Help File Library: XFree86 Installation and Configuration
Written By:
Er-Zah
Home Page:
http://www.xfree86.org
Warning
Please read this document in its entirety before you begin installation
and configuration. Installing XFree86 is a more advanced operation, and
should only be attempted if you are confident that you can do it. Also, I
strongly recommend backing up your original X server installation.
That way, if you get stuck, you will have a fallback. You have been
warned!
Description
The XFree86 Project, Inc. has released version 4.0 of their popular X
server distribution. A number of people have been wanting to install this
upgrade, myself included. The new version contains updated drivers for
many video cards, first time drivers for some of the latest video cards,
and the added feature that it only requires one X server to be installed.
No more wading through trying to decide which X server is right for you,
just install 4.0 and configure it properly, and the stock X server
(XFree86) will work beautifully. Also, from my experience, once you have
XFree86 4.0 installed on your system, you will notice a slight decrease in
server startup time.
I have included a copy of my XF86Config
file with this Help File. Please note that it is NOT advisable to use
this XF86Config file without modification unless you are using the same
kind of computer that I am. I use a Sony PCG-F180 Laptop running RedHat
6.1.
Getting Started
First, download the file Xinstall.sh from XFree86 Project, Inc.'s ftp server and run it with the '-check'
option to find out exactly which distribution you need to download for
your computer. Execute the following command as root:
# sh Xinstall.sh -check
The program will then tell you:
- What OS you are using
- What version of the kernel you are running
- What your hardware architecture is
- The Object format for your system
- The version number of libc that is installed on your system
- Most importantly, which binary distribution name you need
Use that last piece of information to determine which directory you need
to download from on the XFree86
ftp
server.
Mandatory Downloads:
Here is a list of the files that you
must download to
proceed with installation:
- Xinstall.sh
- extract
- Xbin.tgz
- Xlib.tgz
- Xman.tgz
- Xdoc.tgz
- Xfnts.tgz
- Xfenc.tgz
- Xetc.tgz
- Xvar.tgz
- Xxserv.tgz
- Xmod.tgz
Backing up current installation
If you have a previous installation of XFree86 or any other distribution
of X11 on your computer, I highly recommend backing up your
existing files. Here is what I did to back mine up: (as root)
- cd /
- mkdir xbackup
- cp /usr/X11R6 /xbackup -Rr
- cp /etc/X11 /xbackup -Rr
Installation
Now we will proceed with the actual installation. If you have downloaded
all of the correct binary files, and the Xinstall.sh script this should go
very smoothly. The installer may ask you a few questions. I personally just
answered the default answer on all the questions posed to me, and it
seemed to work nicely. If you know that you want to answer differently on
a question, then by all means, give the installer the answer that applies
to your system. If you are curious about what some of the options are all
about, check out the README file that is available in the directory with
all the binaries.
Xinstall.sh
You should execute the following command (as root) to begin the
installation.
# sh Xinstall.sh
After you answer all the questions, it will extract and copy files to the
proper directories, and may come back with additional questions, depending
on which additional components you chose to download. The next step is
configuring the X server.
Configuration:
If you have never used a text mode editor in Linux, I reccomend you
become familiar with one before you install and configure X. You probably
won't be able to use GUI text editors for most of the configuration
process.
Generating a sample XF86Config file
The first thing you will want to do is run:
# XFree86 -configure
This will create a file called 'XF86Config.new' in your /root directory.
Running xf86config
The next step is to run xf86config, but before you do that, you will want
to read over the 'XF86Config.new' file in your /root directory. The step
we just took generated a file that has a lot of the correct information
about your card in it. This will help tremendously when it comes to
selecting a card from the database. Run xf8config like this:
# xf86config
The configuration program will ask you about your mouse, your keyboard,
your monitor, and your video card. Get all the information you can about
these items before you run the program, or you will get stuck.
After you finish, try starting X like this:
# XFree86
See if that generates any errors. If not, then you're all set. You may
need to use 'ctrl+alt+backspace' to exit the X server, and then start X
like you normally do.
Coming soon, to an Help File near you!
Watch for a new travel guide to XF86Config. Yep, they changed the way it
works, so we need a new nhf for it. Joy :)
Getting help
If you run into problems with the installation, look for me on IRC. I'm on
efnet quite frequently as 'Er-Zah' in the channel '#linuxnewbie' and I
would be more than happy to answer questions where I can.
