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1997-09-27
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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!faqserv
From: jmoss@ichips.intel.com (Joe Moss)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x.i386unix,comp.os.linux.x,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: XFree86 Frequently Asked Questions
Supersedes: <x-faq/xfree86_872501648@rtfm.mit.edu>
Followup-To: poster
Date: 26 Sep 1997 09:05:56 GMT
Organization: The XFree86 Project, Inc.
Lines: 1168
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
Distribution: world
Expires: 10 Nov 1997 09:04:31 GMT
Message-ID: <x-faq/xfree86_875264671@rtfm.mit.edu>
Reply-To: jmoss@ichips.intel.com (Joe Moss (XFree86 FAQ Maintainer))
NNTP-Posting-Host: penguin-lust.mit.edu
Summary: Answers to common questions regarding the configuration and
use of the X servers from the XFree86 Project, Inc.
Keywords: FAQ XFree86
X-Last-Updated: 1997/09/04
Originator: faqserv@penguin-lust.MIT.EDU
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.windows.x.i386unix:27193 comp.os.linux.x:76127 comp.answers:28215 news.answers:113089
Archive-name: x-faq/xfree86
Posting-Frequency: monthly
URL: http://www.XFree86.org/FAQ
XFREE86 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
----------------------------------
This document is intended to provide answers to the questions most often
received by the XFree86[tm] Project's support team (which can be reached
at XFree86@XFree86.org). It is also a source of information more recent
than the documentation included with the latest release.
Generally, if the information is already available elsewhere, this
document will supply a pointer to the information rather than duplicate
it. If you don't have access to the World Wide Web, see the section
below entitled "Access via Email".
The XFree86 Project is making the information in this document available
free of charge in the hope that it will be of use. However, the authors
specifically disclaim any liability for any direct, indirect, or
consequential damages arising out of its use.
This document is intended to be a source of up-to-date info regarding
XFree86, and as such, may change frequently. Make sure you consult a
recent copy, before relying on any information contained herein.
Additionally, this FAQ generally assumes that you are using the latest
release and, unless otherwise specified, the information contained
herein is likely to not be applicable to other releases. If you are
having problems and are not running the latest release, then upgrading
is often the answer to your problems. Really. If you have a fairly new
card, it is especially important to make sure you are using the latest
server release.
The latest version of this document is always available from the XFree86
Web site (http://www.XFree86.org/) or one of its mirrors:
* http://XFree86.pacificrim.net/XFree86/
* http://x.physics.usyd.edu.au/
* http://www.uni-paderborn.de/mirrors/xfree86/
* http://www.xtreme.it/xfree86/
* http://sunsite.mff.cuni.cz/XFree86/
* http://www.redhat.com/xfree86/
* http://xfree86.gw.com/
Last modified: Thu Sep 4 10:27:19 PDT 1997
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
INDEX OF QUESTIONS:
SECTION A - GENERAL INFORMATION
* Q.A1- What is XFree86?
* Q.A2- What is the current release of XFree86?
* Q.A3- What is the current release of SuperProbe?
* Q.A4- How do I find out what version I have?
* Q.A5- Where do I get the latest releases?
* Q.A6- What files do I need to upgrade to the latest release?
* Q.A7- Where do I find the latest documentation?
* Q.A8- When is the next release?
* Q.A9- Which card do you recommend that I buy?
* Q.A10- Which card is the fastest?
* Q.A11- Has XFree86 been ported to OS/2?
* Q.A12- How about a MS-DOS or MS-Windows port?
* Q.A13- But I heard X supports Windows NT.
* Q.A14- Can I use more than one video card in the same machine with
XFree86?
* Q.A15- How do I report a bug in XFree86?
* Q.A16- About this FAQ
* Q.A17- Access via Email
* Q.A18- Related Information
SECTION B - CONFIGURATION QUESTIONS
* Q.B1- Do you have the config file for ...?
* Q.B2- I got an XF86Config file from ..., but things still don't
work.
* Q.B3- How do I configure the server?
* Q.B4- What about "vgaset"?
* Q.B5- My card isn't on the list shown in XF86Setup. Is there a more
up-to-date list?
