XFree86(1)
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XFree86(1) XFree86 XFree86(1)
NAME
XFree86 - X11R6 X server
SYNOPSIS
XFree86 [:display] [option ...]
DESCRIPTION
XFree86 is an X server that was originally designed for
UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems running on Intel x86
hardware. It now runs on a wider range of hardware and OS
platforms.
This work is derived from X386 1.2 which was contributed
to X11R5 by Snitily Graphics Consulting Service. The cur
rent XFree86 release is based on X11R6.3. The XFree86 X
server architecture was redesigned for the 4.0 release,
and it includes among other things a loadable module sys
tem donated by Metro Link, Inc.
CONFIGURATIONS
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 sup
ported. 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
XFree86 supports connections made using the following
reliable byte-streams:
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.
TCPIP
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
For operating systems that support local connections other
than Unix Domain sockets (SVR3 and SVR4), there is a com
piled-in list specifying the order in which local
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connections should be attempted. This list can be over
ridden by the XLOCAL environment variable described below.
If the display name indicates a best-choice connection
should be made (e.g. :0.0), each connection mechanism is
tried until a connection succeeds or no more mechanisms
are available. Note: for these OSs, the Unix Domain
socket connection is treated differently from the other
local connection types. To use it the connection must be
made to unix:0.0.
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. XLO_
CAL="NAMED:PTS:SCO"). This variable overrides the com
piled-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/xinit, the definition should be at the
top of your .xinitrc file. If you use xdm, the defini
tions should be early on in the <XRoot>/lib/X11/xdm/Xses_
sion script.
OPTIONS
In addition to the normal server options described in the
Xserver(1) manual page, XFree86 accepts the following com
mand line switches:
vtXX XX specifies the Virtual Terminal device number
which XFree86 will use. Without this option,
XFree86 will pick the first available Virtual Ter
minal 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
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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 con
nect from another host. This is equivalent to the
AllowNonLocalXvidtune XF86Config(5) file option.
By default non-local connections are not allowed.
-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 X 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 cur
rently has some problems on some platforms, but in
most cases it is a good way to bootstrap the con
figuration 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 set
tings. 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.
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-fbbpp n
Sets the number of framebuffer bits per pixel.
You should only set this if you're sure it's nec
essary; 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 frame
buffer rather than the (possibly default) 32 bpp
framebuffer (or vice versa). Legal values are 1,
8, 16, 24, 32. Not all drivers support all val
ues.
-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 X 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, mis
matches like this are downgraded from fatal errors
to warnings. This option should be used with
care.
-keeptty
Prevent the server from detaching its initial con
trolling terminal. This option is only useful
when debugging the server. Not all platforms sup
port (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 Layout section speci
fies a core keyboard. In the absence of both a
Layout section and this option, the first relevant
InputDevice section is used for the core keyboard.
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-layout layout-name
Use the XF86Config(5) file Layout section called
layout-name. By default the first Layout section
is used.
-logfile filename
Use the file called filename as the X server log
file. The default log file is
/var/log/XFree86.n.log on most platforms, where n
is the display number of the X 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 X server log file. If the n value isn't
supplied, each occurrance of this option incre
ments 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. search_
path is a comma separated list of directories to
search for X server modules. This option is only
available when the server is run as root (i.e,
with real-uid 0).
-nosilk Disable Silken Mouse support.
-pixmap24
Set the internal pixmap format for depth 24
pixmaps to 24 bits per pixel. The default is usu
ally 32 bits per pixel. There is normally little
reason to use this option. Some client applica
tions don't like this pixmap format, even though
it is a perfectly legal format. This is equvalent
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 equvalent to the Pixmap XF86Con
fig(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 Layout section speci
fies a core pointer. In the absence of both a
Layout section and this option, the first relevant
InputDevice section is used for the core pointer.
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-probeonly
Causes the server to exit after the device probing
stage. The XF86Config 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 X server scans
the PCI bus, and prints out some information about
each device that was detected. See also scan
pci(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 Layout section are used, or the first
Screen section when there are no Layout sections.
-showconfig
This is the same as the -version option, and is
included for compatibilty reasons. It may be
removed in a future release, so the -version
options hould 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
occurrance of this option increments the verbosity
level. When the n value is supplied, the ver
bosity 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
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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
Multiple 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+F1...F12
For BSD and Linux systems with virtual terminal
support, these keystroke combinations are used to
switch to Virtual Console 1 through 12.
