Introduction to XFree86
XFree86 is a freely
redistributable open-source implementation of the X Window System. XFree86 provides a client/server interface
between display hardware (the mouse, keyboard, and video displays)
and the desktop environment, while also providing both the
windowing infrastructure and a standardized application interface
(API).
Package Information
Additional Downloads
XFree86 Dependencies
Required
libpng-1.2.8
Optional
Linux-PAM-0.80; the
following packages are included in the XFree86 package, however they are updated more
often than the XFree86 package and
are highly recommended: expat-1.95.8, FreeType-2.1.10, Fontconfig-2.3.2.
![[Note]](../images/note.png)
Note
If you choose not to install expat, FreeType2, and Fontconfig, the host.def file below will have to be modified to
instruct XFree86 to build
them.
Download Instructions
There are several files that need to be fetched from the download
location:
-
XFree86-4.5.0-src-1.tgz
-
XFree86-4.5.0-src-2.tgz
-
XFree86-4.5.0-src-3.tgz
-
XFree86-4.5.0-src-4.tgz
-
XFree86-4.5.0-src-5.tgz
-
XFree86-4.5.0-src-6.tgz
-
XFree86-4.5.0-src-7.tgz
The first three packages are the XFree86 programs, the fourth and fifth are
fonts, the sixth is normal documentation, and the seventh is
hardcopy documentation. There are also two packages doctools-1.3.x.tgz, which contain programs to
regenerate hardcopy documentation, and utils-1.1.x.tgz, which contain GNU TAR and zlib which are already installed on an LFS
system.
To check your downloads for integrity, download the SUMS.md5sum file. Then:
md5sum -c SUMS.md5sum
The only errors you should see are for README, doctools-1.3.x.tgz, utils-1.1.x.tgz and XFree86-xtest-4.0.x.tar.bz2 files if you did not
download them.
If you have an Intel P6 (Pentium Pro, Pentium II and later), it is
recommended that you compile MTRR (Memory Type Range Registers)
support into the kernel. The kernel can map Cyrix and AMD CPUs to
the MTRR interface, so selecting this option is useful for those
processors also. This option is found in the "Processor type and
features" menu. It can increase performance of image write
operations 2.5 times or more on PCI or AGP video cards.
In the "Character Devices" section, enable AGP Support and select
the chipset support on your motherboard. If you do not know the
chipset, you may select all the chip types at the expense of extra
kernel size. You can usually determine your motherboard's chipset
by running the command lspci, a program from the PCI Utilities-2.1.11 package.
In the "Character Devices" section, disable Direct Rendering Manager unless
you have a Direct Rendering Infrastructure (DRI) supported video
card. A complete list of DRI supported video cards can be found at
http://dri.sourceforge.net in the Status section.
Currently, supported cards include those from 3dfx (Voodoo,
Banshee), 3Dlabs, ATI (Rage Pro, Rage 128, Radeon 7X00, Radeon 2),
Intel (i810, i815), and Matrox (G200, G400, G450).
Additionally NVidia provides their own closed source binary
drivers, which do not make use of DRI. If you intend to use these
drivers, do not enable DRI.
If you made any changes to the kernel configuration, recompile and
install the new kernel.
Installation of XFree86
Setting Up a Shadow
Directory
When building XFree86, you
should create a shadow directory of symbolic links for the
compiled code. To do that, first make lndir. Starting from the xc directory:
pushd config/util &&
make -f Makefile.ini lndir
Now, as the root user:
cp -v lndir /usr/bin/
And back as an unprivileged user:
popd
Now create the shadow tree:
mkdir ../xcbuild &&
cd ../xcbuild &&
lndir ../xc
Although XFree86 will compile
without a host.def file, the following
file is recommended for customizing the installation. Start from
the xcbuild directory.
