XFree86 Frequently Asked Questions
This document is intended to provide answers to the questions most often
received by the XFree86[tm] Project's support team (which can be reached at
XFree86@XFree86.org). It is also a source of information more recent than the
documentation included with the latest_release.
Generally, if the information is already available elsewhere, this document
will supply a pointer to the information rather than duplicate it. If you don't
have access to the World Wide Web, see the section below entitled "Access_via
Email".
The_XFree86_Project is making the information in this document available free
of charge in the hope that it will be of use. However, the authors specifically
disclaim any liability for any direct, indirect, or consequential damages
arising out of its use.
This document is intended to be a source of up-to-date info regarding XFree86,
and as such, may change frequently. Make sure you consult a recent copy, before
relying on any information contained herein.
Additionally, this FAQ generally assumes that you are using the latest_release
and, unless otherwise specified, the information contained herein is likely to
not be applicable to other releases. If you are having problems and are not
running the latest_release, then upgrading is often the answer to your
problems. Really. If you have a fairly new card, it is especially important to
make sure you are using the latest server release.
The latest version of this document is always available from the_XFree86_Web
site (http://www.XFree86.org/) or one of its mirrors:
* http://www.au.xfree86.org/
* http://www.uni-paderborn.de/mirrors/xfree86/
* http://sunsite.mff.cuni.cz/XFree86/
* http://xfree86.gw.com/
* http://xfree86.mirror.aarnet.edu.au/
* http://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/XFree86/
* http://www.noguska.net/linux/xfree86/
* http://www.kr.xfree86.org/
Last modified: Mon Nov 22 13:47:20 PST 1999
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Index of Questions:
Section A - General_Information
* Q.A1-_What_is_XFree86?
* Q.A2-_What_is_the_current_release of XFree86?
* Q.A3-_What_is_the_current_release of SuperProbe?
* Q.A4-_How_do_I_find_out_what_version_I_have?
* Q.A5-_Where_do_I_get_the_latest_releases?
* Q.A6-_What_files_do_I_need_to_upgrade_to_the_latest_release?
* Q.A7-_Where_do_I_find_the_latest_documentation?
* Q.A8-_Where_can_I_get_RPMs_for_the_latest_release?
* Q.A9-_When_is_the_next_release?
* Q.A10-_Which_card_do_you_recommend_that_I_buy?
* Q.A11-_Which_card_is_the_fastest?
* Q.A12-_Has_XFree86_been_ported_to_OS/2?
* Q.A13-_How_about_a_MS-DOS_or_MS-Windows_port?
* Q.A14-_But_I_heard_X_supports_Windows_NT.
* Q.A15-_Can_I_use_more_than_one_video_card_in_the_same_machine_with_XFree86?
* Q.A16-_Are_Overlay_Visuals_available?
* Q.A17-_How_do_I_report_a_bug_in_XFree86?
* Q.A18-_About_this_FAQ
* Q.A19-_Access_via_Email
* Q.A20-_Related_Information
Section B - Configuration_Questions
* Q.B1-_Do_you_have_the_config_file_for_...?
* Q.B2-_I_got_an_XF86Config_file_from_...,_but_things_still_don't_work.
* Q.B3-_How_do_I_configure_the_server?
* Q.B4-_How_do_I_know_which_X_server_to_use_for_my_video_card?
* Q.B5-_My_PC_is_PC98_compliant._Should_I_use_the_XF98_servers?
* Q.B6-_My_monitor_isn't_listed_in_the_[_XF86Config_|_xf86setup_]_monitor
database.
* Q.B7-_What_about_vgaset?
* Q.B8-_My_card_isn't_on_the_list_shown_in_XF86Setup._Is_there_a_more_up-to-
date_list?
* Q.B9-_Why_does_the_server_reject_my_mode_lines?
* Q.B10-_The_preinst.sh_script_fails_to_run_succesfully
Section C - Keyboard_&_Mouse_Problems
* Q.C1-_The_mouse_cursor_doesn't_display_in_the_right_position
* Q.C2-_Why_don't_menus_work_properly?
* Q.C3-_How_come,_in_Tk-based_applications,_the_buttons_highlight,_but_can't_be
depressed?
* Q.C4-_I've_installed_the_latest_release_and_now_some of my_keys_no_longer
work._Why?
* Q.C5-_The_mouse_is_moving_erratically._What's_wrong?
* Q.C6-_New_Microsoft_serial_mouse_protocol_2.1A_mice_don't_work.
* Q.C7-_How_can_I_swap_mouse_buttons?_How_do_I_get_an_XFree86_for_Left-Handers?
Section D - Display_Problems
* Q.D1-_Part of the_Displayed_Image_is_Wrapping-around_or_is_Duplicated_on_the
Other_Side of the_Screen
* Q.D2-_My_screen_is_too_large._How_can_I_disable_the_virtual_desktop?
* Q.D3-_wrong_colors_or_black_and_white_images_in_24bpp_modes_for_Netscape,
xanim,_WABI_and_others
* Q.D4-_Why_do_I_get_a_mostly_black_screen_with_my_Diamond_Speedstar_A50_(SiS
6326)?
Section E - Miscellaneous_Problems/Questions
* Q.E1-_How_do_I_get_the_server_to_scale_vector_fonts,_but_not_bitmap_fonts?
* Q.E2-_What_can_I_do_to_keep_the_server_from_hanging_while_scaling_fonts?
* Q.E3-_The_system_locks_up_when_I_start_the_S3_server._What_can_I_do?
* Q.E4-_I've_got_a_Cirrus_Logic_GD546x_based_card_and_am_experiencing_system
lockups._What_can_I_do?
* Q.E5-_I_get_a_broken_pipe_error_while_unpacking_the_.tar.gz_files._Is
something_wrong_with_them?
* Q.E6-_Why_does_the_server_quit_with_the_error_xf86OpenConsole:_cannot_open_/
dev/console_on_Linux?
* Q.E7-_How_do_I_get_the_server_to_display_more_than_256_colors?
* Q.E8-_Why_do_I_get_display_problems_with_my_ATI_PC2TV_card?
* Q.E9-_I've_just_installed_XFree86_3.3.5_for_Linux,_but_I_get_"No_such_file_or
directory"_whenever_I_try_to_run_something.
* Q.E10-_XFree86_crashes_on_Linux_systems_with_GCC_2.8.x
* Q.E11-_Why_does_the_X_server_exit_with_an_error_message_about_a
SecurityPolicy_file?
* Q.E12-_Is_XFree86_Year2000_compliant?
* Q.E13-_I_get_an_error_"_X11TransSocketUNIXConnect:_Can't_connect:_errno_=
111"._What_does_it_mean?
* Q.E14-_What_is_Xwrapper_and_why_can't_startx_or_xinit_find_it?
