old-www/LDP/lame/LAME/linux-admin-made-easy/xwindows-xconfigurator.html

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><A
NAME="XWINDOWS-XCONFIGURATOR"
>5.1. Getting the X Window System Working with X-Configurator</A
></H1
><P
>There are two main methods of getting X working under Red Hat's
distribution of Linux. The first and easiest method, is to use Red Hat's
own ``<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>Xconfigurator</TT
>'' utility. The utility tries to
detect your hardware and installs the applicable X software with the
appropriate configuration settings.</P
><P
>If you are still unsuccessful after trying out various settings
with Xconfigurator, you may have better luck with the
``<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>xf86config</TT
>'' utility. Although certainly not as
user-friendly or attractive as Xconfigurator is, it gives you finer
control over the configuration process.</P
><P
>Finally, if you are <EM
>still</EM
> out of luck you may
have to resort to editing the
``<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>/etc/X11/XF86Config</TT
></TT
>'' file by
hand and tweaking various settings. If this is the case, you may need to
get help from the Linux community (see <A
HREF="where-to-turn.html"
>Section 13.3</A
> for
details). Relax, however -- in a majority of cases Xconfigurator does an
adequate job!</P
><P
>After getting X working properly, you may be disappointed in the
lack of rich colours. This is because X uses a default 8-bit per pixel
(``<EM
>bpp</EM
>'') colour depth. You can use higher colour
depths, however, assuming your video hardware will support them.</P
><P
>The various colour depths are listed in your
``<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>/etc/X11/XF86Config</TT
></TT
>'' file, and
look like this:</P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
> Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "800x600" "1024x768"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 1024 768
EndSubsection</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><P
>The above section shows the possible resolutions which are
available when using the 24-bit colour depth (800x600 and 1024x768, as
listed in the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Modes"</SPAN
> line); these resolutions can be
switched between <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"on-the-fly"</SPAN
> using the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>&#60;<B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>Alt</B
>&#62;&#60;<B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>+</B
>&#62;</TT
>
and <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>&#60;<B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>Alt</B
>&#62;&#60;<B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>-</B
>&#62;</TT
>
keys.</P
><DIV
CLASS="TIP"
><BLOCKQUOTE
CLASS="TIP"
><P
><B
>Tip: </B
>Tip: As a default, when X starts up it does so using the lowest
resolution. If you dislike this behaviour as much as I do, simply edit
the ``<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>/etc/X11/XF86Config</TT
></TT
>'' file
and reverse the resolutions (ie. <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"1024x768"</SPAN
>
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"800x600"</SPAN
>).</P
></BLOCKQUOTE
></DIV
><P
>When you are getting things set up, you can test each colour depth
manually by typing, ``<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>startx -- -bpp 24</TT
>'' (for the
24-bit depth) and make sure X is working properly for the colour depth
you wish to use.)</P
><P
>If you are able to successfully use a higher colour depth and wish
to use it as the default, you will need to create a
``<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>/etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc</TT
></TT
>'' file
as follows:</P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="PROGRAMLISTING"
>exec X :0 -bpp 24</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><P
>The above change will allow X to use 24 bits per pixel (if you have
problems with this, try 16 or 32 instead of 24).</P
><P
>Assuming you have configured X properly, starting it is a simple
matter of typing ``<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>startx</TT
>'' as any user. The X GUI
will start, and after you have finished your session and quit X, you will
be returned to the regular Linux console.</P
><P
>Optionally, X can start up at system boot, and
<EM
>always</EM
> run (see <A
HREF="xwindows-xdm.html"
>Section 5.2</A
> for
details on how to accomplish this). This can be handy for those users who
dislike seeing the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"boring"</SPAN
> black &#38; white console, or for
those who wish to avoid dealing with command line shells as much as
possible.</P
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