NAME
Xorg - X11R6 X server
SYNOPSIS
Xorg [:display]
[option ...]
DESCRIPTION
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.
PLATFORMS
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.
NETWORK CONNECTIONS
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).
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"). 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/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession script.
OPTIONS
Xorg supports several mechanisms for
supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command
line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
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.
- -isolateDevice bus-id
- Restrict device resets to the device at bus-id. The
bus-id string has the form
bustype:bus:device:function
(e.g., oqPCI:1:0:0cq). At present, only isolation of PCI devices is
supported; i.e., this option is ignored if bustype is
anything other than oqPCIcq.
- -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(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
file option.
- -pointer pointer-name
- Use the xorg.conf(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
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.
- -showDefaultLibPath
- Print out the path libraries should be installed to.
- -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.
KEYBOARD
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(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
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(5x)
file option.
- Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Multiply
- Not treated specially by default. If the
AllowClosedownGrabs xorg.conf(5x)
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(3x)
Xlib function.
- Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Divide
- Not treated specially by default. If the
AllowDeactivateGrabs xorg.conf(5x)
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(5x)
file option.
CONFIGURATION
Xorg typically uses a configuration
file called xorg.conf for its initial setup. Refer to the
xorg.conf(5x)
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.
FILES
The Xorg server config file can be found in a
range of locations. These are documented fully in the xorg.conf(5x)
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/etc/xorg.conf
- Server configuration file.
- /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf
- Server configuration file.
- /var/log/Xorg.n.log
- Server log file for display n.
- /usr/bin/*
- Client binaries.
- /usr/include/*
- Header files.
- /usr/lib/*
- Libraries.
- /usr/lib/X11/fonts/*
- Fonts.
- /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt
- Color names to RGB mapping.
- /usr/lib/X11/XErrorDB
- Client error message database.
- /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/*
- Client resource specifications.
- /usr/man/man?/*
- Manual pages.
- /etc/Xn.hosts
- Initial access control list for display n.
SEE ALSO
x(7), xserver(1x),
xdm(1x),
xinit(1x),
xorg.conf(5x),
xorgconfig(1x),
xorgcfg(1x),
xvidtune(1x),
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 <.
AUTHORS
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
Doug Anson
Gertjan Akkerman
Mike Bernson
Robin Cutshaw
David Dawes
Marc Evans
Pascal Haible
Matthieu Herrb
Dirk Hohndel
David Holland
Alan Hourihane
Jeffrey Hsu
Glenn Lai
Ted Lemon
Rich Murphey
Hans Nasten
Mark Snitily
Randy Terbush
Jon Tombs
Kees Verstoep
Paul Vixie
Mark Weaver
David Wexelblat
Philip Wheatley
Thomas Wolfram
Orest Zborowski
Xorg source is available from the FTP server <, and from the X.org
server <.
Documentation and other information can be found from the X.org web
site <.
LEGAL
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 <. 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.