* Q.E15-_Running_XFree86_on_portable_computers,_laptops_and_LCD_screens
* Q.E16-_Can_TrueType_fonts_be_used_with_XFree86?
* Q.E17-_I'm_using_NetBSD-currnet_and_the_`wscons'_console_code_and_my_X_screen
sometimes_jumps.
* Q.E18-_Slow_or_sluggish_performance of XFree86_servers,_jerky_mouse_movement.
Section F - Chipset_Support
* Q.F1-_My_card_is_currently_not_supported_-_what_can_I_do?
* Q.F2-_How_do_I_find_out_the_current_status of a_driver?
* Q.F3-_Unsupported_Clock_Chips
* Q.F4-_Do_you_have_an_alpha_or_beta_server_for_my_..._card?
* Q.F5-_Matrox_chips
* Q.F6-_Alliance_ProMotion_chips
* Q.F7-_Cirrus_CL-GD754x_chips
* Q.F8-_Sierra_Falcon_chip
* Q.F9-_ISA-bus_Mach64_cards
* Q.F10-_S3_911_and_924_Cards_with_512KB_RAM
* Q.F11-_Is_there_a_server_for_3Dlabs_GLINT_or_Permedia_based_cards?
* Q.F12-_Is_a_server_for_Riva_128,_128zx_or_Riva_TNT_based_cards_available?
* Q.F13-_Is_a_server_for_Rendition_chipsets_available?
* Q.F14-_What_about_AGP?
* Q.F15-_Why_don't_you_just_make_a_VESA_2.0_driver_so_that_all_compliant_cards
will_work?
* Q.F16-_Is_a_server_for_the_Intel_i740_chipset_available?
* Q.F17-_Is_a_server_for_the_Mpact_2_chipset_available?
* Q.F18-_Is_a_server_for_the_S3_Trio3D,_Trio3D/2X_or_the_S3_Savage3D_or_the
Savage4_available?
* Q.F19-_S3_Trio3D/2X_(86C362,_86C368)_doesn't_work_or_is_awfully_slow
* Q.F20-_Is_a_server_for_SiS_530_or_SiS_620_based_motherboards_with_integrated
graphics_available?
* Q.F21-_Is_a_server_for_the_Trident_Blade3D_chipset_available?
* Q.F22-_Is_a_server_for_the_Voodoo_Banshee_or_other_3Dfx_chips_available?
* Q.F23-_How_do_I_get_XFree86_to_work_with_my_new_ATI_card?
* Q.F24-_Is_there_any_other_way_I_can_get_an_unsupported_card_to_work?
* Q.F25-_Does_XFree86_support_the_ATI_Rage128?
* Q.F26-_Does_XFree86_support_the_SiS_540/630_or_the_SiS_300?
Section G - Known_problems_with_XFree86_3.3.5
* Q.G1-_The_tar_files_for_Linux-ix86-glibc2_are_too_big_/_contain_additional
stuff.
* Q.G2-_I_get_an_undefined_symbol___deregister_frame_info_with_the_Linux-ix86-
glibc2_binaries.
* Q.G3-_My_Trident_TGUI9680_card_has_problems_with_fonts
* Q.G4-_The_"cyber_shadow"_Option_doesn't_work_on_my_Cyber_9382.
* Q.G5-_Problems_displaying_resolutions_above_640x480_on_some_Matrox_G100
cards.
* Q.G6-_My_Trident_laptop_goes_glowing-white_when_I_start_the_server.
* Q.G7-_Display_problems_(streaking,_shifted_lines,_tearing)_at_high_color
depth_on_Matrox_G100_cards.
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General Information
Q.A1- What is XFree86?
XFree86 is a trademark of The XFree86 Project, Inc., a non-profit organization
that provides X_Window_System servers (as well as some supporting materials)
for several operating systems on PCs and other microcomputers. The X servers,
client programs, documentation, etc. supplied by the XFree86 Project, Inc., are
collectively, also known as XFree86. All programs are provided with source
code, free of charge.
The XFree86 Project, Inc. is currently funded entirely by donations. If you're
interested in making a monetary or equipment donation, see http://
www.XFree86.org/donations.html or send Email to BOD@XFree86.org.
A list of current sponsors is available at http://www.XFree86.org/sponsors.html
For more information regarding The XFree86 Project, Inc., see http://
www.XFree86.org/corp_profile.html
Q.A2- What is the current release of XFree86?
The latest full release is XFree86 version 3.3.5. It is based on X11R6.3pl2 and
was released in August 1999. See the Release_Notes for more info.
Q.A3- What is the current release of SuperProbe?
The newest available version of SuperProbe is 2.20. It is included with the
latest XFree86 release.
Q.A4- How do I find out what version I have?
Both SuperProbe and the servers print the version when they start. However,
depending on how the server is started, its output may not normally be visible.
The server will display its version number, if you simply type X -showconfig at
a shell prompt (even if you haven't configured it for your card and monitor
yet).
Q.A5- Where do I get the latest releases?
The primary site for both SuperProbe and the XFree86 servers and clients is
ftp.XFree86.org.
A list of mirror sites is available at: http://www.XFree86.org/3.3.5/ftp.html
Q.A6- What files do I need to upgrade to the latest release?
Please read the README (or RELNOTES) file, in the directory corresponding to
your OS, on the XFree86 ftp site or one of its mirrors (see the previous
question). It contains a list of the filenames along with their contents. It
also lists which files are required and which are optional.
Q.A7- Where do I find the latest documentation?
The latest documentation can be found on http://www.XFree86.org/3.3.5/. Many of
the XFree86 specific man pages are also available at http://www.XFree86.org/
man/. The documentation is also available, in ASCII form, from ftp://
ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/3.3.5/doc/.
Q.A8- Where can I get RPMs for the latest release?
If you need XFree86 binaries in RPM format (or any other vendor-specific
package format) you will need to contact your OS vendor. The XFree86 Project
only supplies binaries in the vendor-independent ".tgz" (gzipped tar) format
(and ".zip" for OS/2).
Q.A9- When is the next release?
The 4.0 release, with significant changes, is being worked on. It is not known
at this point when it will be released. Work-in-progress snapshots of this
release are being made available from http://www.XFree86.org/snapshots/
XFree86-3.3.6 is planned for the fourth quarter 1999.
Q.A10- Which card do you recommend that I buy?
We don't recommend any particular board or manufacturer (although it would be
good to support our sponsors, see http://www.XFree86.org/sponsors.html). In
general, the S3 based boards have been the best supported, followed by the ATI
based cards, however that is no guarantee that any specific board will work. It
is probably best to look through the various "README" files at http://
www.XFree86.org/3.3.5/ to see which boards are currently supported and pick one
of them.
