ch21.htm

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

<UL>

	<LI>Moo-Tiff

</UL>





<DL>

	<DD>This is a very good shareware port of Motif. It's available on CD-ROM from InfoMagic,

	Inc., for about $100, at [phone]. Moo-Tiff is very easy to install. Cheaper

	than Motif proper, it comes with documentation and the source code to lots of demos.

</DL>





<UL>

	<LI>lessTIF

</UL>





<DL>

	<DD>This is a free version of Motif, though not as complete or up-to-date. Motif

	is at version 2.0; lessTIF is supporting only some Motif 1.2 features. Nevertheless,

	this package is a decent, cheap alternative to the high price tag for Motif or Moo-Tiff.

	The motivation for this package was to answer the question &quot;When the compiler

	is free and the OS is free, why shell out the dollars for Motif?&quot; Never mind

	the support, because there isn't any, other than talented Linux individuals on the

	Internet. For more information, check out the Web site at <TT>http:/www.hungry.com/products/lesstif/lessdox/LessTif</TT>.

</DL>





<UL>

	<LI>fvwm and fvwm95

</UL>





<DL>

	<DD>XFree86 also includes the selection fvwm, a free window manager, and fvwm95,

	a Microsoft Windows 95 look-and-feel version of fvwm. The latest versions of each

	can be found on the ftp site at <TT>sunsite.unc.edu</TT> in the directory <TT>/pub/Linux/X11/window-managers</TT>.

</DL>





<UL>

	<LI>Other Window managers

</UL>





<DL>

	<DD>Many X Window system managers are available that run on Linux. A selection of

	these can be found on sunsite in the directory <TT>/pub/Linux/X11/window-managers</TT>.

</DL>





<UL>

	<LI>Other X11 applications

</UL>





<DL>

	<DD>Many programs and applications are available for X--too many to list here. Look

	through the <TT>/pub/Linux/X11</TT> hierarchy on <TT>sunsite.unc.edu</TT> for ports

	with many Linux packages. Most programs distributed in source form need no changes

	to run on Linux, so look at the generic X11 program archives, as well as at the Linux-specific

	sites.

</DL>



<P>Sometimes you need additional libraries to run binary distributions or to compile

an application. If you need a library to run binary distributions, you should find

a pointer to that library in the <TT>README</TT> file of that package. If you do

not have a pointer, you should look at the <TT>/pub/Linux/libs</TT> hierarchy at

sunsite. Most libraries that work on Linux can be found there. If you cannot find

a library there and you have Internet access, follow the instructions on getting

information in Appendix A, &quot;FTP Sites and Newsgroups.&quot;

<CENTER>

<H3><A NAME="Heading18<FONT COLOR="#000077">Finding Information on XFree86

on the Net</FONT></H3>

</CENTER>

<P>You can find an excellent document about XFree86 by Matt Welsh, called &quot;The

Linux XFree86 HOWTO&quot; document, on the Internet. This document will make an excellent

resource for you as you install XFree86 and will provide far more detailed information

than this chapter. Look in the <TT>/docs</TT> directory for this file: <TT>XFree86-HOWTO</TT>.</P>

<P>The ASCII version of this <TT>HOWTO</TT> document was posted regularly to the

newsgroups for X and Linux. The latest version can also be found on <TT>sunsite.unc.edu</TT>

in the directory <TT>/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO</TT>. This document will almost certainly

be more current than any printed material.</P>

<P>For general X questions, you should read the FAQ and the Xt-FAQ. You can get these

from <TT>ftp.x.org</TT> in the directory <TT>/R6contrib</TT>. Many Linux distributions

include most relevant FAQs in the directory <TT>/doc</TT>. Look on the CD-ROM for

this directory.</P>

<P>If you have questions about the XFree86 package and cannot find an answer in the

documentation files (<TT>XFree86</TT>, <TT>XF86Config</TT>, <TT>XF86_*</TT> man pages,

or the README files in <TT>/usr/X386/lib/X11/doc</TT>), you might want to post a

question to a newsgroup. The appropriate newsgroup for that purpose is <TT>comp.windows.x.i386unix</TT>.