SETUP
XFree86 uses a configuration file called XF86Config for
its initial setup. Refer to the XF86Config(5) manual page
for information about the format of this file.
FILES
The X server config file can be found in a range of loca
tions. These are documented fully in the XF86Config(5)
manual page. The most commonly used locations are shown
here.
/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
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/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 specifica
tions
/usr/X11R6/man/man?/* Manual pages
/etc/Xn.hosts Initial access control list
for display n
SEE ALSO
X(7), Xserver(1), xdm(1), xinit(1), XF86Config(5),
xf86config(1), xf86cfg(1), xvidtune(1), apm(4), ati(4),
chips(4), cirrus(4), cyrix(4), fbdev(4), glide(4),
glint(4), i128(4), i740(4), i810(4), imstt(4), mga(4),
neomagic(4), nv(4), r128(4), rendition(4), s3virge(4),
siliconmotion(4), sis(4), sunbw2(4), suncg14(4),
suncg3(4), suncg6(4), sunffb(4), sunleo(4), suntcx(4),
tdfx(4), tga(4), trident(4), tseng(4), v4l(4), vesa(4),
vga(4), vmware(4),
README <http://www.xfree86.org/current/README.html>,
RELNOTES <http://www.xfree86.org/current/RELNOTES.html>,
README.mouse <http://www.xfree86.org/current/mouse.html>,
README.DRI <http://www.xfree86.org/current/DRI.html>,
Status <http://www.xfree86.org/current/Status.html>,
Install <http://www.xfree86.org/current/Install.html>.
AUTHORS
XFree86 has many contributors world wide. The names of
most of them can be found in the documentation, CHANGELOG
files in the source tree, and in the actual source code.
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 Wex
elblat.
XFree86 was later integrated in the then X Consortium's
X11R6 release by a group of dedicated XFree86 developers,
including the following:
Stuart Anderson anderson@metrolink.com
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Doug Anson danson@lgc.com
Gertjan Akkerman akkerman@dutiba.twi.tudelft.nl
Mike Bernson mike@mbsun.mlb.org
Robin Cutshaw robin@XFree86.org
David Dawes dawes@XFree86.org
Marc Evans marc@XFree86.org
Pascal Haible haible@izfm.uni-stuttgart.de
Matthieu Herrb Matthieu.Herrb@laas.fr
Dirk Hohndel hohndel@XFree86.org
David Holland davidh@use.com
Alan Hourihane alanh@fairlite.demon.co.uk
Jeffrey Hsu hsu@soda.berkeley.edu
Glenn Lai glenn@cs.utexas.edu
Ted Lemon mellon@ncd.com
Rich Murphey rich@XFree86.org
Hans Nasten nasten@everyware.se
Mark Snitily mark@sgcs.com
Randy Terbush randyt@cse.unl.edu
Jon Tombs tombs@XFree86.org
Kees Verstoep versto@cs.vu.nl
Paul Vixie paul@vix.com
Mark Weaver Mark_Weaver@brown.edu
David Wexelblat dwex@XFree86.org
Philip Wheatley Philip.Wheatley@ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM
Thomas Wolfram wolf@prz.tu-berlin.de
Orest Zborowski orestz@eskimo.com
The current XFree86 core team consists of:
Stuart Anderson anderson@metrolink.com
Preston Brown pbrown@redhat.com
Robin Cutshaw robin@xfree86.org
David Dawes dawes@xfree86.org
Egbert Eich eich@xfree86.org
Marc Evans marc@xfree86.org
Dirk Hohndel hohndel@xfree86.org
Alan Hourihane alanh@xfree86.org
Harald Koenig koenig@xfree86.org
Marc La France tsi@xfree86.org
Kevin Martin martin@xfree86.org
Rich Murphey rich@xfree86.org
Takaaki Nomura amadeus@yk.rim.or.jp
Keith Packard keithp@xfree86.org
Jon Tombs jon@gtex02.us.es
Mark Vojkovich markv@xfree86.org
David Wexelblat dwex@xfree86.org
XFree86 source is available from the FTP server
<ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/>, among others. Docu
mentation and other information can be found from the
XFree86 web site <http://www.xfree86.org/>.
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