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NAME
Xorg - X11R7 X server
SYNOPSIS
Xorg [:display] [option ...]
DESCRIPTION
Xorg is a full featured X server that was originally designed for UNIX and UNIX-like
operating systems running on Intel x86 hardware. It now runs on a wider range of hardware
and OS platforms.
This work was derived by the X.Org Foundation from the XFree86 Project's XFree86 4.4rc2
release. The XFree86 release was originally derived from X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell which
was contributed to X11R5 by Snitily Graphics Consulting Service.
PLATFORMS
Xorg operates under a wide range of operating systems and hardware platforms. The Intel
x86 (IA32) architecture is the most widely supported hardware platform. Other hardware
platforms include Compaq Alpha, Intel IA64, AMD64, SPARC and PowerPC. The most widely
supported operating systems are the free/OpenSource UNIX-like systems such as Linux,
FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and Solaris. Commercial UNIX operating systems such as UnixWare
are also supported. Other supported operating systems include GNU Hurd. Mac OS X is
supported with the Xquartz(1) X server. Win32/Cygwin is supported with the XWin(1) X
server.
NETWORK CONNECTIONS
Xorg supports connections made using the following reliable byte-streams:
Local
On most platforms, the "Local" connection type is a UNIX-domain socket. On some
System V platforms, the "local" connection types also include STREAMS pipes, named
pipes, and some other mechanisms. See the "LOCAL CONNECTIONS" section of X(7) for
details.
TCP/IP
Xorg listens on port 6000+n, where n is the display number. This connection type is
usually disabled by default, but may be enabled with the -listen option (see the
Xserver(1) man page for details).
OPTIONS
Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time
parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf(5) configuration
files, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. When the same information is supplied in
more than one way, the highest precedence mechanism is used. The list of mechanisms is
ordered from highest precedence to lowest. Note that not all parameters can be supplied
via all methods. The available command line options and environment variables (and some
defaults) are described here and in the Xserver(1) manual page. Most configuration file
parameters, with their defaults, are described in the xorg.conf(5) manual page. Driver
and module specific configuration parameters are described in the relevant driver or
module manual page.
In addition to the normal server options described in the Xserver(1) manual page, Xorg
accepts the following command line switches:
vtXX XX specifies the Virtual Terminal device number which Xorg will use. Without this
option, Xorg will pick the first available Virtual Terminal that it can locate.
This option applies only to platforms that have virtual terminal support, such as
Linux, BSD, OpenSolaris, SVR3, and SVR4.
-allowMouseOpenFail
Allow the server to start up even if the mouse device can't be opened or
initialised. This is equivalent to the AllowMouseOpenFail xorg.conf(5) file
option.
-allowNonLocalXvidtune
Make the VidMode extension available to remote clients. This allows the xvidtune
client to connect from another host. This is equivalent to the
AllowNonLocalXvidtune xorg.conf(5) file option. By default non-local connections
are not allowed.
-bgamma value
Set the blue gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is
1.0. Not all drivers support this. See also the -gamma, -rgamma, and -ggamma
options.
-bpp n No longer supported. Use -depth to set the color depth, and use -fbbpp if you
really need to force a non-default framebuffer (hardware) pixel format.
-config file
Read the server configuration from file. This option will work for any file when
the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0), or for files relative to a
directory in the config search path for all other users.
-configdir directory
Read the server configuration files from directory. This option will work for any
directory when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0), or for
directories relative to a directory in the config directory search path for all
other users.
-configure
When this option is specified, the Xorg server loads all video driver modules,
probes for available hardware, and writes out an initial xorg.conf(5) file based
on what was detected. This option currently has some problems on some platforms,
but in most cases it is a good way to bootstrap the configuration process. This
option is only available when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).
-crt /dev/ttyXX
SCO only. This is the same as the vt option, and is provided for compatibility
with the native SCO X server.
-depth n
Sets the default color depth. Legal values are 1, 4, 8, 15, 16, and 24. Not all
drivers support all values.
-disableVidMode
Disable the parts of the VidMode extension (used by the xvidtune client) that can
be used to change the video modes. This is equivalent to the
DisableVidModeExtension xorg.conf(5) file option.
-fbbpp n
Sets the number of framebuffer bits per pixel. You should only set this if you're
sure it's necessary; normally the server can deduce the correct value from -depth
above. Useful if you want to run a depth 24 configuration with a 24 bpp
framebuffer rather than the (possibly default) 32 bpp framebuffer (or vice versa).
Legal values are 1, 8, 16, 24, 32. Not all drivers support all values.
-flipPixels
Swap the default values for the black and white pixels.
-gamma value
Set the gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is 1.0.
This value is applied equally to the R, G and B values. Those values can be set
independently with the -rgamma, -bgamma, and -ggamma options. Not all drivers
support this.
-ggamma value
Set the green gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is
1.0. Not all drivers support this. See also the -gamma, -rgamma, and -bgamma
options.