This newsgroup is dedicated to the XFree86 system. If you have a problem with the

server and want to post a question to this newsgroup, you should provide enough information

for those who want to help you. Here are some things that should be included in all

postings concerning server problems:



<UL>

	<LI>The operating system and which release you are running.

	<P>

	<LI>What hardware you have (at least bus type [ISA/EISA/VLB] and your graphic card

	model name including chip set, video RAM type, size, and speed).

	<P>

	<LI>A brief description of the problem. This is important. Avoid sending an entire

	dissertation.

	<P>

	<LI>A printout of the server startup (you can generate that by running <TT>startx

	2&gt;&amp;1 &gt; Xerror.log</TT> or <TT>startx &gt;&amp; Xerror.log</TT>, depending

	on whether you use <TT>bash</TT> or <TT>csh</TT>).

	<P>

	<LI>Any relevant parts of the <TT>XF86Config</TT>. (It is not a good idea to include

	all lines commented out by a leading <TT>#</TT>.) This would be the largest part

	of your post, and most people will already know the copyright statements.

	<P>

	<LI>A list of fixes you have already attempted.

</UL>



<P>Send bug reports or questions on XFree86 directly to <TT>[e-mail]</TT>.

This is the &quot;official&quot; contact address of the XFree86 Project, Inc.

<CENTER>

<H4><A NAME="Heading19<FONT COLOR="#000077">Newsgroups</FONT></H4>

</CENTER>

<P>Here are some other newsgroups that cover X-related topics:



<UL>

	<LI><TT>comp.windows.x.apps</TT>: X applications.

	<P>

	<LI><TT>comp.windows.x.intrinsics</TT>: X intrinsic toolkit information.

	<P>

	<LI><TT>comp.windows.x.i386unix</TT>: Questions regarding XFree86.

	<P>

	<LI><TT>comp.windows.x.motif</TT>: Motif extension to X.

	<P>

	<LI><TT>comp.windows.open-look</TT>: OPEN LOOK and XView extensions to X.

</UL>



<P>Note that most of these groups have FAQ lists that are posted regularly to these

groups. As always with regular postings, you can obtain these from <TT>rtfm.mit.edu</TT>

via anonymous FTP.

<CENTER>

<H3><A NAME="Heading20<FONT COLOR="#000077">Some Common Problems and Solutions</FONT></H3>

</CENTER>

<P>Following are some of the problems you might see when you work with XFree86:



<UL>

	<LI>You have a dead screen or you see a very blurred, out-of-focus display. Press

	Ctrl-Alt-backspace immediately. You are probably running the wrong server and overdriving

	your monitor!

	<P>

	<LI>You get no windows; you get only a gray background. This is due to running without

	a window manager. Running X starts only the X server, not the window manager. You

	should use a script by editing the one in <TT>/usr/bin/X11/startx</TT>.

	<P>

	<LI>You get errors about not finding any font files. First check the <TT>XF86Config</TT>

	file to see whether the directories in the font path are named correctly and contain

	fonts. If they are, run <TT>mkfontdir</TT> in each of those directories to set them

	up for use with X.

	<P>

	<LI>The server dies with the message <TT>Cannot find a free VT</TT>. XFree86 needs

	a free virtual terminal (VT) on which to run. So if you have put a getty process

	on every virtual console in your <TT>/etc/inittab</TT>, XFree86 is not able to start.

	The common practice is to leave <TT>/dev/tty8</TT> (for kernel messages) and <TT>/dev/tty7</TT>

	(for XFree86) free of a getty process.

</UL>



<P>This is not an exhaustive list. Read the <TT>XFree86-HOWTO</TT> document in <TT>/docs</TT>

on the CD-ROM for more information about other video-card problems that are too specific

to list here. Also, check the troubleshooting document at <TT>http://www.xfree86.org/3.2/QuickStart-7.html</TT>.

