XFree86(1) manual page

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NAME

XFree86 - X11R6 for UNIX on x86 platforms

DESCRIPTION

XFree86 is a collection of X servers for UNIX-like OSs on Intel x86 platforms. This work is derived from X386 1.2 which was contributed to X11R5 by Snitily Graphics Consulting Service.

CONFIGURATIONS

XFree86 operates under the following operating systems:

NETWORK CONNECTIONS

 XFree86 supports connections made using the following reliable byte-streams:

Local
XFree86 supports local connections via Streams pipe via various mechanisms, using the following paths (n represents the display number):
/dev/X/server.n (SVR3 and SVR4)
/dev/X/Nserver.n (SVR4)
/dev/XnS and /dev/XnR (SCO SVR3)
On SVR4.0.4, if the Advanced Compatibility Package is installed, and in SVR4.2, XFree86 supports local connections from clients for SCO XSight/ODT, and (with modifications to the binary) clients for ISC SVR3.

Unix Domain
XFree86 uses /tmp/.X11-unix/Xn as the filename for the socket, where n is the display number.

TCPIP
XFree86 listens on port htons(6000+n), where n is the display number.

Amoeba RPC
This is the default communication medium used under native Amoeba. Note that under Amoeba, the server should be started with a ``hostname:displaynumber'' argument.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

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"). This 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/xinit, the definition should be at the top of your .xinitrc file. If you use xdm, the definitions should be early on in the <XRoot>/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession script.

OPTIONS

In addition to the normal server options described in the Xserver(1) manual page, XFree86 accepts the following command line switches:

vtXX
XX specifies the Virtual Terminal device number which XFree86 will use. Without this option, XFree86 will pick the first available Virtual Terminal that it can locate. This option applies only to SVR3, SVR4, Linux, and BSD OSs with the `syscons' or `pcvt' driver.

-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.

-bpp n
Set number of bits per pixel. The default is 8. Legal values are 8, 15, 16, 24, 32. Not all servers support all values.

-weight nnn
Set RGB weighting at 16 bpp. The default is 565. This applies only to those servers which support 16 bpp.

-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. Not all servers support this.

-rgamma value
Set the red gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0 Not all servers support this.

-ggamma value
Set the green gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0 Not all servers support this.

-bgamma value
Set the blue gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0 Not all servers support this.

-showconfig
Print out a list of screen drivers configured in the server.

-verbose
Maximise information printed at startup (more than the default).

-xf86config file
Read the server configuration from file. This option is only available when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).

-keeptty
Prevent the server from detaching its initial controlling terminal. This option is only useful when debugging the server.

KEYBOARD

 Multiple key presses recognized directly by XFree86 are:

Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
Immediately kills the server -- no questions asked. (Can be disabled by specifying "DontZap" in the ServerFlags section of the XF86Config file.)

Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus
Change video mode to next one specified in the configuration file, (increasing video resolution order).

Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Minus
Change video mode to previous one specified in the configuration file, (decreasing video resolution order).

Ctrl+Alt+F1...F12
For BSD systems using the syscons driver and Linux, 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(4/5) manual page for more information.

FILES

<XRoot>/bin/XF86_SVGA
The color SVGA X server

<XRoot>/bin/XF86_Mono
The monochrome X server for VGA and other mono cards

<XRoot>/bin/XF86_S3
The accelerated S3 X server

<XRoot>/bin/XF86_Mach8
The accelerated Mach8 X server

<XRoot>/bin/XF86_Mach32
The accelerated Mach32 X server

<XRoot>/bin/XF86_Mach64
The accelerated Mach64 X server

<XRoot>/bin/XF86_P9000
The accelerated P9000 X server

<XRoot>/bin/XF86_AGX
The accelerated AGX X server

<XRoot>/bin/XF86_W32
The accelerated ET4000/W32 X server

<XRoot>/bin/XF86_8514
The accelerated 8514/A X server

/etc/XF86Config
Server configuration file

<XRoot>/lib/X11/XF86Config.hostname
Server configuration file

<XRoot>/lib/X11/XF86Config
Server configuration file

<XRoot>/bin/*
Client binaries

<XRoot>/include/*
Header files

<XRoot>/lib/*
Libraries

<XRoot>/lib/X11/fonts/*
Fonts

<XRoot>/lib/X11/rgb.txt
Color names to RGB mapping

<XRoot>/lib/X11/XErrorDB Client error message database

<XRoot>/lib/X11/app-defaults/*
Client resource specifications

<XRoot>/man/man?/*
Manual pages

/etc/Xn.hosts
Initial access control list for display n

Note: <XRoot> refers to the root of the X11 install tree.

SEE ALSO

X(1), Xserver(1), xdm(1), xinit(1), XF86Config(4/5), xf86config(1), XF86_SVGA(1), XF86_VGA16(1), XF86_Mono(1), XF86_Accel(1), xvidtune(1)

AUTHORS

For X11R5, XF86 1.2 was provided by:

Thomas Roell,
roell@informatik.tu-muenchen.de TU-Muenchen: Server and SVR4 stuff

Mark W. Snitily,
mark@sgcs.com SGCS: SVR3 support, X Consortium Sponsor

... and many more people out there on the net who
helped with ideas and bug-fixes.

XFree86 was integrated into X11R6 by the following team:

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

The XFree86 enhancement package was provided by:

David Dawes,
dawes@XFree86.org Release coordination, administration of FTP repository and mailing lists. Source tree management and integration, accelerated server integration, fixing, and coding.

