Name

Synopsis

Description

This work was originally derived from X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell which was contributed to X11R5 by Snitily Graphics Consulting Service. The XFree86 server architecture was redesigned for the 4.0 release, and it includes among many other things a loadable module system derived from code donated by Metro Link, Inc. The current XFree86 release is compatible with X11R6.6.

Platforms

XFree86 operates under a wide range of operating systems and hardware platforms. The Intel x86 (IA32) architecture is the most widely supported hardware platform. Other hardware platforms include Compaq Alpha, Intel IA64, SPARC and PowerPC. The most widely supported operating systems are the free/OpenSource UNIX-like systems such as Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD. Commercial UNIX operating systems such as Solaris (x86) and UnixWare are also supported. Other supported operating systems include LynxOS, and GNU Hurd. Darwin and Mac OS X are supported with the XDarwin(1) X server. Win32/Cygwin is supported with the XWin X server.

Network Connections

Local

On most platforms, the "Local" connection type is a UNIX-domain socket. On some System V platforms, the "local" connection types also include STREAMS pipes, named pipes, and some other mechanisms.

TCP/IP

XFree86 listens on port 6000+n, where n is the display number. This connection type can be disabled with the -nolisten option (see the Xserver(1) man page for details).

Environment Variables

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

NAMED
PTS
SCO
ISC

which represent 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:PTS:SCO"). his variable overrides the compiled-in defaults. For SVR4 it is recommended that NAMED be the first preference connection. The default setting is PTS:NAMED:ISC:SCO.

To globally override the compiled-in defaults, you should define (and export if using sh or ksh) XLOCAL globally. If you use startx(1) or xinit(1) , the definition should be at the top of your .xinitrc file. If you use xdm(1) , the definitions should be early on in the /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession script.

Options

Starting with version 4.4, XFree86 has support for generating a usable configuration at run-time when no XF86Config(5) configuration file is provided. The initial version of this automatic configuration support is targeted at the most popular hardware and software platforms supported by XFree86. Some details about how this works can be found in the CONFIGURATION section below and in the getconfig(1) manual page.

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 platforms such as Linux, BSD, SVR3 and SVR4, that have virtual terminal support.

-allowMouseOpenFail

Allow the server to start up even if the mouse device can't be opened or initialised. This is equivalent to the AllowMouseOpenFail XF86Config(5) file option.

-allowNonLocalModInDev

Allow changes to keyboard and mouse settings from non-local clients. By default, connections from non-local clients are not allowed to do this. This is equivalent to the AllowNonLocalModInDev XF86Config(5) file option.

-allowNonLocalXvidtune

Make the VidMode extension available to remote clients. This allows the xvidtune client to connect from another host. This is equivalent to the AllowNonLocalXvidtune XF86Config(5) file option. By default non-local connections are not allowed.

-appendauto

Append the automatic XFree86 server configuration data to an existing configuration file. By default this is only done when an existing configuration file does not contain any ServerLayout sections or any Screen sections. This can be useful for providing configuration details for things not currently handled by the automatic configuration mechanism, such as input devices, font paths, etc.

-autoconfig

Use automatic XFree86 server configuration, even if a configuration file is available. By default automatic configuration is only used when a configuration file cannot be found.

-bgamma value

Set the blue gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support this. See also the -gamma, -rgamma, and -ggamma options.

-bpp n

No longer supported. Use -depth to set the color depth, and use -fbbpp if you really need to force a non-default framebuffer (hardware) pixel format.

-configure

When this option is specified, the XFree86 server loads all video driver modules, probes for available hardware, and writes out an initial XF86Config(5) file based on what was detected. This option currently has some problems on some platforms, but in most cases it is a good way to bootstrap the configuration process. This option is only available when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).

-crt /dev/ttyXX

SCO only. This is the same as the vt option, and is provided for compatibility with the native SCO X server.

-depth n

Sets the default color depth. Legal values are 1, 4, 8, 15, 16, and 24. Not all drivers support all values.