* Q.B6- Why does the server reject my mode lines?
SECTION C - KEYBOARD & MOUSE PROBLEMS
* Q.C1- The mouse cursor doesn't display in the right position
* Q.C2- Why don't menus work properly?
* Q.C3- How come, in Tk-based applications, the buttons highlight, but
can't be depressed?
* Q.C4- I've installed the latest release and now some of my keys no
longer work. Why?
* Q.C5- The mouse is moving erratically. What's wrong?
SECTION D - DISPLAY PROBLEMS
* Q.D1- Part of the Displayed Image is Wrapping-around or is
Duplicated on the Other Side of the Screen
SECTION E - MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS/QUESTIONS
* Q.E1- How do I get the server to scale vector fonts, but not bitmap
fonts?
* Q.E2- What can I do to keep the server from hanging while scaling
fonts?
* Q.E3- The system locks up when I start the S3 server. What can I do?
* Q.E4- I get a "broken pipe" error while unpacking the ".tar.gz"
files. Is something wrong with them?
* Q.E5- Why does the server quit with the error "xf86OpenConsole:
cannot open /dev/console" on Linux?
* Q.E6- How do I get the server to display more than 256 colors?
* Q.E7- Why do I get display problems with my ATI PC2TV card?
* Q.E8- How do I get XFree86 to work with my new ATI card?
* Q.E9- I've just installed XFree86 3.3.1 for Linux, but I get "No
such file or directory" whenever I try to run something.
* Q.E10- Why does the X server exit with an error message about a
SecurityPolicy file?
SECTION F - CHIPSET SUPPORT
* Q.F1- My card is currently not supported - what can I do?
* Q.F2- How do I find out the current status of a driver?
* Q.F3- Unsupported Clock Chips
* Q.F4- Do you have an alpha or beta server for my ... card?
* Q.F5- Matrox chips
* Q.F6- Weitek Power 9100
* Q.F7- Nvidia NV1/SGS Thomson STG 2000
* Q.F8- Alliance ProMotion chips
* Q.F9- Cirrus CL-GD754x chips
* Q.F10- NeoMagic chips
* Q.F11- Sierra Falcon chip
* Q.F12- S3 ViRGE chips
* Q.F13- S3 Trio64UV+, Aurora64V+ and Trio64V2
* Q.F14- Mach64 RAGE II
* Q.F15- Mach64 VT3
* Q.F16- ISA-bus Mach64 cards
* Q.F17- S3 911 and 924 Cards with 512KB RAM
SECTION G - KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH XFREE86 3.3
* Q.G1- I128 Cursor not drawn correctly
* Q.G2- Problems with I128 Series II, revision 2
* Q.G3- ATI Rage II+, Rage Pro and VT3 chips not detected
* Q.G4- ATI driver in the SVGA server
* Q.G5- Clock limit incorrect for some Cirrus 5434 chips
* Q.G6- Why won't the XFree86 3.3 S3 server startup when the 3.2 and
3.1.2 versions worked fine?
* Q.G7- Screen instability with Millenniums when the HW cursor shape
changes
* Q.G8- MGA driver locks up machine on SVR4.0
* Q.G9- Mystique locks up for no obvious reason
* Q.G10- Problems with TGUI 9680 and 9685
* Q.G11- The Chips and Technologies 65555 chip is not detected
* Q.G12- Some servers crash at startup with SEGV on Solaris x86
* Q.G13- Why won't the XFree86 3.3 xterm start?
* Q.G14- Xterm termcap entry has problems with colour
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL INFORMATION
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A1- What is XFree86?
XFree86 is a trademark of The XFree86 Project, Inc., a non-profit
organization that provides X Window System servers (as well as some
supporting materials) for several operating systems on PCs and other
microcomputers. The X servers, client programs, documentation, etc.
supplied by the XFree86 Project, Inc., are collectively, also known as
XFree86. All programs are provided with source code, free of charge.
The XFree86 Project, Inc. is currently funded entirely by donations. If
you're interested in making a monetary or equipment donation, see
http://www.XFree86.org/donations.html or send Email to BOD@XFree86.org.
