XF86Config
Encyclopedia
The configuration file
XF86Config of the XFree86
project is used by the X server to set necessary configuration parameters.
It is a plain text file ordered into sections and subsections.
Important sections are Files, InputDevice, Monitor, Modes, Screen, Device, and ServerLayout.
Sections can appear in any order and there may be more than one section of each kind, for example, if you have more than one monitor, say a video projector and an on board LCD of a notebook.
The Monitor sections are for the physical displaying devices, the Screen sections are for the logical displays, so you can have two monitors displaying the same content or entirely different information.
The option "SWCursor" in the Device section for example controls whether the mouse pointer is mirrored on an external monitor or suppressed.
On typical Unix
like systems the file often is found in /etc/X11 and a log file is in /var/log, typically named XFree86.0.log for the last start of X and XFree86.0.log.old for the previous one.
Inappropriate editing of this file may result in a black or illegible screen or might even damage the monitor, especially if it is a CRT
.
The user should be able to operate the system through console mode (i.e. "text mode") when configuring X, as X might fail to start due to an invalid configuration leaving the user with merely the CLI.
fork of the XFree86 project, the file is called Xorg.conf, but the specification is nearly identical. The X.org Server tries, however, to autoconfigure as much as possible with the aim of making Xorg.conf unnecessary in the greatest proportion of cases.
Configuration file
In computing, configuration files, or config files configure the initial settings for some computer programs. They are used for user applications, server processes and operating system settings. The files are often written in ASCII and line-oriented, with lines terminated by a newline or carriage...
XF86Config of the XFree86
XFree86
XFree86 is an implementation of the X Window System. It was originally written for Unix-like operating systems on IBM PC compatibles and is now available for many other operating systems and platforms. It is free and open source software under the XFree86 License version 1.1. It is developed by the...
project is used by the X server to set necessary configuration parameters.
It is a plain text file ordered into sections and subsections.
Important sections are Files, InputDevice, Monitor, Modes, Screen, Device, and ServerLayout.
Sections can appear in any order and there may be more than one section of each kind, for example, if you have more than one monitor, say a video projector and an on board LCD of a notebook.
The Monitor sections are for the physical displaying devices, the Screen sections are for the logical displays, so you can have two monitors displaying the same content or entirely different information.
The option "SWCursor" in the Device section for example controls whether the mouse pointer is mirrored on an external monitor or suppressed.
On typical Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
like systems the file often is found in /etc/X11 and a log file is in /var/log, typically named XFree86.0.log for the last start of X and XFree86.0.log.old for the previous one.
Inappropriate editing of this file may result in a black or illegible screen or might even damage the monitor, especially if it is a CRT
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
.
The user should be able to operate the system through console mode (i.e. "text mode") when configuring X, as X might fail to start due to an invalid configuration leaving the user with merely the CLI.
Xorg.conf
In the X.org ServerX.Org Server
X.Org Server refers to the X server release packages stewarded by the X.Org Foundation,which is hosted by freedesktop.org, and grants...
fork of the XFree86 project, the file is called Xorg.conf, but the specification is nearly identical. The X.org Server tries, however, to autoconfigure as much as possible with the aim of making Xorg.conf unnecessary in the greatest proportion of cases.