-ignoreABI
The Xorg server checks the ABI revision levels of each module that it loads. It
will normally refuse to load modules with ABI revisions that are newer than the
server's. This is because such modules might use interfaces that the server does
not have. When this option is specified, mismatches like this are downgraded from
fatal errors to warnings. This option should be used with care.
-isolateDevice bus-id
Restrict device resets to the device at bus-id. The bus-id string has the form
bustype:bus:device:function (e.g., ‘PCI:1:0:0’). At present, only isolation of
PCI devices is supported; i.e., this option is ignored if bustype is anything
other than ‘PCI’.
-keeptty
Prevent the server from detaching its initial controlling terminal. If you want to
use systemd-logind integration you must specify this option. Not all platforms
support (or can use) this option.
-keyboard keyboard-name
Use the xorg.conf(5) file InputDevice section called keyboard-name as the core
keyboard. This option is ignored when the Layout section specifies a core
keyboard. In the absence of both a Layout section and this option, the first
relevant InputDevice section is used for the core keyboard.
-layout layout-name
Use the xorg.conf(5) file Layout section called layout-name. By default the first
Layout section is used.
-logfile filename
Use the file called filename as the Xorg server log file. The default log file
when running as root is /var/log/Xorg.n.log and for non root it is
$XDG_DATA_HOME/xorg/Xorg.n.log where n is the display number of the Xorg server.
The default may be in a different directory on some platforms. This option is
only available when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).
-logverbose [n]
Sets the verbosity level for information printed to the Xorg server log file. If
the n value isn't supplied, each occurrence of this option increments the log file
verbosity level. When the n value is supplied, the log file verbosity level is
set to that value. The default log file verbosity level is 3.
-modulepath searchpath
Set the module search path to searchpath. searchpath is a comma separated list of
directories to search for Xorg server modules. This option is only available when
the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).
-noautoBindGPU
Disable automatically setting secondary GPUs up as output sinks and offload
sources. This is equivalent to setting the AutoBindGPU xorg.conf(5) file option.
To false.
-nosilk Disable Silken Mouse support.
-novtswitch
Disable the automatic switching on X server reset and shutdown to the VT that was
active when the server started, if supported by the OS.
-pixmap24
Set the internal pixmap format for depth 24 pixmaps to 24 bits per pixel. The
default is usually 32 bits per pixel. There is normally little reason to use this
option. Some client applications don't like this pixmap format, even though it is
a perfectly legal format. This is equivalent to the Pixmap xorg.conf(5) file
option.
-pixmap32
Set the internal pixmap format for depth 24 pixmaps to 32 bits per pixel. This is
usually the default. This is equivalent to the Pixmap xorg.conf(5) file option.
-pointer pointer-name
Use the xorg.conf(5) file InputDevice section called pointer-name as the core
pointer. This option is ignored when the Layout section specifies a core pointer.
In the absence of both a Layout section and this option, the first relevant
InputDevice section is used for the core pointer.
-quiet Suppress most informational messages at startup. The verbosity level is set to
zero.
-rgamma value
Set the red gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10. The default is
1.0. Not all drivers support this. See also the -gamma, -bgamma, and -ggamma
options.
-sharevts
Share virtual terminals with another X server, if supported by the OS.
-screen screen-name
Use the xorg.conf(5) file Screen section called screen-name. By default the
screens referenced by the default Layout section are used, or the first Screen
section when there are no Layout sections.
-showconfig
This is the same as the -version option, and is included for compatibility
reasons. It may be removed in a future release, so the -version option should be
used instead.
-showDefaultModulePath
Print out the default module path the server was compiled with.
-showDefaultLibPath
Print out the path libraries should be installed to.
-showopts
For each driver module installed, print out the list of options and their argument
types.
-weight nnn
Set RGB weighting at 16 bpp. The default is 565. This applies only to those
drivers which support 16 bpp.
-verbose [n]
Sets the verbosity level for information printed on stderr. If the n value isn't
supplied, each occurrence of this option increments the verbosity level. When the
n value is supplied, the verbosity level is set to that value. The default
verbosity level is 0.
-version
Print out the server version, patchlevel, release date, the operating
system/platform it was built on, and whether it includes module loader support.
KEYBOARD
The Xorg server is normally configured to recognize various special combinations of key
presses that instruct the server to perform some action, rather than just sending the key
press event to a client application. These actions depend on the XKB keymap loaded by a
particular keyboard device and may or may not be available on a given configuration.
The following key combinations are commonly part of the default XKEYBOARD keymap.
Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
Immediately kills the server -- no questions asked. It can be disabled by setting
the DontZap xorg.conf(5) file option to a TRUE value.
It should be noted that zapping is triggered by the Terminate_Server action in the
keyboard map. This action is not part of the default keymaps but can be enabled
with the XKB option "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp".
Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus
Change video mode to next one specified in the configuration file. This can be
disabled with the DontZoom xorg.conf(5) file option.
Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Minus
Change video mode to previous one specified in the configuration file. This can
be disabled with the DontZoom xorg.conf(5) file option.
Ctrl+Alt+F1...F12
For systems with virtual terminal support, these keystroke combinations are used
to switch to virtual terminals 1 through 12, respectively. This can be disabled
with the DontVTSwitch xorg.conf(5) file option.