A list of current sponsors is available at
http://www.XFree86.org/sponsors.html
For more information regarding The XFree86 Project, Inc., see
http://www.XFree86.org/corp_profile.html
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A2- What is the current release of XFree86?
The latest release is XFree86 version 3.3.1. It is based on X11R6.3pl2
and was released in August 1997.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A3- What is the current release of SuperProbe?
The newest available version of SuperProbe is 2.15. It is included with
the latest XFree86 release.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A4- How do I find out what version I have?
Both SuperProbe and the servers print the version when they start.
However, depending on how the server is started, its output may not
normally be visible.
The server will display its version number, if you simply type "X
-showconfig" at a shell prompt (even if you haven't configured it for
your card and monitor yet).
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A5- Where do I get the latest releases?
The primary site for both SuperProbe and the XFree86 servers and clients
is ftp.XFree86.org.
A list of mirror sites is available at:
http://www.XFree86.org/3.3.1/ftp.html
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A6- What files do I need to upgrade to the latest release?
Please read the README (or RELNOTES) file, in the directory
corresponding to your OS, on the XFree86 ftp site or one of its mirrors
(see the previous question). It contains a list of the filenames along
with their contents. It also lists which files are required and which
are optional.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A7- Where do I find the latest documentation?
The latest documentation can be found on http://www.XFree86.org/3.3.1/.
Many of the XFree86 specific man pages are also available at
http://www.XFree86.org/man/. The documentation is also available, in
ASCII form, from ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/3.3.1/doc/.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A8- When is the next release?
The next release is expected to be 4.0. It is not known at this point
when it will be released.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A9- Which card do you recommend that I buy?
We don't recommend any particular board or manufacturer (although it
would be good to support our sponsors, see
http://www.XFree86.org/sponsors.html). In general, the S3 based boards
have been the best supported, followed by the ATI based cards, however
that is no guarantee that any specific board will work. It is probably
best to look through the various "README" files at
http://www.XFree86.org/3.3.1/ to see which boards are currently
supported and pick one of them.
It is also a good idea to buy from some place that has a liberal return
policy or will let you try before you buy. Especially since some
manufacturers will sometimes change what RAMDAC or other chips are used
on a board _without changing the name of the board_.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A10- Which card is the fastest?
We don't know. Benchmarks are just that. Useless numbers trying to
capture something that is far to complex to be captured in a number. We
may ocasionally comment on the relative speed of different cards, but
that is usually the personal opinion of the one who writes the note. In
general The XFree86 Project is not publishing benchmark comparisons
because even if you think that a number like 'xstones' can capture the
performance of a card it is incredibly hard to create fair and
comparable numbers.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A11- Has XFree86 been ported to OS/2?
Yes, the latest release is available for OS/2. This port runs in
parallel to the Presentation Manager desktop, similarly to a WinOS/2
fullscreen session (there is no equivalent to a seamless WinOS/2
configuration). See http://borneo.gmd.de/~veit/os2/xf86os2.html for more
information.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A12- How about a MS-DOS or MS-Windows port?
No work is being done to create a free port of XFree86 to any version of
DOS or Windows. If you need to run X on such a platform you'll need to
use one of the available commercial servers.
One of the commercial products, X Appeal, is from an XFree86 sponsor and
is a port of the XFree86 servers to MS-DOS. They also have a freely
available demo version.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A13- But I heard X supports Windows NT.
X11R6.3 does include some support for MicroSoft Windows NT. However, it
is only for building the libraries and some client programs. If you want
an X server, you'll have to buy one.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A14- Can I use more than one video card in the same machine with
XFree86?
Although it is technically possible to use multiple PCI-based SVGA cards
in the same machine, none of the servers currently support this.
The VGA16 and Mono servers are both capable of running both a VGA
compatible card and a non-VGA compatible monochrome card in the same
machine.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A15- How do I report a bug in XFree86?