Note
The host.def file is a C file, not the usual configuration
file. If you make any changes, be sure the comment characters
(/* and */) are balanced. Most of the entries in the file
below are commented out with the default settings shown.
cat > config/cf/host.def << "EOF"
/* Begin XFree86 host.def file */
/* System Related Information. If you read and configure only one
* section then it should be this one. The Intel architecture defaults
* are set for a i686 and higher. Axp is for the Alpha architecture
* and Ppc is for the Power PC. Note that there have been reports that
* the Ppc optimization line causes segmentation faults during build.
* If that happens, try building without the DefaultGcc2PpcOpt line. */
/* #define DefaultGcc2i386Opt -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer -march=i686 */
/* #define DefaultGcc2AxpOpt -O2 -mcpu=ev6 */
/* #define DefaultGcc2PpcOpt -O2 -mcpu=750 */
/* The following definitions are normally set properly by XFree86's
* scripts. You can uncomment them if you want to make sure. *********/
/* #define HasMTRRSupport YES */ /* Enabled in kernel; */
/* see kernel docs */
/* #define HasMMXSupport NO */ /* Any i586 or above */
/* #define HasKatmaiSupport NO */ /* PIII SSE instructions */
/* #define Has3DNowSupport NO */ /* AMD instructions */
/* This setting reduces compile time a little by omitting rarely used
* input devices. You can find the complete list in
* config/cf/xfree86.cf *********************************************/
#define XInputDrivers mouse void
/* VIDEO DRIVERS ****************************************************/
/* If you are sure you only want the drivers for one or a few video
* cards, you can delete the drivers you do not want. ***************/
#define XF86CardDrivers mga glint nv tga s3 s3virge sis rendition \
neomagic i740 tdfx savage \
cirrus vmware tseng trident chips apm \
GlideDriver fbdev i128 nsc \
ati i810 DevelDrivers ark \
cyrix siliconmotion \
vesa vga \
dummy XF86OSCardDrivers XF86ExtraCardDrivers
/* USER AND SYSTEM DEFAULT PATHS *************************************/
/* These settings set the PATH variables used by xdm. See README for */
/* detailed description and modify the following as per your need. ***/
/* #define DefaultSystemPath \
/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/X11R6/bin */
/* #define DefaultUserPath /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin */
/* FONT SERVER AND LIBRARY SETTINGS **********************************/
/* These settings are the defaults **********************************/
/* #define BuildFontServer YES */ /*For Ghostscript Print Server*/
/* #define SharedLibFont YES */
/* #define CompressAllFonts YES */
/* #define GzipFontCompression YES */
/* These settings ensure we use our libraries ************************/
#define HasFreetype2 YES
#define HasFontconfig YES
#define HasExpat YES
#define HasLibpng YES
#define HasZlib YES
/* The font path can be redefined in the XF86Config file *************/
/*
#define DefaultFontPath $(FONTDIR)/misc/,$(FONTDIR)/75dpi/,\
$(FONTDIR)/100dpi/,$(FONTDIR)/Type1,$(FONTDIR)/local,\
$(FONTDIR)/TrueType,$(FONTDIR)/CID,$(FONTDIR)/Speedo
*/
/* INTERNATIONAL FONTS. Change to YES if you need any of them. These
* are the defaults. **************************************************/
/* #define BuildCyrillicFonts NO */
/* #define BuildArabicFonts NO */
/* #define BuildISO8859_6Fonts NO */
/* #define BuildGreekFonts NO */
/* #define BuildISO8859_7Fonts NO */
/* #define BuildHebrewFonts NO */
/* #define BuildISO8859_8Fonts NO */
/* #define BuildKOI8_RFonts NO */
/* #define BuildJapaneseFonts NO */
/* #define BuildJISX0201Fonts NO */
/* #define BuildKoreanFonts NO */
/* #define BuildChineseFonts NO */
/* DOCUMENTATION SETTINGS ********************************************/
/* These setting are the defaults. ***********************************/
/* #define BuildLinuxDocHtml NO */ /* X Docs in Html format */
/* #define BuildLinuxDocPS NO */ /* PostScript format */
/* #define BuildAllSpecsDocs NO */ /* Various docs */
/* #define BuildHtmlManPages NO */
/* GENERAL SETTINGS: You generally want to leave these alone when
* building X on an LFS system ***************************************/
#define GccWarningOptions -pipe /* Speed up compiles */
#define TermcapLibrary -lncurses
#define XprtServer YES /* Needed by realplayer */
#define XnestServer YES
#define XAppLoadDir EtcX11Directory/app-defaults
#define VarLibDir /var/lib
#define XFree86Devel NO
#define FSUseSyslog YES
#define ThreadedX YES
#define HasPam NO
#define SystemManDirectory /usr/share/man /*Instead of /usr/man*/
#define HasLibCrypt YES
#define InstallXinitConfig YES
#define InstallXdmConfig YES
#define ForceNormalLib YES
#define BuildSpecsDocs NO
/* End XFree86 host.def file */
EOF
Edit the file for your hardware and desires.