-disableModInDev

Disable dynamic modification of input device settings. This is equivalent to the DisableModInDev XF86Config(5) file option.

-disableVidMode

Disable the the parts of the VidMode extension (used by the xvidtune client) that can be used to change the video modes. This is equivalent to the DisableVidModeExtension XF86Config(5) file option.

-fbbpp n

Sets the number of framebuffer bits per pixel. You should only set this if you're sure it's necessary; normally the server can deduce the correct value from -depth above. Useful if you want to run a depth 24 configuration with a 24 bpp framebuffer rather than the (possibly default) 32 bpp framebuffer (or vice versa). Legal values are 1, 8, 16, 24, 32. Not all drivers support all values.

-flipPixels

Swap the default values for the black and white pixels.

-gamma value

Set the gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0. This value is applied equally to the R, G and B values. Those values can be set independently with the -rgamma, -bgamma, and -ggamma options. Not all drivers support this.

-ggamma value

Set the green gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support this. See also the -gamma, -rgamma, and -bgamma options.

-ignoreABI

The XFree86 server checks the ABI revision levels of each module that it loads. It will normally refuse to load modules with ABI revisions that are newer than the server's. This is because such modules might use interfaces that the server does not have. When this option is specified, mismatches like this are downgraded from fatal errors to warnings. This option should be used with care.

-keeptty

Prevent the server from detaching its initial controlling terminal. This option is only useful when debugging the server. Not all platforms support (or can use) this option.

-keyboard keyboard-name

Use the XF86Config(5) file InputDevice section called keyboard-name as the core keyboard. This option is ignored when the ServerLayout section specifies a core keyboard. In the absence of both a ServerLayout section and this option, the first relevant InputDevice section is used for the core keyboard.

-layout layout-name

Use the XF86Config(5) file ServerLayout section called layout-name. By default the first ServerLayout section is used.

-logfile filename

Use the file called filename as the XFree86 server log file. The default log file is /var/log/XFree86.n.log on most platforms, where n is the display number of the XFree86 server. The default may be in a different directory on some platforms. This option is only available when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).

-logverbose [n]

Sets the verbosity level for information printed to the XFree86 server log file. If the n value isn't supplied, each occurrence of this option increments the log file verbosity level. When the n value is supplied, the log file verbosity level is set to that value. The default log file verbosity level is 3.

-modulepath searchpath

Set the module search path to searchpath. searchpath is a comma separated list of directories to search for XFree86 server modules. This option is only available when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).

-noappendauto

Disable appending the automatic XFree86 server configuration to a partial static configuration.

-nosilk

Disable Silken Mouse support.

-pixmap24

Set the internal pixmap format for depth 24 pixmaps to 24 bits per pixel. The default is usually 32 bits per pixel. There is normally little reason to use this option. Some client applications don't like this pixmap format, even though it is a perfectly legal format. This is equivalent to the Pixmap XF86Config(5) file option.

-pixmap32

Set the internal pixmap format for depth 24 pixmaps to 32 bits per pixel. This is usually the default. This is equivalent to the Pixmap XF86Config(5) file option.

-pointer pointer-name

Use the XF86Config(5) file InputDevice section called pointer-name as the core pointer. This option is ignored when the ServerLayout section specifies a core pointer. In the absence of both a ServerLayout section and this option, the first relevant InputDevice section is used for the core pointer.

-probeonly

Causes the server to exit after the device probing stage. The XF86Config(5) 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. The verbosity level is set to zero.

-rgamma value

Set the red gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support this. See also the -gamma, -bgamma, and -ggamma options.

-scanpci

When this option is specified, the XFree86 server scans the PCI bus, and prints out some information about each device that was detected. See also scanpci(1) and pcitweak(1) .

-screen screen-name

Use the XF86Config(5) file Screen section called screen-name. By default the screens referenced by the default ServerLayout section are used, or the first Screen section when there are no ServerLayout sections.

-showconfig

This is the same as the -version option, and is included for compatibility reasons. It may be removed in a future release, so the -version option should be used instead.