Use the bug report form on our WWW server (http://www.XFree86.org/), or
send email to XFree86@XFree86.org. Before sending a bug report, make
sure you are using the current release of XFree86. In the bug report,
include details of the XFree86 version, server, description of the
problem, and some way of repeating it and most importantly, the _full_
server startup output.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A16- About this FAQ
In addition to being available from the XFree86 web site (as
http://www.XFree86.org/FAQ/), this FAQ will be posted at least monthly
to comp.windows.x.i386unix, comp.os.linux.x, comp.answers, and
news.answers.
It is also available from the XFree86 FTP site (and mirrors) as
ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/WWW/htdocs/FAQ/index.html - HTML
version and ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/WWW/htdocs/FAQ/faq.txt -
ASCII text version.
This document is maintained by Joe Moss (joe@XFree86.Org) with
contributions from other members of the XFree86 support and beta teams.
Particular thanks go to David Dawes for his contributions.
If you have questions or comments regarding XFree86 do _not_ send them
directly to me. They should be Emailed to XFree86@XFree86.org (which
will cause a copy to be sent to me, as well as the rest of the XFree86
support team). If you have comments regarding this document itself, then
you may send them to me. In particular, if you find incorrect or
non-functional URLs or any typos herein, please let me know.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A17- Access via Email
If you only have Email access to the net, you should get a copy of the
"Accessing the Internet by E-Mail FAQ".
If you're in North or South America, send a message to
mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu containing only the line:
send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email
in the body of the message.
Elsewhere in the world, send mail to mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk with only
this line in the message body:
send lis-iis e-access-inet.txt
This document explains how to retrieve stuff from the WWW, Usenet News,
etc. via Email. It also explains how to use ftpmail, which you can use
to get the latest version of XFree86.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.A18- Related Information
Many of our sponsors supply hardware, software, and services which may
be of interest to users of XFree86 servers. The list of our sponsors
(http:/www.XFree86.org/sponsors.html), points to the web sites of many
of them.
Here are some pointers to other documentation, regarding subjects
related to XFree86, that might be useful to readers of this document.
These are not published by the XFree86 Project, Inc. and are included
here only for reference. Questions or comments regarding any of these
items should be directed to their respective authors.
* The X Consortium Home Page
(http://www.opengroup.org/tech/desktop/x/)
* Benchmark Results for Various Video Cards
(http://www.goof.com/xbench/)
* X11 Applications FAQ
(http://www.ee.ryerson.ca:8080/~elf/xapps/faq.html)
* Other X Window System FAQs
(http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/faq/by_category.x-faq.html)
* X Window System and OSF/Motif WWW Sites
(http://www.rahul.net/kenton/xsites.framed.html)
* [Linux] XFree86 HOWTO
(http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/XFree86-HOWTO.html)
* Connecting X-Terminals to Linux Systems
(http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/mini/Xterminal)
* The 3 Button Mouse Page [getting third button to work]
(http://kipper.york.ac.uk/mouse.html)
* Mini-HOWTO About Running XFree86 on Notebooks [mostly WD specific]
(http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/mini/X-Notebook)
* How to Setup/Use Low-Bandwidth X
(ftp://ftp.wellfleet.com/netman/psmith/faqs/LBX-HOWTO)
* Setting up X Authentication [Tk specific, but the concepts are
generally applicable] (http://cr-toolkit.crd.ge.com/tkxauth/)
* Freeware Central [Info Regarding Freeware]
(http://www.ptf.com/free/)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONFIGURATION QUESTIONS
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.B1- Do you have the config file for ...?
There is a no such thing as *THE* config file for a particular card or
monitor. The "XF86Config" file you should use is dependent on your card,
monitor, operating system, mouse, keyboard, individual preferences,
network setup, available fonts, etc.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.B2- I got an XF86Config file from ..., but things still don't
work.
It is *not* a good idea to exchange XF86Config files. While it may be
safe to use certain parts of another's config file, in general, you are
better off generating your own.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.B3- How do I configure the server?
All of the configuration information we have, is included with the
release. You should use one of the included configuration programs,
_XF86Setup_ or _xf86config_. This is explained in the QuickStart Guide.
For further information, you could also read the XFree86 configuration
guide (available from http://www.XFree86.org/3.3.1/Config.html), and the
manual pages XF86Config(4/5) and xvidtune(1).
