[aklug] Re: Maintain your own xorg.conf?

On Thu, Nov 04, 2010 at 08:41:48PM -0400, Christopher Howard wrote:
> Is it possible to maintain your own xorg.conf file these days? Do any of you guys actually do that manually? (And actually know what you're doing...?) Reason I ask is because I am trying to learn how to do it on my own (for my certification test) but I'm not even getting out of the gate.
>
> If I have no xorg.conf file, then X autoconfigures itself with no issues. But if I run Xorg -configure (to try to get a workable xorg.conf to start with) X just crashes (segfault) before starting up and doesn't even give me the xorg.conf file. The xorg.conf.example doesn't seem anything like my system.
>
> Also, is there a tool you can use to get information about you monitor and its available resolution rates, etc.? The book I am reading mentions xdpyinfo and xwininfo, but these apparently only work /after/ X11 has already started, and it does not seem very handy to only know about tools that can only be used if X is /already/ configured correctly. It seems like if Xorg can automagically figure the hardware out, there should be some way for me to see the details from the command-line.
>
> --
> Christopher Howard

IMO it's really dependent upon how your distro patches x11

Gentoo required me to install nvidia-drivers then run "nvidia-xconfig" to
get a working xorg.conf for a starting point. "Xorg -configure" is
deprecated and useless, at least on Gentoo.

On Slackware with xorg-server-1.7.7 and Nivida drivers from their website
installed with "sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-260.19.04.run" all that is required in
xorg.conf is:

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device0"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection

Mouse, kbd, monitor all work as they should.

On Gentoo with xorg-server-1.7.7-r1 and nvidia-drivers-260.19.12 there is
more required (i.e. Gentoo patches decision). The only thing that I _really_
needed to add was:

Option "XkbOptions" "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"

to the InputDevice because ...

This option was removed between version 1.5 and 1.6 of Xorg server. If you
want to enable zapping without using any graphical utility, you need to
put that line in xorg.conf. Guess Slackware has that patched, because it
just works as it always has. NB: am using Fluxbox, never a DE nor a login
manager such as xdm/gdm/kdm/whatever.

In Gentoo my /etc/make.conf has VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia" and evdev takes care
of the mouse and kbd.

Perhaps X remains a black art ...

Bruce

-- 
May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!
"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the
lesson afterward. But properly learned, the lesson forever changes
the man."
---------
To unsubscribe, send email to <aklug-request@aklug.org>
with 'unsubscribe' in the message body.