Glenn Lai,
glenn@cs.utexas.edu The SpeedUp code for ET4000 based SVGA cards, and ET4000/W32 accelerated server.

Jim Tsillas,
jtsilla@ccs.neu.edu Many server speedups from the fX386 series of enhancements.

David Wexelblat,
dwex@XFree86.org Integration of the fX386 code into the default server, many driver fixes, and driver documentation, assembly of the VGA card/monitor database, development of the generic video mode listing. Accelerated server integration, fixing, and coding.

Dirk Hohndel,
hohndel@XFree86.org Linux shared libraries and release coordination. Accelerated server integration and fixing. Generic administrivia and documentation.

Amancio Hasty Jr., hasty@netcom.com
Porting to 386BSD version 0.1 and XS3 development.

Rich Murphey,
rich@XFree86.org Ported to 386BSD version 0.1 based on the original port by Pace Willison. Support for 386BSD, FreeBSD, and NetBSD.

Robert Baron,
Robert.Baron@ernst.mach.cs.cmu.edu Ported to Mach.

Orest Zborowski,
orestz@eskimo.com Ported to Linux.

Doug Anson,
danson@lgc.com Ported to Solaris x86.

David Holland,
davidh@use.com Ported to Solaris x86.

David McCullough, davidm@stallion.oz.au
Ported to SCO SVR3.

Michael Rohleder, michael.rohleder@stadt-frankfurt.de Ported to ISC SVR3.

Kees Verstoep,
versto@cs.vu.nl Ported to Amoeba based on Leendert van Doorn's original Amoeba port of X11R5.

Marc Evans,
Marc@XFree86.org Ported to OSF/1.

Philip Homburg,
philip@cs.vu.nl Ported to Minix-386vm.

Thomas Mueller,
tm@systrix.de Ported to LynxOS.

Jon Tombs,
tombs@XFree86.org S3 server and accelerated server coordination.

Harald Koenig,
koenig@tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de S3 server development.

Bernhard Bender,
br@elsa.mhs.compuserve.com S3 server development.

Kevin Martin,
martin@cs.unc.edu Overall work on the base accelerated servers (ATI and 8514/A), and Mach64 server.

Rik Faith,
faith@cs.unc.edu Overall work on the base accelerated servers (ATI and 8514/A).

Tiago Gons,
tiago@comosjn.hobby.nl Mach8 and 8514/A server development

Hans Nasten,
nasten@everyware.se Mach8, 8514/A, and S3 server development and BSD/386 support

Mike Bernson,
mike@mbsun.mlb.org Mach32 server development.

Mark Weaver,
Mark_Weaver@brown.edu Mach32 server development.

Craig Groeschel,
craig@metrolink.com Mach32 server development.

Henry Worth,
Henry.Worth@amail.amdahl.com AGX server.

Erik Nygren,
nygren@mit.edu P9000 server.

Harry Langenbacher harry@brain.jpl.nasa.gov P9000 server.

Chris Mason,
mason@mail.csh.rit.edu P9000 server.

Henrik Harmsen
harmsen@eritel.se P9000 server.

Simon Cooper,
scooper@vizlab.rutgers.edu Cirrus accelerated code (based on work by Bill Reynolds).

Harm Hanemaayer,
hhanemaa@cs.ruu.nl Cirrus accelerated code, and ARK driver.

Mike Tierney,
floyd@eng.umd.edu WD accelerated code.

Bill Conn,
conn@bnr.ca WD accelerated code.

Brad Bosch,
brad@lachman.com WD 90C24A support.

Alan Hourihane,
alanh@fairlite.demon.co.uk Trident SVGA driver

Marc La France,
Marc.La-France@ualberta.ca ATI vgawonder SVGA driver

Steve Goldman,
sgoldman@encore.com Oak 067/077 SVGA driver.

Jorge Delgado,
ernar@dit.upm.es Oak SVGA driver, and 087 accelerated code.

Bill Conn,
conn@bnr.ca WD accelerated code.

Paolo Severini,
lendl@dist.dist.unige.it AL2101 SVGA driver

Ching-Tai Chiu,
cchiu@netcom.com Avance Logic ALI SVGA driver

Manfred Brands,
mb@oceonics.nl Cirrus 64xx SVGA driver

Randy Hendry,
randy@sgi.com Cirrus 6440 support in the cl64xx SVGA driver

Frank Dikker,
dikker@cs.utwente.nl MX SVGA driver

Regis Cridlig,
cridlig@dmi.ens.fr Chips & Technology driver

Jon Block,
block@frc.com Chips & Technology driver

Mike Hollick,
hollick@graphics.cis.upenn.edu Chips & Technology driver

Peter Trattler,
peter@sbox.tu-graz.ac.at RealTek SVGA driver

Craig Struble,
cstruble@acm.vt.edu Video7 SVGA driver

Gertjan Akkerman, akkerman@dutiba.twi.tudelft.nl 16 colour VGA server, and XF86Config parser.

Davor Matic,
dmatic@Athena.MIT.EDU Hercules driver.

Pascal Haible,
haible@izfm.uni-stuttgart.de Banked monochrome VGA support, Hercules support, and mono frame buffer support for dumb monochrome devices

...
and many more people out there on the net who helped with beta-testing this enhancement.

XFree86 source is available from the FTP server ftp.XFree86.org, among others. Send email to XFree86@XFree86.org for details.

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