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XFree86(1)                                                          XFree86(1)




NAME

       XFree86 - X11R6 X server


SYNOPSIS

       XFree86 [:display] [option ...]


DESCRIPTION

       XFree86  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  originally derived from X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell which
       was contributed to X11R5 by Snitily Graphics Consulting  Service.   The
       XFree86  server architecture was redesigned for the 4.0 release, and it
       includes among many other things a loadable module system derived  from
       code  donated  by Metro Link, Inc.  The current XFree86 release is com-
       patible with X11R6.6.


PLATFORMS

       XFree86 operates under a wide range of operating systems  and  hardware
       platforms.   The  Intel x86 (IA32) architecture is the most widely sup-
       ported hardware platform.   Other  hardware  platforms  include  Compaq
       Alpha,  Intel IA64, SPARC and PowerPC.  The most widely supported oper-
       ating 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 operat-
       ing systems include LynxOS, and GNU Hurd.  Darwin and Mac OS X are sup-
       ported with the XDarwin(1) X server.  Win32/Cygwin  is  supported  with
       the XWin X server.



NETWORK CONNECTIONS

       XFree86  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
           XFree86  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 prefer-
       ence 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/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession script.


OPTIONS

       XFree86 supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining  configura-
       tion  and  run-time parameters: command line options, environment vari-
       ables, the XF86Config(5) configuration file, auto-detection, and  fall-
       back  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 param-
       eters 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 param-
       eters,  with  their defaults, are described in the XF86Config(5) manual
       page.   Driver  and  module  specific  configuration   parameters   are
       described in the relevant driver or module manual page.

       Starting  with version 4.4, XFree86 has support for generating a usable
       configuration at run-time when no XF86Config(5) configuration  file  is
       provided.   The initial version of this automatic configuration support
       is targeted at the most popular hardware and  software  platforms  sup-
       ported  by  XFree86.  Some details about how this works can be found in
       the CONFIGURATION section below and in the getconfig(1) manual page.

       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 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  Allow-
               MouseOpenFail XF86Config(5) 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 AllowNonLo-
               calModInDev XF86Config(5) 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  XF86Config(5)  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  frame-
               buffer (hardware) pixel format.

       -configure
               When  this  option  is  specified, the XFree86 server loads all
               video driver modules, probes for available hardware, and writes
               out  an  initial XF86Config(5) 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 XF86Config(5) 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 XF86Config(5)
               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  XFree86 server checks the ABI revision levels of each mod-
               ule 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.

       -keeptty
               Prevent  the server from detaching its initial controlling ter-
               minal.  This option is only useful when debugging  the  server.
               Not all platforms support (or can use) this option.

       -keyboard keyboard-name
               Use the XF86Config(5) 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  XF86Config(5) file Layout section called layout-name.
               By default the first Layout section is used.

       -logfile filename
               Use the file called filename as the XFree86  server  log  file.
               The  default  log  file is /var/log/XFree86.n.log on most plat-
               forms, where n is the display number  of  the  XFree86  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 XFree86
               server log file.  If the n value isn't  supplied,  each  occur-
               rence  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 XFree86
               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 appli-
               cations don't like this pixmap format, even though it is a per-
               fectly legal format.  This is equivalent to the Pixmap XF86Con-
               fig(5) 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 XF86Config(5) file option.

       -pointer pointer-name
               Use the XF86Config(5) file InputDevice section called  pointer-
               name as the core pointer.  This option is ignored when the Lay-
               out 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
               XF86Config(5)  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 XFree86 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 XF86Config(5) 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 ver-
               bosity 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.

       -xf86config 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  XFree86 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 appli-
       cation.  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 per-
       form 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 XF86Config(5) man page.

       The special combinations of key presses recognized directly by  XFree86
       are:

       Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
               Immediately  kills  the server -- no questions asked.  This can
               be disabled with the DontZap XF86Config(5) file option.

       Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus
               Change video mode to next one specified  in  the  configuration
               file.   This  can  be  disabled with the DontZoom XF86Config(5)
               file option.

       Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Minus
               Change video mode to previous one specified in  the  configura-
               tion  file.   This  can  be disabled with the DontZoom XF86Con-
               fig(5) file option.

       Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Multiply
               Not treated specially by default.  If  the  AllowClosedownGrabs
               XF86Config(5) 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, nor-
               mally using the XGrabServer(3) Xlib function.

       Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Divide
               Not treated specially by default.  If the  AllowDeactivateGrabs
               XF86Config(5) file option is specified, this key sequence deac-
               tivates 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 XF86Config(5) file option.


CONFIGURATION

       XFree86  typically  uses a configuration file called XF86Config for its
       initial setup.  Refer to the XF86Config(5) manual page for  information
       about the format of this file.

       Starting  with  version  4.4, XFree86 has a mechanism for automatically
       generating a built-in configuration at run-time when no XF86Config file
       is present.  The current version of this automatic configuration mecha-
       nism works in three ways.

       The first is via enhancements that have made  many  components  of  the
       XF86Config  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 informa-
       tion.  This maximises the likelihood that the XFree86 server will start
       up  in  some  usable configuration even when information about the spe-
       cific hardware is not available.

       The automatic configuration support for XFree86 is  work  in  progress.
       It  is  currently aimed at the most popular hardware and software plat-
       forms supported  by  XFree86.   Enhancements  are  planned  for  future
       releases.


FILES

       The  XFree86  server  config file can be found in a range of locations.
       These are documented fully in the XF86Config(5) manual page.  The  most
       commonly used locations are shown here.

       /etc/X11/XF86Config           Server configuration file.

       /etc/X11/XF86Config-4         Server configuration file.

       /etc/XF86Config               Server configuration file.

       /usr/X11R6/etc/XF86Config     Server configuration file.

       /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config Server configuration file.

       /var/log/XFree86.n.log        Server log file for display n.

       /usr/X11R6/bin/*              Client binaries.

       /usr/X11R6/include/*          Header files.

       /usr/X11R6/lib/*              Libraries.

       /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/*    Fonts.

       /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb.txt    Color names to RGB mapping.

       /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XErrorDB   Client error message database.

       /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/*
                                     Client resource specifications.

       /usr/X11R6/man/man?/*         Manual pages.

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


SEE ALSO

       X(7),  Xserver(1),  xdm(1),  xinit(1),  XF86Config(5),   xf86config(1),
       xf86cfg(1), xvidtune(1), 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),
       README <http://www.xfree86.org/current/README/>,
       RELNOTES <http://www.xfree86.org/current/RELNOTES/>,
       README.mouse <http://www.xfree86.org/current/mouse/>,
       README.DRI <http://www.xfree86.org/current/DRI/>,
       Status <http://www.xfree86.org/current/Status/>,
       Install <http://www.xfree86.org/current/Install/>.



AUTHORS

       XFree86 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.

       XFree86 was originally based on X386 1.2 by  Thomas  Roell,  which  was
       contributed to the then X Consortium's X11R5 distribution by SGCS.

       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

       The current XFree86 core team consists of:

           David Dawes        dawes@xfree86.org
           Egbert Eich        eich@xfree86.org
           Marc Evans         marc@xfree86.org
           Matthieu Herrb     herrb@xfree86.org
           Alan Hourihane     alanh@xfree86.org
           Marc La France     tsi@xfree86.org
           Kevin Martin       martin@xfree86.org
           Rich Murphey       rich@xfree86.org
           Mark Vojkovich     markv@xfree86.org
           David Wexelblat    dwex@xfree86.org


       XFree86     source     is     available    from    the    FTP    server
       <ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/>, and from the XFree86  CVS  server
       <http://www.xfree86.org/cvs/>.  Documentation and other information can
       be found from the XFree86 web site <http://www.xfree86.org/>.



LEGAL

       XFree86 is copyright software, provided under licenses that permit mod-
       ification  and  redistribution  in  source and binary form without fee.
       Portions of XFree86 are copyright by  The  XFree86  Project,  Inc.  and
       numerous  authors  and  contributors  from around the world.  Licensing
       information    can    be    found    at    <http://www.xfree86.org/cur-
       rent/LICENSE/>.   Refer  to  the source code for specific copyright
       notices.

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



XFree86                          Version 4.4.0                      XFree86(1)

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