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ConfigFX86 and fx86config use simple interfaces to let you select supported video cards and video monitors. If your video card is supported by the ConfigFX86 or fx86config utility (check the Hardware HOWTO and XFree86 README files), you can use the ConfigFX86 and fx86config installation routine to simplify the configuration process enormously. If it is provided with your XFree86 distribution, ConfigFX86 and fx86config will be located in the directory /usr/X386/bin. ConfigFX86 was written by Stephen Zwaska.
There is documentation available for ConfigFX86 and fx86config, usually placed in /usr/X386/bin with the executable file. Some versions of Linux and XFree86 don’t supply the documents, though. The documentation is often supplied in multiple formats. There is an ASCII version called ConfigFX86.txt and a PostScript version called ConfigFX86.ps (or the fx86config versions).
When you run either ConfigFX86 or fx86config, you are shown some general information, then prompted for the information you gathered earlier about your system. In most cases, you are shown a list of supported values and asked to choose one. Following through these choices in order provides the utility with the proper information to build your Xconfig file.
The xf86config utility, for example, asks for your mouse type, whether you want to enable special features for the mouse (such as the middle button on a three-button mouse), the device the mouse is attached to, horizontal and vertical sync ranges of your monitor, a name for your monitor, the chipset used by your video card, the server to run, the location of the file linked to the server, the amount of RAM installed on your video card, whether you want a clockchip setting, and the resolutions the video card supports in order. After you have answered all the questions, xf86config asks whether the utility should create the XF86config file.
After the XF86Config or Xconfig file is created using the script, you should resist the temptation to start up X immediately. Instead, take the time to examine the file manually to prevent any chance of damage to your hardware from an incorrect setting. The following section on manually configuring the Xconfig or XF86Config file explains all the settings. After you’re sure everything is fine, launch X with the command startx.
If you are manually entering your configuration information into the Xconfig or XF86Config files, you need to know how the files are laid out and how to enter your specific details. All versions of XFree86 have at least one sample configuration file, usually called Xconfig.eg or XF86Config.eg located in the lib directory. You should use this file as a template for creating your own configuration file. Copy the example file to a new file without the .eg extension and make the changes described as follows.
The Xconfig and XF86Config files are not short, but there are lots of comments scattered throughout. The format of the configuration files is a set of sections for each aspect of the XFree86 configuration. The general order of sections is as follows:
Let’s look at each section in a little more detail. If you have run the automated configuration file generator utilities such as xf86config or XF86Config, check the entries in the generated file. If you are manually editing the file, proceed slowly and methodically to prevent errors.
Note:
The code excerpts shown in the rest of this section are from the XF86Config file created by XFree86 version 3.X because it is the latest version and usually included with new software distributions. The Xconfig file for XFree86 version 2.X is similar and you should have no problem following the same procedures by examining the Xconfig file.
Notice that each section in the Xconfig or XF86Config file starts with the keyword “section” followed by the name of the section. The section is terminated with the keyword “EndSection.” This makes it easier to find the sections you want to work with. Comments in the file all start with a pound sign.
In most cases, the pathnames provided in the configuration files do not need changing unless you installed XFree86 in a directory other than the default value. The paths used by XFree86 for screen fonts and other files are given in a section of the configuration file that looks like this:
Section “Files”
# The location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like “.txt” or “.db”). There is normally
# no need to change the default.
RgbPath “/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb”
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),
# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath
# command (or a combination of both methods)
FontPath “/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/”
FontPath “/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/”
FontPath “/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/”
FontPath “/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/”
FontPath “/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/”
EndSection
The preceding code defines the search paths for the screen fonts and RGB database. If you installed XFree86 into the default directories or let the installation routines proceed with default values, you should not have to change anything here.
Note that the directories referenced in this XF86Config file follow the formal naming conventions for X, using /usr/X11R6. However, because these are linked to /usr/X11, /usr/X386, and potentially other directories in most installations, the link can be followed to the target file. Make sure to verify that the directories actually do point to the screen fonts by going into each directory in turn and examining the files they contain. If the directory doesn’t exist or is empty, XFree86 won’t be able to load the fonts properly and will crash or generate error messages.
If you add new fonts to your XFree86 installation, they should go in one of the font directories specified in the XF86Config file.
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