README for XFree86 &relvers; on OpenBSD <author> Matthieu Herrb <Date>Last modified on: 9 November 2002 <ident> $XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/OpenBSD.sgml,v 1.30 2003/02/25 19:31:01 dawes Exp $ </ident> <toc> <sect>What and Where is XFree86? XFree86 is an Open Source version of the X Window System that supports several UNIX(R) and UNIX-like operating systems (such as Linux, the BSDs and Solaris x86) on Intel and other platforms. This version is compatible with X11R6.6. See the <htmlurl url="COPYRIGHT.html" name="Copyright Notice">. <![ %notsnapshot [ The sources for XFree86 &relvers; are available by anonymous ftp from: <htmlurl name="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/&relvers;" url="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/&relvers;"> Binaries for OpenBSD/i386 3.2 and later are available from: <htmlurl name="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/&relvers;/binaries/OpenBSD" url="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/&relvers;/binaries/OpenBSD"> A list of mirror sites is provided by <htmlurl name="http://www.xfree86.org/MIRRORS.shtml" url="http://www.xfree86.org/MIRRORS.shtml"> ]]> XFree86 also builds on other OpenBSD architectures. See section <ref id="otherarch" name="Building on other architectures"> for details. <sect>Bug Reports for This Document Send email to <email>herrb@xfree86.org</email> (Matthieu Herrb) or <email>XFree86@XFree86.org</email> if you have comments or suggestions about this file and we'll revise it. <sect>New OS dependent features See the <htmlurl url="RELNOTES.html" name="Release Notes"> for non-OS dependent new features in XFree86 &relvers;. <sect1>New OS related features in 4.3 <itemize> <item>Support for some VGA cards on OpenBSD/alpha </itemize> <sect1>New OS dependent features in 4.2 <itemize> <item>Support for OpenBSD/macppc on the ATI Rage128 based Power Macintoshes. <item>Support for building clients on OpenBSD/sparc64. </itemize> <sect1>New OS dependent features in 4.0.3 <itemize> <item>Support for the wscons console driver in post 2.8 OpenBSD. <item>A fix for multi-threaded libraries support. </itemize> <sect1>New OS dependent features in 4.0.2 <itemize> <item>Support for the OpenBSD ports tree, <item>Preliminary support for the macppc architecture (clients build and work, the server doesn't work yet), <item>xdm now writes an utmp entry, <item>startx now creates an Xauthority magic cookie for the display. </itemize> <sect1>New OS dependent features in 4.0.1 <itemize> <item>Several features from the OpenBSD X11 tree were merged into xdm: <itemize> <item> support for Kerberos IV authentication <item>use the arc4random(4) random number generator <item>add a new resource "allowRootLogin", which can be used to disable root logins through xdm <item>log failed logins to syslogd <item>verify that the shell is valid using /etc/shell <item>verify that the account hasn't expired </itemize> <item>The Xsun server can be built again on OpenBSD/sparc. </itemize> <sect1>New OS dependent features in 4.0 <itemize> <item>Multi-thread safe libraries are built by default on OpenBSD 2.6 and later, <item>Preliminary APM support. </itemize> <sect1>New OS dependent features in 3.9.18 <itemize> <item>Support for USB mices has been added on OpenBSD. <item>Soft-booting secondary cards through the int10 BIOS interface is now possible using the x86emu real mode emulator. </itemize> <sect1>New OS dependent features in 3.9.17 <itemize> <item>Silken mouse is supported for serial mices, and, under post 2.6 OpenBSD-current for PS/2 mices. <item>MTRR Write Combining is enabled under post 2.6 OpenBSD-current. </itemize> <sect>Installing the Binaries Refer to the <htmlurl url="Install.html" name="Installation Document"> for detailed installation instructions. <sect>Configuring X for Your Hardware The <tt>/etc/X11/XF86Config</tt> file tells the X server what kind of monitor, video card and mouse you have. You <em/must/ create it to tell the server what specific hardware you have. You'll need info on your hardware: <itemize> <item>Your mouse type, baud rate and its /dev entry. <item>The video card's chipset (e.g. ET4000, S3, etc). <item>Your monitor's sync frequencies. </itemize> The recommended way to generate an <tt/XF86Config/ file is to use the <tt/xf86cfg/ utility. The xf86config text utility is still there for the (few) cases where xf86cfg can't be used. Also, there is a sample file installed as <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config.eg</tt>, which can be used as a starting point. For details about the <tt/XF86Config/ file format, refer to the <htmlurl name="XF86Config(5)" url="XF86Config.5.html"> manual page. Once you've set up a XF86Config file, you can fine tune the video modes with the <tt>xvidtune</tt> utility. <sect1>About mouse configuration XFree86 &relvers; has support for the mouse driver included in the new <bf/wscons/ console driver introduced by OpenBSD-2.9. Specify ``<tt/wsmouse/'' as the protocol and ``<tt>/dev/wsmouse0</tt>'' as the device in <tt>/etc/X11/XF86Config</tt> if you're using OpenBSD-2.9 or later with a PS/2 or USB mouse. See <htmlurl url="mouse.html" name="README.mouse"> for general instruction on mouse configuration in XFree86. <sect>Running X <sect1>Starting xdm, the display manager To start the display manager, log in as root on the console and type: ``<tt/xdm -nodaemon/''. You can start xdm automatically on bootup by changing the line <tscreen><verb> xdm_flags=NO # for normal use: xdm_flags="" </verb></tscreen> to: <tscreen><verb> xdm_flags="" # for normal use: xdm_flags="" </verb></tscreen> in <tt>/etc/rc.conf</tt>. Note that the binary distributions of XFree86 for OpenBSD on ftp.xfree86.org and its mirrors don't include support for the XDM-AUTHORIZATION-1 protocol, because of the US export rules. <sect1>Running X without the display manager The easiest way for new users to start X windows is to type: ``<tt/startx >& startx.log/''. Error messages are lost unless you redirect them because the server takes over the screen. To get out of X windows, type: ``<tt/exit/'' in the console xterm. You can customize your X by creating <tt/.xinitrc/, <tt/.xserverrc/, and <tt/.twmrc/ files in your home directory as described in the xinit and startx man pages. <sect>Kernel Support for X To make sure X support is enabled under OpenBSD, the following line must be in your config file in <tt>/sys/arch/i386/conf</tt>: <tscreen> option APERTURE </tscreen> <sect1>Console drivers The server supports the standard OpenBSD/i386 console drivers: pcvt and wscons. They are detected at runtime and no configuration of the server itself is required. The pcvt console driver is the default in OpenBSD up to OpenBSD 2.8. It offers several virtual consoles and international keyboard support. OpenBSD 2.9 and later has switched to the wscons console driver. This console driver has a pcvt compatibility mode for X support. <sect1>Aperture Driver By default OpenBSD includes the BSD 4.4 kernel security feature that disables access to the <tt>/dev/mem</tt> device when in multi-user mode. But the XFree86 server requires linear access to the display memory in most cases. OpenBSD now requires the aperture driver to be enabled for all X servers, because the aperture driver also controls access to the I/O ports of the video boards. To enable the aperture driver, once included in the kernel, set <tscreen><verb> machdep.allowaperture=2 </verb></tscreen> in <tt>/etc/sysctl.conf</tt>. See the <htmlurl name="xf86(4)" url="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=xf86&apropos=0&sektion=4&manpath=OpenBSD+Current&arch=i386&format=html"> manual page for details. Another (less