Professional Documents
Culture Documents
X Window System
Submitted By
Kiran Subramaniam S
III Year BE/CSE
AC07UCS033
Configuring
X
Window
System
What is X?
X is the standard graphical user interface for Linux. Like
other graphical user interfaces such as Microsoft Windows and
Mac OS X lets you interact with programs by using a mouse
(or other pointing device) to point and click, providing a
simple means of communicating with your computer.
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Configuring
X
Window
System
Installing X
Getting a proper X Window System up and running used to be a
real challenge on Linux, almost a rite of passage. Today, device
drivers are available for a much wider array of hardware, and
configuration tools to assist in the setup process have greatly
improved. While still tricky at times - especially with unusual
hardware - X setup and configuration is no longer the daunting
process it once was, and should be relatively easy.
• X servers
• Window Managers
• Applications
• Fonts
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Configuring
X
Window
System
Configuring X
When you install the xserver-common package, xf86config is
automatically launched. However, you can launch the program
any time you like. To do so, log in as root and type the
command:
xf86config
Below is shown the beginning of the xf86config dialog. As you
can see, xf86config is a text-mode program; it does not support
use of the mouse and it presents its questions teletype-style,
using black-and-white text.
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Configuring
X
Window
System
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Configuring
X
Window
System
Next, you must specify the device file associated with the
mouse, as shown in below figure. The install program should
have associated your system's mouse with the device
/dev/mouse, which is the default choice. Simply press Enter to
continue.
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Configuring
X
Window
System
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Configuring
X
Window
System
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Configuring
X
Window
System
First, you must specify the horizontal sync rate of your monitor,
as shown in figure below. Type the number associated with your
choice and press Enter. If you're unsure of your monitor's
horizontal sync range, but certain that it supports 800×600
resolution, specify range 2. To specify a range other than those
listed, you can select choice 11; if you do so, you'll be prompted
to enter the low and high values of the horizontal sync range.
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Configuring
X
Window
System
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Configuring
X
Window
System
Next, you must specify your video card and its characteristics.
The explanations provided by xf86config, shown in figure
below, point out that you can choose to select your card from a
database. However, even if you do so, you'll be given the
opportunity to specify non-standard values. Unless you have a
specific reason for doing so, you should not override the values
in the database. Moreover, you should be careful to choose only
the database entry that exactly matches your card; cards having
similar model names may have significantly different hardware
characteristics.
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Configuring
X
Window
System
Below figure shows the screen you use to choose your card.
Simply type the number associated with your card and press
Enter. If you suspect that your card appears on a subsequent
page, press q to page forward through the database. If you
accidentally page past your card, simply continue moving
forward; when the program reaches the last entries of the
database, it cycles back to the beginning.
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Configuring
X
Window
System
Next, you must specify the X server you want to use, as shown
in figure below. Consult Table C.1 to determine the appropriate
server. Type the number associated with the server and press
Enter to continue. If you specify choice 4, you'll be prompted to
specify which accelerated server you want to use. If you're in
doubt, specify server 3, the XF86_SVGA server; unless your video
card or monitor are quite old, they're likely to support 256-color
SVGA.
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Configuring
X
Window
System
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