Documentation Xorg Beat

X Window System (Graphics)

This section contains information related to the X Window System implementation, X.Org, provided with Fedora.

Faster X Start-up and Shutdown

Fedora 9 features a number of changes designed to make X faster in starting and shutting down and to make other improvements. Full details of the project can be found through its feature page.

X Configuration Changes

The X.Org 1.5.1 X server has been modified to automatically detect and configure most hardware, eliminating the need to modify the /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration file. The only hardware configured by default in the xorg.conf configuration file written by Anaconda is:

• the graphics driver, and
• the keyboard map

All other hardware, such as monitors (both LCD and CRT), USB mice, and touchpads, should be detected and configured automatically.

The X server queries the attached monitor for supported resolution ranges, and attempts to pick the highest resolution available with the correct aspect ratio for the display. Set the preferred resolution in System > Preferences > Screen Resolution, and the default resolution for the system in System > Administration > Display.

If the /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration file is not present, X automatically detects the appropriate driver, and assumes a 105-key US keyboard layout.

In certain situations, the evdev driver was used, even when the kbd driver was specified in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Removing the evdev driver caused errors and warnings such as the following:

(WW) Warning, couldn't open module evdev
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(EE) Failed to load module "evdev" (module does not exist, 0)
(EE) No input driver matching <code>evdev'
[config/hal]  NewInputDeviceRequest failed
(II) LoadModule: "evdev"

In Fedora 9, the XKB settings are read from /etc/sysconfig/keyboard, which gives users the correct layout. The KEYTABLE option, configured in /etc/sysconfig/keyboard, also sets the layout for X. The XKB_VARIANT and XKB_OPTIONS variables can be configured to customize XKB.

Dual-Head Installations

In Fedora 9, the introduction of the new Xorg release and support for Randr signals the start of deprecation for Xinerama as a solution for multi-head monitors, especially on single graphic board configurations with multiple-outputs. More complicated settings, such as multiple graphic cards in one computer, are still done with Xinerama only.

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/XserverOnePointFive http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/RandrSupport

It is possible to configure multi-monitor spanning desktop without Xinerama:

• Use Option "monitor-<identificator>" (where identificator can be obtained with xrandr -q)
  • Add additional "Monitor" section for each monitor
• Add a Virtual option to the "Screen" section.

Details on how to do this, with well-written examples, are available from Ulrich Drepper:

http://udrepper.livejournal.com/20187.html

Third-party Video Drivers

Refer to the Xorg third-party drivers page for detailed guidelines on using third-party video drivers.