ch21.htm

linux-unix130.linux.and.unix.ebooks130 linux and unix ebookslinuxLearning Linux - Collection of 12 E

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xf_kit2.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">XFree86 Linkkit part 2 </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xf_lib.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Dynamic libraries and configuration files for XFree86 </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xf_pex.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">XFree86 PEX distribution </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xfileman.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">xfilemanager: easy-to-use file manager (use it!) </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xfm.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">xfm: another easy-to-use file manager for X </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xfnt.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Base fonts </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xfnt75.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">75dpi fonts </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xgames.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">A collection of games for X </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xgrabsc.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Xgrabsc and Xgrab: screen grabbers </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xinclude.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Header files for X11 programming </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xman1.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Man pages for programs that come with XFree86 </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xman3.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Man pages for the X11 programming libraries </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xpaint.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">The xpaint program </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xpm.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">The Xpm shared and static libraries version </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xspread.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">An X Window spreadsheet </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xstatic.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Static versions of the X libraries </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xv.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">John Bradley's XV image viewer </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xv32_a.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Static libraries for developing XView applications </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xv32_sa.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Libraries for developing XView applications that use the shared libraries for XView

					</TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xv32_so.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Shared libraries for XView </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xv32exmp.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Sample programs for XView </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xvinc32.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Include files for XView programming </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xvmenus.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Menus and help files for the OPEN LOOK Window Manager </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xvol32.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">XView configuration files, programs, and documentation </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD WIDTH="109" ALIGN="LEFT"><TT>xxgdb.tgz</TT> </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">X Window debugger </TD>

	</TR>

</TABLE>

<BR>



</CENTER>

<P>You can also find the most recent versions of these files on most Linux sites.

Avoid the temptation to update selected files. Get complete versions if you can.

This will protect you from errors resulting from incompatible versions of files.</P>



<P>The version of X you get on the CD-ROM will work with the GNU C libraries. If

you upgrade X yourself, you might have to upgrade <TT>libc</TT> and <TT>ld.so</TT>

yourself. You can get the binary distributions of XFree86 for Linux via anonymous

FTP from<FONT COLOR="#0066FF"></FONT>

<PRE><FONT COLOR="#0066FF">tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/packages/X11/XFree86-VERSION

</FONT></PRE>

<P>or<FONT COLOR="#0066FF"></FONT>

<PRE><FONT COLOR="#0066FF">sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/X11/XFree86-VERSION

</FONT></PRE>

<P>where VERSION is the latest version of XFree86. The filenames in these distributions

are of the form <TT>XF86-</TT>ver-name<TT>.tar.gz</TT> (versions and 3.1.2) or <TT>xf86-name-3.1.2.tar.gz</TT>

where ver is the XFree86 version and name is the name of the package. If you already

know which server you need to run, you should not get the <TT>*-svr*</TT> files.

The filename form is <TT>XF86-</TT>servername<TT>.tar.gz</TT>, where servername is

the name of the server to run.

<CENTER>

<H3><A NAME="Heading8<FONT COLOR="#000077">Assessing Requirements</FONT></H3>

</CENTER>

<P>There are three major requirements for running X on your Linux box: You must have

adequate disk space, you need lots of RAM, and you must know whether your display

hardware is supported.</P>

<P>Let's tackle the disk-space issue first. The XFree86 distribution takes up about

17MB to 37MB of disk space, depending on how many software components you install.

You can save several megabytes of disk space by removing the X servers you do not

need. If, however, you plan to install more window managers than normal, you can

expect to use about 35MB of disk space.</P>

<P>Now let's look at memory usage. Your computer needs main memory of at least 8MB

and virtual memory of at least 16MB (that is, main memory plus swap memory). Yes,

it is possible to run X on a 4MB machine, provided that you are very patient and

do not care about performance in X applications. In any event, your computer should

have 16MB of virtual memory to run X Window. So if you have 4MB of physical RAM,

you should have 12MB of swap memory. Be warned, though, that disk swapping is quite

slow. For best results, you should install at least 8MB of RAM in your computer.

