1Xorg(1) General Commands Manual Xorg(1)
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6 Xorg - X11R7 X server
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9 Xorg [:display] [option ...]
10
12 Xorg is a full featured X server that was originally designed for UNIX
13 and UNIX-like operating systems running on Intel x86 hardware. It now
14 runs on a wider range of hardware and OS platforms.
15 This work was derived by the X.Org Foundation from the XFree86
17 Project's XFree86 4.4rc2 release. The XFree86 release was originally
18 derived from X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell which was contributed to X11R5 by
19 Snitily Graphics Consulting Service.
20
22 Xorg operates under a wide range of operating systems and hardware
23 platforms. The Intel x86 (IA32) architecture is the most widely sup‐
24 ported hardware platform. Other hardware platforms include Compaq
25 Alpha, Intel IA64, AMD64, SPARC and PowerPC. The most widely supported
26 operating systems are the free/OpenSource UNIX-like systems such as
27 Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and Solaris. Commercial UNIX operat‐
28 ing systems such as UnixWare are also supported. Other supported oper‐
29 ating systems include GNU Hurd. Mac OS X is supported with the
30 Xquartz(1) X server. Win32/Cygwin is supported with the XWin(1) X
31 server.
32
34 Xorg supports connections made using the following reliable byte-
35 streams:
36 Local
38 On most platforms, the "Local" connection type is a UNIX-domain
39 socket. On some System V platforms, the "local" connection types
40 also include STREAMS pipes, named pipes, and some other mechanisms.
41 See the "LOCAL CONNECTIONS" section of X(7) for details.
42 TCP/IP
44 Xorg listens on port 6000+n, where n is the display number. This
45 connection type is usually disabled by default, but may be enabled
46 with the -listen option (see the Xserver(1) man page for details).
47
49 Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration
50 and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables,
51 the xorg.conf(5) configuration files, auto-detection, and fallback
52 defaults. When the same information is supplied in more than one way,
53 the highest precedence mechanism is used. The list of mechanisms is
54 ordered from highest precedence to lowest. Note that not all parame‐
55 ters can be supplied via all methods. The available command line
56 options and environment variables (and some defaults) are described
57 here and in the Xserver(1) manual page. Most configuration file param‐
58 eters, with their defaults, are described in the xorg.conf(5) manual
59 page. Driver and module specific configuration parameters are
60 described in the relevant driver or module manual page.
61 In addition to the normal server options described in the Xserver(1)
63 manual page, Xorg accepts the following command line switches:
64 vtXX XX specifies the Virtual Terminal device number which Xorg will
66 use. Without this option, Xorg will pick the first available
67 Virtual Terminal that it can locate. This option applies only
68 to platforms that have virtual terminal support, such as Linux,
69 BSD, OpenSolaris, SVR3, and SVR4.
70 -allowMouseOpenFail
72 Allow the server to start up even if the mouse device can't be
73 opened or initialised. This is equivalent to the Allow‐
74 MouseOpenFail [22mxorg.conf(5) file option.
75 -allowNonLocalXvidtune
77 Make the VidMode extension available to remote clients. This
78 allows the xvidtune client to connect from another host. This
79 is equivalent to the AllowNonLocalXvidtune [22mxorg.conf(5) file
80 option. By default non-local connections are not allowed.
81 -bgamma value
83 Set the blue gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and
84 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support this. See
85 also the -gamma, -rgamma, and -ggamma options.
86 -bpp n No longer supported. Use -depth to set the color depth, and
88 use -fbbpp if you really need to force a non-default frame‐
89 buffer (hardware) pixel format.
90 -config file
92 Read the server configuration from file. This option will work
93 for any file when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid
94 0), or for files relative to a directory in the config search
95 path for all other users.
96 -configdir directory
98 Read the server configuration files from directory. This
99 option will work for any directory when the server is run as
100 root (i.e, with real-uid 0), or for directories relative to a
101 directory in the config directory search path for all other
102 users.
103 -configure
105 When this option is specified, the Xorg server loads all video
106 driver modules, probes for available hardware, and writes out
107 an initial xorg.conf(5) file based on what was detected. This
108 option currently has some problems on some platforms, but in
109 most cases it is a good way to bootstrap the configuration
110 process. This option is only available when the server is run
111 as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).