It is also a good idea to buy from some place that has a liberal return policy
or will let you try before you buy. Especially since some manufacturers will
sometimes change what RAMDAC or other chips are used on a board without
changing the name of the board.
Q.A11- Which card is the fastest?
We don't know. Benchmarks are just that. Useless numbers trying to capture
something that is far too complex to be captured in a number. We may
occasionally comment on the relative speed of different cards, but that is
usually the personal opinion of the one who writes the note. In general, The
XFree86 Project is not publishing benchmark comparisons, because even if you
think that a number like 'xstones' can capture the performance of a card, it is
incredibly hard to create fair and comparable numbers.
Q.A12- Has XFree86 been ported to OS/2?
Yes, the latest release is available for OS/2. This port runs in parallel to
the Presentation Manager desktop, similarly to a WinOS/2 fullscreen session
(there is no equivalent to a seamless WinOS/2 configuration). See http://
borneo.gmd.de/~veit/os2/xf86os2.html for more information.
Q.A13- How about a MS-DOS or MS-Windows port?
There is some work being done to create a free port of XFree86 to Microsoft
Windows. However, in the mean time, if you need to run X on such a platform
you'll need to use one of the available commercial_servers.
One of the commercial products, X_Appeal, is from an XFree86 sponsor and is a
port of the XFree86 servers to MS-DOS. They also have a freely available demo
version.
Q.A14- But I heard X supports Windows NT.
X11R6.3 does include some support for MicroSoft Windows NT. However, it is only
for building the libraries and some client programs. If you want an X server,
for now, you'll have to buy one. See the previous_question.
Q.A15- Can I use more than one video card in the same machine with XFree86?
Although it is technically possible to use multiple PCI-based SVGA cards in the
same machine, none of the servers currently support this.
The VGA16 and Mono servers are both capable of running both a VGA compatible
card and a non-VGA compatible monochrome card in the same machine.
For XFree86-4.0 we are working on true multi head support.
Q.A16- Are Overlay Visuals available?
Some X servers offer multiple visuals as overlays (e.g., 8bpp PseudoColor and
24bpp TrueColor). At this point XFree86 doesn't support Overlays, but we are
working on this feature for XFree86-4.0.
Q.A17- How do I report a bug in XFree86?
Use the bug report form on our WWW server (http://www.XFree86.org/), or send
email to XFree86@XFree86.org. Before sending a bug report, make sure you are
using the current release of XFree86. In the bug report, include the full
server output, details of the XFree86 version, server, description of the
problem, and some way of repeating it and most importantly, the full server
startup output. Oh, and you'll greatly increase your chances of getting a
useful response from us, if you include the full output of the server.
Q.A18- About this FAQ
In addition to being available from the XFree86_web_site (as http://
www.XFree86.org/FAQ/), this FAQ will be posted at least monthly to
comp.windows.x.i386unix, comp.os.linux.x, comp.answers, and news.answers.
It is also available from the XFree86 FTP site (and mirrors) as ftp://
ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/WWW/htdocs/FAQ/index.html_-_HTML_version and ftp://
ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/WWW/htdocs/FAQ/faq.txt_-_ASCII_text_version.
This document is maintained by Joe_Moss (joe@XFree86.Org) with contributions
from other members of the XFree86 support and development teams. Particular
thanks go to David Dawes, Dirk Hohndel, and Koen Gadeyne for their
contributions.
If you have questions or comments regarding XFree86 do not send them directly
to me. They should be Emailed to XFree86@XFree86.org (which will cause a copy
to be sent to me, as well as the rest of the XFree86 volunteer support team).
If you have comments regarding this document itself, then you may send them to
me. In particular, if you find incorrect or non-functional URLs or any typos
herein, please let me know.
Q.A19- Access via Email
If you only have Email access to the net, you should get a copy of theAccessing
the Internet by E-Mail FAQ.
If you're in North or South America, send a message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
containing only the line:
send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email
in the body of the message.
Elsewhere in the world, send mail to mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk with only this
line in the message body:
send lis-iis e-access-inet.txt
This document explains how to retrieve stuff from the WWW, Usenet News, etc.
via Email. It also explains how to use ftpmail, which you can use to get the
latest version of XFree86.
Q.A20- Related Information
Many of our sponsors supply hardware, software, and services which may be of
interest to users of XFree86 servers. The list of our_sponsors (http:/
www.XFree86.org/sponsors.html), points to the web sites of many of them.
Here are some pointers to other documentation, regarding subjects related to
XFree86, that might be useful to readers of this document. These are not
published by the XFree86 Project, Inc. and are included here only for
reference. Questions or comments regarding any of these items should be
directed to their respective authors.
* X.Org_Home_Page (http://www.x.org/)
* X11_Applications_FAQ (http://www.ee.ryerson.ca:8080/~elf/xapps/faq.html)
* Other_X_Window_System_FAQs (http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/faq/
by_category.x-faq.html)
* X_Window_System_and_OSF/Motif_WWW_Sites (http://www.rahul.net/kenton/
xsites.framed.html)
* [Linux]_XFree86_HOWTO (http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/XFree86-HOWTO.html)
* Connecting_X-Terminals_to_Linux_Systems (http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/
mini/Xterminal)
* The_3_Button_Mouse_Page_[getting_third_button_to_work] (http://
kipper.york.ac.uk/mouse.html)
* Mini-HOWTO_About_Running_XFree86_on_Notebooks_[mostly_WD_specific] (http://
sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/mini/X-Notebook)
* How_to_Setup/Use_Low-Bandwidth_X (ftp://ftp.wellfleet.com/netman/psmith/faqs/
LBX-HOWTO)
* Setting_up_X_Authentication_[Tk_specific,_but_the_concepts_are_generally
applicable] (http://cr-toolkit.crd.ge.com/tkxauth/)
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Configuration Questions
Q.B1- Do you have the config file for ...?
There is a no such thing as THE config file for a particular card or monitor.
The XF86Config file you should use is dependent on your card, monitor,
operating system, mouse, keyboard, individual preferences, network setup,
available fonts, etc.
Q.B2- I got an XF86Config file from ..., but things still don't work.
It is not a good idea to exchange XF86Config files. While it may be safe to use
certain parts of another's config file, in general, you are better off
generating your own.
Q.B3- How do I configure the server?
All of the configuration information we have, is included with the release. You
should use one of the included configuration programs, XF86Setup or xf86config.
This is explained in the QuickStart_Guide.
For further information, you could also read the XFree86 configuration guide
(available from http://www.XFree86.org/3.3.5/Config.html), and the manual pages
XF86Config(4/5) and xvidtune(1).
Q.B4- How do I know which X server to use for my video card?
A list of video cards and the X servers they require can be found at http://
www.xfree86.org/cardlist.html. If you don't find an entry for your card or
chipset in that list, check the Chipset_Support section below to see if it is
mentioned there.