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.B4- What about "vgaset"?
Simple. Don't use it!
The "xvidtune" program, that is part of the 3.3.1 release, has more
capabilities and works properly with the server extension
("XFree86-VidModeExtension") included in the 3.3.1 servers.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.B5- My card isn't on the list shown in XF86Setup. Is there a
more up-to-date list?
Each release includes the most up-to-date list at the time of release.
If there are any updates after a release, they will be made available as
either: ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/current/doc/Cards (if the file
is non-existent, then there have not been any updates to the Cards
database since the last release). It should be installed in
"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/Cards".
If you still can't find your card listed, you should check if there is a
generic entry for cards using the same chipset as yours. If not, see the
Chipset Support section of this document to check on the current status
of drivers being written and what you can do if your card is
unsupported.
If after all of the above, you still are not sure what to do about
configuring your card, you can contact us about it.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.B6- Why does the server reject my mode lines?
This usually is due to incorrect parameters in the Monitor section of
the XF86Config file.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEYBOARD & MOUSE PROBLEMS
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.C1- The mouse cursor doesn't display in the right position
If the cursor appears to be horizontally offset by several pixels, it is
probably due to the same problems that cause the display to be wrapped
around. See item D1 below.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.C2- Why don't menus work properly?
If you are experiencing problems with menus not allowing you to select
items, try turning NumLock off.
In X11R6 (and newer), the NumLock key is a modifier. Many clients (X
programs) haven't yet been updated to the R6 way of doing things. They
need to ignore modifiers when looking for button click/release events.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.C3- How come, in Tk-based applications, the buttons highlight,
but can't be depressed?
See the answer to the previous question. You can also upgrade to Tk 4.x
which ignores modifiers by default.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.C4- I've installed the latest release and now some of my keys no
longer work. Why?
The 3.3.1 release is based on X11R6.3 which includes the XKB extension
and has it enabled by default. This may cause the mappings of some keys
on some keyboards to be different than they were in previous releases.
See the XF86Config man page and the sample XF86Config file for some
information on setting the key mappings to your liking.
Alternatively, you can disable the XKB extensions by starting the server
with the "-kb" option or by adding the keyword "XkbDisable" to your
XF86Config file.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.C5- The mouse is moving erratically. What's wrong?
Most likely, you've specified the wrong protocol for the mouse. Note
that newer Logitech mice do not use the "Logitech" protocol, but instead
use "Microsoft" (or "MouseMan") protocol.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISPLAY PROBLEMS
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.D1- Part of the Displayed Image is Wrapping-around or is
Duplicated on the Other Side of the Screen
For Diamond Stealth Video VRAM: if the server is not recognizing your
card as a Diamond card, add this line to your "XF86Config":
Option "Diamond"
If the above does not work or you don't have a Diamond card, try running
the xvidtune program and adjusting various settings. In particular, if
you have a recent S3 based card, adjust the extra S3-specific settings
at the bottom.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS/QUESTIONS
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.E1- How do I get the server to scale vector fonts, but not
bitmap fonts?
In standard X11R6 (and later), in addition to the fonts in "scalable"
formats (i.e. Type1, Speedo), bitmap fonts are scaled. This can have the
undesirable effect of scaling a bitmap font, even though a Type1 font is
available (if the bitmap font is listed first in the path).
With the 3.2 and later releases of XFree86, you can add the text
":unscaled" to the end of any directory in the font path to turn off
scaling of the bitmap fonts in that directory. This works in both the
XF86Config file and the font server's config file.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.E2- What can I do to keep the server from hanging while scaling
fonts?
While scaling fonts, the server can hang temporarily. If you are
requesting a particularly large font, the period during which the server
is unresponsive, can be quite noticeable. Font scaling uses floating
point math and the effect is particularly obvious, if you do not have a
floating point coprocessor (getting one would help immensely).
This problem can be avoided by running the font server (xfs) and
indicating in your XF86Config file that the X server should request
fonts from the font server. This workaround prevents the X server from
temporarily freezing, but doesn't really speed up the time necessary to
scale the fonts (so the application requesting the font will still have
to wait).
