Setting up X-Windows



  1. As root, run the xf86configcommand.
  2. This program asks you a variety of questions, and generates a /etc/X11/XF86Config file, which is used by X-Windows when starting up to configure your video card, mouse and so on.
  3. Most of questions are fairly straight forward eg. what keyboard do you have, do you have a serial mouse or a PS/2 mouse etc. The more interesting questions are covered below:



Question
Explanation/Answer
Do you want to emulate 3 buttons?
If you have a 3 button mouse, the middle button is used to paste selected/cut text and you don't need this option. If you have a 2-button mouse, clicking both buttons together acts as button 3 on a three button mouse, and it's useful having this option so say yes.
Give the full device name that the mouse is connected to.....
For serial mice, this might be /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyS1 etc. For a PS/2 mouse, the device is /dev/psaux. The default is /dev/mouse which is usually just a symlink to the actual mouse device. If your mouse refuses to work after selecting the default, make sure the link points to the proper device.
When asked to select the horizontal sync range for your monitor...
CONSULT YOUR USER MANUAL!!! THAT IS THE SAFEST OPTION. Failing that, I generally use option 6 (31.5kHz - 48.5kHz), it's a nice safe range and has never given me any problems. Use it at your own risk.
When asked to select the vertical sync range for your monitor...
CONSULT YOUR USER MANUAL!!! THAT IS THE SAFEST OPTION. Failing that, I generally use option 2 (50-90), it's a nice safe range and has never given me any problems. Use it at your own risk.
Enter an identifier for your monitor ...
Enter anything to describe your monitor. It really doesn't matter too much.
Enter an identifier for your video card ...
Enter anything to describe your video card. Again, it really doesn't matter
When asked to change the modes (resolution) and color depth for your setup ...
This lets you start up with a 1024x768 resolution, or a 800x600 resolution etc. The default is 640x480 which very few people like. I recommend changing the resolution for at least 16-bit color. The setting 432 lets you start up in 1024x768 first, letting you switch to 800x600 and then 640x480 if you want.
When choosing the default color depth ...
I recommend at least 16-bit color. 16-bit = 65536 colors. 8-bit = 256 colors. Better video cards can generally support better color depths.


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