With only 4MB of physical RAM, your X programs will run terribly slowly. If you want

to run &quot;memory hog&quot; programs from within X (for example, the C compiler

<TT>gcc</TT>), you should have at least 16MB of main memory and another 16MB of swap

memory.</P>

<P>Finally the hardware issue. Just about any SVGA card and monitor combination will

work with Linux if you stay within the 640x480 size and 256-color realm. That does

not mean that you cannot fry your monitor. I will repeat this [beg] WARNING: [end]An

incorrect setting on your monitor can cause your monitor to fry.</P>

<P>Think of it this way (this is in layman's terms). Pixels on your monitor are displayed

by a &quot;gun&quot; moving across the viewing area. The more pixels you have on

your screen (that is, 800x600 versus 640x480), the faster the gun has to work. Your

monitor can work with a certain range of frequencies. By specifying an out-of-range

frequency for your monitor hardware, you force it to generate more heat than it is

designed to sustain. The extra heat causes a meltdown of sorts. Modern monitors have

a specification of frequencies at which they can run the horizontal and vertical

refresh rates. When you install an X server, you are basically telling it which type

of monitor you want it to run. By specifying a wrong server type, you stand the chance

of damaging your hardware.</P>

<P>Not all video chip sets work with X. For information on some of the chip sets

that work with X, you can read specific README files in <TT>/usr/X386/lib/X11/doc</TT>

directory. If you can find one for the chip set you use, read it! In these READMEs,

the specific options that can be used to configure the server are explained. Currently,

there are special READMEs for ATI, Trident, Tseng, Western Digital, Cirrus, and manufacturer-specific

chip sets. In most cases, the SVGA server is a good start if you have a newer machine

(circa 1994 or later).</P>

<P>More information on these X servers can be found in their man pages. Another place

to check is the <TT>xFree86-HOWTO</TT> file. The HOWTO document in the sunsite and

tsx-11 archives might be more up-to-date than any printed information or the information

included on the CD-ROM at the back of this book.

<CENTER>

<H3><A NAME="Heading9<FONT COLOR="#000077">Installing XFree86</FONT></H3>

</CENTER>

<P>When you first install Linux on your machine using <TT>setup</TT>, you are given

an option to install the X11 packages. In most cases, this is the best course of

action because the <TT>setup</TT> script will handle all the hard work for you and

get the base system ready for use. Of course, it's a good idea to check whether you

meet the hardware requirements as discussed in the preceding section.</P>

<P>If you did not install X11 when you installed Linux, you should use the setup

program (in <TT>/sbin/</TT>) and use the menus. This method, the easiest way to start,

is detailed in Chapter 3, &quot;Installing Linux.&quot;</P>

<P>The information in this particular section is really useful for you if you are

upgrading or re-installing X on your Linux machine. The information in this section

is also useful if you want to customize your Linux setup and want to know about files.</P>

<P>Before re-installing XFree86, you should back up all the files you changed. This

is necessary if you are already running X. These files might not be used now, but

they could hold a lot of information you want to preserve.</P>

<P>The most important of the files you should keep a backup of is your <TT>XF86Config</TT>

file located in the <TT>/usr/lib/X11</TT> directory. (Your old <TT>XF86Config</TT>

file will not be deleted with a new installation, but it is a good idea to keep a

backup just in case something goes wrong and you get a partial install--for example,

if you ran out of disk space or something like that.) The other files include the

<TT>startx</TT> and <TT>.xinitrc</TT> scripts in <TT>/usr/lib/X11</TT>. If you were

using the standard files from a previous version, don't worry, because you will be

getting new ones.



<DL>

	<DT></DT>

</DL>





<DL>

	<DD>

<HR>

<A NAME="Heading10<FONT COLOR="#000077"><B>TIP:</B> </FONT>Do not use XFree86

	3.1.1 or earlier. From the Internet, you can get a copy of version 3.1.2, which is

	also on this book's CD-ROM.

<HR>



</DL>



<P>OK, so it's important enough to repeat here: You can install XFree86 on your machine

in two ways: one, by using the setup utility, or two, by using a manual procedure.

The <TT>setup</TT> utility is the same menu-driven utility you used in the original

installation. To avoid headaches and get to sleep early, use the <TT>setup</TT> program

and menus to perform the installation process. If you really are in a foul mood,

proceed with the manual method.</P>



<P>Before beginning either procedure, determine from Table 21.2 the name of the server

type you need. For example, if you are using a color VGA monitor, you should use

the XF86_SVGA server; for monochrome monitors including some EGA monitors, you might

try XF86_Mono. You do not have to choose the server right now, but realize that you

can use only one of these servers at a time. <BR>



<CENTER>

<P><FONT SIZE="4"><B>Table 21.2. Types of servers in XFree86. </B></FONT>

<TABLE BORDER="0">

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT"><I>Type of Server </I></TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT"><I>Name </I></TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Color SVGA server </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">XF86_SVGA </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">16-color (S)VGA server </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">XF86_VGA16 </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Monochrome server </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">XF86_Mono </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">S3 accelerated server </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">XF86_S3 </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">8514/A accelerated server </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">XF86_8514 </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">Mach8 accelerated server </TD>

		<TD ALIGN="LEFT">XF86_Mach8 </TD>

	</TR>

	<TR ALIGN="LEFT" rowspan="1">