recommended) way to enable linear memory and I/O ports access is to disable the kernel security feature by initializing <tt/securelevel/ to -1 in <tt>/etc/rc.securelevel</tt>. <quote> <bf/Caveat:/ the aperture driver only allows one access at a time (so that the system is in the same security state once X is launched). This means that if you run multiple servers on multiple virtual terminals, only the first one will have linear memory access. Set <tt/securelevel/ to -1 if you need more that one X server at a time. </quote> <sect1>MIT-SHM OpenBSD supports System V shared memory. If XFree86 detects this support in your kernel, it will support the MIT-SHM extension. <sect> Rebuilding the XFree86 Distribution You should configure the distribution by editing <tt>xc/config/cf/host.def</tt> before compiling. To compile the sources, invoke ``<tt/make World/'' in the xc directory. Note that OpenBSD project now has its own source tree, based on the XFree86 source tree, with some local modifications. You may want to start with this tree to rebuild from sources. The OpenBSD XF4 source tree is available by anoncvs from all OpenBSD anoncvs servers. See <htmlurl url="http://www.openbsd.org/anoncvs.html" name="http://www.openbsd.org/anoncvs.html"> for details on anoncvs. <label id="otherarch"> XFree86 also compiles on other OpenBSD architectures. <sect1>XFree86 on OpenBSD/alpha The XFree86 server is known to work on some VGA cards in alpha machines that support BWX I/O, with OpenBSD 3.2 and higher. The following cards have been successfully tested for now: <itemize> <item>3DLabs Permedia 2 (8, 15, 16 and 24 bits depth) <item>ATI Rage Pro (works with 'Option "NoAccel"') <item>Cirrus Logic CL5430 (works with 'Option "NoAccel"') <item>Cirrus Logic GD5446 (8, 16 and 24 bits depth) <item>Matrox MGA 2064 (8, 16 and 24 bits depth) </itemize> Note that this version of XFree86 doesn't work on TGA cards. The version shipped with OpenBSD 3.1 and higher includes an OS-specific driver <em/wsfb/ that is used to support TGA cards. <sect1>XFree86 on OpenBSD/macppc The XFree86 server is currently known to work on the G4 Macs and new iBooks with ATI Rage 128 cards running OpenBSD 3.0 or later. Other machines are more or less untested. Earlier OpenBSD versions lack some kernel support for it. Use xf86config to build a /etc/X11/XF86Config file before starting the server for the first time. For the Titanium Powerbook G4, you can try the following mode line in <tt>/etc/X11/XF86Config</tt> to match the flat panel resolution: <tscreen><verb> Modeline "1152x768" 64.995 1152 1213 1349 1472 768 771 777 806 -HSync -VSync </verb></tscreen> <sect1>XFree86 on OpenBSD/sparc OpenBSD 3.2 on sparc switched to the wscons device driver and now uses the OS specific <em/wsfb/ driver in the XFree86 server. This driver is not included in XFree86 4.3. Please use the version shipped with OpenBSD instead. <sect1>XFree86 on OpenBSD/sparc64 This version of XFree68 only has support for X clients on OpenBSD/sparc64. Note that the version shipped with OpenBSD also has support for the X server on both SBus and PCI based machines. <sect>Building New X Clients The easiest way to build a new client (X application) is to use <tt/xmkmf/ if an <tt/Imakefile/ is included in the sources. Type ``<tt/xmkmf -a/'' to create the Makefiles, check the configuration if necessary and type ``<tt/make/''. Whenever you install additional man pages you should update <tt/whatis.db/ by running ``<tt>makewhatis /usr/X11R6/man</tt>''. <sect> Thanks Many thanks to all people who contributed to make XFree86 work on *BSD, in particular: <bf/David Dawes/, <bf/Todd Fries/, <bf/Rod Grimes/, <bf/Charles Hannum/, <bf/Amancio Hasty/, <bf/Christoph Robitschko/, <bf/Matthias Scheler/, <bf/Michael Smith/, <bf/Ignatios Souvatzis/, <bf/Jack Velte/, <bf/Nate Williams/ and <bf/Pace Willison/. </article>