Q.B5- My PC is PC98 compliant. Should I use the XF98 servers?
No. The "XF98" servers and related utilities will only work with the Japanese
PC98 architecture computers. This is a Japanese computer standard that predates
the Intel/Microsoft PC98 specification, and the two are completely unrelated.
Q.B6- My monitor isn't listed in the [ XF86Config | xf86setup ] monitor
database.
Try looking for information on your monitor's capabilities on one of the
following Internet sites:
* http://hawks.ha.md.us/hardware/monitor.html
* http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Misc/monitors/o-z.html
* http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Misc/monitors/a-n.html
* http://www.monitorservice.com/
* http://www.mela-itg.com/
* http://www.restorstone.com/MonitorManu/SearchManINT.html
* http://www.nashville.net/~griffin/mondata.html
Q.B7- What about vgaset?
Simple. Don't use it!
The xvidtune program, that is part of the 3.3.5 release, has more capabilities
and works properly with the server extension (XFree86-VidModeExtension)
included in the 3.3.5 servers.
Q.B8- My card isn't on the list shown in XF86Setup. Is there a more up-to-date
list?
Each release includes the most up-to-date list at the time of release. If there
are any updates after a release, they will be made available as: ftp://
ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/current/doc/Cards (if the file is non-existent,
i.e. this URL does not work, then there have not been any updates to the Cards
database since the last release). It should be installed in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/
Cards.
If you still can't find your card listed, you should check if there is a
generic entry for cards using the same chipset as yours. If not, see the
Chipset_Support section of this document to check on the current status of
drivers being written and what you can do if your card is unsupported.
If after all of the above, you still are not sure what to do about configuring
your card, you can contact_us about it.
Q.B9- Why does the server reject my mode lines?
This usually is due to incorrect parameters in the Monitor section of the
XF86Config file.
Q.B10- The preinst.sh script fails to run succesfully
If you install XFree86 using the description in the RELNOTES file, you may see
an error message from preinst.sh like this:
: command not found
or
var/tnp/preinst.sh systax error near unexpected token 'in
or a number of other strange errors.
In all cases, these could be traced back to downloading this file using a
MSWindows-based download program (MS Internet Explorer or any other Windows FTP
client).
These programs try to convert this script file to MSDOS text, which breaks it
completely. In most FTP clients you can force the program to download in
"image" or "binary" mode, which would solve this. Some internet browsers don't
allow this, so they can't be used for this.
The best solution is to use a UNIX Internet browser or FTP client: they do the
right thing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keyboard & Mouse Problems
Q.C1- The mouse cursor doesn't display in the right position
If the cursor appears to be horizontally offset by several pixels, it is
probably due to the same problems that cause the display to be wrapped around.
See item_D1 below.
Q.C2- Why don't menus work properly?
If you are experiencing problems with menus not allowing you to select items,
try turning NumLock off.
In X11R6 (and newer), the NumLock key is a modifier. Many clients (X programs)
haven't yet been updated to the R6 way of doing things. They need to ignore
modifiers when looking for button click/release events.
Q.C3- How come, in Tk-based applications, the buttons highlight, but can't be
depressed?
See the answer to the previous_question. You can also upgrade to Tk 4.x which
ignores modifiers by default.
Q.C4- I've installed the latest release and now some of my keys no longer work.
Why?
The 3.3.5 release is based on X11R6.3 which includes the XKB extension and has
it enabled by default. This may cause the mappings of some keys on some
keyboards to be different than they were in previous releases.
See the XF86Config man page and the sample XF86Config file for some information
on setting the key mappings to your liking.
Alternatively, you can disable the XKB extensions by starting the server with
the -kb option or by adding the keyword XkbDisable to your XF86Config file.
Q.C5- The mouse is moving erratically. What's wrong?
Most likely, you've specified the wrong protocol for the mouse. Note that newer
Logitech mice do not use the Logitech protocol, but instead use Microsoft (or
MouseMan) protocol.
Q.C6- New Microsoft serial mouse protocol 2.1A mice don't work.
This should not be a problem with XFree86 3.3.2 and later.
For earlier versions running under Linux, the solution is to get gpm-1.13 (or
later), run it as gpm -t pnp -R, and configure XFree86 for MouseSystems
Protocol with /dev/gpmdata as the device.
Q.C7- How can I swap mouse buttons? How do I get an XFree86 for Left-Handers?
Run xmodmap -e "pointer = 3 2 1" in an xterm or put such a command into your
.xinitrc file.
See also the xmodmap(1) man page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Display Problems
Q.D1- Part of the Displayed Image is Wrapping-around or is Duplicated on the
Other Side of the Screen
For Diamond Stealth Video VRAM: if the server is not recognizing your card as a
Diamond card, add this line to your XF86Config:
Option "Diamond"
If the above does not work or you don't have a Diamond card, try running the
xvidtune program and adjusting various settings. In particular, if you have a
recent S3 based card, adjust the extra S3-specific settings at the bottom.
Q.D2- My screen is too large. How can I disable the virtual desktop?
Two things influence the virtual desktop size:
* In the Screen Section of your XF86Config file (normally near the end of that
file), you may see a "Virtual" keyword for every screen depth in that
section. Comment that line (prepend a "#") or remove it. In the example
below, the virtual size was 1280x1024, while the largest mode is 1024x768, so
even in that largest mode, you would need to scroll around the display.
Section "Screen"
...
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
# Virtual 1280 1024
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
...
* If not given in a "Virtual" line in the XF86Config file, XFree86 will
automatically select the largest-resolution mode as your virtual screen size.
E.g.:
Section "Screen"
...
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
...
This will set the virtual screen to 1024x768 in 8bpp mode. If you only want
800x600, remove the "1024x768" Mode from the list above.
In some installations, the first mode in the "Modes" line is the smallest one,
as shown below:
...
Modes "640x480" "800x600" "1024x768"
...
In this case, the server will still select 1024x768 as virtual size (the
largest mode in the list), but start up with 640x480 (the first mode in the
list). This will put you in a "scrolling" mode again. If you want 640x480
without scrolling, remove all the larger modes. If you want the bigger display
without the scrolling, use "CTRL ALT +" or "CTRL ALT -" to switch to the larger
modes, or re-order the "Modes" line so that the server starts up in the mode
you want.
Note that there is such a "Display" Subsection for every color depth, so you
may have to repeat the same editing steps several times.
Q.D3- wrong colors or black and white images in 24bpp modes for Netscape,
xanim, WABI and others
This is a long-standing problem with all those client programs. It is NOT a
problem in XFree86.
Technical details: it is caused by a relatively new feature of XFree86 (24bpp
modes with 24bpp pixmaps) that is very poorly understood by many client
authors: they assume 32bpp pixmaps instead of asking the XFree86 server for
those details. Others (like Netscape) do ask for the pixmap size, but since
they don't support 24bpp pixmaps, they fall back to using 1bpp (monochrome)
pixmaps...
