Stopping X

To stop X and get back to the text-based console, you have to list the last application that was in the .xinitrc file. This last application could be the window manager, an xterm, or just about any application. When you quit X Window by stopping this application, you return to your character- or text-based terminal.

Another way to kill the window manager (and X) is to use the Ctrl-Alt -Backspace combination. This is not the preferred way of doing things because a more graceful way is to have the window

manager be the last program started in the .xinitrc file, and exit from it to stop X and get back to console.

Running X

At this point, you should be able to type xinit at the prompt and have X Window on your monitor. You have two options in starting X: Use the xinit program or use the startx shell

script. The advantage to using the xinit program is that you can easily start X Window. The advantage to the startx script is that you can make modifications to how the environment variables are treated in bringing up X. With xinit, you are stuck with the defaults. In most cases, the defaults are what you want anyway. The xinit program executes statements in the order they are found in the .xinitrc file.

Once you have set up an XF86Config file, you probably want to run X. This is not done by running X, but by running startx. When running it for the first time, use the command

$ startx 2>&1 > Xstartup.log

This command gets a log file of the X startup by redirecting all output from stdout and stderr to a log file, Xstartup.log. If you encounter problems, the information in this file will help

you get a clue as to what happened.

If you encounter any problems, please look at the XFree86 documentation files in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc. These files provide a lot of information on what to do if problems occur. For more information, also look in the FAQs that are mentioned in those files.

Once you are in the environment of the window manager you chose in the .xinitrc file, you have to conform X Windows System's way of moving around. Please see the next few chapters to learn how to work with windows with three window managers: mwm, olwm, and

fvwm.

Setting Up Your XFree86 System

This section covers another one of the more difficult,time-consuming, and frustrating parts of installing XFree86: setting up a XF86Config file.

If you have XFree86 3.1.2 and your graphic card is listed in the Hardware-HOWTO file (see Chapter 1, "Introduction to Linux"), you should use the XF86Config program to do your configuration. This XF86Config program is a comfortable and safe way to set up your system. If your graphics card is not listed, you have some work ahead of you. check the section called "The XF86Config File" in , "Configuring X Window on Linux."

One final check that you should do is to follow the link of /usr/lib/X11/X to the correct server. If you have an SVGA card, this link should be set, via an intermediate link if any, to /usr/bin/X11/XF86_SVGA. If the link does not point to the right server, make it point to the correct server in /usr/bin/X11.

Types of servers in XFree86

Type of server | Name

Color SVGA server | XF86_SVGA

16-color (S)VGA server | XF86_VGA16.

Monochrome server | XF86_Mono

S3 accelerated server | XF86_S3

8514/A accelerated server | XF86_8514

AGX support | XF86_AGX

Mach8 accelerated server | XF86_Mach8

Mach32 accelerated server | XF86_Mach32

Mach64 accelerated server | XF86_Mach64

ET4000/W32 accelerated server | XF86_W32

The flag (-r) for the gzip command tells it to recursively create all names and paths for the files in the tar file. The -c option will send the contents out to the standard output from

where it will be piped to the tar command. The flags for the tar command tell tar to extract (x), be verbose (v), all files while preserving original ownership (o), from the file , designated by

the standard input (-).

To install the binary distribution manually

To install the binary distribution manually, perform the following steps:

* Log in as root or become root if you already are logged in.

* Copy all the release's tar files to floppies or the hard drive, or know their location on the CD-ROM. If the CD-ROM or hard drive is not mounted, mount it now and ensure that you can get to the files from within Linux. Determine from Table 21.2 the name of the server type you need. For example, if you are using a color VGA monitor, you would want to use the XF86_SVGA server; for monochrome monitors including some EGA monitors (Do people still use them?), you might try XF86_Mono. You do not have to choose the server this minute, but realize that you can use only one of these servers.

* Create the directory /usr/X11R6 (don't worry if it's already there).

* Change your current working directory to /usr/X11R6 (cd /usr/X11R6).

* Run umask 022 to make sure all the files are writable.

* Run the following command on each *.tgz file to unzip and install its contents: gzip -rctarfilename | tar xvof -

Installing XFree86

Xfree86 can be installed from the Red Hat CD-ROM using the RPM tool. The release is located in the /RedHat/SRPMS directory and is approximately 35MB. Installation from the CD-ROM or a hard drive is the only practical approach.