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.E3- The system locks up when I start the S3 server. What can I
do?
This is most often caused by problems with directly accessing the linear
frame-buffer (this often happens with IBM ValuePoint systems, in
particular). Try adding "Option "nolinear"" to the Device section of
your XF86Config. If it still occurs, try "Option "nomemaccess"".
Lockups can also happen, with any server, if the system bus is
overclocked. Try some more conservative BIOS settings.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.E4- I get a "broken pipe" error while unpacking the ".tar.gz"
files. Is something wrong with them?
No, this message is only a warning and can safely be ignored - assuming
it is the only error message.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.E5- Why does the server quit with the error "xf86OpenConsole:
cannot open /dev/console" on Linux?
There is a problem with the /dev/console device file. As root, you can
run these commands to fix it:
cd /dev; ./MAKEDEV console
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.E6- How do I get the server to display more than 256 colors?
As explained in the XFree86(1) man page, the "-bpp" option can be
specified on the command line when starting the server. You can specify
15 bpp, for 32768 colors, 16 bpp, for 65536 colors, or either 24 or 32
bpp, for 16.7 million colors.
However, the server is rarely started directly. The two most common ways
to start the server are with "startx" and "xdm". For example, to start
the server in 16 bpp mode from the command line:
startx -- -bpp 16
or to start the server from xdm in 32bpp mode, you would put a line like
the following in the _Xservers_ file (in the xdm library directory,
typically /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm):
:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X -bpp 32
All of the above is dependent on the server having support for your card
at higher than 8 bpp.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.E7- Why do I get display problems with my ATI PC2TV card?
Make sure you don't have a TV cable connected to your card. The Mach64
server doesn't work properly when that cable is connected.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.E8- How do I get XFree86 to work with my new ATI card?
First, you need to get the XFree86 3.3.1 Mach64 server if you don't
already have it. It should automatically detect the ATI chips available
up to the time of its release (August 1997). There are some cards which
don't work correctly with the current version of XFree86. We don't have
a solution to that problem at this time.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.E9- I've just installed XFree86 3.3.1 for Linux, but I get "No
such file or directory" whenever I try to run something.
The most common reason for this is that you have installed the
Linux-ix86-glibc binaries when you don't have GNU libc 2 (aka libc 6).
The solution is to install the Linux-ix86 binaries, which are the
correct ones for most situations.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.E10- Why does the X server exit with an error message about a
SecurityPolicy file?
If your installation of XFree86 3.3/3.3.1 is not complete you may see
the following error message when starting an X server:
error opening security policy file /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xserver/SecurityPolicy
This is a only a warning message, and is mostly harmless. If your server
is failing to startup, this is not the reason. Check the other messages.
The file being referred to is included in the X33lib.tgz (or X331lib.tgz
for XFree86 3.3.1) part of the XFree86 binary distributions produced by
The XFree86 Project. It seems that some other binary distributions of
XFree86 3.3 may be missing this file. If that is the case, please
contact the originators of those distributions about it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHIPSET SUPPORT
The chipsets supported by XFree86 3.3.1 are listed in the README file.
The list is available via the WWW at:
http://www.XFree86.org/3.3.1/README3.html
This section contains some notes regarding various chips for which
support is not included in the current servers and other chipset/card
specific notes.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F1- My card is currently not supported - what can I do?
If you have a card which is not currently supported, you have these
options:
* Wait until it is supported. See the chipset specific items below to
get some indication, if support is forthcoming.
* Buy a commercial X server. The X on Intel-based Unix Frequently
Asked Questions document, which is posted regularly to
comp.windows.x.i386unix, contains a list of vendors of X servers.
* Try using the Mono or VGA16 servers. They should work with any VGA
compatible card (within limits - if you have a programmable clock
chip on the card, your available modes may be severely limited).
They just won't take full advantage of the card's capabilities.
Picking the "Unsupported Card" entry in XF86Setup will configure it
to work with the VGA16 server.
* Trade your card in for one that is supported.
* Write a driver yourself or find someone you know who is willing and
able to do it. If you choose this option, you should probably
contact us about joining the beta team (and thus get access to the
latest source code) and about getting any code you write integrated
into the next release.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F2- How do I find out the current status of a driver?