The current public versions of XFree86 can only support a 1:1 mapping between
the framebuffer depth and the pixmap depth. Some commercial Xservers support
32bpp pixmaps in 24bpp modes, and hence they present an interface to client
programs that happens to match their assumptions. XFree86 4.0 will also support
this feature.
There are two possible solutions to this right now:
* do not use 24bpp modes, but rather 16bpp or 32 bpp modes. 32bpp is best, but
it requires more video memory than 24bpp.
* don't use broken X clients. There are patches for Netscape and even compiled
binaries on the net that fix this bug.
Q.D4- Why do I get a mostly black screen with my Diamond Speedstar A50 (SiS
6326)?
If you have a card with 8MB of video memory, first try telling the X server
that there is only 4MB present by adding the following line to the Device
section of your config file:
Videoram 4096
If you have a 4MB card, or if the above line doesn't help, try adding the
following line to the Device section:
Option "nolinear"
A drawback with this option is that colour depths higher than 8bpp can't be
used, but that is better than nothing.
If you see problems when moving windows with KDE, try the following:
Option "no_pixmap_cache"
These problems should be fixed in the next release.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miscellaneous Problems/Questions
Q.E1- How do I get the server to scale vector fonts, but not bitmap fonts?
In standard X11R6 (and later), in addition to the fonts in "scalable" formats
(i.e. Type1, Speedo), bitmap fonts are scaled. This can have the undesirable
effect of scaling a bitmap font, even though a Type1 font is available (if the
bitmap font is listed first in the path).
With the 3.2 and later releases of XFree86, you can add the text :unscaled to
the end of any directory in the font path to turn off scaling of the bitmap
fonts in that directory. This works in both the XF86Config file and the font
server's config file.
Q.E2- What can I do to keep the server from hanging while scaling fonts?
While scaling fonts, the server can hang temporarily. If you are requesting a
particularly large font, the period during which the server is unresponsive,
can be quite noticeable. Font scaling uses floating point math and the effect
is particularly obvious, if you do not have a floating point coprocessor
(getting one would help immensely).
This problem can be avoided by running the font server (xfs) and indicating in
your XF86Config_file that the X server should request fonts from the font
server. This workaround prevents the X server from temporarily freezing, but
doesn't really speed up the time necessary to scale the fonts (so the
application requesting the font will still have to wait).
Q.E3- The system locks up when I start the S3 server. What can I do?
This is most often caused by problems with directly accessing the linear frame-
buffer (this often happens with IBM ValuePoint systems, in particular). Try
adding Option "nolinear" to the Device section of your XF86Config. If it still
occurs, try Option "nomemaccess".
Lockups can also happen, with any server, if the system bus is overclocked. Try
some more conservative BIOS settings.
Q.E4- I've got a Cirrus Logic GD546x based card and am experiencing system
lockups. What can I do?
Try adding
Option "xaa_no_color_exp"
to your XF86Config file (in the Device section).
Q.E5- I get a broken pipe error while unpacking the .tar.gz files. Is something
wrong with them?
No, this message is only a warning and can safely be ignored - assuming it is
the only error message.
Q.E6- Why does the server quit with the error xf86OpenConsole: cannot open /
dev/console on Linux?
There is a problem with the /dev/console device file. As root, you can run
these commands to fix it:
cd /dev; ./MAKEDEV console
Q.E7- How do I get the server to display more than 256 colors?
As explained in the XFree86(1)_man_page, the -bpp option can be specified on
the command line when starting the server. You can specify 15 bpp, for 32768
colors, 16 bpp, for 65536 colors, or either 24 or 32 bpp, for 16.7 million
colors.
However, the server is rarely started directly. The two most common ways to
start the server are withstartxandxdm. For example, to start the server in 16
bpp mode from the command line:
startx -- -bpp 16
or to start the server from xdm in 32bpp mode, you would put a line like the
following in the Xservers file (in the xdm library directory, typically /usr/
X11R6/lib/X11/xdm):
:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X -bpp 32
All of the above is dependent on the server having support for your card at
higher than 8 bpp.
Q.E8- Why do I get display problems with my ATI PC2TV card?
Make sure you don't have a TV cable connected to your card. The Mach64 server
doesn't work properly when that cable is connected.
Q.E9- I've just installed XFree86 3.3.5 for Linux, but I get "No such file or
directory" whenever I try to run something.
The most common reason for this is that you have installed the Linux-ix86-glibc
binaries when you don't have GNU libc 2 (aka libc 6). The solution is to
install the Linux-ix86 binaries, which are the correct ones for most
situations.
Q.E10- XFree86 crashes on Linux systems with GCC 2.8.x
If your Linux kernel version is below than 2.1.79 (this includes ALL 2.0.xx
kernels), and is compiled with the new GCC 2.8.x, XFree86 will always crash and
dump a core file. This is NOT a problem with XFree86, but rather with the Linux
kernel. The problem is in the Linux kernel file /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/
kernel/ioport.c. This file is not compiled correctly with GCC 2.8.0. There are
a number possible solutions:
* compile the entire Linux kernel with an older GCC.
* compile it with 2.8.0, but use an ioport.o file compiled with an older GCC.
* replace ioport.c with the ioport.c file from linux kernel 2.1.79 or later
(this works for the 2.0.xx series kernels as well) and rebuild your kernel.
There have been reports that the same problem occurs with some versions of egcs
as well.
Q.E11- Why does the X server exit with an error message about a SecurityPolicy
file?
If your installation of XFree86 3.3/3.3.3 is not complete you may see the
following error message when starting an X server:
error opening security policy file /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xserver/
SecurityPolicy
This is a only a warning message, and is mostly harmless. If your server is
failing to startup, this is not the reason. Check the other messages. The file
being referred to is included in the Xlib.tgz part of the XFree86 binary
distributions produced by The XFree86 Project.
Q.E12- Is XFree86 Year2000 compliant?
The X window system is not subject to year2000 problems. Neither is XFree86.
See the_y2k_statement from The Open Group for reference.
Q.E13- I get an error "_X11TransSocketUNIXConnect: Can't connect: errno = 111".
What does it mean?
Whenever the XFree86 Xserver crashes, dies, ceases to exist or is inaccessible
for any reason, you will see this error message. It is a message from an X-
client (=any program running on your XFree86 Xserver, for example the window
manager) telling you that it tried to connect to your Xserver, but failed to do
something for "some" reason.
Quoting only this message in a bug report is therefore utterly useless. Look in
the server output for the real reason why the server died. Normally you should
see the real error message (=why the server stopped working) a few lines before
the "error 111" message.