-weight nnn

Set RGB weighting at 16 bpp. The default is 565. This applies only to those drivers which support 16 bpp.

-verbose [n]

Sets the verbosity level for information printed on stderr. If the n value isn't supplied, each occurrence of this option increments the verbosity level. When the n value is supplied, the verbosity level is set to that value. The default verbosity level is 0.

-version

Print out the server version, patchlevel, release date, the operating system/platform it was built on, and whether it includes module loader support.

-xf86config file

Read the server configuration from file. This option will work for any file when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0), or for files relative to a directory in the config search path for all other users.

Keyboard

The XFree86 server is normally configured to recognize various special combinations of key presses that instruct the server to perform some action, rather than just sending the key press event to a client application. The default XKEYBOARD keymap defines the key combinations listed below. The server also has these key combinations builtin to its event handler for cases where the XKEYBOARD extension is not being used. When using the XKEYBOARD extension, which key combinations perform which actions is completely configurable.

For more information about when the builtin event handler is used to recognize the special key combinations, see the documentation on the HandleSpecialKeys option in the XF86Config(5) man page.

The special combinations of key presses recognized directly by XFree86 are:

Ctrl+Alt+Backspace

Immediately kills the server -- no questions asked. This can be disabled with the DontZap XF86Config(5) file option.

Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus

Change video mode to next one specified in the configuration file. This can be disabled with the DontZoom XF86Config(5) file option.

Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Minus

Change video mode to previous one specified in the configuration file. This can be disabled with the DontZoom XF86Config(5) file option.

Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Multiply

Not treated specially by default. If the AllowClosedownGrabs XF86Config(5) file option is specified, this key sequence kills clients with an active keyboard or mouse grab as well as killing any application that may have locked the server, normally using the XGrabServer(3) Xlib function.

Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Divide

Not treated specially by default. If the AllowDeactivateGrabs XF86Config(5) file option is specified, this key sequence deactivates any active keyboard and mouse grabs.

Ctrl+Alt+F1...F12

For BSD and Linux systems with virtual terminal support, these keystroke combinations are used to switch to virtual terminals 1 through 12, respectively. This can be disabled with the DontVTSwitch XF86Config(5) file option.

Configuration

Starting with version 4.4, XFree86 has a mechanism for automatically generating a built-in configuration at run-time when no XF86Config file is present. The current version of this automatic configuration mechanism works in three ways.

The first is via enhancements that have made many components of the XF86Config file optional. This means that information that can be probed or reasonably deduced doesn't need to be specified explicitly, greatly reducing the amount of built-in configuration information that needs to be generated at run-time.

The second is to use an external utility called getconfig(1) , when available, to use meta-configuration information to generate a suitable configuration for the primary video device. The meta-configuration information can be updated to allow an existing installation to get the best out of new hardware or to work around bugs that are found post-release.

The third is to have "safe" fallbacks for most configuration information. This maximises the likelihood that the XFree86 server will start up in some usable configuration even when information about the specific hardware is not available.

The automatic configuration support for XFree86 is work in progress. It is currently aimed at the most popular hardware and software platforms supported by XFree86. Enhancements are planned for future releases.

Files

/etc/X11/XF86Config

Server configuration file.

/etc/X11/XF86Config-4

Server configuration file.

/etc/XF86Config

Server configuration file.

/usr/X11R6/etc/XF86Config

Server configuration file.

/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config

Server configuration file.

/var/log/XFree86.n.log

Server log file for display n.

/usr/X11R6/bin/*

Client binaries.

/usr/X11R6/include/*

Header files.

/usr/X11R6/lib/*

Libraries.

/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/*

Fonts.

/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb.txt

Color names to RGB mapping.

/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XErrorDB

Client error message database.

/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/*

Client resource specifications.

/usr/X11R6/man/man?/*

Manual pages.

/etc/Xn.hosts

Initial access control list for display n.

See Also

Authors

XFree86 was originally based on X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell, which was contributed to the then X Consortium's X11R5 distribution by SGCS.