Check this FAQ periodically. When there is a change in the status of a
driver that is under development, this FAQ will be updated to reflect
the change.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F3- Unsupported Clock Chips
If you are using a card that uses a programmable clock chip which is not
supported by the server, you may be able to get a separate program to
program the chip for useful clock frequencies.
Sometimes, others make clock programming programs available on the net
that can be called by the server. Also, you may be able to use a video
card's driver made for MS-Windows or OS/2 to program the clocks and then
warm boot the machine and run XFree86.
You should probably use a monitor that is smart enough to reject
frequencies that are beyond its specs, if you plan to try something like
this.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F4- Do you have an alpha or beta server for my ... card?
The XFree86 Project does *NOT* make any pre-release source code
available to anyone except members of the development team. Nor are
binaries generally available.
If you have access to some currently unsupported hardware, are willing
to actively participate in testing and perhaps debugging a server, and
would like to join the beta team, then send an email message to
XFree86@XFree86.org listing your available hardware and software, as
well as any relevant skills you may have.
Often, when there is code being developed for a previously unsupported
chipset, a "Call for Beta Testers" will be issued (via a posting to
relevant Usenet groups).
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F5- Matrox chips
The 3.3.1 release includes a driver for the Matrox Millenium and
Mystique cards.
See also http://www.bf.rmit.edu.au/~ajv/xf86-matrox.html for more
information.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F6- Weitek Power 9100
There is no support for this chipset presently.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F7- Nvidia NV1/SGS Thomson STG 2000
A driver for these chips (used on the Diamond EDGE 3D 2000 & 3000
Series) is included in the 3.3.1 release.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F8- Alliance ProMotion chips
The latest release includes some support for the ProMotion 6422 and
AT24. Support for other ProMotion chips is being worked on.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F9- Cirrus CL-GD754x chips
There is a driver for these chips in the current SVGA server, however it
has been reported not to work correctly on all systems. A possible
work-around is to treat it as another chip (such as "clgd5428", for a
CL-GD7543, or "clgd5436", for a CL-GD7548), using a Chipset line, in
which case should probably also disable acceleration (Option "noaccel").
Also, some people have reported success after modifying the 800x600
modeline to use a lower dot clock, or by decreasing some of the
horizontal timing parameters.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F10- NeoMagic chips
Boards based on NeoMagic chips are not supported, as programming
documentation is not available.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F11- Sierra Falcon chip
Boards based on this chip (such as the STB Horizon 64) are not
supported.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F12- S3 ViRGE chips
The ViRGE chips are supported in 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F13- S3 Trio64UV+, Aurora64V+ and Trio64V2
Support for cards based on these S3 chipsets is in the current release.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F14- Mach64 RAGE II
Cards based on the Mach64 original Rage II and the newer Rage II+
chipsets are supported by the current release. Some versions of the
cards don't appear to work correctly with the Mach64 server though, and
we don't yet have a solution to that problem.
If you needed to add ChipId/ChipRev lines to your XF86Config file when
using XFree86 3.3, they can and should be removed when upgrading to
XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F15- Mach64 VT3
The ATI Mach64 VT3 chips are correctly detected by the current Mach64
server. If you needed to add ChipId/ChipRev lines to your XF86Config
file when using XFree86 3.3, they can and should be removed when
upgrading to XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F16- ISA-bus Mach64 cards
The current version of the server needs to map the video memory aperture
into the system's address space. Since this requires 4MB of address
space and since ISA bus systems can only address a maximum of 16MB, the
Mach64 server can not be used on systems with more that 12MB of RAM. See
the Mach64 README files for more information regarding the current
capabilities of the server.