If you still can't make head or tails of all those messages, make sure to quote
the FULL server output in your bug report. It is impossible to provide you with
any help, if you just mention the "error 111", as so many people do.
Obtaining the full server output is normally accomplished by redirecting both
standard output and standard error to a file while starting the server (eg,
startx <& logfile.txt). On some systems this is done by default.
Q.E14- What is Xwrapper and why can't startx or xinit find it?
The XFree86 X servers require root privileges to access the video hardware. In
releases prior to 3.3.2 the X servers were installed set-uid root so that
normal users could run them with the required privileges. This is a potential
security problem, especially given how large and complex the X servers are. One
class of such security problems is exploiting the set-uid program with
carefully crafted user-supplied data (either on the command line or in the
environment). Starting with the 3.3.2 release the XFree86 X servers are
installed without the set-uid bit set, and a small wrapper program ``Xwrapper''
which is installed set-uid root is used to start the X server after checking
the command line and environment. This does not provide a 100% guarantee that
the X servers are not vulnerable to such exploits, but it does reduce the
chances of such exploits succeeding. Also, if vulnerabilities are found in the
future that the current Xwrapper doesn't catch, we can easily supply an updated
version. It is much easier to do that than to provide updated versions of all
the X server binaries.
The xinit command (which startx runs) provided with XFree86 3.3.2 and later has
been modified to look for an X server called ``Xwrapper'' instead of ``X''. If
you don't have Xwrapper installed, you will get an error message from xinit/
startx when it tries to start the non-set-uid X server without using the
wrapper. The same thing will happen if you do have Xwrapper installed but you
have an xserverrc file (usually $HOME/.xserverrc, but it can be any file
pointed to by your XSERVERRC environment variable) that references ``X''
instead of ``Xwrapper''. To fix that, edit your xserverrc file and replace
``X'' with ``Xwrapper''. If instead of X you have some other X server name (eg,
XF86_SVGA) in your xserverrc file, you will need to create a symbolic link from
it to /usr/X11R6/bin/X and replace it with ``Xwrapper'' in your xserverrc file.
We strongly recommend against making the X servers set-uid root because of the
potential security implications of doing so. We also recommend running xdm at
boot time to handle starting the X server on a multi user system.
Q.E15- Running XFree86 on portable computers, laptops and LCD screens
Computers using LC displays are more tricky to set up in XFree86 than the ones
with a normal (CRT) monitor. This is mainly due to the displays themselves:
LCDs basically have a fixed resolution, although some have extra hardware built
in that can cope with several different resolutions.
Especially the modelines can be extremely tricky, and each new LCD seems to
need its own modeline. Refer to the Linux-laptop homepage for more information
and specific help for most common LCD-based computers:
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop
or one of the mirror sites, e.g.
http://physics.open.ac.uk/~rpblake/linux_laptop
Although this page is Linux-oriented, the information on using XFree86
(especially the XF86Config files) is mostly OS-independent.
Q.E16- Can TrueType fonts be used with XFree86?
While XFree86 does not, at the time of writing, natively support TrueType
fonts, there is a number of third party solutions. Some information about these
options is included below. The XFree86 project is not responsible for any of
these; please send any inquiries about them to relevant newsgroups or,
eventually, to their authors.
XFree86 is planning to include native support for TrueType fonts in its next
major release.
Conversion to Bitmaps
The FreeType library includes in it's `contrib' directory the `ttf2bdf'
utility, by Mark Leisher, which can be used to generate bitmap versions of
TrueType fonts at any size, resolution, and with any encoding. The generated
bitmaps can be used by any X server that supports the BDF format (including
XFree86), or converted to PCF.
The FreeType library is available from http://www.freetype.org.
Xfsft
Xfsft, by Mark Leisher and Juliusz Chroboczek, is a font backend based on the
FreeType library (see above). Xfsft can be used as a standalone font server, or
linked into the X server. Xfsft will automatically reencode fonts to a number
of encodings, and new encodings can be provided by the user.
At the time of writing, Xfsft does not delay rasterisation; this makes it
unsuitable for fonts with a very large number of glyphs (such as fonts for
ideographic scripts).
More information of Xfsft can be found on http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jec/
programs/xfsft/.
Xfsft (sources, binaries for Linux/Intel/libc5 and Solaris 2.6/Sparc) can be
found on Sunsite at UNC ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/X11/fonts/.
Additionally, you may want to check the additional Linux/Intel/libc6 binaries
(including binaries of X servers) provided by Joerg Pomnitz, as well as his
supporting utilities (which includes a tool that creates fonts.dir files for
directories containing TrueType fonts):
http://www.darmstadt.gmd.de/~pommnitz/
and
http://www.darmstadt.gmd.de/~pommnitz/XF86-xfsft/index.html,
and the FreeBSD/Intel binaries provided by Stephen Montgomery-Smith:
http://math.missouri.edu/~stephen/software/.
When downloading, please note that you will need the source tarball, which
contains installation and usage instructions.
X-TrueType
X-TrueType, by T. Shiozaki et al., is another backend based on FreeType. It can
be run as a standalone font server or linked into the X server. It is, at the
time of writing, the only backend that provides delayed rasterisation of
glyphs; this makes it particularly suitable for use with ideographic scripts.
It will reencode fonts to a fixed, albeit large, set of encodings (new
encodings cannot easily be added by the user).
More information on X-TrueType may be found on: http://hawk.ise.chuo-u.ac.jp/
student/person/tshiozak/X-TT/index-eng.html.
FreeBSD users will be interested to know that X-TrueType is part of the `ports'
collection.
Xfstt
Xfstt, by Herbert Duerr, is a standalone font server with support for TrueType
fonts that is not based either on the FreeType library nor on the X11 Sample
Implementation code. It is written in C++, but notwithstanding this is more
lightweight and easier to compile than the alternatives. It is also very easy
to use.
Xfstt reencodes fonts to a fixed set of encodings. It does not delay
rasterisation.
Please note that Xfstt only supports one connection at a time, and needs to be
recompiled in order to serve a machine with a different byte order.
Some versions of Xfstt under some platforms are rumored to have memory leaks.
It is not known whether these rumours are rooted in reality.
Xfstt can be found all over the world, including packages for various common
operating systems. This includes Sunsite at UNC: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/
Linux/X11/fonts/.
Q.E17- I'm using NetBSD-currnet and the `wscons' console code and my X screen
sometimes jumps.
The NetBSD `wscons' code had a bug where text would still be output to a
virtual terminal even if the VT was in graphics/X mode. Try leaving a VT free
(that is, not running a getty) for your X server, which should help by allowing
the X server to use a VT that nothing else is using.
Q.E18- Slow or sluggish performance of XFree86 servers, jerky mouse movement.
The X server tends to be a critical process for the smooth operation of a
workstation, and as such has a good reason to operate at elevated priority
(negative nice value).