The project that became XFree86 was originally founded in 1992 by David Dawes, Glenn Lai, Jim Tsillas and David Wexelblat.

XFree86 was later integrated in the then X Consortium's X11R6 release by a group of dedicated XFree86 developers, including the following:

Stuart Anderson, Doug Anson, Gertjan Akkerman, Mike Bernson, Robin Cutshaw, David Dawes, Marc Evans, Pascal Haible, Matthieu Herrb, Dirk Hohndel, David Holland, Alan Hourihane, Jeffrey Hsu, Glenn Lai, Ted Lemon, Rich Murphey, Hans Nasten, Mark Snitily, Randy Terbush, Jon Tombs, Kees Verstoep, Paul Vixie, Mark Weaver, David Wexelblat, Philip Wheatley, Thomas Wolfram, Orest Zborowski.

Contributors to XFree86 4.4.0 include:

Roi a Torkilsheyggi, Dave Airlie, Andrew Aitchison, Marco Antonio Alvarez, Alexandr Andreev, Jack Angel, Eric Anholt, Ani, Juuso oAberg, Sergey Babkin, Alexey Baj, Bang Jun-Young, Uberto Barbini, Kyle Bateman, Matthew W. S. Bell, Vano Beridze, Hiroyuki Bessho, Andrew Bevitt, Christian Biere, Martin Birgmeier, Jakub Bogusz, Le Hong Boi, Paul Bolle, Charl Botha, Stanislav Brabec, Eric Branlund, Rob Braun, Peter Breitenlohner, Michael Breuer, Kevin Brosius, Frederick Bruckman, Oswald Buddenhagen, Nilg:un Belma Bug:uner, Julian Cable, Yukun Chen, Ping Cheng, Juliusz Chroboczek, Fred Clift, Alan Coopersmith, Martin Costabel, Alan Cox, Michel D:anzer, David Dawes, Leif Delgass, Richard Dengler, John Dennis, Thomas Dickey, Randy Dunlap, Chris Edgington, Paul Eggert, Paul Elliott, Emmanuel, Visanu Euarchukiati, Mike Fabian, Rik Faith, Brian Feldman, Wu Jian Feng, Kevin P. Fleming, Jose Fonseca, Hugues Fournier, Miguel Freitas, Quentin Garnier, B/orre Gaup, Michael Geddes, Frank Giessler, Hansruedi Glauser, Wolfram Gloger, Alexander Gottwald, Guido Guenther, Ralf Habacker, Bruno Haible, Lindsay Haigh, John Harper, James Harris, Mike A. Harris, Bryan W. Headley, John Heasley, Thomas Hellstr:om, Matthieu Herrb, Jonathan Hough, Alan Hourihane, Joel Ray Holveck, Harold L Hunt II, Ricardo Y. Igarashi, Mutsumi ISHIKAWA , Tsuyoshi ITO, Kean Johnston, Nicolas JOLY, Phil Jones, Roman Kagan, Theppitak Karoonboonyanan, Etsushi Kato, Koike Kazuhiko, Aidan Kehoe, Juergen Keil, Andreas Kies, Thomas Klausner, Mario Klebsch, Egmont Koblinger, Vlatko Kosturjak, Kusanagi Kouichi, Mel Kravitz, Peter Kunzmann, Nick Kurshev, Mashrab Kuvatov, Marc La France, Radics Laszlo, Zarick Lau, Nolan Leake, Michel Lespinasse, Noah Levitt, Dave Love, H.J. Lu, Lubos Lunak, Sven Luther, Torrey T. Lyons, Calum Mackay, Paul Mackerras, Roland Mainz, Kevin Martin, Michal Maruska, Kensuke Matsuzaki, maxim, Stephen McCamant, Ferris McCormick, Luke Mewburn, Nicholas Miell, Robert Millan, Hisashi MIYASHITA, Gregory Mokhin, Patrik Montgomery, Joe Moss, Josselin Mouette, Frank Murphy, Reiko Nakajima, Paul Nasrat, Dan Nelson, Bastien Nocera, Alexandre Oliva, Hideki ONO, Peter Osterlund, Sergey V. Oudaltsov, S'eamus 'O Ciardhu'ain, Bob Paauwe, Paul Pacheco, Tom Pala, Ivan Pascal, T. M. Pederson, Earle F. Philhower III, Nils Philippsen, Manfred Pohler, Alexander Pohoyda, Alain Poirier, Arnaud Quette, Jim Radford, Dale Rahn, Lucas Correia Villa Real, Ren'e Rebe, Tyler Retzlaff, Sebastian Rittau, Tim Roberts, Alastair M. Robinson, Branden Robinson, Daniel Rock, Ian Romanick, Bernhard Rosenkraenzer, Moans Rullgoard, Andriy Rysin, Supphachoke Santiwichaya, Pablo Saratxaga, Matthias Scheler, Jens Schweikhardt, Danilo Segan, Shantonu Sen, Stas Sergeev, Jungshik Shin, Nikola Smolenski, Andreas Stenglein, Paul Stewart, Alexander Stohr, Alan Strohm, Will Styles, James Su, Mike Sulivan, Ville Syrjala, Slava Sysoltsev, Akira TAGOH, Toshimitsu Tanaka, Akira Taniguchi, Owen Taylor, Neil Terry, Jonathan Thambidurai, John Tillman, Adam Tlalka, Linus Torvalds, Christian Tosta, Warren Turkal, Stephen J. Turnbull, Ted Unangst, Mike Urban, Simon Vallet, Thuraiappah Vaseeharan, Luc Verhaegen, Yann Vernier, Michail Vidiassov, Sebastiano Vigna, Mark Vojkovich, Stephane Voltz, Boris Weissman, Keith Whitwell, Thomas Winischhofer, Eric Wittry, Kim Woelders, Roy Wood, Jason L. Wright, Joerg Wunsch, Chisato Yamauchi, Hui Yu.