Install XFree86 by running the
following commands:
patch -Np1 -i ../XFree86-4.5.0-kernel_headers-1.patch &&
sed -i -e "s@^#include <linux/config.h>@/* & */@" \
`grep -lr linux/config.h *` &&
( make WORLDOPTS="" World 2>&1 | \
tee xfree-compile.log && exit $PIPESTATUS )
Now, as the root user:
make install &&
make install.man &&
ln -v -sf ../X11R6/bin /usr/bin/X11 &&
ln -v -sf ../X11R6/lib/X11 /usr/lib/X11 &&
ln -v -sf ../X11R6/include/X11 /usr/include/X11
Command Explanations
sed -i -e "s@^#include
<linux/config.h>@...: The Linux-Libc-Headers package installed in LFS
installs a /usr/include/linux/config.h
file which is not compatible with userspace applications. The
recommended fix for applications including this file is to remove
it (see
linux-libc-headers FAQ). The sed uses grep -lr to replace all occurrences. If
you desire, just remove (comment) the line in the appropriate video
driver file if you customized host.def.
( make WORLDOPTS="" World 2>&1
| tee xfree-compile.log && exit $PIPESTATUS
): This command runs multiple Makefiles to completely rebuild the system.
WORLDOPTS="" disables the default setting to
continue after encountering an error. 2>&1 redirects error messages to the same
location as standard output. The tee command allows viewing of the output
while logging the results to a file. The parentheses around the
command runs the entire command in a subshell and finally the
exit $PIPESTATUS
ensures the result of the make is returned as the result and not
the result of the tee
command.
Note
When rebuilding XFree86, a
separate command that may be used if only minor changes are
made to the sources is make
Everything. This does not automatically remove
generated files and only rebuilds those files or programs that
are out of date.
ln -v -sf ...: These
commands are present to enable other (broken) packages to build
against XFree86, even though the
Filesystem Hierarchy Standard says: “In
general, software must not be installed or managed via the above
symbolic links. They are intended for utilization by users
only.”
As the root user: Edit /etc/ld.so.conf and add /usr/X11R6/lib, then run:
ldconfig
Ensure /usr/X11R6/bin and /usr/X11R6/lib/pkgconfig are added to your
PATH and PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variables, respectively.
Instructions for doing this are described in the section The Bash Shell Startup Files.
Create the XF86Config file with:
cd ~ &&
XFree86 -configure
The screen will go black and you may hear some clicking of the
monitor. This command will create a file, XF86Config.new in your home directory.
Edit XF86Config.new to suit your system.
The details of the file are located in the man page
man XF86Config. Some
things you may want to do are:
-
Section "Files". Change the order of the font paths searched.
You may want to put 100dpi fonts ahead of 75dpi fonts if your
system normally comes up closer to 100 dots per inch. You may
want to remove some font directories completely.
-
Section "Module". If you are going to install NVidia drivers,
remove the "dri" line.
-
Sections "InputDevice". You may want to change the keyboard
autorepeat rate by adding Option
"Autorepeat" "250 30".
-
Section "Monitor". Specify the VertRefresh and HorizSync values if the system does not
automatically detect the monitor and its values.