112 -crt /dev/ttyXX
114 SCO only. This is the same as the vt option, and is provided
115 for compatibility with the native SCO X server.
116 -depth n
118 Sets the default color depth. Legal values are 1, 4, 8, 15,
119 16, and 24. Not all drivers support all values.
120 -disableVidMode
122 Disable the parts of the VidMode extension (used by the xvid‐
123 tune client) that can be used to change the video modes. This
124 is equivalent to the DisableVidModeExtension [22mxorg.conf(5) file
125 option.
126 -fbbpp n
128 Sets the number of framebuffer bits per pixel. You should only
129 set this if you're sure it's necessary; normally the server can
130 deduce the correct value from -depth above. Useful if you want
131 to run a depth 24 configuration with a 24 bpp framebuffer
132 rather than the (possibly default) 32 bpp framebuffer (or vice
133 versa). Legal values are 1, 8, 16, 24, 32. Not all drivers
134 support all values.
135 -flipPixels
137 Swap the default values for the black and white pixels.
138 -gamma value
140 Set the gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10.
141 The default is 1.0. This value is applied equally to the R, G
142 and B values. Those values can be set independently with the
143 -rgamma, -bgamma, and -ggamma options. Not all drivers support
144 this.
145 -ggamma value
147 Set the green gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and
148 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support this. See
149 also the -gamma, -rgamma, and -bgamma options.
150 -ignoreABI
152 The Xorg server checks the ABI revision levels of each module
153 that it loads. It will normally refuse to load modules with
154 ABI revisions that are newer than the server's. This is
155 because such modules might use interfaces that the server does
156 not have. When this option is specified, mismatches like this
157 are downgraded from fatal errors to warnings. This option
158 should be used with care.
159 -isolateDevice bus-id
161 Restrict device resets to the device at bus-id. The bus-id
162 string has the form bustype:bus:device:function (e.g.,
163 ‘PCI:1:0:0’). At present, only isolation of PCI devices is
164 supported; i.e., this option is ignored if bustype is anything
165 other than ‘PCI’.
166 -keeptty
168 Prevent the server from detaching its initial controlling ter‐
169 minal. If you want to use systemd-logind integration you must
170 specify this option. Not all platforms support (or can use)
171 this option.
172 -keyboard keyboard-name
174 Use the xorg.conf(5) file InputDevice section called keyboard-
175 name as the core keyboard. This option is ignored when the
176 Layout section specifies a core keyboard. In the absence of
177 both a Layout section and this option, the first relevant
178 InputDevice section is used for the core keyboard.
179 -layout layout-name
181 Use the xorg.conf(5) file Layout section called layout-name.
182 By default the first Layout section is used.
183 -logfile filename
185 Use the file called filename as the Xorg server log file. The
186 default log file when running as root is /var/log/Xorg.n.log
187 and for non root it is $XDG_DATA_HOME/xorg/Xorg.n.log where n
188 is the display number of the Xorg server. The default may be
189 in a different directory on some platforms. This option is
190 only available when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-
191 uid 0).
192 -logverbose [n]
194 Sets the verbosity level for information printed to the Xorg
195 server log file. If the n value isn't supplied, each occur‐
196 rence of this option increments the log file verbosity level.
197 When the n value is supplied, the log file verbosity level is
198 set to that value. The default log file verbosity level is 3.
199 -modulepath searchpath
201 Set the module search path to searchpath. searchpath is a
202 comma separated list of directories to search for Xorg server
203 modules. This option is only available when the server is run
204 as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).
205 -noautoBindGPU
207 Disable automatically setting secondary GPUs up as output sinks
208 and offload sources. This is equivalent to setting the Auto‐
209 BindGPU [22mxorg.conf(5) file option. To false.
210 -nosilk Disable Silken Mouse support.
212 -novtswitch
214 Disable the automatic switching on X server reset and shutdown
215 to the VT that was active when the server started, if supported
216 by the OS.
217 -pointer pointer-name
219 Use the xorg.conf(5) file InputDevice section called pointer-
220 name as the core pointer. This option is ignored when the Lay‐
221 out section specifies a core pointer. In the absence of both a
222 Layout section and this option, the first relevant InputDevice
223 section is used for the core pointer.