Contributors to XFree86 4.5.0 include:

Szilveszter Adam, Tim Adye, Taneem Ahmed, Andrew Aitchison, Raoul Arranz, Zaeem Arshad, Dwayne Bailey, Ilyas Bakirov, Denis Barbier, Kyle Bateman, J. Scott Berg, Thomas Biege, Dmitry Bolkhovityanov, H Merijn Brand, Peter Breitenlohner, Benjamin Burke, Dale L Busacker, busmanus, Julian Cable, Mike Castle, David M. Clay, Philip Clayton, Alan Coopersmith, Ricardo Cruz, Michel D:anzer, J. D. Darling, David Dawes, Michael Dawes, Rafael 'Avila de Esp'indola, Rick De Laet, Josip Deanovic, Angelus Dei, Laurent Deniel, Thomas Dickey, Stefan Dirsch, Charles Dobson, DRI Project, Emmanuel Dreyfus, Boris Dusek, Georgina O. Economou, Egbert Eich, Bernd Ernesti, Chris Evans, Rik Faith, Adrian Fiechter, Matthew Fischer, FreeType Team, Terry R. Frienrichsen, Christopher Fynn, Hubert Gburzynski, Nicolas George, Frank Giessler, Fred Gleason, Dmitry Golubev, Alexander Gottwald, Herbert Graeber, Miroslav Halas, John Harper, Harshula, John Heasley, Matthieu Herrb, David Holl, Alex Holland, Peng Hongbo, Alan Hourihane, Harold L Hunt II, Alan Iwi, Timur Jamakeev, Paul Jarc, Kean Johnston, Nicolas Joly, Mark Kandianis, Kaleb Keithley, Chamath Keppitiyagama, Jung-uk Kim, Satoshi Kimura, Michael Knudsen, Vlatko Kosturjak, Alexei Kosut, Anton Kovalenko, Joachim Kuebart, Marc La France, David Laight, Zarick Lau, Pierre Lalet, Michael Lampe, Lanka Linux User Group, Nolan Leake, Werner Lemberg, Dejan Lesjak, Noah Levitt, Greg Lewis, Bernhard R Link, Jonas Lund, S. Lussos, Torrey T. Lyons, Roland Mainz, N Marci, Kevin Martin, Stephen McCamant, Mesa Developers, Luke Mewburn, Petr Mladek, Bram Moolenaar, Steve Murphy, Ishikawa MUTSUMI, Radu Octavian, Lee Olsen, Greg Parker, Ivan Pascal, Alexander E. Patrakov, Mike Pechkin, So'os P'eter, Zvezdan Petkovic, Alexander Pohoyda, Xie Qian, Bill Randle, Adam J. Richter, Tim Roberts, Bernhard Rosenkraenzer, Andreas R:uden, Steve Rumble, Oleg Safiullin, Ty Sarna, Leo Savernik, Barry Scott, Shantonu Sen, Yu Shao, Andreas Schwab, Matthias Scheler, Dan Shearer, Michael Shell, Paul Shupak, Alexander Stohr, Marius Strobl, Mikko Markus Torni, Jess Thrysoee, Izumi Tsutsui, Tungsten Graphics, Ryan Underwood, Tristan Van Berkom, Michael van Elst, Phillip Vandry, Roman Vasylyev, Luc Verhaegen, Rodion Vshevtsov, Mark Vojkovich, Edi Werner, Keith Whitwell, Scot Wilcoxon, Dave Williss, Thomas Winischhofer, Kuang-che Wu, X-Oz Technologies, Chisato Yamauchi, Michael Yaroslavtsev, David Yerger, Su Yong, Hui Yu, Sagi Zeevi, Christian Zietz.

