README for XFree86 &relvers; on OpenBSD <author> Matthieu Herrb <Date>Last modified on: 13 November 1999 <toc> <sect>What and Where is XFree86? XFree86 is a port of X11R6.4 that supports several versions of Intel-based Unix. It is derived from X386 1.2, which was the X server distributed with X11R5. This release consists of many new features and performance improvements as well as many bug fixes. The release is available as source patches against the X Consortium X11R6.3 code, as well as binary distributions for many architectures. See the <htmlurl url="COPYRIGHT.html" name="Copyright Notice">. The sources for XFree86 are available by anonymous ftp from: <htmlurl name="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/current" url="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/current">  A list of mirror sites is provided by <htmlurl name="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/MIRRORS" url="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/MIRRORS"> 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 <em/matthieu@laas.fr/ (Matthieu Herrb) or <em/XFree86@XFree86.org/ if you have comments or suggestions about this file and we'll revise it. <sect>New features in this release <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 uner post 2.6 OpenBSD-current. </itemize> See the <htmlurl url="RELNOTES.html" name="Release Notes"> for non-OS dependent new features in XFree86 3.9.17  <sect>Configuring X for Your Hardware The <tt>/etc/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/XF86Setup/ utility. The xf86config text utility is still there for the (few) cases where XF86Setup 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 XF86Config(5) 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 If your serial mouse does not work try using <tt>kermit</tt> or <tt>tip</tt> to connect to the mouse serial port and verify that it does indeed generate characters. The OpenBSD pms driver provides both ``raw'' and ``cooked'' (translated) modes. ``raw'' mode does not do protocol translation, so XFree86 would use the <bf>PS/2</bf> protocol for talking to the device in that mode. ``Cooked'' mode is the old BusMouse translation. The driver runs in ``raw'' mode when using the <tt>/dev/psm0</tt> device name. On OpenBSD 2.2, only standard PS/2 mice are supported by this driver. On OpenBSD 2.3 and later include there is support for recent PS/2 mice that send more than three bytes at a time (especially intellimouse, or mouseman+ with a "3D" roller). 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 un-commenting the following code in <tt>/etc/rc.local</tt>: <tscreen><verb> if [ -x /usr/X11R6/bin/xdm ]; then echo -n ' xdm'; /usr/X11R6/bin/xdm fi </verb></tscreen> On the default OpenBSD 2.2 installation, you will need to create the virtual console device for the X server: <tscreen><verb> cd /dev ./MAKEDEV ttyC5 </verb></tscreen> Note that the binary distributions of XFree86 for OpenBSD don't include support for the XDM-AUTHORIZATION-1 protocol. <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> options XSERVER </tscreen> <sect1>Console drivers The server supports the two standard OpenBSD/i386 console drivers: pccons and pcvt. They are detected at runtime and no configuration of the server itself is required. The pcvt console driver is the default in OpenBSD. It offers several virtual consoles and international keyboard support. <sect1>Aperture Driver By default OpenBSD includes the BSD 4.4 kernel security feature that disable access to the <tt>/dev/mem</tt> device when in multi-users mode. But XFree86 servers can take advantage (or require) linear access to the display memory. The P9000, Mach64 and AGX servers require linear memory access, other accelerated servers can take advantage of it, but do not require it. Some drivers in the SVGA server require linear memory access too, notably the Matrox driver. 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. The aperture driver is part of the kernel. Add 'option APERTURE' to your kernel configuration file, build and install the new kernel and run <tt>./MAKEDEV std</tt> in <tt>/dev</tt>. Edit <tt>/etc/sysctl.conf</tt> to set the variable <bf>machdep.allowaperture</bf> to 1. Another (less recommended) way to enable linear memory access is to disable the kernel security feature by adding ``option INSECURE'' in your kernel configuration file and build a new kernel. In OpenBSD 2.2 and later, you will also need to comment out the line 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 multiples VT, only the first one will have linear memory access. Use 'option INSECURE' 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. To add support for system V shared memory to your kernel add the lines: <tscreen><verb> # System V-like IPC options SYSVMSG options SYSVSEM options SYSVSHM </verb></tscreen> to your kernel config file. <sect> Rebuilding the XFree86 Distribution The server developper's kit allow you to rebuild just the X server with a minimum amount of disk space. Just unpack it, make the appropriate changes to the <tt/xf86site.def/, type ``<tt>./mkmf</tt>'' and ``<tt/make/'' to link the server. See <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/Server/README</tt> for more info. See <htmlurl url="INSTALL.html" name="INSTALL"> for instructions on unbundling and building the source 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. <sect1>Console drivers<label id="console-drivers"> XFree86 has a configuration option to select the console drivers to use in <tt/xf86site.def/: <itemize> <item> if you're using pccons only put: <tscreen><verb> #define XFree86ConsoleDefines -DPCCONS_SUPPORT </verb></tscreen> <item>if you're using pcvt only put: <tscreen><verb> #define XFree86ConsoleDefines -DPCVT_SUPPORT </verb></tscreen> </itemize> If you don't define <bf/XFree86ConsoleDefines/ in <tt/xf86site.def/ the pccons and pcvt drivers will be supported. <sect1>Building on other architectures<label id="otherarch"> XFree86 also compiles on other OpenBSD architectures.  Problems with this port should be reported directly to the OpenBSD mailing lists rather than to the xfree86 mailing list. Note that OpenBSD project has now 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 X11 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. <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/Pace Willison/, <bf/Amancio Hasty/, <bf/Christoph Robitschko/, <bf/Nate Williams/, <bf/Rod Grimes/, <bf/Jack Velte/ and <bf/Michael Smith/. <verb> $XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/OpenBSD.sgml,v 1.5 1999/11/26 00:51:51 dawes Exp $ $XConsortium$ </verb> </article>