Table of Contents
Xorg - X11R6 X server
Xorg [:display] [option ...]
Xorg
is a full featured 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 was derived from XFree86 4.4rc2
by the X.Org Foundation. The XFree86 4.4rc2 release was originally derived
from X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell which was contributed to X11R5 by Snitily Graphics
Consulting Service. The Xorg server architecture includes among many other
things a loadable module system derived from code donated by Metro Link,
Inc. The current Xorg release is compatible with X11R6.6.
Xorg 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.
Xorg 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.
- TCP/IP
- Xorg 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).
For operating
systems that support local connections other than Unix Domain sockets (SVR3
and SVR4), there is a compiled-in list specifying the order in which local
connections should be attempted. This list can be overridden 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. 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.
Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining
configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment
variables, the xorg.conf(5)
configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback
defaults. When the same information is supplied in more than one way, the
highest precedence mechanism is used. The list of mechanisms is ordered
from highest precedence to lowest. Note that not all parameters can be
supplied via all methods. The available command line options and environment
variables (and some defaults) are described here and in the Xserver(1)
manual page. Most configuration file parameters, with their defaults, are
described in the xorg.conf(5)
manual page. Driver and module specific configuration
parameters are described in the relevant driver or module manual page.
In
addition to the normal server options described in the Xserver(1)
manual
page, Xorg accepts the following command line switches:
- vtXX
- XX specifies
the Virtual Terminal device number which Xorg will use. Without this option,
Xorg 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 xorg.conf(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 xorg.conf(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 xorg.conf(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 Xorg server loads all video driver modules, probes for
available hardware, and writes out an initial xorg.conf(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 xorg.conf(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 xorg.conf(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 Xorg 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
xorg.conf(5)
file InputDevice section called keyboard-name as the core keyboard.
This option is ignored when the Layout section specifies 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.
- -layout layout-name
- Use
the xorg.conf(5)
file Layout section called layout-name. By default the first
Layout section is used.
- -logfile filename
- Use the file called filename as
the Xorg server log file. The default log file is /var/log/Xorg.n.log on
most platforms, where n is the display number of the Xorg 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 Xorg 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 Xorg 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
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 xorg.conf(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 xorg.conf(5)
file option.
- -pointer pointer-name
- Use the xorg.conf(5)
file InputDevice section called pointer-name as the core pointer. This option
is ignored when the Layout section specifies 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.
- -probeonly
- Causes the server to exit
after the device probing stage. The xorg.conf(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 Xorg 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 xorg.conf(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 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.
- -config 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.
The
Xorg 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 xorg.conf(5)
man page.
The special combinations of key presses
recognized directly by Xorg are:
- Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
- Immediately kills the
server -- no questions asked. This can be disabled with the DontZap xorg.conf(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 xorg.conf(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 xorg.conf(5)
file option.
- Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Multiply
- Not treated specially by default. If
the AllowClosedownGrabs xorg.conf(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 xorg.conf(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 xorg.conf(5)
file option.
Xorg
typically uses a configuration file called xorg.conf for its initial setup.
Refer to the xorg.conf(5)
manual page for information about the format of
this file.
Starting with version 4.4, Xorg has a mechanism for automatically
generating a built-in configuration at run-time when no xorg.conf 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 xorg.conf 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 Xorg server will start up in some
usable configuration even when information about the specific hardware
is not available.
The automatic configuration support for Xorg is work in
progress. It is currently aimed at the most popular hardware and software
platforms supported by Xorg. Enhancements are planned for future releases.
The Xorg server config file can be found in a range of locations.
These are documented fully in the xorg.conf(5)
manual page. The most commonly
used locations are shown here.
- /etc/X11/xorg.conf
- Server configuration file.
- /etc/X11/xorg.conf-4
- Server configuration file.
- /etc/xorg.conf
- Server configuration
file.
- /usr/X11R6/etc/xorg.conf
- Server configuration file.
- /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xorg.conf
- Server configuration file.
- /var/log/Xorg.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.
X(7)
, Xserver(1)
, xdm(1)
, xinit(1)
, xorg.conf(5)
, xorgconfig(1)
, xorgcfg(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)
, nsc(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)
,
Web site <http://www.x.org
>.
Xorg 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.
Xorg was originally
based on XFree86 4.4rc2. That was originally based on X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell,
which was contributed to the then X Consortium's X11R5 distribution by SGCS.
Xorg is released by the X.org Foundation.
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 anderson@metrolink.com
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
Xorg source is available from the FTP server <ftp://ftp.x.org/>, and from the
X.org server <http://www.freedesktop.org/cvs/
>. Documentation and other information
can be found from the X.org web site <http://www.x.org/
>.
Xorg is copyright
software, provided under licenses that permit modification and redistribution
in source and binary form without fee. Xorg is copyright by numerous authors
and contributors from around the world. Licensing information can be found
at <http://www.x.org
>. Refer to the source code for specific copyright notices.
XFree86(TM) is a trademark of The XFree86 Project, Inc.
X11(TM) and X Window
System(TM) are trademarks of The Open Group.
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