Running with the X server at a priority around -10 (on Linux) improves overall
system responsiveness vastly. This can be accomplished using the "nice"
command.
notes:
* this can only be done by the root user
* other processes may be affected, especially when the server gets a lot of
work from client programs (animation and benchmarks are good examples)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chipset Support
The chipsets supported by XFree86 3.3.5 are listed in the README file. The list
is available via the WWW at: http://www.XFree86.org/3.3.5/README3.html
This section contains some notes regarding various chips for which support is
not included in the current servers and other chipset/card specific notes.
Q.F1- My card is currently not supported - what can I do?
If you have a card which is not currently supported, you have these options:
* Wait until it is supported. See the chipset specific items below to get some
indication, if support is forthcoming.
* Buy a commercial X server. The X_on_Intel-based_Unix_Frequently_Asked
Questions document, which is posted regularly to comp.windows.x.i386unix,
contains a list of vendors of X servers.
* Try using the Mono or VGA16 servers. They should work with any VGA compatible
card (within limits - if you have a programmable clock chip on the card, your
available modes may be severely limited). They just won't take full advantage
of the card's capabilities. Picking the "Unsupported Card" entry in XF86Setup
will configure it to work with the VGA16 server.
* Trade your card in for one that is supported.
* Write a driver yourself or find someone you know who is willing and able to
do it. If you choose this option, you should probably contact_us about
joining the development_team (and thus get access to the latest source code)
and about getting any code you write integrated into the next release.
* If you are running a recent 2.1.x version of Linux, you can also use the
vesafb driver and the XF68_FBDev server. These are not supported by XFree86,
so don't ask us about any problems you may have using them.
Q.F2- How do I find out the current status of a driver?
Check this FAQ periodically. When there is a change in the status of a driver
that is under development, this FAQ will be updated to reflect the change.
Q.F3- Unsupported Clock Chips
If you are using a card that uses a programmable clock chip which is not
supported by the server, you may be able to get a separate program to program
the chip for useful clock frequencies.
Sometimes, others make clock programming programs available on the net that can
be called by the server. Also, you may be able to use a video card's driver
made for MS-Windows or OS/2 to program the clocks and then warm boot the
machine and run XFree86.
You should probably use a monitor that is smart enough to reject frequencies
that are beyond its specs, if you plan to try something like this.
Q.F4- Do you have an alpha or beta server for my ... card?
The XFree86 Project does NOT make any pre-release source code available to
anyone except members of the development team. Nor are binaries generally
available.
If you have access to some currently unsupported hardware, are willing to
actively participate in testing and perhaps debugging a server, and would like
to join the development team, then send an email message to XFree86@XFree86.org
listing your available hardware and software, as well as any relevant skills
you may have.
Often, when there is code being developed for a previously unsupported chipset,
a "Call for Beta Testers" will be issued (via a posting to relevant Usenet
groups).
Q.F5- Matrox chips
The 3.3.5 release includes a driver for the Matrox Millennium, Millennium II,
Mystique, Millennium G200, Mystique G200, Millennium G400, and Productiva G100
cards. This driver is part of the XF86_SVGA server. Do not attempt to use the
XF98_MGA server unless you really do have one of the Japanese PC98 architecture
computers. If you want to know why, see the PC98_question.
Q.F6- Alliance ProMotion chips
The latest release includes some support for the ProMotion 6422, AT24, AT25 and
AT3D.
Q.F7- Cirrus CL-GD754x chips
There is a driver for these chips in the current SVGA server, however it has
been reported not to work correctly on all systems. A possible work-around is
to treat it as another chip (such as "clgd5428", for a CL-GD7543, or
"clgd5436", for a CL-GD7548), using a Chipset line, in which case should
probably also disable acceleration (Option "noaccel"). Also, some people have
reported success after modifying the 800x600 modeline to use a lower dot clock,
or by decreasing some of the horizontal timing parameters.
Q.F8- Sierra Falcon chip
Boards based on this chip (such as the STB Horizon 64) are not supported.
Q.F9- ISA-bus Mach64 cards
The current version of the server needs to map the video memory aperture into
the system's address space. Since this requires 4MB of address space and since
ISA bus systems can only address a maximum of 16MB, the Mach64 server can not
be used on systems with more that 12MB of RAM. See the Mach64_README_files for
more information regarding the current capabilities of the server.
Until full support for ISA Mach64 cards is added to the Mach64 server (if it
ever is), the SVGA server can be used instead.
Q.F10- S3 911 and 924 Cards with 512KB RAM
The S3 server does not work with 911 and 924 cards that only have .5MB of RAM
on the video card. Upgrade the card to 1MB.
Q.F11- Is there a server for 3Dlabs GLINT or Permedia based cards?
An accelerated server supporting these chips is available as part of XFree86-
3.3.5. The bug in XFree86-3.3.3 that made your clock run slower after using
this server has been fixed. Note: it is necessary to reboot between running the
buggy version and the fixed version so that the OS can reinitialise the timers.
Q.F12- Is a server for Riva 128, 128zx or Riva TNT based cards available?
Support for all these NVIDIA chipsets is included in XFree86-3.3.5. This server
was partly implemented by NVIDIA and now follows the Open Source guidelines.
Q.F13- Is a server for Rendition chipsets available?
An initial server supporting the V1000 and V2x00 chipsets is available as part
of XFree86-3.3.3. Work on acceleration is slowly making progress, but not
finished, yet.
Q.F14- What about AGP?
At this point most AGP cards with supported chipsets are known to work.
Q.F15- Why don't you just make a VESA 2.0 driver so that all compliant cards
will work?
All of the essential functions that would be needed to support an X server can
only be used while in the processor's real-mode. In other words, VESA
compliance is of no use when using a protected-mode operating system.
Of course, the operating system itself can use the VESA BIOS while booting
before it switches into protected mode. This is what is done with vesafb in
recent Linux kernels. See below for details.
Q.F16- Is a server for the Intel i740 chipset available?
Boards based on Intel i740 chips are now supported in XFree86 release 3.3.5.
Q.F17- Is a server for the Mpact 2 chipset available?
No. XFree86 has no chipset documentation for this chipset. No one has stepped
up to try and develop such a driver, to begin with. There is no projected
timeframe for such a driver, but since development hasn't started yet, it will
be a long time before this changes.
Q.F18- Is a server for the S3 Trio3D, Trio3D/2X or the S3 Savage3D or the
Savage4 available?
XFree86-3.3.5 supports all these chipsets as part of the SVGA server. Please
note that S3 Savage3D support was not tested and Savage4 support is currently
restricted to Linux and the Intel Platform.