224 -quiet Suppress most informational messages at startup. The verbosity
226 level is set to zero.
227 -rgamma value
229 Set the red gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and
230 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support this. See
231 also the -gamma, -bgamma, and -ggamma options.
232 -sharevts
234 Share virtual terminals with another X server, if supported by
235 the OS.
236 -screen screen-name
238 Use the xorg.conf(5) file Screen section called screen-name.
239 By default the screens referenced by the default Layout section
240 are used, or the first Screen section when there are no Layout
241 sections.
242 -showconfig
244 This is the same as the -version option, and is included for
245 compatibility reasons. It may be removed in a future release,
246 so the -version option should be used instead.
247 -showDefaultModulePath
249 Print out the default module path the server was compiled with.
250 -showDefaultLibPath
252 Print out the path libraries should be installed to.
253 -showopts
255 For each driver module installed, print out the list of options
256 and their argument types.
257 -weight nnn
259 Set RGB weighting at 16 bpp. The default is 565. This applies
260 only to those drivers which support 16 bpp.
261 -verbose [n]
263 Sets the verbosity level for information printed on stderr. If
264 the n value isn't supplied, each occurrence of this option
265 increments the verbosity level. When the n value is supplied,
266 the verbosity level is set to that value. The default ver‐
267 bosity level is 0.
268 -version
270 Print out the server version, patchlevel, release date, the
271 operating system/platform it was built on, and whether it
272 includes module loader support.
273
275 The Xorg server is normally configured to recognize various special
276 combinations of key presses that instruct the server to perform some
277 action, rather than just sending the key press event to a client appli‐
278 cation. These actions depend on the XKB keymap loaded by a particular
279 keyboard device and may or may not be available on a given configura‐
280 tion.
281 The following key combinations are commonly part of the default XKEY‐
283 BOARD keymap.
284 Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
286 Immediately kills the server -- no questions asked. It can be
287 disabled by setting the DontZap [22mxorg.conf(5) file option to a
288 TRUE value.
289 It should be noted that zapping is triggered by the Termi‐
291 nate_Server action in the keyboard map. This action is not part
292 of the default keymaps but can be enabled with the XKB option
293 "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp".
294 Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus
296 Change video mode to next one specified in the configuration
297 file. This can be disabled with the DontZoom [22mxorg.conf(5) file
298 option.
299 Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Minus
301 Change video mode to previous one specified in the configura‐
302 tion file. This can be disabled with the DontZoom [22mxorg.conf(5)
303 file option.
304 Ctrl+Alt+F1...F12
306 For systems with virtual terminal support, these keystroke com‐
307 binations are used to switch to virtual terminals 1 through 12,
308 respectively. This can be disabled with the DontVTSwitch
309 xorg.conf(5) file option.
310
312 Xorg typically uses a configuration file called xorg.conf and configu‐
313 ration files with the suffix .conf in a directory called xorg.conf.d
314 for its initial setup. Refer to the xorg.conf(5) manual page for
315 information about the format of this file.
316 Xorg has a mechanism for automatically generating a built-in configura‐
318 tion at run-time when no xorg.conf file or xorg.conf.d files are
319 present. The current version of this automatic configuration mechanism
320 works in two ways.
321 The first is via enhancements that have made many components of the
323 xorg.conf file optional. This means that information that can be
324 probed or reasonably deduced doesn't need to be specified explicitly,
325 greatly reducing the amount of built-in configuration information that
326 needs to be generated at run-time.
327 The second is to have "safe" fallbacks for most configuration informa‐
329 tion. This maximises the likelihood that the Xorg server will start up
330 in some usable configuration even when information about the specific
331 hardware is not available.
332 The automatic configuration support for Xorg is work in progress. It
334 is currently aimed at the most popular hardware and software platforms
335 supported by Xorg. Enhancements are planned for future releases.
336
338 The Xorg server config files can be found in a range of locations.
339 These are documented fully in the xorg.conf(5) manual page. The most
340 commonly used locations are shown here.
341 /etc/X11/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
343 /etc/X11/xorg.conf-4 Server configuration file.
345 /etc/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
347 /usr/etc/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
349 /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
351 /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
353 /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d-4 Server configuration directory.