<CENTER>

<H3><A NAME="Heading21<FONT COLOR="#000077">Issues with Compiling Programs

That Use X</FONT></H3>

</CENTER>

<P>This section really did not fit in the C++ chapters. You might want to compile

some programs for X on your Linux machine. Yes, you can do so. For all practical

purposes, XFree86 is a simpler version of X11R6 for your programming needs. You should,

however, also read the <TT>GCC-FAQ</TT> file on the F series of the installation

disks and CD-ROM.</P>

<P>You can find this file in the <TT>/doc</TT> directories of the CD-ROM as well

as in the FTP sites at sunsite and tsx-11 before compiling any X programs. Many questions

on compiling programs with Linux are answered in this FAQ. Many Linux distributions

include the most relevant FAQs in the directory <TT>/usr/doc</TT>, so you might look

there first.</P>

<P>If you have the source code for a program that uses X11, it usually is shipped

with an imakefile rather than a makefile.</P>

<P>Imakefiles are files that create makefiles for your system. Discussing imakefiles

is beyond the scope of this book; however, you have to work with imakefiles if you

work at all with X sources. Just remember the shell script <TT>xmkmf</TT>, and you

should be OK.



<DL>

	<DT></DT>

</DL>





<DL>

	<DD>

<HR>

<A NAME="Heading22<FONT COLOR="#000077"><B>CAUTION:</B> </FONT>The <TT>xmkmf</TT>

	shell script actually runs the <TT>imake</TT> command with a set of arguments. The

	most common argument is the <TT>-DUseInstalled</TT> argument. If you examine <TT>xmkmf</TT>

	(look in <TT>/usr/bin/X11/imake</TT>), you will see that the <TT>xmkmf</TT> script

	is a basic wrapper around a call to <TT>imake</TT>. It's very tempting to use <TT>imake</TT>

	on a command line by itself. Do not do so. Run the <TT>imake</TT> command with the

	<TT>-DUseInstalled</TT> argument if you must run <TT>imake</TT> on the command line.

	If you don't use this argument, <TT>imake</TT> will behave as if it were re-creating

	the X Window system on your current directory.

<HR>



</DL>



<P>Of course, before ever running <TT>xmkmf</TT>, you should read the documentation

that usually comes with such packages.</P>



<P>Run <TT>xmkmf</TT> in the directory that contains the imakefile. If there is a

hierarchy of directories with imakefiles, you usually have to run <TT>xmkmf</TT>

only in the root directory of that hierarchy. The <TT>xmkmf</TT> command builds all

the required makefiles in all directories in the hierarchy.</P>

<P>You then should run the <TT>make</TT> command with an argument to let <TT>make</TT>

resolve its dependencies with the following command:<FONT COLOR="#0066FF"></FONT>

<PRE><FONT COLOR="#0066FF">$ make depend

</FONT></PRE>

<P>After that, you can make the program by running <TT>make</TT>, and you can install

your new utility (usually in <TT>/usr/X11R6/bin</TT>) by running this command:<FONT

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

<PRE><FONT COLOR="#0066FF">$ make install

</FONT></PRE>

<P>The installation of the man pages is done like so:<FONT COLOR="#0066FF"></FONT>

<PRE><FONT COLOR="#0066FF">$ make install.man

</FONT></PRE>

<P>That's it. Now let's move on to the next chapter to learn how to further customize

your X environment.

<CENTER>

<H3><A NAME="Heading23<FONT COLOR="#000077">Summary</FONT></H3>

</CENTER>

<P>This section covered one of the hardest things you will have to do when installing

a package on Linux: installing XFree86. By using setup or the free utilities from

<TT>www.xfree86.org</TT>, you can make this procedure a bit easier. However, you

can do the setup and re-install manually, as well. Naturally, all the possible problems

you will face while installing XFree86 are too long to list here. After reading this

chapter, though, you should have an idea of what you are getting yourself into and

the general steps you must take.</P>



<P>Do not despair if things don't work out just as the instructions say they will.

You should be able to look at the configuration files to determine where the problem

is and what might be done to fix it. If nothing works despite your best efforts,

you have the recourse of knowing where to look for answers in FAQs, newsgroups, and

FTP sites on the Internet for <TT>HOWTOs</TT> and other documents on Linux.









</td>
</tr>
</table>
<!-- begin footer information -->


</body></html>