Q.F19- S3 Trio3D/2X (86C362, 86C368) doesn't work or is awfully slow
as a quick workaround for XFree86 3.3.3.1 to 3.3.5 you can specify
ChipID 0x8a10
VideoRam 4096
in the device section or compile your own server from XFree86 3.3.5 sources
using the following patch:
--- xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/vga256/drivers/s3v/regs3v.h~ Mon Sep 6
10:47:18 1999
+++ xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/vga256/drivers/s3v/regs3v.h Fri Sep 24
14:39:18 1999
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@
/* Wait until Command FIFO is empty */
#define WaitCommandEmpty() do { int loop=0; mem_barrier();
\
- if (s3vPriv.chip == S3_ViRGE_GX2 || s3vPriv.chip == S3_ViRGE_MX ||
s3vPriv.chip == S3_ViRGE_MXP) \
+ if (S3_ViRGE_GX2_SERIES(s3vPriv.chip) || S3_ViRGE_MX_SERIES
(s3vPriv.chip)) \
while ((!(((((mmtr)s3vMmioMem)-
>subsys_regs.regs.adv_func_cntl)) & 0x400)) && (loop++<MAXLOOP)); \
else if (S3_TRIO_3D_SERIES(s3vPriv.chip)) \
while (((IN_SUBSYS_STAT() & 0x5f00) != 0x5f00) &&
(loop++<MAXLOOP)); \
Q.F20- Is a server for SiS 530 or SiS 620 based motherboards with integrated
graphics available?
Boards based on those two chipsets are now supported in the current XFree86
release 3.3.5.
For an improved server for those see below the question regarding newer_SiS
chipsets.
Q.F21- Is a server for the Trident Blade3D chipset available?
Support has been added in this release for the blade3d and cyberblade chipset.
Q.F22- Is a server for the Voodoo Banshee or other 3Dfx chips available?
Support for some of the Voodoo boards has been added to the 3.3.5 release. The
work of Daryll Strauss has been integrated in this release but you might want
to directly check his server at http://glide.xxedgexx.com/
3DfxRPMS_vb_glibc.html.
Q.F23- How do I get XFree86 to work with my new ATI card?
First, you need to get the XFree86 3.3.5 Mach64 server if you don't already
have it. It should automatically detect the ATI chips available up to the time
of its release (July 1999), except for all Rage128 cards (like the Fury). See
below for Rage128_support. One exception from this is the Rage Pro LT chipset,
as the server doesn't support the LCD with that chipset. A fix for this problem
is known and will be included in XFree86-3.3.5.
Q.F24- Is there any other way I can get an unsupported card to work?
Well, there is. If you are running Linux and the card is VBE-2.0 compliant in
hardware. Unfortunately even today many new cards are not. But if yours is,
then you can setup a late version of the Linux kernel (anything newer than
2.1.119 should do) with vesafb and use the XF86_FBDev server with it. Anthony
D'Amico has a nice introduction how to do this at http://www.uno.edu/~adamico/
banshee/, where he describes how to get the Banshee to work. Note that the
section there about installing the XF68_FBDev X server can be omitted. Instead
use the XF86_FBDev that is provided as part of XFree86 3.3.5. This works in a
very similar way for other VBE-2.0 compliant cards as well.
Q.F25- Does XFree86 support the ATI Rage128?
SuSE has made available a Linux binary of a Rage128 server called
XFCom_Rage128. You can get this server at the XSuSE_website. As with all
previous XFCom servers, sources for this server will be included in the next
XFree86 release.
Q.F26- Does XFree86 support the SiS 540/630 or the SiS 300?
SuSE has made available a Linux binary of a SiSserver called XFCom_SiS. You can
get this server at the XSuSE_website. As with all previous XFCom servers,
sources for this server will be included in the next XFree86 release.
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Known problems with XFree86 3.3.5
This section includes a list of problems found since the release of XFree86
3.3.5.
Q.G1- The tar files for Linux-ix86-glibc2 are too big / contain additional
stuff.
Due to a small oops in the build process of the Linux-ix86-glibc2 binaries
there were incorrect tar files available for download for about the first 48
hours after the release of XFree86-3.3.5. The problem has been rectified, now.
Q.G2- I get an undefined symbol __deregister_frame_info with the Linux-ix86-
glibc2 binaries.
there is a slight incompatibility between SuSE and some other distributions.
This has been fixed with glibc-2.1 based distributions, but is still visible in
glibc-2.0 binaries built on SuSE-6.1 (as are the Linux-ix86-glibc2 binaries).
As a workaround, please install the following library on your system:
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/6.1/a1/regframe.rpm
A copy of this is available as
"ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/XFree86/3.3.5/binaries/Linux-ix86-glibc/regframe.rpm
Now edit (as root) the file /etc/ld.so.preload (or create it in case it does
not exist). The first line contains a (space separated) list of libraries to
pre-load before program execution. Add /lib/libregframe.so to that list (or
write /lib/libregframe.so in the first line in case you are creating this
file).
Q.G3- My Trident TGUI9680 card has problems with fonts
These problems can usually be fixed by adding the Option "xaa_no_color_exp" to
the Device Section in the XF86Config file.
Q.G4- The "cyber_shadow" Option doesn't work on my Cyber 9382.
This is a known problem, but there's a workaround. If you explicitly set the
chipset to cyber9382, the cyber_shadow option works again.
Q.G5- Problems displaying resolutions above 640x480 on some Matrox G100 cards.
Check that you have a current BIOS version on your G100 card. Version 1.3 is
said to have the problem, version 1.5 is said to fix the problem.
Q.G6- My Trident laptop goes glowing-white when I start the server.
Disable the "panel stretch" or "enlarge panel" or "panel extend" feature in the
Laptop BIOS. Do not use the vesafb Linux kernel module. With these two changes
the server should work ok (you might need Option "cyber_shadow", too).
Q.G7- Display problems (streaking, shifted lines, tearing) at high color depth
on Matrox G100 cards.
This problem is not fatal: the flickering or streaking is only transitional,
i.e. while something changes on the display (moving windows around for
example).
The driver fails to prohibit video modes that are beyond the card's
capabilities. This happens at high color depths (24 and 32bpp) in combination
with high pixel clocks.
Your options:
* reduce the pixel clock for the modes that cause this flickering
* reduce the vertical refresh for these modes (basically the same as the
previous suggestion)
* reduce color depth (32 - 24 - 16 bpp)
* turn off acceleration (unacceptable to most people)
All of these options require changes to the XF86Config file. You can also
restart the configuration tool (XF86Setup or xf86config) and reduce the
vertical refresh limit of your monitor until XFree86 selects a mode that is
still OK, but that has some side-effects. It's better to just throw out the
modelines from the XF86Config file that cause problems.
Note that this is a hardware limitation of your video card that XFree86 just
happens to ignore. A similar mode in any other operating system would not work
either (but is mostly not allowed by the drivers).
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