From: Joe Moss Date: 10 May 2000 17:39:38 GMT Subject: XFree86 Frequently Asked Questions XFREE86 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ---------------------------------- This document is intended to provide answers to the questions most often received by the XFree86[tm] Project's support team (which can be reached at XFree86@XFree86.org). It is also a source of information more recent than the documentation included with the latest release. Generally, if the information is already available elsewhere, this document will supply a pointer to the information rather than duplicate it. If you don't have access to the World Wide Web, see the section below entitled "Access via Email". The XFree86 Project is making the information in this document available free of charge in the hope that it will be of use. However, the authors specifically disclaim any liability for any direct, indirect, or consequential damages arising out of its use. This document is intended to be a source of up-to-date info regarding XFree86, and as such, may change frequently. Make sure you consult a recent copy, before relying on any information contained herein. Additionally, this FAQ generally assumes that you are using the latest release and, unless otherwise specified, the information contained herein is likely to not be applicable to other releases. If you are having problems and are not running the latest release, then upgrading is often the answer to your problems. Really. If you have a fairly new card, it is especially important to make sure you are using the latest server release. The latest version of this document is always available from the XFree86 Web site (http://www.XFree86.org/) or one of its mirrors: * http://www.au.xfree86.org/ * http://www.uni-paderborn.de/mirrors/xfree86/ * http://sunsite.mff.cuni.cz/XFree86/ * http://xfree86.gw.com/ * http://xfree86.mirror.aarnet.edu.au/ * http://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/XFree86/ * http://www.noguska.net/linux/xfree86/ * http://www.kr.xfree86.org/ Last modified: Mon Nov 22 13:47:27 PST 1999
SECTION A - GENERAL INFORMATION * A1- What is XFree86? * A2- What is the current release of XFree86? * A3- What is the current release of SuperProbe? * A4- How do I find out what version I have? * A5- Where do I get the latest releases? * A6- What files do I need to upgrade to the latest release? * A7- Where do I find the latest documentation? * A8- Where can I get RPMs for the latest release? * A9- When is the next release? * A10- Which card do you recommend that I buy? * A11- Which card is the fastest? * A12- Has XFree86 been ported to OS/2? * A13- How about a MS-DOS or MS-Windows port? * A14- But I heard X supports Windows NT. * A15- Can I use more than one video card in the same machine with XFree86? * A16- Are Overlay Visuals available? * A17- How do I report a bug in XFree86? * A18- About this FAQ * A19- Access via Email * A20- Related Information SECTION B - CONFIGURATION QUESTIONS * B1- Do you have the config file for ...? * B2- I got an XF86Config file from ..., but things still don't work. * B3- How do I configure the server? * B4- How do I know which X server to use for my video card? * B5- My PC is PC98 compliant. Should I use the XF98 servers? * B6- My monitor isn't listed in the [ XF86Config | xf86setup ] monitor database. * B7- What about "vgaset"? * B8- My card isn't on the list shown in XF86Setup. Is there a more up-to-date list? * B9- Why does the server reject my mode lines? * B10- The preinst.sh script fails to run succesfully SECTION C - KEYBOARD & MOUSE PROBLEMS * C1- The mouse cursor doesn't display in the right position * C2- Why don't menus work properly? * C3- How come, in Tk-based applications, the buttons highlight, but can't be depressed? * C4- I've installed the latest release and now some of my keys no longer work. Why? * C5- The mouse is moving erratically. What's wrong? * C6- New Microsoft serial mouse protocol 2.1A mice don't work. * C7- How can I swap mouse buttons? How do I get an XFree86 for Left-Handers? SECTION D - DISPLAY PROBLEMS * D1- Part of the Displayed Image is Wrapping-around or is Duplicated on the Other Side of the Screen * D2- My screen is too large. How can I disable the virtual desktop? * D3- wrong colors or black and white images in 24bpp modes for Netscape, xanim, WABI and others * D4- Why do I get a mostly black screen with my Diamond Speedstar A50 (SiS 6326)? SECTION E - MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS/QUESTIONS * E1- How do I get the server to scale vector fonts, but not bitmap fonts? * E2- What can I do to keep the server from hanging while scaling fonts? * E3- The system locks up when I start the S3 server. What can I do? * E4- I've got a Cirrus Logic GD546x based card and am experiencing system lockups. What can I do? * E5- I get a "broken pipe" error while unpacking the ".tar.gz" files. Is something wrong with them? * E6- Why does the server quit with the error "xf86OpenConsole: cannot open /dev/console" on Linux? * E7- How do I get the server to display more than 256 colors? * E8- Why do I get display problems with my ATI PC2TV card? * E9- I've just installed XFree86 3.3.5 for Linux, but I get "No such file or directory" whenever I try to run something. * E10- XFree86 crashes on Linux systems with GCC 2.8.x * E11- Why does the X server exit with an error message about a SecurityPolicy file? * E12- Is XFree86 Year2000 compliant? * E13- I get an error "_X11TransSocketUNIXConnect: Can't connect: errno = 111". What does it mean? * E14- What is Xwrapper and why can't startx or xinit find it? * E15- Running XFree86 on portable computers, laptops and LCD screens * E16- Can TrueType fonts be used with XFree86? * E17- I'm using NetBSD-currnet and the `wscons' console code and my X screen sometimes jumps. * E18- Slow or sluggish performance of XFree86 servers, jerky mouse movement. SECTION F - CHIPSET SUPPORT * F1- My card is currently not supported - what can I do? * F2- How do I find out the current status of a driver? * F3- Unsupported Clock Chips * F4- Do you have an alpha or beta server for my ... card? * F5- Matrox chips * F6- Alliance ProMotion chips * F7- Cirrus CL-GD754x chips * F8- Sierra Falcon chip * F9- ISA-bus Mach64 cards * F10- S3 911 and 924 Cards with 512KB RAM * F11- Is there a server for 3Dlabs GLINT or Permedia based cards? * F12- Is a server for Riva 128, 128zx or Riva TNT based cards available? * F13- Is a server for Rendition chipsets available? * F14- What about AGP? * F15- Why don't you just make a VESA 2.0 driver so that all compliant cards will work? * F16- Is a server for the Intel i740 chipset available? * F17- Is a server for the Mpact 2 chipset available? * F18- Is a server for the S3 Trio3D, Trio3D/2X or the S3 Savage3D or the Savage4 available? * F19- S3 Trio3D/2X (86C362, 86C368) doesn't work or is awfully slow * F20- Is a server for SiS 530 or SiS 620 based motherboards with integrated graphics available? * F21- Is a server for the Trident Blade3D chipset available? * F22- Is a server for the Voodoo Banshee or other 3Dfx chips available? * F23- How do I get XFree86 to work with my new ATI card? * F24- Is there any other way I can get an unsupported card to work? * F25- Does XFree86 support the ATI Rage128? * F26- Does XFree86 support the SiS 540/630 or the SiS 300? SECTION G - KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH XFREE86 3.3.5 * G1- The tar files for Linux-ix86-glibc2 are too big / contain additional stuff. * G2- I get an undefined symbol __deregister_frame_info with the Linux-ix86-glibc2 binaries. * G3- My Trident TGUI9680 card has problems with fonts * G4- The "cyber_shadow" Option doesn't work on my Cyber 9382. * G5- Problems displaying resolutions above 640x480 on some Matrox G100 cards. * G6- My Trident laptop goes glowing-white when I start the server. * G7- Display problems (streaking, shifted lines, tearing) at high color depth on Matrox G100 cards.