Tribblix: manual page: Xorg.1

Xorg(1) User Commands Xorg(1)

NAME

Xorg - X11R7 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 by the X.Org Foundation from the XFree86
Project's XFree86 4.4rc2 release. The XFree86 release was originally
derived from X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell which was contributed to X11R5
by Snitily Graphics Consulting Service.

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, AMD64, SPARC and PowerPC. The most widely
supported operating systems are the free/OpenSource UNIX-like systems
such as Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and Solaris. Commercial
UNIX operating systems such as UnixWare are also supported. Other
supported operating systems include GNU Hurd. Mac OS X is supported
with the Xquartz(1) X server. Win32/Cygwin is supported with the
XWin(1) 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.

TCPIP
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(4) configuration files, 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(4) 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 that have virtual terminal support,
such as Linux, BSD, OpenSolaris, SVR3, and SVR4.

-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(4) 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(4)
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.

-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.

-configdir directory
Read the server configuration files from directory. This
option will work for any directory when the server is run as
root (i.e, with real-uid 0), or for directories relative to a
directory in the config directory search path for all other
users.

-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(4) 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.

-disableVidMode
Disable 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(4) 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.,
`PCI:1:0:0'). At present, only isolation of PCI devices is
supported; i.e., this option is ignored if bustype is
anything other than `PCI'.

-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(4) 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(4) 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 when running as root is
/var/log/Xorg.n.log and for non root it is
$XDG_DATA_HOME/xorg/Xorg.n.log 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.

-novtswitch
Disable the automatic switching on X server reset and
shutdown to the VT that was active when the server started,
if supported by the OS.

-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(4) 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(4) file option.

-pointer pointer-name
Use the xorg.conf(4) 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.

-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.

-sharevts
Share virtual terminals with another X server, if supported
by the OS.

-screen screen-name
Use the xorg.conf(4) 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.

-showDefaultModulePath
Print out the default module path the server was compiled
with.

-showDefaultLibPath
Print out the path libraries should be installed to.

-showopts
For each driver module installed, print out the list of
options and their argument types.

-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.

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. These actions depend on the XKB keymap loaded by a
particular keyboard device and may or may not be available on a given
configuration.

The following key combinations are commonly part of the default
XKEYBOARD keymap.

Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
Immediately kills the server -- no questions asked. It can be
disabled by setting the DontZap xorg.conf(4) file option to a
TRUE value.

It should be noted that zapping is triggered by the
Terminate_Server action in the keyboard map. This action is
not part of the default keymaps but can be enabled with the
XKB option "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp".

Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus
Change video mode to next one specified in the configuration
file. This can be disabled with the DontZoom xorg.conf(4)
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(4) file option.

Ctrl+Alt+F1...F12
For 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(4) file option.

CONFIGURATION

Xorg typically uses a configuration file called xorg.conf and
configuration files with the suffix .conf in a directory called
xorg.conf.d for its initial setup. Refer to the xorg.conf(4) manual
page for information about the format of this file.

Xorg has a mechanism for automatically generating a built-in
configuration at run-time when no xorg.conf file or xorg.conf.d files
are present. The current version of this automatic configuration
mechanism works in two 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 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 files can be found in a range of locations.
These are documented fully in the xorg.conf(4) 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.

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d-4 Server configuration directory.

/etc/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.

/usr/etc/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.

/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.

/var/log/Xorg.n.log Server log file for display n.

/usr/bin/* Client binaries.

/usr/include/* Header files.

/usr/lib/* Libraries.

/usr/share/fonts/X11/* Fonts.

/usr/share/X11/XErrorDB Client error message database.

/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/* Client resource specifications.

/usr/share/man/man?/* Manual pages.

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

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 anderson@metrolink.com
Doug Anson danson@lgc.com
Gertjan Akkerman akkerman@dutiba.twi.tudelft.nl
Mike Bernson mike@mbsun.mlb.org
Robin Cutshaw robin@XFree86.org
David Dawes dawes@XFree86.org
Marc Evans marc@XFree86.org
Pascal Haible haible@izfm.uni-stuttgart.de
Matthieu Herrb Matthieu.Herrb@laas.fr
Dirk Hohndel hohndel@XFree86.org
David Holland davidh@use.com
Alan Hourihane alanh@fairlite.demon.co.uk
Jeffrey Hsu hsu@soda.berkeley.edu
Glenn Lai glenn@cs.utexas.edu
Ted Lemon mellon@ncd.com
Rich Murphey rich@XFree86.org
Hans Nasten nasten@everyware.se
Mark Snitily mark@sgcs.com
Randy Terbush randyt@cse.unl.edu
Jon Tombs tombs@XFree86.org
Kees Verstoep versto@cs.vu.nl
Paul Vixie paul@vix.com
Mark Weaver Mark_Weaver@brown.edu
David Wexelblat dwex@XFree86.org
Philip Wheatley Philip.Wheatley@ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM
Thomas Wolfram wolf@prz.tu-berlin.de
Orest Zborowski orestz@eskimo.com

Xorg source is available from the FTP server <ftp://ftp.x.org/>, and
from the X.Org server <http://gitweb.freedesktop.org/>.
Documentation and other information can be found from the X.Org web
site <http://www.x.org/>.

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
<http://www.x.org>. Refer to the source code for specific copyright
notices.

XFree86(TM) is a trademark of The XFree86 Project, Inc.

X11(TM) and X Window System(TM) are trademarks of The Open Group.

X Version 11 xorg-server 1.16.4 Xorg(1)