Contributors to XFree86 4.6.0 include:

ASPEED Technologies, Andrew Aitchison, James Ascroft-Leigh, 'Etienne Bersac, Peter Breitenlohner, Terry Chang, Y. C. Chen, Jeff Chua, James Cloos, Alan Coopersmith, Miguel Gonz'alez Cuadrado, David Dawes, Thomas Dickey, Stefan Dirsch, Bernd Ernesti, Jordan Frank, Will L G, Frank Giessler, Thorsten Glaser, Damian Janusz Gruszka, Lukas Hejtmanek, Evil Mr Henry, Jens Herden, Alan Hourihane, Nicolas Joly, Bang Jun-Young, Alexander Kabaev, Satoshi Kimura, Milos Komarcevic, Marc La France, Dejan Lesjak, Khong Jye Liew, Jong Lin, Michael Lorenz, Michael Macallan, Michal Maruska, Luke Mewburn, Timothy Musson, Newsh, Takaaki Nomura, Ivan Pascal, Bob Peterson, Pierre, Aaron Plattner, Alexander Pohoyda, Jeremy C. Reed, Conrad Schuler, Bruno Schwander, Olaf Seibert, Aaron Solochek, Helmar Spangenberg, Ken Stailey, Tobias Stoeckmann, Tungsten Graphics, James Richard Tyrer, Staffan Ulfberg, Denis Vlasenko, Mark Vojkovich, Tom Williams, Dave Williss, X-Oz Technologies, XGI, Christos Zoulas.

XFree86 source is available from the FTP server <ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/>, and from the XFree86 CVS server <http://www.xfree86.org/cvs/ >. Documentation and other information can be found from the XFree86 web site <http://www.xfree86.org/ >.

Legal

XFree86 is copyright software, provided under licenses that permit modification and redistribution in source and binary form without fee. Portions of XFree86 are copyright by The XFree86 Project, Inc. and numerous authors and contributors from around the world. Licensing information can be found at <http://www.xfree86.org/current/LICENSE.html >. Refer to the source code for specific copyright notices.

XFree86(R) is a registered trademark of The XFree86 Project, Inc.

Table of Contents

• Name
• Synopsis
• Description
• Platforms
• Network Connections
• Environment Variables
• Options
• Keyboard
• Configuration
• Files
• See Also
• Authors
• Legal