CONFIGURATION
Xorg typically uses a configuration file called xorg.conf and configuration files with the
suffix .conf in a directory called xorg.conf.d for its initial setup. Refer to the
xorg.conf(5) manual page for information about the format of this file.
Xorg has a mechanism for automatically generating a built-in configuration at run-time
when no xorg.conf file or xorg.conf.d files are present. The current version of this
automatic configuration mechanism works in two ways.
The first is via enhancements that have made many components of the xorg.conf file
optional. This means that information that can be probed or reasonably deduced doesn't
need to be specified explicitly, greatly reducing the amount of built-in configuration
information that needs to be generated at run-time.
The second is to have "safe" fallbacks for most configuration information. This maximises
the likelihood that the Xorg server will start up in some usable configuration even when
information about the specific hardware is not available.
The automatic configuration support for Xorg is work in progress. It is currently aimed
at the most popular hardware and software platforms supported by Xorg. Enhancements are
planned for future releases.
FILES
The Xorg server config files can be found in a range of locations. These are documented
fully in the xorg.conf(5) manual page. The most commonly used locations are shown here.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf-4 Server configuration file.
/etc/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
/usr/etc/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d-4 Server configuration directory.
/etc/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
/usr/etc/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
/var/log/Xorg.n.log Server log file for display n.
/usr/bin/∗ Client binaries.
/usr/include/∗ Header files.
/usr/lib/∗ Libraries.
/usr/share/fonts/X11/∗ Fonts.
/usr/share/X11/XErrorDB Client error message database.
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/∗ Client resource specifications.
/usr/share/man/man?/∗ Manual pages.
/etc/Xn.hosts Initial access control list for display n.
SEE ALSO
X(7), Xserver(1), xdm(1), xinit(1), xorg.conf(5), xvidtune(1), xkeyboard-config (7),
apm(4), ati(4), chips(4), cirrus(4), cyrix(4), fbdev(4), glide(4), glint(4), i128(4),
i740(4), imstt(4), intel(4), mga(4), neomagic(4), nsc(4), nv(4), openchrome (4), r128(4),
rendition(4), s3virge(4), siliconmotion(4), sis(4), sunbw2(4), suncg14(4), suncg3(4),
suncg6(4), sunffb(4), sunleo(4), suntcx(4), tdfx(4), tga(4), trident(4), tseng(4), v4l(4),
vesa(4), vmware(4),
Web site <http://www.x.org>.
AUTHORS
Xorg has many contributors world wide. The names of most of them can be found in the
documentation, ChangeLog files in the source tree, and in the actual source code.
Xorg was originally based on XFree86 4.4rc2. That was originally based on X386 1.2 by
Thomas Roell, which was contributed to the then X Consortium's X11R5 distribution by SGCS.
Xorg is released by the X.Org Foundation.
The project that became XFree86 was originally founded in 1992 by David Dawes, Glenn Lai,
Jim Tsillas and David Wexelblat.
XFree86 was later integrated in the then X Consortium's X11R6 release by a group of
dedicated XFree86 developers, including the following:
Stuart Anderson anderson@metrolink.com
Doug Anson danson@lgc.com
Gertjan Akkerman akkerman@dutiba.twi.tudelft.nl
Mike Bernson mike@mbsun.mlb.org
Robin Cutshaw robin@XFree86.org
David Dawes dawes@XFree86.org
Marc Evans marc@XFree86.org
Pascal Haible haible@izfm.uni-stuttgart.de
Matthieu Herrb Matthieu.Herrb@laas.fr
Dirk Hohndel hohndel@XFree86.org
David Holland davidh@use.com
Alan Hourihane alanh@fairlite.demon.co.uk
Jeffrey Hsu hsu@soda.berkeley.edu
Glenn Lai glenn@cs.utexas.edu
Ted Lemon mellon@ncd.com
Rich Murphey rich@XFree86.org
Hans Nasten nasten@everyware.se
Mark Snitily mark@sgcs.com
Randy Terbush randyt@cse.unl.edu
Jon Tombs tombs@XFree86.org
Kees Verstoep versto@cs.vu.nl
Paul Vixie paul@vix.com
Mark Weaver Mark_Weaver@brown.edu
David Wexelblat dwex@XFree86.org
Philip Wheatley Philip.Wheatley@ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM
Thomas Wolfram wolf@prz.tu-berlin.de
Orest Zborowski orestz@eskimo.com
Xorg source is available from the FTP server <ftp://ftp.x.org/>, and from the X.Org server
<http://gitweb.freedesktop.org/>. Documentation and other information can be found from
the X.Org web site <http://www.x.org/>.
LEGAL
Xorg is copyright software, provided under licenses that permit modification and
redistribution in source and binary form without fee. Xorg is copyright by numerous
authors and contributors from around the world. Licensing information can be found at
<http://www.x.org>. Refer to the source code for specific copyright notices.
XFree86(TM) is a trademark of The XFree86 Project, Inc.
X11(TM) and X Window System(TM) are trademarks of The Open Group.