355 /etc/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
357 /usr/etc/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
359 /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
361 /var/log/Xorg.n.log Server log file for display n.
363 /usr/bin/∗ Client binaries.
365 /usr/include/∗ Header files.
367 /usr/lib/∗ Libraries.
369 /usr/share/fonts/X11/∗ Fonts.
371 /usr/share/X11/XErrorDB Client error message database.
373 /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/∗ Client resource specifications.
375 /usr/share/man/man?/∗ Manual pages.
377 /etc/Xn.hosts Initial access control list for display
379 n.
380
382 X(7), Xserver(1), xdm(1), xinit(1), xorg.conf(5), xvidtune(1), xkey‐
383 board-config (7), apm(4), ati(4), chips(4), cirrus(4), cyrix(4),
384 fbdev(4), glide(4), glint(4), i128(4), i740(4), imstt(4), intel(4),
385 mga(4), neomagic(4), nsc(4), nv(4), openchrome (4), r128(4), rendi‐
386 tion(4), s3virge(4), siliconmotion(4), sis(4), sunbw2(4), suncg14(4),
387 suncg3(4), suncg6(4), sunffb(4), sunleo(4), suntcx(4), tdfx(4), tga(4),
388 trident(4), tseng(4), v4l(4), vesa(4), vmware(4),
389 Web site <http://www.x.org>.
390
393 Xorg has many contributors world wide. The names of most of them can
394 be found in the documentation, ChangeLog files in the source tree, and
395 in the actual source code.
396 Xorg was originally based on XFree86 4.4rc2. That was originally based
398 on X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell, which was contributed to the then X Con‐
399 sortium's X11R5 distribution by SGCS.
400 Xorg is released by the X.Org Foundation.
402 The project that became XFree86 was originally founded in 1992 by David
404 Dawes, Glenn Lai, Jim Tsillas and David Wexelblat.
405 XFree86 was later integrated in the then X Consortium's X11R6 release
407 by a group of dedicated XFree86 developers, including the following:
408 Stuart Anderson anderson@metrolink.com
410 Doug Anson danson@lgc.com
411 Gertjan Akkerman akkerman@dutiba.twi.tudelft.nl
412 Mike Bernson mike@mbsun.mlb.org
413 Robin Cutshaw robin@XFree86.org
414 David Dawes dawes@XFree86.org
415 Marc Evans marc@XFree86.org
416 Pascal Haible haible@izfm.uni-stuttgart.de
417 Matthieu Herrb Matthieu.Herrb@laas.fr
418 Dirk Hohndel hohndel@XFree86.org
419 David Holland davidh@use.com
420 Alan Hourihane alanh@fairlite.demon.co.uk
421 Jeffrey Hsu hsu@soda.berkeley.edu
422 Glenn Lai glenn@cs.utexas.edu
423 Ted Lemon mellon@ncd.com
424 Rich Murphey rich@XFree86.org
425 Hans Nasten nasten@everyware.se
426 Mark Snitily mark@sgcs.com
427 Randy Terbush randyt@cse.unl.edu
428 Jon Tombs tombs@XFree86.org
429 Kees Verstoep versto@cs.vu.nl
430 Paul Vixie paul@vix.com
431 Mark Weaver Mark_Weaver@brown.edu
432 David Wexelblat dwex@XFree86.org
433 Philip Wheatley Philip.Wheatley@ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM
434 Thomas Wolfram wolf@prz.tu-berlin.de
435 Orest Zborowski orestz@eskimo.com
436 Xorg source is available from the FTP server <ftp://ftp.x.org/>, and
438 from the X.Org server <http://gitweb.freedesktop.org/>. Documentation
439 and other information can be found from the X.Org web site
440 <http://www.x.org/>.
441
444 Xorg is copyright software, provided under licenses that permit modifi‐
445 cation and redistribution in source and binary form without fee. Xorg
446 is copyright by numerous authors and contributors from around the
447 world. Licensing information can be found at <http://www.x.org>.
448 Refer to the source code for specific copyright notices.
449 XFree86(TM) is a trademark of The XFree86 Project, Inc.
451 X11(TM) and X Window System(TM) are trademarks of The Open Group.
453X Version 11 xorg-server 1.20.1 Xorg(1)