Until full support for ISA Mach64 cards is added to the Mach64 server,
the SVGA server can be used instead.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.F17- S3 911 and 924 Cards with 512KB RAM
The S3 server does not work with 911 and 924 cards that only have .5MB
of RAM on the video card. Upgrade the card to 1MB.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH XFREE86 3.3
This section includes a list of problems found since the release of
XFree86 3.3. Many of these have been fixed in XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G1- I128 Cursor not drawn correctly
There is a bug in the I128 server which causes the cursor to be drawn
incorrectly. The server binaries for most OSs were updated a couple of
weeks after the initial release, so if you have the recent binaries you
should no longer see this problem. This problem is fixed in XFree86
3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G2- Problems with I128 Series II, revision 2
The I128 server has problems with cards using revision 2 of the I128
Series II chip (the screen goes black). Earlier revisions of the Series
II don't have this problem. This problem is fixed in XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G3- ATI Rage II+, Rage Pro and VT3 chips not detected
The Mach64 server does not automatically detect the newer ATI Rage II+
and Rage Pro chips. See item F14 for a workaround for the Rage II+ and
Rage Pro. See item F15 for a workaround for the VT3. This problem is
fixed in XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G4- ATI driver in the SVGA server
The ATI driver in the SVGA server will not work with the ATI Rage II,
Rage II+ or VT3 chips. There is no workaround for this. The Mach64
server is the preferred server for these chips. This is also true for
XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G5- Clock limit incorrect for some Cirrus 5434 chips
The Cirrus driver selects the wrong clock limit for later revisions of
the Cirrus 5434 chip. This problem is fixed in XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G6- Why won't the XFree86 3.3 S3 server startup when the 3.2 and
3.1.2 versions worked fine?
If the server's startup messages have lines like:
(--) S3: There is no defined dot-clock matching mode "800x600"
(--) S3: Removing mode "800x600" from list of valid modes.
check if you have a `Ramdac' line in the Device section of your
XF86Config file. If so, removing that line should fix the problem. This
problem is fixed in XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G7- Screen instability with Millenniums when the HW cursor shape
changes
Some people have reported a problem with the Millennium driver that
causes some screen instability when the cursor shape changes. A possible
(not yet confirmed) workaround for this is to disable the HW cursor by
adding the following line to the Device section in the XF86Config file:
Option "sw_cursor"
In XFree86 3.3.1, the HW cursor is disabled by default.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G8- MGA driver locks up machine on SVR4.0
The Millennium driver will lock up the whole machine at startup on most
SVR4.0 OSs. This problem is fixed in XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G9- Mystique locks up for no obvious reason
We've had some reports of the Mystique driver locking up for no obvious
reason. The cause of this has not been identified, and no workaround is
known.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G10- Problems with TGUI 9680 and 9685
There are some problems with the TGUI acceleration code on 9680 and 9685
chips. A possible workaround is to disable acceleration by adding the
following line to the Device section in the XF86Config file:
Option "noaccel"
This problem is fixed in XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G11- The Chips and Technologies 65555 chip is not detected
The SVGA server does not detect the new 65555 chip. It should be
compatible with the 65554, and the server should work if the following
line is added to the Device section of the XF86Config file:
chipset "ct65554"
This problem is fixed in XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G12- Some servers crash at startup with SEGV on Solaris x86
Some servers/drivers will crash with a SEGV at startup on Solaris x86.
This is known to happen with the MGA driver (Millennium and Mystique).
This problem is fixed in XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G13- Why won't the XFree86 3.3 xterm start?
The Linux xterm may exit with the following error message if you don't
have a /etc/termcap file:
xterm: unable to find usable termcap entry.
A workaround is to copy /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc/xterm.termcap to
/etc/termcap. *Before doing this, first make sure that there really is
no /etc/termcap file.* This problem is fixed in XFree86 3.3.1.
------------------
From: XFree86 FAQ
Subject: Q.G14- Xterm termcap entry has problems with colour
The xterm termcap entry has an incorrect entry for `op', which is what
disables colour mode. The result is that the background colour gets set
to black when this entry is used. This problem is fixed in XFree86
3.3.1.
The terminfo entry does not have this problem.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of FAQ
---
Joe Moss, UNIX Systems Programmer|"If you are not checking the Frequently Asked
Intel Microprocessor Division 6 |Questions documents before you ask questions
http://www.psg.com/~joem |you are taking longer to resolve problems, and
Not an official Intel statement |annoying more folk, than necessary" - L Virden