-
Section "Device". You may want to set some of the options
available for your selected video driver. A description of
the driver parameters is in the man page for your driver.
-
Section "Screen". Add a DefaultDepth statement such as:
DefaultDepth 24. In the SubSection
for your default depth, add a modes line such as: Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768". The
first mode listed will normally be the starting resolution.
Test the system with:
XFree86 -xf86config ~/XF86Config.new
You will only get a gray background with an X-shaped mouse cursor,
but it confirms the system is working. Exit with
Control+Alt+Backspace.
If the system does not work, examine /var/log/XFree86.0.log to see what went wrong.
As the root user: move the
configuration file to its final location:
mv ~/XF86Config.new /etc/X11/XF86Config
Create .xinitrc:
cat > ~/.xinitrc << "EOF"
# Begin .xinitrc file
xterm -g 80x40+0+0 &
xclock -g 100x100-0+0 &
twm
EOF
This provides an initial screen with an xterm and a clock that is
managed by a simple window manager, Tab Window Manager. For details
of twm, see the man
page.
Note
When needed, XFree86 creates
the directory /tmp/.ICE-unix if it
does not exist. If this directory is not owned by root, XFree86 delays startup by a few seconds
and also appends a warning to the logfile. This also affects
startup of other applications. To improve performance, it is
advisable to manually create the directory before XFree86 uses it. Add the file creation to
/etc/sysconfig/createfiles that is
sourced by the /etc/rc.d/init.d/cleanfs startup script.
cat >> /etc/sysconfig/createfiles << "EOF"
/tmp/.ICE-unix dir 1777 root root
EOF
Start X with:
startx
to get a basic functional X Window
System.
At this point, you should check out the section called “X
Window System Components” for the necessary configuration
to make X fully functional.
Additionally, you can have a look at the section called
“Additional X Window System Configuration” for
information on fine tuning your X
configuration.
The XFree86 package contains the
X Window System for Linux (and
other operating systems). It includes the X server, fonts, xterm, a simple window manager
(twm), various
utilities, video output drivers, and various input drivers
including the mouse and keyboard.
XFree86 also contains libraries
and header files for development of the X
Window System programs.
Note
The following lists are not comprehensive. The full list of
programs is in /usr/X11R6/bin. For
additional information about these programs, see the respective
man page.
Installed
Programs: XFree86,
xf86config, xf86cfg, startx, xinit, twm, xterm, xwininfo,
x11perf, xlsfonts, xvidtune, xload, xcalc, xclock, oclock, and
xmodmap
Installed
Libraries: libGL.so,
libGLU.so, libSM.so, libXi.so, libXrender.so, libXt.so, and
libXfont.so
Installed
Directories: /usr/X11R6/ and
/etc/X11/
Short Descriptions
|
XFree86
|
is the X11R6 implementation of the X Window System server.
|
|
xf86config
|
is an interactive program for generating an XF86Config file for use with XFree86 X servers.
|
|
xf86cfg
|
is a tool to configure XFree86 that can be used to either
write the initial configuration file or make
customizations to the current configuration.
|
|
startx
|
is a script to initialize the X session. It runs
xinit.
|
|
xinit
|
is used to start the X Window
System server.
|
|
twm
|
(Tab Window Manager) is a window manager included with
the X Window System.
|
|
xterm
|
is a terminal emulator for X.
|
|
xwininfo
|
is a window information utility for X.
|
|
x11perf
|
is an X11 server
performance test program.
|
|
xlsfonts
|
is a program to list fonts available to the X server.
|
|
xvidtune
|
is a video mode tuner for XFree86.
|
|
xload
|
is a system load average display for X.
|
|
xcalc
|
is a scientific calculator for X.
|
|
xclock
|
is a clock programs for X.
|
|
oclock
|
is a clock programs for X.
|
|
xmodmap
|
is a utility for modifying keymaps and pointer button
mappings in X.
|
Last updated on 2005-08-01 13:29:19 -0600