If you are downloading XFree from the Internet, the major files needed are listed in Table. . Some distribution files for XFree86 available for FTP.

Filename | Description

X3128514.tgz | Server for 8514-based boards.

X312AGX.tgz | Server for AGX-based boards.

X312Ma32.tgz | Server for Mach32-based boards.

X312Ma8.tgz | Server for Mach8-based boards.

X312Mono.tgz | Server for monochrome video modes.

X312P9K.tgz | Server for P9000-based boards.

X312S3.tar.gz | Server for S3-based boards.

X312SVGA.tgz | Server for Super VGA-based boards.

X312VGA.tgz | Server for VGA/EGA-based boards.

X312W32.tgz | Server for ET4000/W32-based boards.

X312bin.tgz | The rest of the X11R6 binaries.

X312cfg.tgz | Config files for xdm, xinit, and fs.

X312doc.tgz | Documentation and manpages.

X312inc.tgz | Include files.

X312lib.tgz | Shared X libraries and support files.

X312fnt.tgz | Basic fonts.

X312ctrb.tgz | Selected contrib programs.

X312xtra.tgz | Extra XFree86 servers and binaries.

X312lkit.tgz | Server linkkit for customization.

X312fnt75.tgz | 75-dpi screen fonts.

X312fnt100.tgz | 100-dpi screen fonts.

X312fbig.tgz | Large Kanji and other fonts.

X312fscl.tgz | Scaled fonts (Speedo, Type1).

X312man.tgz | Manual pages.

X312pex.tgz | PEX binaries, includes, and libraries.

X312slib.tgz | Static X libraries and support files.

You can find the most recent versions on most Linux sites. You can find the C library (libc) and the dynamic loader (ld.so) in the GCC directory on the same Linux sites.

Introduction to XFree86 and X11

X11 is a windowing system for UNIX clone operating systems. The X Window System with source code was issued by the MIT Consortium along with a set of original copyright notices. The

X11 release on which XFree86.3.1.2 (or greater) is based is X11 Release 6.

The MIT Consortium's work is continued by the X Consortium, which just released an updated X called X11R6. Most commercial releases of Linux already include X11R6.

Some XFree86 servers are partly derived from X386 1.2, which was the X server distributed with X11R5. However, many servers have been developed in the past few years. Although the source and installation trees retain the X386 name--simplifying maintenance of the source trees--there is no connection between XFree86 and the commercial X386 product sold by SGCS. The XFree86 Project maintains technical contacts in an effort to keep changes that affect the user from diverging too radically from the workings of the products. Neither group is involved directly in the workings of the other. In the past, the XFree86 development team had several problems because it was not a legal organization, which made it impossible to become a member of the X Consortium, Inc. Not being a member was detrimental because new releases are provided only for members by the X Consortium before the official release date. This reason, along with several others, led to the founding of The XFree86 Project, Inc.

Installing X Window on Linux

This details the way to install X Window system for Linux. This version of X Window for Linux, called XFree86 Version 3.1.2, is an enhanced version of the X Window System Version 11 Release 6 with support for many versions of UNIX, including Linux. XFree86 supports considerably more hardware than the video hardware supported by the MIT standard release of X Window.

Please note that even though I try to cover all the bases for installing X11 on your Linux system, I cannot cover all the hardware out there for PCs. In other words, this is moot if you happen to have that one video card this version of XFree86 on Linux will smoke! So read all the items here

carefully and see how they apply to your hardware. You could also check , "Types of Linux Available," for the listing of the hardware supported by this version of Linux. Check the HOWTO files for Hardware and Xfree86 for more up-to-date information.You can use the terms X, XFree86, X11, and X Window interchangeably, if you do not care about legal issues. Actually, however, XFree86 refers to the product of The XFree86 Project, Inc.

You can also look at the installation documentation files and other manuals that come with XFree86 in your /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc directory. The main directory path is /usr/X11R6 for access to this tree, so that we are compatible with UNIX installations of X11R6. To read these documents, you need a working man program, as well as the groff package for formatting documents. Note that groff is required often to read man pages, so you should install the groff package, even though some distributions regard the groff package as optional.