specifies the Virtual Terminal device number which XFree86 will use. Without this option, XFree86 will pick the first available Virtual Terminal that it can locate. This option applies only to SVR3, SVR4, Linux, and BSD OSs with the 'syscons' driver.
-probeonly: Causes the server to exit after the device probing stage. The Xconfig file is still used when this option is given, so information that can be auto-detected should be commented out.
-quiet: Suppress most informational messages at startup.
-showconfig: Print out a list of screen drivers configured in the server.
-verbose: Maximise information printed at startup (this is the default).
-xconfig file: Read the server configuration from file.
-keeptty: Prevent the server from detaching its initial controlling terminal. This option is only useful when debugging the server.

KEYBOARD

Multiple key presses recognized directly by XFree86 are:

Ctrl+Alt+Backspace: Immediately kills the server -- no questions asked. (Can be disabled by specifying "dontzap" in the configuration file.)
Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus: Change video mode to next one specified in the configuration file, (increasing video resolution order).
Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Minus: Change video mode to previous one specified in the configuration file, (decreasing video resolution order).
Ctrl+Alt+F1...F12: For BSD systems using the syscons driver and Linux, these keystroke combinations are used to switch to Virtual Console 1 through 12.

XFree86 provides several capabilities for easing the use of international keyboards, and generating non-ASCII Latin-1 keysyms. Refer to the XFree86kbd(1) manual page for more information.

SETUP

XFree86 uses a configuration file called Xconfig for its initial setup. Refer to the Xconfig(4/5) manual page for more information.

FILES

/usr/X386/bin/XF86_SVGA: The 8-bit color X server
/usr/X386/bin/XF86_Mono: The monochrome X server
/usr/X386/bin/XF86_S3: The accelerated S3 X server
/usr/X386/bin/XF86_Mach8: The accelerated Mach8 X server
/usr/X386/bin/XF86_Mach32: The accelerated Mach32 X server
/usr/X386/bin/XF86_8514: The accelerated 8514/A X server
/usr/X386/lib/X11/Xconfig: Server configuration file
/usr/X386/lib/X11/etc: Additional XFree86 support files
/usr/X386/lib/X11/etc/VideoModes.doc: The Video Timing tutorial by Eric Raymond
/usr/X386/bin/*: Client binaries
/usr/X386/include/*: Header files
/usr/X386/lib/*: Libraries
/usr/X386/lib/X11/fonts/*: Fonts
/usr/X386/lib/X11/rgb.txt: Color names to RGB mapping
/usr/X386/lib/X11/XErrorDB: Client error message database
/usr/X386/lib/X11/app-defaults/*: Client resource specifications
/usr/X386/man/man?/*: Manual pages
/tmp/.Xn-lock: Server lock file for display n
/etc/Xn.hosts: Initial access control list for display n

BUGS

There are no known bugs at this time, although we welcome reports emailed to the address listed below.

AUTHORS

For X11R5, X386 1.2 was provided by:

Thomas Roell, roell@informatik.tu-muenchen.de: TU-Muenchen: Server and SVR4 stuff
Mark W. Snitily, mark@sgcs.com: SGCS: SVR3 support, X Consortium Sponsor

... and many more people out there on the net who helped with ideas and bug-fixes.

X386 X11R5 source and binaries are available from SGCS. Send email to info@sgcs.com or mark@sgcs.com for details.

The XFree86 enhancement package was provided by:

David Dawes, dawes@physics.su.oz.au: Mono server, and many other fixes (e.g. VT switching). Administration of FTP repository and mailing lists. Source tree management and integration, accelerated server integration, fixing, and coding.
Glenn Lai, glenn@cs.utexas.edu: The SpeedUp code for ET4000 based SVGA cards.
Jim Tsillas, jtsilla@damon.ccs.northeastern.edu: Many server speedups from the fX386 series of enhancements, port of LOCALCONN from X11R4.
David Wexelblat, dwex@goblin.org, dwex@aib.com: Release coordination, integration of the fX386 code into the default server, many driver fixes, and driver documentation, assembly of the VGA card/monitor database, development of the generic video mode listing. Accelerated server integration, fixing, and coding.
Dirk Hohndel, hohndel@informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de: Linux shared libraries and release coordination. Accelerated server integration and fixing. Generic administrivia and documentation.

Amancio Hasty Jr., hasty@netcom.com: Porting to 386BSD version 0.1 and XS3 development.
Rich Murphey, Rich@Rice.edu: Ported to 386BSD version 0.1 based on the original port by Pace Willison. Support for 386BSD, FreeBSD, and NetBSD.
Robert Baron, Robert.Baron@ernst.mach.cs.cmu.edu: Ported to Mach.
Orest Zborowski, orestz@microsoft.com: Ported to Linux.
David McCullough, davidm@stallion.oz.au: Ported to SCO SVR3.
Kees Verstoep, versto@cs.vu.nl: Ported to Amoeba based on Leendert van Doorn's original Amoeba port of X11R5.
Marc Evans, Marc@Synergetics.Com: Ported to OSF/1.
Philip Homburg, philip@cs.vu.nl: Ported to Minix-386.
Thomas Wolfram, wolf@prz.tu-berlin.de: SVR3 shared libraries.
Jon Tombs, jon@gtex02.us.es: S3 server and accelerated server coordination.
Kevin Martin, martin@cs.unc.edu: Overall work on the base accelerated servers (ATI and 8514/A).
Rik Faith, faith@cs.unc.edu: Overall work on the base accelerated servers (ATI and 8514/A).
Tiago Gons, tiago@comosjn.hobby.nl: Mach8 and 8514/A server development
Hans Nasten, nasten@everyware.se: Mach8 and 8514/A server development and BSD/386 support
Mike Bernson, mike@mbsun.mlb.org: Mach32 server development.
Mark Weaver, Mark_Weaver@brown.edu: Mach32 server development.
Simon Cooper, scooper@vizlab.rutgers.edu: Cirrus accelerated code (based on work by Bill Reynolds).
Mike Tierney, floyd@eng.umd.edu: WD accelerated code.
Gertjan Akkerman, akkerman@dutiba.twi.tudelft.nl: 16 colour VGA server.
Davor Matic, dmatic@Athena.MIT.EDU: Hercules driver and frame buffer support.
Pascal Haible, haible@izfm.uni-stuttgart.de: Mono frame buffer support for dumb monochrome devices (bdm2)

... and many more people out there on the net who helped with beta-testing this enhancement.

XFree86 source is available from the FTP servers ftp.physics.su.oz.au and ftp.x.org, among others. Send email to XFree86@physics.su.oz.au for details.

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 14:02:12 GMT, February 23, 2023